f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\A Character Analysis Of The Many Facets Of Pearl In The Scarlett Letter.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Character Analysis Of The Many Facets Of Pearl In The Scarlett Letter A Character Analysis of the Many Facets of Pearl The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a book of much symbolism. One of the most complex and misunderstood symbols in the book is Pearl, the illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Throughout the novel Pearl develops into a dynamic symbol; one that is always changing. In the following essay, I will explore Hawthorne's symbolism of Pearl from birth, age three, and age seven. Also, I will attempt to disprove the notion that Pearl is branded with a metaphorical scarlet letter "A" representing amorality; instead she represents the immorality of her mother's adultery. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, for her sins, received a scarlet letter "A" which she had to wear upon the "breast of her gown"(Hawthorne 39). It was the Puritan way of treating her as a criminal for the crime of adultery. The Puritan treatment of Hester did not stop simply with the assignment of the letter. As she walked through the streets, she was looked down upon as if she were some sort of evil spirit among them, being punished for some ghastly crime. This gave Hester much mental anguish and grief. On the other hand, God's treatment of Hester for her sin was quite different than the scarlet letter. He gave Hester the punishment of rearing a very unique child whom she named Pearl. "But she named the infant "Pearl," as being of great price, --purchased with all she had, --her mother's only treasure!"(Hawthorne, 62). Hester named her daughter Pearl because she had to give up everything, including freedom, for her. This punishment handed down from God was a constant mental and physical reminder to Hester of what she had done wrong. There was no escaping it. In this aspect, Pearl symbolized God's way of punishing Hester for the sin of adultery. Even when she was just a baby, "her infant's eyes had been caught by the glimmering of the gold embroidery about the letter" (Hawthorne 67). From birth, Pearl seemed to be attracted to the scarlet letter "A" that clung to her mother's chest. In one specific incident when Pearl was a baby she reached up smiling to touch the scarlet letter on Hester's dress as she stooped over her cradle. This gesture by the baby mortified Hester because of Pearl's innocent recognition of the underlying meaning of the letter on her chest. It seemed as if Pearl unknowingly antagonized her mother by constantly reminding her of the "fatal token" (Hawthorne 67). "From that epoch, except when the child was asleep, Hester had never felt a moment's safety; not a moment's calm enjoyment of her" (Hawthorne 67). Hester realized that she could not enjoy the normal maternal relationship with her daughter because of the embarrassing symbol on her chest. Hawthorne states, "Weeks, it is true, would sometimes elapse, during which Pearl's gaze might never once be fixed upon the scarlet letter; but then, again, it would come at unawares, like the stroke of sudden death, and always with that peculiar smile, and odd expression of the eyes" (67). Hester recognized that Pearl's odd expression was her own recognition of the immoral meaning of the scarlet letter and Pearl herself. At age three, Pearl still possessed the same childish fascination with her mother's decorative symbol of shame. Hawthorne told of one certain incident were "... she amused herself with gathering handfuls of wild flowers, and flinging them, one by one, at her mother's bosom; dancing up and down, like a little elf, whenever she hit the scarlet letter." (67). Pearl, through the use of the letter, toyed with her mother's emotions as if it were a game placed there for her own personal amusement. Hester still bore witness to "little Pearl's wild eyes"; the same expression that she had seen before in her eyes as a baby (Hawthorne 67). Hester could tell that with every day that passed her little girl was becoming more and more aware of the scarlet letter and its immoral meaning. Pearl was now old enough to ask questions about her identity. When Pearl questioned her mother as to where she came from, Hester vaguely answered, "Thy Heavenly Father sent thee!" (Hawthorne 68). Sometimes it seemed to Hester that Pearl was possessed by an evil spirit; an insight supported by Pearl when she denied having a Heavenly Father, and then demanded Hester really tell her where she came from. Hawthorne states "Whether moved only by her ordinary freakishness, or because an evil spirit prompted her, she put up her small forefinger, and touched the scarlet letter" (68). This again reiterates the notion of Pearl toying with her mother's emotions and also the symbolism of her immoral character with regard to her mother's scarlet letter. As Pearl matured to age seven, her actions toward the scarlet letter became bolder. Hawthorne told of an incident where "...Pearl took some eel-grass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother's. A letter,--the letter "A",--but freshly green, instead of scarlet!" (121). Pearl, at this questioning age, wonders if her mother will ask what this green letter "A" means. Pearl inherently did this to draw forth some sort of reaction from Hester. I do not believe that Pearl really knew the immoral symbolism behind the scarlet letter, but she did know that it was somehow associated with the actions of Reverend Dimmesdale and the whole Puritan community. Her childhood curiosity was more insightful that other seven-year-olds and she tried to coax her mother into telling her the truth behind the letter. Hester was forced into being untruthful, not only with herself, but also with Pearl, by telling her "What know I of the minister's heart?" and that she wore the letter "...for the sake of its gold thread!" (Hawthorne 123). In her own way, Pearl was reaching out to her mother. She was trying to tell Hester that she could confide in her the meaning of the scarlet letter but her mother was afraid to entrust her with the knowledge and face the fact that Pearl would now know the truth about her shame. Another incident that occurred in the novel was when Hester, Pearl, and Reverend Dimmesdale were in the forest contemplating their escape to a new life as a family. When Hester called for Pearl to come to her, Pearl would not, and simply pointed her finger at Hester's chest. Hester stated, "I see what ails the child...children will not abide any, the slightest, change in the accustomed aspect of things that are daily before their eyes" (Hawthorne 142). Pearl would not go to Hester for the simple fact that she was not wearing the scarlet letter. Pearl had grown attached to the letter because since birth, she had always seen her mother wear it. One insight to this incident was that Pearl had become so closely associated with the letter on Hester's breast that she had become the embodiment not only of Hester's sin but also of her conscious. By Hester not wearing the scarlet letter she was free from the reminder of her sins. In Pearl's eyes the scarlet letter was as much a part of her mother as any other bodily feature. Without it, Pearl could not play on her mother's emotions by reminding Hester of the immoral act in which she was conceived. In closing, Pearl was a source of many different kinds of symbolism. She, in a way, really was the scarlet letter showing the immorality of the act of adultery. If she had never been born, Hester would have never been found guilty of adultery, and thus never would have had to wear that symbol of shame upon her chest. Pearl, in her own way, helped her mother come to terms with her sin by being her constant reminder. As a final note, Pearl was more than her mother's only treasure or sometimes headache; she was her mother's only source of survival. Outline Thesis: In the following essay, I will explore Hawthorne's symbolism of Pearl from birth, age three, and age seven. I. Describe the basic foundation for the novel A. Hester received the scarlet letter B. Punishment by the Puritans C. Punishment by God II. Pearl at birth A. Pearl's attraction to the letter B. Hester's shame of the letter C. Hester's realization of Pearl's odd expression III. Pearl at age three A. Same attraction to the letter B. Pearl associated the letter with a game C. Reappearance of Pearl's odd expression IV. Pearl at age seven A. Bolder acts towards the letter B. Pearl's association of Dimmesdale with the letter C. Pearl's association with the letter V. Conclusion A. Pearl's sources of symbolism B. Pearl as the scarlet letter C. Pearl as her mother's source of survival Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel., et al., eds. The Scarlet Letter. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 1988. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\A Review Of Psychology Articles.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A Review Of Psychology Articles In this paper I will review four articles, one movie, and one experiment conducted in class. The issue's all this information covers is sex differences and the degree to which they exists in men and women and why they are present. There will be varying points of view for all these issues with each article having its own studies or theory 's to support its beliefs. The method for presenting this information will first be summaries of the media gathered then a general discussion where I will draw my own conclusions about what I have read. Summaries Sex and Gender (Deaux, 1985) The purpose of this article was to come to solid conclusions about the issue of sex and gender differences. Deaux arrived at these conclusions through comprehensive review of studies conducted on the issue in the past. The criteria he used to review this information was he only used psychological literature, he ignored broad physiological data unless related to a specific behavior, and did not use clinical or therapeutic research. As well he only dealt in areas of sex differences where there was wide spread research and held the most promise to explain how sex and gender influenced behavior. In addition he only focussed his research on adult studies leaving adolescent studies for other scientist. I will handle the summary of this article by breaking it up into the same sub-topics Deaux did and writing summaries of what he found about each. Cognitive Skills: -Mathematical Ability: In this area he found that men tend to be able to do some specific mental tasks better, such tasks were metal rotation and tests the involved horizontally-vertically manipulating objects. He found no differences in spatial visualization that required more sequential and analytic strategy. As well there was evidence that training could alter performance for men or women. -Verbal Ability: Finds that women may have better verbal ability, but this difference is weak at best. -In general: Finds that over the past twenty years women have been making gains in cognitive skills relative to men, this caution's the belief that behavior differences are indeed biological. Personality Traits and Disposition: -Achievement: Finds that women score higher in work and men are significantly higher on both mastery and competition. Finds subjective task value is the better predictor of both male and female choices in achievement domains. -Masculinity and Femininity: Finds that this area is very broad and any reliable empirical system for measuring these differences will probably not be possible. -Moral Development: Finds that actual differences are small but men show violence imagery in response to affiliation themes where achievement situations are more likely to elicit violence imagery in women. Social Behaviors: -Aggression: Finds that there is generally a 5% difference in males being more aggressive but in actuality it depends on the situation, weather attacking, defending or other variants. As well there is supportive evidence in the amount of aggressive crimes committed by men in comparison to women. As well Deaux notes that this difference seems to be biological in nature with differences noticed at the age of 6 and below. -Conformity and Social Influence: Finds that women will more easily conform. There is 1% difference/variance in behaviors accounted for by sex. -Non-verbal Behavior: found that women have superiority in both encoding and decoding non-verbal cues, although explained variance is relatively small. Encoding is particular marked in visual cues for women, as decoders of visual cue's women don't do as well. Central Issue's: -Meaningfulness of Difference: Finds that it is very hard to correlate all the studies because of all the variables involved, as well noted that bias is going to exists in investigators so it may be very hard to get any truly unbiased research making the conclusions they find less credible. -Comparisons Of Laboratory and Field Studies: Finds that it is important to distinguish between the two and that some of the questions asked in one setting may not apply to the other, because of this it is always important to reference difference in the context of which they were found. -Causes of Sex Difference: Finds that no one side of the nature/nurture argument wholly justifies sex difference and more research is starting to recognize this Gender Belief Systems: -Attitudes Towards Roles of Men and Women: Finds that attitudes of roles are changing, more so of women then men, finds attitudes are more likely to be held by older, less educated, lower income and high in church attendance people. -Representations of Men and Women: Finds that women in media still fall into general stereotypes, as male figures are still more common in both human and animal forms. -Gender Stereotypes: Finds that people who are highly sex typed will more likely categorize people based on sex. Context, Structure and Process: -Martial Roles: Finds that studies are more often based on dual career couples and how it effects division of labor. As well these studies seem to tend to focus on the middle class couples much more then any other income brackets. In addition the issue of the balance of power in a relationship has been focused on but most studies leave out personal and social environmental factors which make some studies incomplete. -Occupational Structures: Finds that increasing trends in female employment has caused a number of studies, economical and otherwise of the workforce. The results showing division is still a major issue even though overall female employment in the work force has increased. -Sex Ratio's: Finds that sex ratios do indeed have an effect on behavior, for example in the 60's and 70's when the women population was in "overflow" we saw a sexual liberalism, lower values on marriage and family and an increase in feminist ideology. -Power and Gender: Finds that sex operates as a diffuse static characteristic, implying lesser competence and thus resulting in lower status for females in comparison to males. -Gender and Social Interaction: Finds that both men and women are equally able to demonstrate behaviors depending on the internal or external expectations. Also finds that other peoples believes can indeed effect behavior depending on the level of expectancy. Sex Differences In Imagery and Reading (Colheart, 1975) In this article using "pure techniques" the investigators attempt to prove weather the supposed sex difference of women performing better at verbal tasks; men at spatial tasks is justified. Because the procedure, which they use, is complicated I broke them up into there three different parts. The findings of his experiments follow in consecutive order. 1) For his first experiment to test verbal ability he has subjects to proceed mentally through a-z and count in their heads the number of letters containing the sound "ee". For his first experiment to test Visio-spatial ability he has subjects go through a-z in their head and count the uppercase letters with a curve. 2) For his second experiment he tested verbal and visual ability by having his subjects read through prose and cross out all occurrences of the letter H. 3) For his third experiment he had subjects read a row of letters and press a button saying "Yes" or "No" if it was an English word. Within the list of letters there were words that looked like English words but one letter was misplaced and some that didn't look English at all. To monitor all the responses the machine was hooked up to computers to measure the response times as well as correct answers. Findings: 1) In the first experiment he found that females completed the verbal task faster where males completed the visual tasks faster. When correctness was measured males excelled in visual scores were females excelled in verbal tasks. 2) In the second experiment he found that the number of pronounced 'H's' missed was very similar in men and women. But for silent H's he found women scored significantly worse then men. This indicated women's dependence on the verbal aspect of the test. 3) In the third experiment the NO response for words that sounded like English were slower for both sexes then words that didn't, but women were overall slower in making the decision. As well women were slower then men in responding to yes words. These results showing how a women is dependent on here verbal capabilities. Sex Difference and Cross-Culture Studies (Fleming, 1986) In this article Fleming attempts to see weather generally "accepted" sex differences are still true outside of the western culture or people who are not "white products of male-dominant industrial societies." If they were not true it would follow that gender not sex is the influencing factor in behavior. Fleming gets his results by reviewing both western and non-western studies and drawing conclusions from the two. As above I will do my summaries in the same categories that the researcher put the info into. -Basis of Interpretation: Finds that because there are more men the women in the field of psychology that bias would be a factor in any results up to date, because of this even the most accurate studies should not be considered 100% valid. -Spatial Orientation: Finds that although western civilization men have better spatial organization in a study between three tribes; Eskimo, Scot and Temme tribes. The culture that treated women as equal's and without abuse contained an equal skill in spatial ability. Because of this more research has to be done in this area before any solid claim to men's spatial dominance can be made. -Mathematical Ability: Finds that in western studies men do excel in mathematical ability starting at adolescence, although the difference is still not that great. As well he finds that the data is almost completely American and does not include UN-industrialized third world countries at all. Because of this Fleming says how can anyone generalize the rest of the world on such a vastly incomplete study. -Aggression: Finds that men are built physically better to deal with aggression as well counteract if aggressed against. But also goes on to say that women are traditionally taught not to be aggressive where men are allowed and even encouraged to be physically aggressive. Also because women in most societies are under men they have to keep hostilities to there-selves which usually causes them to express this aggression in self-destructive behavior such as over eating or suicide etc. Unless repressed aggressiveness in taken into account and a more static definition of aggression is agreed upon this characteristic should not be considered as concrete as it is. -Verbal Abilities: Finds that again not enough cross-cultural studies have been made to account for the socialization factors. In the western studies that have been done they have shown that women do indeed have better verbal abilities but the one cross-cultural study that was done demonstrates that this difference was not pronounced at all. -In Conclusion: Fleming finds that without cross-cultural studies we cannot make a universal understanding of sex differences because we have not taken into account the whole "universe" for which these current opinions hold in. The Sexual Brain [(Video) Bingham, 1988] In this video the purpose was to explore through various studies if biology or culture effected behavior. He does this by going through various actual videos to support arguments as well he makes use of statistical fact to collaborate. Because most of his evidence was spoken I will present his words in paragraph form. To start he says that initially men and women should have different ways of thought and behavior because the most basic element of life, reproduction, is different for both men and women. By this he means because men have relatively little to loss in reproduction they do not have to be as careful as women do, because of this difference men and women demonstrate different behavior. To follow if behavior is different perhaps this is reflective of a difference biologically. To support this he tells how brains in female rats are different then those of male rats. Specifically he mentions the hypothalamus, which controls what hormones are produced in the body. He then showed by changing the hormones in rats that you could cause them to exhibit different behavioral tendencies. In birds, rats as well as monkeys by switching the hormones of males and females experimenters could cause their behaviors to reverse as well. This behavior effectively shows how behavior is indeed somewhat genetic. As well because our bodies develop because of our environment perhaps our ancestral roots have something to do with our current differences in certain activities. As humans were developing in Africa it was women who would stay in a centralized area and men who would hunt. Because women had to stay together more often perhaps that is why they have developed various verbal skills over men, and men intern developed higher aggression do to the constant need to be active and hunt. More recently studies of females who received male hormones during a birth defect tend to demonstrate physical behavior that is typical of a boy at that age. As hormones are a biological aspect, it would follow that behavior is seemingly effected greatly by nature and not so much by nurture. To further help this point of view he shows that women have a larger corpus callosum responsible for communication, and men have a thicker right cortex responsible for more physical activities. Even with all this supportive information he still points out that ninety percent of violent crime is committed by men, this demonstrating further how perhaps we are closer to our genetic self's then we think. Research Project (Henke, 1997) The purpose of this experiment was to repeat some of the "pure" experiments done by Coltheart, Hull and Slater. As well to evaluate there their tasks and discuss possible reasons for sex related differences in the performance of cognitive tasks. The procedures chosen to be tested in this experiment was the verbal test where subjects had mentally go threw the numbers a-z and state how many had the 'ee' sound. As well he tested the visual task which required subjects to mentally go threw numbers 1-9 and state which had a curve in them. Through both of these experiments the subjects had a partner to tell how much time the responses took and record how many mistakes were made. It also may be important to note the subjects were given a sample test like the rated test before each experiment. In this study the results were as follows. In the verbal test females where found to have fewer errors in a smaller amount of time, but these differences were small at best. As well there were only half as many men tested as females. These results closely coincide with the results of the Coltheart experiment. On the visual test males had significantly less errors then females, as well they did the experiment in a much smaller amount of time. As above it is important to note that there was about half as many men in the experiment as women. Like the verbal experiment these results are very similar to what Coltheart found in his visual tests. -Actual Results: Verbal Test Males: Mean Errors=0.73 Mean Time=19.5 n=15 Females: Mean Errors=0.70 Mean Time=18.95 n=30 -Actual Results: Visual Test Males: Mean Errors=0.61 Mean Time=22.14 n=18 Females: Mean Errors=0.73 Mean Time=27.29 n=30 The Socialization of Sex-Differentiated Skills and Academic Performance: A Mediational Model (Serbin, 1990) The purpose of this article was to see using a multifactorial model which environmental factors influenced certain sex differences in academic performance. The study included children from grades K-6 from elementary schools in a large Canadian city. All the subjects came from a varied economical and social background. They hypothesized that the parental modeling of sex-differentiated patterns of behavior in the home would cause children to develop sex-typed behaviors in social situations. As well they believed that opportunities to play with male sex-typed toys would improve the children's visual-spatial problem solving ability. In addition measure's of the children's age as well as the parental education; maternal occupation level and occupational level were included as variables in the models. To create this model experimenters mailed questioners to the parents of the 347 children to fill out. With this questioner experimenter's were able to find out demographic information, descriptions of the home environment as well as summaries of the children's compliance, social adjustment, and academic competence. Teachers in the schools were able to record the children's social competence, academic skills and achievement. In the studies they found that only maternal occupation level, paternal education, and the availability of traditional male toys had a significant impact on academic performance. They also found that the father's educational level was most strongly related to doing well academically is the sense of social factors. This is because a father with a higher education is more likely to pass off to his children the compliance to rules and order as well as the necessary skills to succeed in the classroom setting. The study also found that girls due to their better social responsiveness were able to offset the boy's superior performance on the visual-spatial tests. This test in-turn also being a good predictor of academic success. It is also noted in this experiment that verbal performance was not an active factor in predicting success in a social setting as previously thought. This study also found the division of labor between parents was not a determinate factor in academic performance, neither was the availability of female sex-typed toys. The direct influence on sex-differentiated skill development seems to lie in family socialization practices as well as opportunities to practice specific skills within an everyday environment. In conclusion the experimenters found that because girls have a better "social scheme" suited for school they could perform better initially, but as boys are stimulated by use of visual spatial toys they tend to excel beyond there in-ability to sit still and surpass girls in academic ability. Because all of these behaviors are taught for the most part at home it is very important to note the role of parental influence and its long-term effects on academic ability. General Discussion Similarities and Differences: In all the articles I have read there was no traits as frequent as men's accelerated ability in visual-spatial tasks and women's superior verbal ability. Both of these traits were almost always presented together in studies suggesting that they are generally accepted characteristics. From all the information I have pored over I have found that men visual-spatial ability is the most valid of all the sex different claims. However because so many of the articles covered the nature/nurture argument I would have to say that I believe it is a combination of both factors. I say this because nature through our ancestors shaped that ability to manipulate physical objects for hunting and tool making, which reflects itself in visual-spatial tasks (Bingham, 1988). But also through our own social traditions men have seemed to favor their children carrying on the physical tradition. Whether this be in the form of Lego blocks or sports men tend to stick to there physical roots which continually are reinforced through our current culture (Serbin, 1990). As to the issue of women's superior verbal ability even though it is not as established as former male ability I still find it has roots in both nature and nurture. By this I mean because women are the half of the human race to have children this has caused not only a different physiological structure but also a different social structure. To elaborate, women with children had to stay close to a central location of protection and therefore be close to other women (Bingham, 1988). In this close association we see a need for better verbal communication because without it survival would have been hard without fellow women to help out in times of need. This tradition is also reinforced in culture because women are usually taught in act in a specific manner from early birth. (Serbin, 1990) This relates to verbal ability because this "training" often involves proper etiquette as well as proper social conventions. Because of these reinforced behavior patterns throughout human history we see the physiological differences in female communication area's compared to that of a mans, particularly the corpus callosum. Another similarity throughout the articles was the lack of cross-cultural studies pointed out by Fleming, 1986. Because of this article I find that I cannot look at many of the studies done in the same way because such cultural influences are so essential in determining such skills as visual-spatial ability and social tendencies. One other fundamental, universal trait I found in many of the articles was male aggression in comparison to females, again I have to say I believe this is due to both man's nature as well as social influence. It can generally be agreed upon that because man was traditionally a hunter he possessed a body that could allow him to do so (Bingham, 1988). Given the relative time since man has been has truly become "civil" its no wonder that we are as violent as we are. Nature has made us aggressive because it was an important survival technique and without it we may not have survived. Because modern society has no demand for the ancient hunter these primal needs can seen to be satisfied in other areas of culture. It is because culture still holds so many aspects of aggression that man is perhaps reluctant to let go of this familiar trait. In this matter nature is not innocent either, this is so because over time man has developed a mind that is not only culturally different then a females but also physiologically different as is pointed out in Bingham's video. Some of the differences that I did find in the various information I reviewed was inconsistency of detail, by this I mean some of the articles went very in-depth into the actual process's involved in getting results were others were very general. This intern made it very hard to compare some of the studies. An additional difference I found was a variance in procedures used to come to conclusion about such issues as visual-spatial test etc. As Fleming pointed out in his article, clear globally conclusive studies can never be made if methods for researching sex differences are never established. Relation of Experiment in Class: The information from the experiment conducted in class coincides very accurately with the rest of the studies I have reviewed. In particular the area of the visual task was in total agreement with articles such as Deaux, Serbin, and Coltheart. The verbal task was also very accurate in the sense that the connection was somewhat weak, as is shown in Deaux, and Fleming's studies. The relation of this study to the Coltheart experiment should be obvious, I found that the experiments were almost identical accept in the atmosphere which they were conducted. Personally I believe much error was probably involved in the class experiment because of people who were not aware of the procedure as well ill timing procedures. Even with these effects the results still show a similarity with the Coltheart experiment that can not be denied. My Own Thoughts, Opinions and Criticism: Personally I felt this essay was a learning experience but at times the amount of irrelevant information associated with the topic of sex differences was annoying. I thought that Fleming had the most effective article because he always kept focus on his issues and only brought in as much proof as was necessary to proof his point. I also enjoyed his article because it had very powerful, seemingly obvious points that were not explored in other articles. The worst article by far was Deaux's because of the incredible difficulty of actually extracting useful information from the article. Ever time he did make a solid point he went on to disprove its validity in the next sentence. Also he never provided any useful concluding statements so at the end it was very hard to tie together all the various scattered information. To his credit I have to agree with him when he says new theories on the topic are relatively rare, yes techniques have varied but the true genius of ideas has only in my eyes been found in Fleming's article. All in all I realized how truly difficult it is to come to conclusions about a seemingly black and white topic. In conclusion the area of sex differences is as vast as 5 billion humans will allow. Even though many of the studies I reviewed are very in-depth they have also demonstrated how clear answers at this point in time can not be agreed upon. But because new inventive people and technology enter this field everyday there is great promise that one day a unified answer will be found. - James Smeaton Bibliography: 1) Deaux, K. (1985) Sex and Gender. Annual Review of Psychology, 36, 49-81 2) Fleming, A. (1986). Sex Differences and Cross Cultural Studies. Women and Theory, 4, 23-33 3) Coltheart, M. Hull, E. Slater, D. (1975). Sex Differences in Imagery and Reading. Nature, 253, 438-440 4) Bingham, R. (Writer and Producer). 1988. The Sexual Brain [Film]. (Available from films for the Humanities & Science, Inc., Princeton, NJ.) 5) Serbin, L. Zelkowitz, P. Doyle, A. Gold, D. Wheaton B. (1990) The Socialization of Sex-Differentiated Skills and Academic Performance: A Mediational Model. Sex Roles, 23, 613-627 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Abortion.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Abortion Birth Control or Legal Murder?Approximately 1.6 million murders are committed legally each year. Withthe exception of laws in few states, the mutilated bodies of the victims arethrown into dumpsters like pieces of rotten meat. While these victims laywaiting in the infested dumpsters to be hauled off to a landfill, themurderers are in their offices waiting for their next patient--theaccomplice to the murder. This is the murder of an innocent child by aprocedure known as abortion. Abortion stops the beating of an innocentchild's heart. People must no longer ignore the scientific evidence thatlife begins at the moment of conception. People can no longer ignore themedical and emotional problems an abortion causes women. People must stopdenying the facts about the procedure, and start hearing the silent screamsof unborn children.The argument by the pro-abortion side is that the unborn child is nottruly a child. Many people who are pro-abortion justify their beliefsthrough the concept that a fetus is only a blob of tissue until it is born,or the statement: life begins at birth. Abortion is not as simple asremoving a "blob of tissue" (as the pro-abortion activists put it) from awoman's body. Abortion is the destruction, dismembering and killing of ahuman life--an unborn baby. "But it is scientific and medical fact based onexperimental evidence, that a fetus is a living, growing, thriving humanbeing, directing his or her own development" (Fetal Development). A fetus isnot just a blob of tissue, rather a fetus is Latin for "offspring or youngone." Human life begins at fertilization, therefore it is wrong to murderthe innocent child in the womb. At a US Senate Judiciary Subcommitteemeeting, most scientists said that life begins at conception or implantationof the embryo. No scientist at the meeting claimed that life begins at birth(Factbot). Professor Hymie Gordon of the Mayo clinic stated "' . . by allcriteria of modern biology, life is present from the moment of conception'"(Fetal Development). In a 1963 Planned Parenthood pamphlet entitled 'PlanYour Children' it states "an abortion kills the life of a baby after it hasbegun. It is dangerous to your life and health" (Factbot). Even thoughabortion is dangerous to a woman's life, and it kills her baby, PlannedParenthood still offers it as a safe solution. This statement contradictswhat most abortion clinics say. It is not possible for abortion to beoffered to women as a safe solution, when it not only puts her life indanger, but it also kills her child.Not only has science proven that a fetus is truly a human, the simplefacts also confer abortion kills the life of a human being. Life begins atconception because of the fact that life in the womb does not change atbirth. There are no special procedures or changes that occur during birth tomagically change the fetus to a baby. It is already a baby--a human life."'If a fertilized egg is not by itself a full human being it could notbecome one, because nothing is added to it,'" said Dr. Jerome Lejeune(Factbot). Most of all the development also takes place before one is born.Of the 45 generations of cell divisions before adulthood, 41 have takenplace before a person is born (Factbot). Fertilization is just the beginningof a long process of growing and maturing. "Life in a continuum. From themoment the egg is fertilized a new life has begun. All of the geneticinformation is present to construct a unique individual. Gender, physicalfeatures, eye color have already been determined. The baby's heart beginsbeating regularly at 24 days. Babies in the womb hiccup, cry, play, andlearn" (Factbot). Life continues from the day of fertilization until death.Nothing is added to a person during a lifetime. "'Conception confers lifeand makes that life one of a kind,'" said Dr Landrum Shettles father of invitro fertilization (Factbot). Abortion is wrong because it ends the life ofa human being. The day of conception marks the beginning of a new humanlife. "'The zygote is the first cell of a new human being,'" said Keith L.Moore. There is no way that the fetus is just a "blob of (Factbot) tissue."Scientific and medical facts prove that the fetus is living. They prove thatthe fetus is a person, a human, and functions separate from the mother.According to our law murder is wrong, therefore it is unlawful to kill anunborn child. The child in the womb deserves the right to life.The fetus is a real human being and deserves all the rights and freedomgiven to people under the Constitution. This right is evident in theFourteenth Amendment that states, "The State shall not deprive any person oflife, liberty, property, without due process of the law; nor deny any personwithin its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law" (Factbot). Abortiondenies babies equal protection under the law, and is depriving a person oflife. Thomas Jefferson stated human rights best when he wrote, "We holdthese truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that theyare endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that amongthese are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" (Factbot). All unbornbabies have the right to life guaranteed to humans under the constitution.No other person has the right to take away the unborn child's life, nomatter what the situation is. One must not sacrifice a life to make one'sown life better.Many argue that most of the babies that are aborted are unwantedbabies. They believe that they would be abused and neglected. This is whyabortion is okay to them. They believe abortion is saving the child fromabuse. Abortion, however, is the most severe case of child abuse. Theprocedures are painful to the child and intentionally end in death (exceptin cases where the procedure results in a living child. "About once a day,somewhere in the US, something goes wrong and an abortion results in a livebaby" (Factbot)). The fetus is alive and has the capacity to feel thepainful abortion procedure. The US Department of Health and Human Servicesreported that after nine weeks unborn babies can feel pain, yet 48 per centof all abortions are done after this point ( Fetal Development). The babycan feel all the pain put on it by the painful procedures. The ultra soundshows the baby struggling to survive. Abortionist doctors such as JosephRandall admit that seeing the abortion ". . . of the baby on the ultra soundbothered me more than anything else. The staff couldn't take it. Women werenever allowed to see the ultra sound" (Factbot). Women should be allowed tosee this. They should see the struggling of the life they are killing. Anearly abortion takes about five minutes and is performed six to fourteenweeks after a woman's last period. The procedure is called a suctionaspiration. It is like a vacuum cleaner. "'A hollow plastic tube with asharp edge is placed into the uterus. The suction tears the baby apart, andthe sharp edge is used to scrape the placenta from the wall of the uterus.Everything is sucked out into a bottle'" (Whitney 94). The other commonmethod is dilation and curettage. "'A curette, which is a loop-shaped steelknife, is inserted into the uterus, and the baby and the placenta are cutinto pieces and scraped out. Both procedures are usually done under generalanesthesia, so they're not painful for the mother. Of course we know thechild feels pain'" (Whitney 94). Another method that is not performed muchanymore is the saline injection; a long slow death process of poisoning thebaby. The saline injection was developed in the Nazi Concentration Camps(Factbot) The most controversial form of abortion is the partial-birthabortion. Using an ultra sound the abortionist grabs the baby's legs withforceps and pulls them out into the birth canal. The abortionist thendelivers the entire baby except for the head and continues by jammingscissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge thehole. The scissors are removed and a suction is inserted. The baby's brainsare sucked out causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed( Partial). It has been proven that babies can feel pain in theseprocedures. The fetus can feel pain because it is alive and growing like ahuman. Something that is not living cannot feel pain. If one crushes a popcan as the abortionist crushes a baby, the pop can feels no pain because itis not living. The baby feels pain because it is a living human being.Abortion is wrong because it deprives the baby of rights and happinessbecause of the suffering it must go through during the abortion.Women who have these painful abortions suffer emotional stress, andyears after having the procedure they discover that they destroyed a humanlife. The women finally realize after many years of emotional stress thecause of it. "After 5-10 years 54 per cent of mothers choosing abortion hadnightmares and 96 per cent felt they had taken a life" a from study by DrAnne Speckhard of the University of Minnesota. People need to listen to thewomen who have had abortions in the past to hear what they are really about.From them people can learn much more than a clinic can teach. After havingan abortion, many women can tell a person the true facts--abortion ismurder. "'Recent evidence indicates many women harbor strong guilt feelingslong after their abortions. Guilt is one important cause of child batteringand infanticide. Abortion lowers women's self-esteem and there are studiesreporting a major loss of self-esteem in battering parents,'" said Dr.Phillip Ney. There are places that give abortion counseling. However, manyof these places do not give accurate information Accurate information isneeded so women, and men, know that abortion will take away a human life.Ninety-five percent of women who had abortions said their Planned Parenthoodcounselors gave ". . . little or no biological information about the fetuswhich the abortion would destroy." Where 80 percent of women who have hadabortions from Planned Parenthood said little or no health information wasgiven to them about potential health risks (Factbot). Women need to be toldthe true facts of abortion. They need to see the fetal monitors. In manyclinics they are not allowed to see the ultra sound. The doctors do not wanta woman to see that the baby inside of her is alive. This is wrong becauseit not only denies the child the rights such as the right to be heard andseen, it denies women the truth. The truth must be told and shown. ShariRichard, an Ultrasonographer, said, "'In fact many women will come to meconsidering an abortion, and I have been personally told that I am to turnthe monitor away from her view so that seeing her baby jump around on thescreen does not influence her choice'" (Factbot). Abortion clinic staffmembers are taught how to sell abortions, told never to give alternatives,and told to tell the women how much trouble a baby is. Women are not toldthe facts. It is obvious from the ultra sound that the baby they arecarrying is alive, and abortion kills the baby. If the clinic can clearlysee that the baby is alive, the mother should also see. Abortion isdescribed as a decision between a women and her doctor. Yet over 90 percentdon't even see the doctor until he appears to abort their baby. This shouldnot be the case. The clinics are hiding and withholding the true facts.Clinics need to shape-up and tell the truth to women: Abortion is wrong.Abortion is one of the key issues facing the human race today. Thisissue, like many, forces people to take sides against each other, and is oneof the main factors people look at when voting. In a 1973 court ruling,known as Roe v. Wade, abortion became legal. Since this ruling the number ofteen pregnancies has increased from 4.94 per cent in 1972 to 9.92 per centin 1990. The number of teen abortions has doubled from 19.9 per thousandteenagers in 1972 to 43.8 per thousand teenagers in 1990 while the number ofteen births has increased from 22.8 to 42.5 per thousand. The number ofbirths to unmarried women has increased 7.3 per cent during the yearsfrom1972 to 1990 while the number of abortions increased 11.7 per centduring those years (Factbot). Abortion should no longer be legal. It israpidly becoming a form of birth control. No longer must women worry aboutprotection, if they should conceive a child, they can choose to take itslife. One-third of all babies (Planned Parenthood) are aborted, whichentitles the abortion industry to $500 million a year in income in theUnited States (Factbot). Abortion is the most frequent surgical operation inthe US, and the leading cause of death in Minnesota (Factbot). Currentlythere are two million couples waiting for adoption in America, yet there are30 abortions for every one adoption (Factbot). These statistics are true.Abortion needs to be stopped.There are arguments against the stopping of abortion. However, thereare solutions. Many say abortion should be legal if the woman's life is indanger. Only three percent of all abortions are done for the mother'shealth, where 40 percent of women who have abortions will have more thanone, and 50 per cent use it as their sole means of birth control (Factbot).As for the argument that women will do them illegally in the back alleysendangering their lives, 72 per cent said they would definitely not havesought an abortion if they were illegal, and death happens during a legalabortion too; maternal death rates for first trimester abortions are 61 per100,000 cases (Factbot).Abortion is clearly the taking of a human life, an action that is wrongunder the United States constitution. Women must stop being denied the factsand start being told the truth. The people of the US must start standing upfor the rights of all people, born and unborn. "Abortion concerns not onlythe unborn child , it concerns every one of us." said former President ofthe United States Ronald Reagan (Factbot). Abortion concerns all of us.People need to start caring for the women who are hurting as a result of anabortion, and women who are struggling over the decision. People must tellthem the facts, and work at making the conditions better for women, because84 per cent would keep their babies under better circumstances (Factbot).America needs to open her ears to the screams of the 1.6 million babiesmurdered each year.BibliographyCan abortion be justified? San Diego: Grenhaven Press, Inc., 1991."Factbot." Netscape. Online."Fetal Development." Netscape. Online.Harrison, Maureen, and Steve Gilbert, eds. Abortion Decisions of the UnitedStates Supreme Court: The 1990's. Beverly Hills: Excellent Books, 1993.Is abortion immoral? San Diego: Grenhaven Press, Inc., 1991."LIFE at the University of Illinois." Netscape. OnlineMelville, Keith, ed. The Battle Over Abortion. Dubuque: Kendall/HuntPublishing Company, 1990."Partial-Birth Abortion." Netscape. Online.Should abortion remain a personal choice? San Diego: Grenhaven Press, Inc.,1991.Should abortion remain legal? San Diego: Grenhaven Press, Inc., 1991.When does life begin? San Diego: Grenhaven Press, Inc., 1991.Whitney, Catherine. Whose Life?. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.,1991.-------------------------------------------------------------- f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Abstract.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Abstract This report will briefly examine violence in sports. It will give possible reasons for the increase in violence, why violence seems to be growing and what we can do to curb this disturbing tend. While not all theories can we examined here, the most relevant to the topic will be examined and discussed. Introduction The purpose of this report is to bring into light one of the most talked about problem in sports today, violence. Many people, spectators, coaches, players and referees, of nearly all contact sports, have noted that there is been a large increase in the number of violent encounters. Some believe that this is a reflection of the problems with society today as a whole; that our aggressions are simply let out on the playing field. Other people believe that violence stems from the breakdown of basic family values at home. Whatever philosophy you are inclined to believe, it is obvious that this is a growing, and alarming problem. This is a problem that must be dealt with, to not only protect players and referees, but to find out why we seem to be such an angry society today. This topic is very close me, because I am a professional soccer referee. I have dealt with numerous violence situations over the past eleven years. In some cases, I have merely been a witness. In other cases, I was the one whom the violence was committed upon. Hypothesis My goal here is to determine why violence starting to take over our once, fun and enjoyable sporting events. I believe that this outpouring of violence is directly related to society. I believe it all comes down to a lack of respect; Lack of respect for authority, for each other and for ourselves. I expect to find out also, that our up bringing, and those that influence us, will have a direct impact upon whether or not we become involved in violence in sports. Method The type of research used primarily was observational and literature investigations. I used many of my own experiences and knowledge to compose several of my ideas. Also, I wanted to find as many outside sources as possible to either support with claim to disprove it. Given the time period given to complete endeavor, I believe that not all theories will be investigated. However, all data collected is impartial and objective. Analysis of Results Sports violence can be defined as behavior which causes harm, occurs outside of the rules of the sport, and is unrelated to the competitive objectives of the sport (Terry and Jackson, p.2).( Leonard p. 165) identifies two forms of aggression in sports. Instrumental aggression is non-emotional and task-oriented. Reactive aggression has an underlying emotional component, with harm as its goal. Violence is an outcome of reactive aggression. An increase in both frequency and seriousness of acts of violence has been well documented. Violence is most prevalent in team contact sports, such as ice hockey, football, and rugby. While most occurrences of violence emanate from players, others, including coaches, parents, fans, and the media, also contribute to what has been described as an epidemic of violence in sports today (Leonard, p. 166). Considerable research has been done on spectator violence. A central issue is whether fans incite player violence or reflect it (Debenedotte, p. 207). The evidence is inconclusive. Spectators do take cues from players, coaches, cheerleaders, and one another. Spectators often derive a sense of social identity and self-esteem from a team. Emulation of favorite players is an element of this identification. Group solidarity with players and coaches leads to a view of opposing teams as enemies and fosters hostility towards the "outgroup" and, by extension, its supporters, geographical locale, ethnic group, and perceived social class (Lee, p. 45). Mass media also contribute to the acceptability of sports. (Leonard p. 166) maintains that the media occupies a paradoxical position. On the one hand it affords ample exposure to sports-related violence via television, magazines, newspapers, and radio, thus providing numerous examples to children who may imitate such behavior. It glamorizes players, often the most controversial and aggressive ones. Its commentary is laced with descriptions suggestive of combat, linking excitement to violent action. On the other hand, the exposure given to sports violence by the media has stimulated increased efforts to control and prevent such behavior. There are several leading theories about sport violence. The following are the best examples that I encountered. There are three major theories that seek to explain violent aggression in sports (Terry and Jackson, p. 27; Leonard, pp. 170-71). The biological theory, proposed most notably by Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz, sees aggression as a basic, inherent human characteristic. Within this context, sports are seen as a socially acceptable way to discharge built-up aggression, a safety valve. The psychological theory states that aggression is caused by frustration; it is situational. Frustration results when one's efforts to reach a particular goal are blocked (Leonard, p. 170). In sports, frustration can be caused by questionable calls by officials, failure to make a particular play, injuries that interfere with optimum performance, heckling from spectators, or taunts by coaches or players. The social learning theory has received the most empirical verification (Leonard, p. 171) and maintains that aggressive behavior is learned through modeling and reinforced by rewards and punishments. Young athletes take sports heroes as role models and imitate their behavior. Parents, coaches and teammates are also models that may demonstrate support for an aggressive style of play. According to Terry and Jackson (p. 30), reinforcement for acts of violence may come from three sources: (a) the athlete's immediate reference group--coaches, teammates, family, friends; (b) structure of the game and implementation of rules by officials and governing bodies; (c) attitudes of fans, media, courts, and society. Reinforcement may take the form of rewards, such as praise, trophies, starting position, respect of friends and family. Vicarious reinforcement may be derived from seeing professional players lionized and paid huge salaries, in spite of, or because of, their aggressive style of play (Leonard, p. 171). Players who don't display the desired degree of aggressiveness may receive negative reinforcement through criticism from parents and coaches, lack of playing time, harassment by teammates, opponents, or spectators. These theories provide a basis for interventions that may curb excessive aggression, especially among young athletes. Terry and Jackson (p. 35), suggest that socialization forces, particularly reinforcement, offer the best focus for intervention. In addition, psychological forces can be addressed by modifying or controlling situations that produce frustration. What is the impact of children participating in sport? Ideally children's participation in team sports should be fun, contribute to their physical development and well being, help to develop social skills, and promote a desire for continued involvement with physical activity. The objective of physical education in schools should be to encourage development of appropriate exercise habits, with emphasis on the recreational aspects of physical activities (Roskosz, p. 7). Unfortunately, compelling evidence suggests that, for many children, the pressures associated with sports produce low self-esteem, excessive anxiety, and aggressive behavior. Children may eventually experience "sports burnout" and develop a lifelong avoidance of physical activity (Hellstedt, p. 60, 62). In Hellstedt's opinion (p. 62), these negative outcomes of sports involvement are caused by adults, particularly parents and coaches. Lip service is paid to sportsmanship and having fun, but rewards are reserved for winning. Often, encouragement to pursue victory is accompanied by direct and indirect signals that aggressive behavior is acceptable to achieve it. Hellstedt also suggests that anxiety about winning impedes performance and makes players more susceptible to injury. Physicians have noticed an increase in sports-related injuries in children (Hellstedt, p. 59). What can be done to curb the outpouring of violence in sports? Physical educators and coaches are in a key position to lay the groundwork for positive attitudes in sports. Guidelines for teaching children to shun violent behavior in sports include: (a) Put sports in perspective. Coaches should not emphasize winning at all cost. Enjoyment and the development of individual skills should be the objective. Coaches should be alert to and praise improvement. Athletic performance should not be equated with personal worth (Coakley, p. 106). Players should not be encouraged or allowed to play when injured or ill, as a demonstration of stoic virtue. (b) Stress participation. Hellstedt (p.70) cites studies that show that many children ages 9-14 drop out of sports because they spend too much time on the bench and not enough on the field. They perceive themselves as unsuccessful because their level of performance doesn't earn them more playing time. A study of young male athletes indicated that 90% would rather have an opportunity to play on a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning team. (c) Present positive role models. Sports violence is most prevalent in professional sports. Coaches should avoid symbolic associations with professional teams--e.g. names, logos. They should not model their own coaching techniques on those of professional coaches (Coakley, pp. 107-8). Weiser and Love (p. 5) recommend that school coaches implement strategies to foster feelings of team ownership among players, replacing the traditional hierarchy--authoritarian coach, submissive players--that governs the coach-player relationship in professional sports. Encourage input, permit participation in decision-making, and listen to player feedback. Feelings of team ownership foster team cohesiveness, which in turn leads to better performance. (d) Integrate values-oriented intervention strategies into the curriculum. Waldzilak cites a number of intervention strategies, utilizing Kohlberg's moral development model and social learning theories, which have been shown to produce improvement or modification of behavior, moral reasoning and perceptions of sportsmanship (Wandzilak et al., p. 14). Teachers and coaches should commit themselves to actively teaching positive sports-related values, and devise curricula that do so. (e) Involve parents. As the earliest and potentially the most influential role models, parents can have a critical impact on a child's attitudes towards sports. Physical educators and coaches should inform parents of curricular activities and goals, alert them to signs of anxiety or aggressive behavior, encourage positive attitudes toward competition and physical activity, and promote realistic expectations for performance (Hellstedt, pp. 69-70) Conclusion An analysis of all this information suggests that this problem can be solved. While there is not an easy solution to the problem, there is hope. While Leonard suggests that the violence in sports is part due to media coverage and the violent events get the publics attention. Lee submits that the aggression towards even a single person, either on or off the field, may lead to hostility towards that person ethnic group, supporters, fans and even their perceived social class. While there seems to be three central theoretical explanations to violence in sports, the social learning theory has the most empirical support, according to Leonard. Do we really reward people for aggressive behavior? Have we created this problem by supporting it? I believe that we have. The only true conclusion is that we are all partly responsible for the violence we witness in sports today. We reward winning; we only pay lip service to sportsmanship, which to many is a lost art. Sports were at one time about the enjoyment of the game, learning the game and having fun. Now the message we send to children is, win at all costs. If you lose, you are a failure. No one wants to watch a failure. Until we as I society like the error of our ways, and acknowledge that we have a serious problem on our hands, little will change. Until be remember why we have sports, entertainment and for fun, I fear that this problem will only grow worse in the future. Discussion I wrote this report because I am interested in this problem. As a professional soccer referee, I see this problem virtually every time I step on the pitch. I see children of ten years be told that winning is everything; you only have fun if you win, winning is the only thing. I see professional players not only disrespecting others, but themselves as well. Professionals are supposed to be the examples for young people to look up to. What do they see? They see players fighting, players following spectators into the stands to fight. They see player spitting at referees. And what happens to these players? Nothing. They blame everyone else for there actions. The referee was terrible, the fans are stupid. Whatever their excuses are, that is just what they are, excuses. Only when people take responsibility for their actions will this problem start to fix itself. I would not want my children, or anyone for that matter, see me spitting at a referee. But that is the problem; people don't care. We have become a society of people that take no responsibility for our actions, the blame others for our stupidity. It is becoming a very sad state of affairs. These sports used to be fun and enjoyable. Now, if you don't win, you are nothing. What a great message to send to that six year old watching the game. What are we teaching our children? I am afraid to ask. Bibliography Coakley, Jay J. (1982) Sport in Society, Issues and Controversies (Second Edition). St. Louis: C.V. Mosby Company. Debendotte, Valerie. (1988, March) Spectator Violence at Sports Events: What Keeps Enthusiastic Fans in Bounds? The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 16 (4) 203-11. EJ 372 800. Hellstedt, Jon C. (1988, April) Kids, Parents and Sport: Some Questions and Answers. The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 16 (4) 59-71. EJ 376 620. Lee, Martin J. (1985) From Rivalry to Hostility Among Sports Fans. Quest, 37 (1) 38-49. Leonard, Wilbert Marcellus. (1988) A Sociological Perspective of Sport (Third Edition). New York, Macmillan Publishing Company. Roskosz, Francis M. (1988, Late Winter) The Paradoxes of Play. The Physical Educator, 45 (1) 5-13. EJ 371 284. Terry, Peter C. and Jackson, John J. (1985) The Determinants and Control of Violence in Sport. Quest, 37 (1) 27-37. Wandzilak, Thomas (1985). Values Development Through Physical Education and Athletics. Quest, 37 (2) 176-85. Wandzilak, Thomas, et al. (1988, October). Values Development Through Physical Activity: Promoting Sportsmanlike Behaviors. Perceptions and Moral Reasoning. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 8 (1) 13-21.* Weiser, Kathy and Love, Phyllis (1988, September-October). Who Owns Your Team? Strategies, 2 (1) 5-8 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Abusive Parents.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Abusive Parents Researchers at the University of Toronto have taken important steps toward producing a profile of an abusive parent. Prof. Gary Walters and doctoral student Lynn Oldershaw of the Department of Psychology have developed a system to characterize parents who physically abuse their children. This could ultimately allow social service professionals to identify parents in child abuse. Over the last five years, Walters and Oldershaw, in collaboration with Darlene Hall of the West End Creche, have examined over 100 mothers and their three to six-year-old children who have been physically abused. In the laboratory, the mother and child spend 30 minutes in structured activities such as playing, eating and cleaning-up. The family interaction is video-taped and later analyzed. The researchers have developed a system which allows them to record the effectiveness of parenting skills. They are particularly interested in disciplinary strategies because abuse most commonly occurs when the parent wants the child to comply. "It's a question of trying to determine which type of parent produces which type of child or which type of child elicits which type of parental behaviour," explains Oldershaw. As a result of their work, Walters and Oldershaw have identified distinct categories of abusive parents and their children. 'Harsh/intrusive' mothers are excessively harsh and constantly badger their child to behave. Despite the fact that these mothers humiliate and disapprove of their child, there are times when they hug, kiss or speak to them warmly. This type of mothering produces an aggressive, disobedient child. A 'covert/hostile' mother shows no positive feelings towards her child. She makes blatant attacks on the child's self-worth and denies him affection or attention. For his part, the child tries to engage his mother's attention and win her approval. An 'emotionally detached' mother has very little involvement with her child. She appears depressed and uninterested in the child's activities. The child of this type of mother displays no characteristics which set him apart from other children. In order to put together a parenting profile, the two researchers examine the mother/child interaction and their perception and feelings. For instance, Walters and Oldershaw take into account the mother's sense of herself as a parent and her impression of her child. The researchers also try to determine the child's perception of himself or herself and of the parent. Abusive parents are often believed to have inadequate parenting skills and are referred to programs to improve these skills. These programs are particularly appropriate for parents who, themselves, were raised by abusive parents and as a result are ignorant of any other behavior toward her child. One of the goals of the psychologists is to provide information to therapists which will help tailor therapy to the individual needs of the abusive parents. "Recidivism rates for abusive care-givers are high," says Walters. "To a large extent, abusive parents which require a variety of treatment. " Their research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Contact: Gary Walters (416)978-7814 Lynn Oldershaw (416)978-3528 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Adolescence and Delinquency.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Adolescence and Delinquency I couldn't begin to cover all the possible reasons that may cause an adolescent to become a "juvenile delinquent." During my research, I found that the term juvenile delinquency is defined a number of ways. Mosby's Medical Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary summed up juvenile delinquency best with this definition; "resistant antisocial, illegal, or criminal behavior by children or adolescents to the degree that it cannot be controlled or corrected by the parents, endangers others in the community, and becomes the concern of a law enforcement agency"(1994). I found that most theories about what causes delinquency in children and adolescents originate with families and parenting. Many statistics and studies have been conducted comparing the number of youths that had chosen a delinquent life style, with single parent households, or parents who were drug and alcohol dependant. It is my belief that three out of four parenting styles that we have studied in our text, when taken to extremes, can be just as damaging to an adolescent as a parent suffering from drug or alcohol addiction. Parents who exhibit an indifferent parenting style send the worst possible message to their children. "When permissiveness is accompanied by high hostility, the child feels free to give rein to his most destructive impulses"(Craig, 1996, p.316). And where exactly in the question of causation does nature Vs nurture fit in. What about the child who seemingly has balanced, consistent authoritative parents, and still chooses a delinquent lifestyle. I'm going to address some of these issues in the pages to follow, beginning with an external factor that may influence some of our younger children; TV. The impact of television violence has been debated since TV first arrived in America. According to a study highlighted in US News and World Report, the more violent TV programs children watch, the more likely they are to commit violent crimes. "The greatest impact is on pre-adolescent children who do not yet have the capacity to gauge what is real and what is not" (Zuckerman, Aug. 2,1993). The theory states, that combined with a lack of parenting by "plugging" children into the TV, these children later in life will be conditioned to violence, regarding it as exciting, charismatic, and effective. Opponents of this theory argue the "solution to the problem of television violence may be to reinforce the traditional institutions of church, family and neighborhood, which provide the moral armor against bad influences from other sectors of society" (Bender @ Leone, 1997,p.57). These advocates sort of differentiate between good and bad violence on TV. One example is the popular television show Law and Order, which is divided into two sections. In each episode is the depiction of a crime, followed by a trial of the accused. Probably the most controversial focus of juvenile delinquency causation can be attributed to the breakdown of families, giving rise to a large number of single parent households. According to Robert L. Maginnis, a link does exist between single parent families, juvenile delinquency and crime. "Children from single-parent families, he argues, are more likely to have behavior problems because they tend to lack economic security and adequate time with parents" (Maginnis, 1994). "Children from single-parent families are two to three times more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems than are children in two parent families" (Bender, Leone, 1997 p.64). This report goes on to say these children "are more likely to drop out of school, to get pregnant as teenagers, to abuse drugs, and to be in trouble with the law." Bender and Leone cite a study from the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency that reports the most reliable indicator of violent crime in a community is the proportion of fatherless families. Fathers typically offer economic stability, a role model for boys, greater household security, and reduced stress for mothers. " When compared to children from two-parent families, children from single parent homes are more prone to crime: · They use drugs more heavily and commit more crimes throughout their lives. ·They are more likely to be gang members. ·They make up 70% of juvenile delinquents in state reform institutions. ·They account for 75% of adolescent murders. ·They are 70% more likely to be expelled from school" (Bender @ Leone, p.64). Bender and Leone go on to cite a 1991 research review published in the Journal of Marriage and Family saying, "growing up in a single-parent family is linked with increase levels of depression, stress, and aggresssion; a decrease in some indicators for physical health; higher incidence of needing the services of mental health professionals; and other emotional and behavioral problems." Of coarse, with every theory of delinquency causation, there is a counter theory. Kevin and Karen Wright contend in their Washington DC Brief on Delinquents and Crime, that "Not only is data contradictory and inconclusive, the authors contend that much of the research conducted during the 1950's and 60's was flawed by bias against single mothers." What a tangled web we weave. I was a single parent for ten years. I have no doubt that my sons are lacking in some ways from experiencing the fullness of a loving two-parent household. On the other hand, Faith and God were always part of my modeling, and possibly from his grace my sons were, and are "good boys." Theories regarding causation of juvenile delinquency and violence cite biological factors ranging from inherited personality traits and genetic defects to biochemical imbalances and brain damage. Some studies indicate that biological factors, including genetics, may predispose a child to commit violent crimes. Scientists have recently been exploring the role of certain neurochemicals- particularly serotonin, a brain transmitter that regulates mood and emotion in triggering violence. Another study claims to have found a "dramatic connection between lead poisoning, which can impair brain function, and juvenile crime" (Bender @ Leone, 1997 p.79). Other biological factors claim undiscovered brain damage early in childhood development can increase the risk of juvenile delinquency or violence. "Head injuries could damage a part of the brain that helps curb aggressive impulses, or general impairment of the brains abilities, making it harder for a child to comprehend societal rules, or to function well in school" (Bender @ Leone, 1997. p. 79). Environmental theories regarding juvenile delinquency generally support the idea that most violent behavior is learned behavior. The top three detrimental influences include violent and permissive families, unstable neighborhoods, and delinquent peer groups. I noticed that single parent families weren't at the top of the environmental list. All of these influences supposedly teach children delinquent behavior. Theories about learned violence often go back to family situations when the child is very young, often citing spanking as the first "no-no." Another possible cause of juvenile delinquency is a lack of moral guidance. The general foundation for this theory is, in my opinion, tragically credible. Authors Bender and Leone describe moral poverty in this quotation: "Moral poverty is the poverty of being without loving, capable, responsible adults who teach you right from wrong. It is the poverty of being without parents and other authorities who habituate you to feel joy at others' joy, pain at others' pain, happiness when you do right, remorse when you do wrong. It is the poverty of growing up in the virtual absence of people who teach morality by their own everyday example and insist that you follow suit." This quotation, unfortunately says it all. In extreme moral poverty, a child may grow up surrounded by deviant, delinquent, and criminal adults. It gets worse. They may also be in abusive and violent settings. This moral vacancy is said to create children who live for the present moment, and have no concept of the future, nor do they have feelings of remorse or awareness of consequences. When you add to this equation the fact that guns are more available to our children now, than ever before, the result is meaningless random violence. According to the Journal of American Medicine Association dated June third, 1998, "Access to firearms and other weapons has been cited as an important factor contributing to the rise of violence- related injuries among adolescents" (JAMA, 1998, p.167). Young children are accounting for more violent crime than ever before. This kind of violence makes me very afraid for my wife and children. I have seen and talked with morally vacant children at my job at the Oregon Health Sciences University. My hart sinks to my stomach at times. There are probably many possible causes of delinquency that I haven't mentioned in this paper. It is my belief that parents my unknowingly push their children toward delinquency by simply using poor parenting styles. I believe, as the text, the most damaging parenting model is when parents show no interest in their role as a parent, and combine this with a low level of affection. This indifferent parenting style offers absolutely no guidance to an adolescent, leaving plenty of room for those environmental factors to take over. A clearly more effective parenting style models the authoritative style highlighted in our text. Children brought up under this framework have a much better chance of avoiding the pit falls of delinquency. There has also been legislation introduced to use public funds to empower religious institutions to act as safe havens for at risk children. Many deterrents have been tried to reduce the effects of juvenile delinquency. More youths are being tried as adults in certain cases, and curfews are being enforced now more than ever. Law enforcement agiencies aggressivly enforce truency laws, and most officers I talk to are very intollerent of the slightest sign of disrespect when approaching suspect youths. Child and family counseling techniques have changed to fit more complex and extreme situations. The fact is that we live in an imperfect world, and final solutions to this problem will probably not be found by men, but by God. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Adolescent Depression.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Adolescent Depression: The Under Acknowledged Disease Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tends to act and react abnormally toward others and themselves. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer (Blackman, 1995). Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment which may often continue into adulthood. How prevalent are mood disorders in children and when should an adolescent with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed? Brown (1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is because "children are not always able to express how they feel." Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman (1996) observed that the "challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm." Therefore, diagnosis should not lay only in the physician's hands but be associated with parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors (Oster & Montgomery, 1996). Mood disorders are often accompanied by other psychological problems such as anxiety (Oster & Montgomery, 1996), eating disorders (Lasko et al., 1996), hyperactivity (Blackman, 1995), substance abuse (Blackman, 1995; Brown, 1996; Lasko et al., 1996) and suicide (Blackman, 1995; Brown, 1996; Lasko et al., 1996; Oster & Montgomery, 1996) all of which can hide depressive symptoms. The signs of clinical depression include marked changes in mood and associated behaviors that range from sadness, withdrawal, and decreased energy to intense feelings of hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. Depression is often described as an exaggeration of the duration and intensity of "normal" mood changes (Brown 1996). Key indicators of adolescent depression include a drastic change in eating and sleeping patterns, significant loss of interest in previous activity interests (Blackman, 1995; Oster & Montgomery, 1996), constant boredom (Blackman, 1995), disruptive behavior, peer problems, increased irritability and aggression (Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) proposed that "formal psychologic testing may be helpful in complicated presentations that do not lend themselves easily to diagnosis." For many teens, symptoms of depression are directly related to low self esteem stemming from increased emphasis on peer popularity. For other teens, depression arises from poor family relations which could include decreased family support and perceived rejection by parents (Lasko et al., 1996). Oster & Montgomery (1996) stated that "when parents are struggling over marital or career problems, or are ill themselves, teens may feel the tension and try to distract their parents." This "distraction" could include increased disruptive behavior, self-inflicted isolation and even verbal threats of suicide. So how can the physician determine when a patient should be diagnosed as depressed or suicidal? Brown (1996) suggested the best way to diagnose is to "screen out the vulnerable groups of children and adolescents for the risk factors of suicide and then refer them for treatment." Some of these "risk factors" include verbal signs of suicide within the last three months, prior attempts at suicide, indication of severe mood problems, or excessive alcohol and substance abuse. Many physicians tend to think of depression as an illness of adulthood. In fact, Brown (1996) stated that "it was only in the 1980's that mood disorders in children were included in the category of diagnosed psychiatric illnesses." In actuality, 7-14% of children will experience an episode of major depression before the age of 15. An average of 20-30% of adult bipolar patients report having their first episode before the age of 20. In a sampling of 100,000 adolescents, two to three thousand will have mood disorders out of which 8-10 will commit suicide (Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) remarked that the suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than 200% over the last decade. Brown (1996) added that an estimated 2,000 teenagers per year commit suicide in the United States, making it the leading cause of death after accidents and homicide. Blackman (1995) stated that it is not uncommon for young people to be preoccupied with issues of mortality and to contemplate the effect their death would have on close family and friends. Once it has been determined that the adolescent has the disease of depression, what can be done about it? Blackman (1995) has suggested two main avenues to treatment: "psychotherapy and medication." The majority of the cases of adolescent depression are mild and can be dealt with through several psychotherapy sessions with intense listening, advice and encouragement. Comorbidity is not unusual in teenagers, and possible pathology, including anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, learning disability or attention deficit hyperactive disorder, should be searched for and treated, if present (Blackman, 1995). For the more severe cases of depression, especially those with constant symptoms, medication may be necessary and without pharmaceutical treatment, depressive conditions could escalate and become fatal. Brown (1996) added that regardless of the type of treatment chosen, "it is important for children suffering from mood disorders to receive prompt treatment because early onset places children at a greater risk for multiple episodes of depression throughout their life span." Until recently, adolescent depression has been largely ignored by health professionals but now several means of diagnosis and treatment exist. Although most teenagers can successfully climb the mountain of emotional and psychological obstacles that lie in their paths, there are some who find themselves overwhelmed and full of stress. How can parents and friends help out these troubled teens? And what can these teens do about their constant and intense sad moods? With the help of teachers, school counselors, mental health professionals, parents, and other caring adults, the severity of a teen's depression can not only be accurately evaluated, but plans can be made to improve his or her well-being and ability to fully engage life. References Blackman, M. (1995, May). You asked about... adolescent depression. The Canadian Journal of CME [Internet]. Available HTTP: http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p51-dp01.html. Brown, A. (1996, Winter). Mood disorders in children and adolescents. NARSAD Research Newsletter [Internet]. Available HTTP: http://www.mhsource.com/advocacy/narsad/childmood.html. Lasko, D.S., et al. (1996). Adolescent depressed mood and parental unhappiness. Adolescence, 31 (121), 49-57. Oster, G. D., & Montgomery, S. S. (1996). Moody or depressed: The masks of teenage depression. Self Help & Psychology [Internet]. Available HTTP: http://www.cybertowers.com/selfhelp/articles/cf/moodepre.html. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Adult PTSD.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Adult PTSD Epidemiology At least 50% of all adults and children are exposed to a psychologically traumatic event (such as a life-threatening assault or accident, humanmade or natural disaster, or war). As many as 67% of trauma survivors experience lasting psychosocial impairment, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); panic, phobic, or generalized anxiety disorders; depression; or substance abuse.(Van der Kolk, et al, 1994) Symptoms of PTSD include persistent involuntary re-experiencing of traumatic distress, emotional numbing and detachment from other people, and hyperarousal (irritability, insomnia, fearfulness, nervous agitation). PTSD is linked to structural neurochemical changes in the central nervous system which may have a direct biological effect on health, such as vulnerability to hypertension and atherosclerotic heart disease; abnormalities in thyroid and other hormone functions; increased susceptibility to infections and immunologic disorders; and problems with pain perception, pain tolerance, and chronic pain.(Fesler, 1991) PTSD is associated with significant behavioral health risks, including smoking, poor nutrition, conflict or violence in intimate relationships, and anger or hostility. Veteran PTSD Etiology American Veterans experienced war-related trauma in Vietnam.(Friedman, 1998) The war traumas included being on frequent or prolonged combat missions in enemy territory, encountering ambushes and firefights, being attacked by sappers, snipers, artillery or rockets. They witnessed death and terrible harm to their own and others bodies while being under fire on helicopters, cargo and reconnaissance aircraft, and patrol boats. They often were assigned very hazardous duty such as walking point, radio operator, medic, scout, tunnel rat, sentry or door gunner. Other people-spouses, children, family members, friends, or co-workers-often are more aware of the veteran's emotional distress than he is himself.(Scurfeild, 1993) Many veterans are unable to leave behind the trauma of Vietnam and psychologically return home. They struggle with a variety of extremely severe problems that neither they nor their families, friends, or communities knew how to understand or cope with. Many of the following symptoms are found in adult sufferers of PTSD whether veterans of war or other forms of PTSD survivors. v Fears (such as of closed spaces, crowds, unfamiliar places, or sudden attack) v Anxiety (such as restlessness, obsessive worries, compulsive rituals) v Panic (such as a terror of losing control, suffocating, or going crazy) v Depression (such as hopelessness, loss of all interests, or suicidal impulses) v Rage, in the form of either intense violent emotions and violent actions v Irritability (such as feeling constantly annoyed, on edge, and critical) v Shame (such as feeling embarrassed, exposed, violated, or like a misfit) v Guilt (such as feeling others should have lived and he should have died, or feeling that he failed or made mistakes that had terrible consequences) v Isolation (such as being physically present but emotionally absent, or going off alone for long periods of time, or refusing to talk about family matters) v Emotional emptiness (such as staring off into space blankly or refusing to show any feelings when everyone else is very emotional) v Alienation (such as feeling that no one understands or that everyone makes too much fuss about unimportant things and too little about big problems) v Over controlling (such as being extremely demanding or needing to make all decisions even if they're really someone else's responsibility) v Unable to relax (such as always being on the go, never able to have fun, or making every thing into serious work or a crisis) v Addiction (such as compulsive overuse of alcohol, drugs, or gambling) The symptoms of PTSD include: v Unwanted distressing memories or a feeling of reliving (flashbacks) traumatic experiences v Nightmares and difficulty falling or staying asleep restfully v Bodily stress and tension, especially when reminded of traumatic experiences v Loss of interest in activities and difficulty in concentrating on activities or projects v Detachment or withdrawal from emotional involvement in relationships v Difficulty feeling or expressing emotions other than irritability or frustration v Feeling like there is no future or their lives will be cut short by an untimely death v Feeling jumpy, on-edge, and easily startled v Feeling constantly unsafe and unable to let down their guard (hyper-vigilant) This is a brief overview of feelings, symptoms and etiology. As you know many , many experiences can cause PTSD in the adult. I have tried to go over what is globally experienced by PTSD victims instead of concentrating on the myriad of causes. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Aggression.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Aggression Aggression is a critical part of animal existence, which is an inherent driving force to humans, as we, too, are animals. The source of aggression within humans is a long summative list, but before trying to understand its source one must apply a working definition of aggression. Aggressive behavior is defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as any action of an animal that serves to injure an opponent or prey animal or to cause an opponent to retreat. (7) David G. Myers states that aggression is any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.(9) There are many types of aggressive behaviors, which can be differentiated from the factual act to the hidden motives. For example, an aggressive behavior can be negative or positive, accidental or intended, and physical or mental. Aggression can take numerous forms, the act of hitting a wall to release aggression has some of the same roots as playing football and enjoying hitting the quarterback. A child yelling at his parents could be equated, in its aggressiveness, with hitting one's horn when one is cut off on 495. Aggression is also a relative construct. What might seem like a terribly aggressive act to one person, most often the victim, might seem like an induced response to the perpetrator.(3) Psychologist Arlene Stillwell performed an experiment where she assigned ordinary college students at random to play the role of a victim or a perpetrator in a small incident. Then she asked the students to describe the situation that had just transpired. What she found was that both victims and perpetrators deformed the truth equally to present their sides in a better light. Victims would dwell on their lasting traumas from the incident while the perpetrator might make the act seem like a one-time action provoked by insurmountable circumstances. The resulting implication is that aggression is in the eye of the beholder.(3) Due to its relative nature aggression is extremely hard to isolate and study. Some acts are very easy to categorize as aggressive, a first degree murder or first degree rape, but is negligent manslaughter aggressive? The mere act of not shoveling one's sidewalk might have the same effect as a cold-blooded murder but is it an aggressive act? For the purposes of this paper aggression will be related to the four conditions presented by Gerda Siann. They are as follows; 1. The person carrying out that behavior, the aggressor, does so with intention. 2. The behavior is taking place within an interpersonal situation which is characterized by an accumulated distress or a opposition. 3. The aggressor intends by the behavior in question to gain a greater advantage than the person on the other side of the aggression. 4. The aggressor carrying out the behavior has either provoked the situation or moved the conflict unto a higher degree of strength.(11) Aggression has numerous reasons and consequences both must be analyzed in order to see from whence it arises. An explicit example of the strength of both nature and nurture concerning aggression is the life of Kody Scott, a young gang member of California. He was already a gang member in middle school, and would not have been had the gang not already been in place when he graduated from elementary school - thus environment's role in aggressive behavior, but one fateful day when he stole a car to get to the hospital for the birth of his first child, he intentionally detoured through the neighborhood of a rival gang and killed a rival gang member. The detour he deliberately took was a conscious decision and not provoked by the environment - hence nature's toll on his aggressive act.(3) Aggression is usually associated with negative aspects of the world.(3) This is not necessarily true, though. Negativity is but half of the nature of aggression. Aggression can have very positive results. For example, a non-aggressive hockey player gets thrown around and will therefore not perform very well in an bellicose sport. On the other hand an aggressive player will not allow himself to be thrown around like the aforementioned player and will most likely win the small battles just based on the mentality of the player.(5) Another example of positive aspects of aggression might be a person's sexual aggressiveness might allow them to obtain a date to prom without any problem, whereas anyone much less aggressive person would be passive and wait for the person to approach them. One good aspects of aggressiveness might be ambitiousness or assertiveness, an aggressive person is more likely to get what they need done as opposed to the inactive person. Outgoing, a socially positive trait is nothing more than aggressiveness personified. A female high school senior might be more successful and be rewarded (by being voted for Best Personality in the MOCK awards) for being socially aggressive - outgoing. Aggression can also be characterized by mentality. Where one hurts someone out of rage or whether one thinks of numerous ways of hurting someone, aggression still is present in both situations. The thoughts of a people, for example the Germans in World War Two can be just as aggressive as the act as the systematic murder of the Jewish community.(8) Aggression in this case was an extreme example of a spiraling staircase. The Nazi party did not begin a process of systematic murder at the beginning of their rule, first they instituted a hate as scapegoats toward the Jews, they then removed some luxuries that the Jews had, then they removed citizenship, followed by imprisonment, then to slave labor, and lastly the "Final Solution" was implemented. The thoughts of hatred at the beginning of the platform was just as dangerous and aggressive as the gas chambers of late WWII. These aggressive feelings allowed the Germans to desensitize each other to a point of genocide.(11) By solely disliking someone they looked the other way when the book burning began, then it was just a small step to the first pogrom, then they just accepted the de-humanization of Jews, and this was followed by an escalating progress which led eventually to the inhumane murder of close to six million human lives. Along with these pure feelings of anger and hatred -aggression-the Germans also tried to scapegoat and thereby provide catharsis for themselves by blaming the downfall of their troubles on the Jewish community. This displacement somehow released pent up rage that had been present for numerous years of misery for the Germans.(3, Handler) Thus thoughts also cause aggression or are manifestations of the pure aggression. The most obvious example of aggression is killing, for that reason the example for this paper will be the untimely death of people as caused by others. From very young ages death permeates into all of our lives. From having a loved grandparents passing away to the learning how to read the newspaper and reading about terrible deaths daily, if not more often. One strong argument supports that people have built-in aggression. Much like the theories of Freud, that people have instinctual aggression, whether sexual or violent, a multitude of scientists and psychologists believe that biology is crucial in the development of aggression.(9) For example aggression has been correlated numerous times in a significant way with testosterone.(1) One psychologist, Jack Hokanson, has tracked catharsis theories for a number of years. One experiment performed by this man seemed to point that in order to reduce violence or aggression men would react angrily, whereas women would react in a friendly manner when presented with aggressive behaviors.(2) The variable that was tested here were the differences in the genders which proved to be quite polar, for the men were belligerent and the women were almost uniformly kind.(12) Differences in physical strength also have provided for differences in aggression levels between the two sexes. Since men are physically built stronger than women they are more likely to become aggressive than are women who are not, in general, as physically strong. Neurotransmitters seem to play a very important part in the aggressive nature of mammals. As tested in monkeys, who have matching 99 percent of their genes with humans, it has been found that hyper-aggressive or antisocial monkeys have a deficit of the neurotransmitter serotonin. As an interesting side note the leaders, who have a different type of aggression -assertion-have higher levels of this same chemical.(1) In this same study the monkeys seemed to have very predictable heredity patterns, In which the monkeys were found to easily exhibit the same behavior as the father. This was also found to be true "in men who have been discharged from the Marines for excessive violence, as well as in criminals in Finland who committed acts of wanton violence."(8) Seratonin has also found to be an inhibiting factor concerning aggression. A situation or condition that reduces seratonin levels is among drugs, hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a condition of lowered blood sugar, certain diets can cause or inhibit the onset of this condition, thus directly affecting genetically the aggressive behavior of a person.(12) On the topic of diets an correlation has been found with the corn (a food that decreases the levels of seratonin in the brain) intake of a country and the homicide rates, an obviously aggressive marker.(10) Another chemical in the human machine that causes or has been related to has been the "anger hormone" -adrenaline and its counterpart noradrenaline. This is inherent in the flight or fight reflex, in which fighting is usually prepared by a flush of adrenaline into the system, and anger/aggression are integral parts of it.(12) Stanley Hall found that anger has numerous different effects on the human body, depending on the person. Aggression can cause either an increase or a decrease in heart rate depending on the anger causing stimulus.(12) For example, a psychologist named Albert F. Ax found that his test subjects were experiencing the slowing of their hearts because they were concentrating too hard on the event supposed to turn them aggressive, in the case of his experiment a mugger.(12) Another study done by a man named Eron in 1987, showed that most children, who when described by their peers as having high levels of aggression, are three times as likely to have a criminal conviction by the age of 30 than those children who were rated as having high levels of pro-social behavior.(10) That study shows the apparent stability, or lack of change, in the behavior of people thereby fueling the genetic, or nature, side of the nature versus nurture war that is currently being fought. Epilepsy has also been affiliated with aggressive behavior or at least with outbursts of it. A very strong correlation has been made between the focus of epileptic discharges being in the temporal lobe of the brain and discharges of violent and aggressive behavior. (1) That condition can be helped by psychosurgery but is not used as common as possible because the biological age group who most is affected by this circumstance are juveniles or violent offenders who are not capable of giving unbiased, informed consent to irreversible procedures. Furthermore, evidence liking antisocial conduct-aggression-with abnormal electrical activity in the temporal lobes. Using a electroencephalogram (EEG) to study these waves of electricity in the temporal lobe of sufferers of a sociopath complex, psychologists have surmised that the aggressive personality disorders are related to a delay of maturation in these areas of the brain, this could be cause by a innumerable amount of factors like fetal infection, brain trauma, or lack of proper nutrients in diet.(1) In 1969 a psychologist by the name of Williams used an EEG on 333 men convicted of crimes and found that out of the 206 men who had a history of crimes has a disruption, or dysrhythmias, in the temporal lobes. Following the genetic track of aggression is the undeniable fact that aggressive behavior also declines sharply with age.(10) Another physiological factor that might affect the aggressiveness and even violence level of a person is that of cerebral trauma, especially diseases. These people who exhibit an "impairment of the control systems of the brain" also have been known to occasionally suffer from persistent brain immaturity, brain damage, or toxic impairment of the brain. There has also been presented the single-gene notion about psychopath or sociopath behavior. Researchers have found that significant number of prisoners have an extra sex chromosomes, for example an "XXY" or "XYY".(12) Their being in jail does not seem to be the root of their problem but rather it seems to stem from "their low level of intelligence," which is inherently a genetically influence aspect, according to Robert A. Baron.(10) In post-war studies, studies of the most aggressive of all activities, there have been similarities found with soldier. For example several senior U.S. Air Force officers have stated that when the Air Force tried to pre-select fighter pilots after world war two the only common denominator between their WWII aces was that they had all been involved in numerous altercations as children. Not as bullies but rather as fighters, the type of person who would not back down once attacked or hurt. This seemed like a strange connection between the type of job and a similarity in childhood activities, because significantly less than a third of school populations engage in fights on a regular basis. This seems to point at a genetic capacity for violence and aggression. More informally, Gwynne Dyer has felt, through his experiences as a soldier, his genes at work as he says; Aggression is certainly part of our genetic makeup, and necessarily so, but the normal human being's quota of aggression will not cause him to kill acquaintances, let alone wage war against strangers from a different country....The overwhelming majority of those who have killed...have done so as soldiers in war, and we recognize that that has practically nothing to do with the kind of personal aggression that would endanger us as their fellow citizens. (8) Here a regular serving soldier spoke with experience of seeing the numerous soldiers that "[derived] their greatest satisfaction from male companionship, from excitement, and from the conquering of physical obstacles." Those men were most likely part of the 2 percent of combat soldiers (as noted by Swank and Marchand's WWII study) are predisposed to be "aggressive psychopaths."(8) Men can be compared to animals concerning this apparent predisposition to aggression. For example, in most species it is the best hunter, the best fighter, the most aggressive male who ends up passing on his genetic data unto a female and thereby an offspring. An offshoot of this aggressive psychopath, is another genetic predisposition, the presence or apathy of empathy for others. Life magazine printed in their latest magazine that, "the heritability of most personality traits is about 50 percent."(4) Thus showing the strong predisposition to certain behaviors, namely aggression. Furthermore, "aggression...[is a trait] with high heritability."(4) As a result of this there has been recent debate in some states, like Minnesota, who have been trying to obtain a sort of genetic cleansing by not allowing the "riff-raff" of society to breed. This ethical question shoots back to days of 19th century anthropologist Francis Galton who also recommended breeding quotas to weed out the "unfit."(4) It also sounds much like the callings of another well-known historical figure from the 1940's, the leader of the Third Reich, Adolph Hitler.(Handler) Nurturing also presents a strong argument for the development of violence and or aggression. Going back to the situation with Kody Scott, how could he have killed his rival gang member had he not been there, the environment and the years of spending in a violent gang helped him make the choice to cold-bloodedly execute the young man.(3) One of the most heated debates going on today is the conditioning value of movies and the rest of the media. Do movies really affect us in aggressive ways? The United States Navy seems to think so, for one of their psychiatrists developed a "formula" to psychologically enable certain soldiers to become assassins and this process consists of using violent movies. They do perform this process in order to desensitize the government paid assassin to murders, executions, and unfeeling deaths. There appear to be three major types of conditioning occurring with the media concerning violence. First, there is a classical conditioning when people sit at home and see detailed, horrible suffering of people and they are associating this killing and suffering with their enjoyment, with a big container of pop-corn, with their favorite soft-drink, and with their friends and company, all things that the person sees as positive. B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning comes into play through interactive video games where there is a reward for killing or destroying numerous things with no concern for their well-being. Lastly, social learning as described by Bandura seems to take in mind the numerous role models who people see nowadays in the movies.(8) For example, in the movie Pulp Fiction, the hero Butch (Bruce Willis) ends up killing two people and he is glorified at the end of the movie. He makes up with the person who was chasing him, makes a large amount of money, survives the two homosexual rapists, and goes off to a paradise with his girlfriend. There is not much more of a perfect example of someone who could potentially be seen as a good guy who actually smokes, cheats, kills, lies, and steals. Children also develop attachments to the type of behavior exhibited by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Robert Deniro from either Goodfellas or Heat.(9) Both of these turn into obvious role models for children and adolescents. Media such as cartoons presents the evil villain as someone who always has a sadistic desire for destruction of ransom impersonal someone. More often than not, thought, they are not like "you." For example, in the movie Die Hard III Bruce Wilis is the protagonist and Jeremy Irons is the antagonist. Bruce Wilis, being the good guy, is an all-American type of guy, who speaks almost perfect New York English. On the other hand the villain, Jeremy Irons has an accent which sounds as if it were from Germanic Europe (Germany is a very good stereotypical evil because of its activities in the early 20th century). This promotes aggression between people of differing descents because the media presents a view that blatantly states foreign people are enemies.(3) Movies also tend to give the feeling that the victim will be dehumanized, much like how in Vietnam soldiers referred to "the enemy" as VC or Charlie, thus removing any individualistic characteristics from the enemy, it turned to be just one single, foreign foe.(3,8) This social phenomenon especially holds true since most criminals and aggressors generally have a below-average intelligence, thus are more mentally malleable. Leonard Berkowitz found that; There is a remarkable consistency to these findings. The studies reviewed here agree in noting that punitive parental disciplinary methods (such as physical punishment and depriving children of privileges) ten to be associated with a high level of aggression and other forms of antisocial behavior by the children. Love-oriented disciplinary methods on the other hand, evidently facilitate the development of conscience and internalized restraints against socially disapproved behavior.(12) This is very important in the development of children for most sexual offenders, whether rapists or child abusers, were often time abused themselves as a child or adolescent. Punishment inherently increases resentment and hostility, thus creating an environment where the child does not care for the parents and all of the associations that can be made with the parent, like their morals, rules, and respects. Isolation also tends to have a very strong effect on the mentality of aggression. Usually with a lack of interpersonal relationships people cannot fully appreciate the human existence and most often do not learn how to handle destructive urges because they do not care about society, which innately is an interpersonal relationship.(6) The aforementioned monkeys with the lower seratonin levels also, when normal, became hyper-aggressive social misfits when reared by a mechanized surrogate mother, who did not give the monkeys affection. This brings up Freud's theory of repressed memories, in which the person puts traumatic experiences from their past into their subconscious.(1) Freud believed that these repressed memories will surface in the form of disorders and problems, mostly exhibited through either sexual dysfunction or violence.(9) Therefore our early surroundings affect us for most of our lives, at least according to Sigmund Freud. Environment and exposure compounds any genetic factors, for instance, the inner parts of Washington D.C. have considerably higher aggressive crime rates (murder, rape, aggravated assault) than a Maryland suburb like the Derwood/Olney/Flower Hill area does. Reasons for such rates are that the city houses more people closer to the poverty line.(3) These people have constant stresses that people do not need to deal with in the suburbs. Drugs and alcohol are also a considerably stronger force in the city. Those two intoxicants allow people to perform acts that they would regularly not have the mind to do. For example, alcohol is consumed, a person looses their inhibitory brain functions and are more likely to "forget" the consequences of an aggravated assault or a murder.(3,9) For that reason it is likely that there was a rash of psychopathic killers in the Russo-Asiatic area in the past decades. In cities, because of the higher level drug business there is a greater need for guns and weapons. Due to the higher level of guns intrinsically there will be more murder and violence. The environment thus fuels the violent nature of the city-dwellers. Immediate environment also tends to influence aggression. For example, a person could be inadvertently aggressive toward another in the following way; One person sits down at the only open stool in a bar, he orders a bowl of pretzels and a cold beer. The bartender brings him his beer, and he begins to read his newspaper. Suddenly the person next to him eats a pretzel, without saying a word. At this the person is shocked, and thinks, "how can this cruel person be eating my pretzels?" Out of fear for starting an argument he says nothing but eats one of the pretzels and both men take turns eating pretzels from the bowl until they are gone. The other man then puts money for his beer down and walks away. The first man then thinks, "Wow! I am glad that evil person is gone, who would steal a complete strangers pretzels, Honestly?" The bartender then arrives and says, "here is your pretzel bowl enjoy."(3, Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) The victim immediately turned into the aggressor by taking the other man's pretzels. Thus inadvertently being extremely aggressive towards another human. Immediate distance also generally affects the aggressiveness level of a person, especially when killing is involved. The tendency is as follows; the further away one is from the intended victim the least resistance there will be towards committing the act of aggression. The bomber pilots who firebombed the city of Dresden, Hamburg, or Tokyo caused the deaths of about 400,000 people but not once did they hear the screaming or see the faces of the untold number of children, women, and elderly that they killed. (3,8,Handler) On the other hand, a person within knife range of person will have a more traumatic repercussions of killing someone. Whereas the artillery sergeant will never see the face of his victims, the infantry man will see the terrible contortions of their victims' faces and hear their pitiful screams as a bullet rips through the inner lining of their stomach and all intestinal acid seeps onto the rest of their organs.(8) It is a much more traumatic experience and will thereby lower the aggressive level and might even make the aggressor penitent. For example one WWII soldiers, William Manchester, states how; There was a door which meant there was another room and the sniper was in that - and I just broke that down. I was just absolutely gropped by the fear that this man would expect me and would shoot me. But as it turned out he was in a sniper harness and he couldn't turn around fast enough. He was entangled in the harness so I shot him with a .45 and I felt remorse and shame. I just remember whispering foolishly, "I'm sorry" and then just throwing up.(8) This point of view contrasts sharply with the prerogative of J. Douglas Harvey a World War II bomber pilot who upon visiting rebuilt Berlin said, "I could not visualize the horrible deaths my bombs...had caused here. I had no feeling of guilt."(8) Another important factor involving the aggression of people are other people. Very few times does an aggressive act stand alone, there is almost always mutual fault and/or shared blame. David Luckenbill found, in one of his studies, that the major part of criminal homicide revolved around some sort of reciprocal provocations in which collective hostility escalated until one person murdered the other.(3) Murray Straus found the same circumstance appeared in marital violence. In half of the reported cases of domestic violence it was found that both spouses were violent, it just tended to be that one person was considerably stronger than the other.(3) Aggressive behavior has been a huge part of humankind since people first starting walking somewhat erect. From our predecessor the "killer ape" to the intricacies of nuclear warfare. Whether it is a "caveman" clubbing his enemy for stealing his food, or a highly paid sniper sitting atop a roof waiting for a South American dictator to walk out of his house, aggression follows us wherever we might go. Aggression is a force that is hard to imagine and even harder to harness. Should people ever learn to control and thereby use their aggression towards greater good, the walls we now know would crumble easily under the forcing of such a force. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Alcoholism.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alcoholism The word alcoholic means anyone who is affected by drinking, and seriously influences or interferes with his/her work, family, or health. Alcoholism is disease, and as such is one of the three worst killer diseases. When someone becomes a alcoholic his/her spouse is usually one of the last people to know about it. Once you become a alcoholic it can not be cured. In the United States Of America fifty percent of boys drink alcohol at least once a week, also seventy percent of adults drink alcohol. Young people usually drink more heavily than adults. Alcoholics drink so much alcohol that their liver may not burn off the alcohol as good as it should so it stays in their bloodstream longer. Drinking alcohol while you are pregnant even in small amounts can harm your child. The most common symptom from this is reducing the child's weight and making it easier for the child to become sick. Drinking alcohol even after you have your child and are breast feeding it the alcohol can go through the milk and into your child. One way to tell you might be developing a drinking problem is if you finish your drink way faster than your friends, another way to tell is if you like to drink alone a lot. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Alienated People.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alienated People The Oxford dictionary defines alienation as; to estrange, isolate, detach, distance, to put a distance, to turn away from another person. Alienation, like a lot of other social attitudes and concepts, can give a wide variety of interests. I have found six main points in The Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychoanalysis that have gotten the most attention and things written about alienation; A) Powerlessness: The feeling, belief, or expectancy that a persons behavior can't control some events whether positive or negative, B) Meaninglessness: The person feels incomprehensive in his/her social life and feels the "absurdity of life", C) Normlessness: High expectancies for, or commitment to socially unapproved ways to achieving a goal, one will go about achieving a goal in a not normally excepted way, D) Cultural Estrangement: person's individual values rejected by society, the image that the alienated value's not being standard to that of the environment around him/her, E) Social Isolation: The individuals low expectancy for inclusion and social exceptance, being lonely and commonly found a member of a minority or physically disabled, F) Self Estrangement: This focuses on the discrepancy or differences between one's ideal self and one's actual self. In the novel, The Metamorphosis, Gregor wakes up one morning as a giant insect and feels out of place. When Gregor sees his father and his attitude to him, Gregor feels alienated in that fact that his father yells and shows his anger and frustration to his son and throws an apple which gets stuck in his slimy backside. His father feels Gregor has not become successful and a failure. He probably also feels that he has let his sister down along with his mother for not being supportive enough as the father was not. Continuing with the same concept of Mr. Samsa not being a good father, Gregor felt alienated again by his mother and sister by not filling in the father role while his father was out or doing whatever. His mom and sister took things out of his room and the only thing left was a picture of a woman who he probably felt was the only thing close to him. His boss surely wasn't and his family was sure not there either. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya gets an incredible toothache and is taken to the dentist who refuses to work on her because of her race. Because of Dr. Lincoln and his nurses, Maya feels distrusted, hated, and these things prevent her from receiving her share of community respect. She remains unacknowledged except by her black neighbors. Towards the end of the novel, Maya lacks parental support and runs away. Sleeping in old cars and meeting other run away children as independent as she is. She feels abandoned by family but gains trust in the gang members and enjoy the illusion of freedom. She has nowhere to go and has no choice but to go with these hoodlums and try to survive, she's lost on the inside. Looking at my workbook and the notes I have taken, I find some interesting points on alienation. The modernist growing sense of self-fragmentation, alienation, and self-violence in the name of trying to find some comprehensive vision of human purpose (the CD-ROM to workbook) has become completely impossible for some humans. The media and new technologies are disrupting the way we want to live and corrupting our everyday lives. There is no perfect way to live but these things are blocking us and trying to pursue us into believing that these are the things that will make life better. In the same light as the media, these people have constructed the truth. They have twisted some forms of it making the interviewed seem more demented and pre-mediated in the things they do. Doing articles to get paid and not all truly into the article or having any interest in it at all. I feel most reporters want to get the dirt on people because the story will sell or people want to only see the nasty things about people which I also believe is very true. We need to stop looking at the bad things as interesting and focus on the good things people are doing today and acknowledge them. The media really separates the two ideas. Urban life and huge cities have alienated us from the real American way of living compared to a small town or country. Driving through small cities we don't see large buildings and bright lights, but average farmers putting in a decent days work to provide us big wigs with food everyday. Fields and roadside markets with the old American style. We probably sometimes feel different entering these places but we are not use to seeing it and it makes us believe in something but we don't exactly know what that something is. Whether it's the way we live or the way we want to live, urbanized life has changed our society as a whole. The density of our population has come to be so great that we feel alienated even in our own community. I feel alienated in college because of the enormous amount of people and the way people treat each other. Only knowing a small amount of people compared to the population is hard and can sometimes be mentally tiring on a person especially if they have one or two friends. Moving to another city is another great example of being alienated because you don't know anybody. When I first came here to Arizona State I felt weird because I didn't know anyone and it took me some time to get know the people and the professors teaching me. Life can be much easier I feel if you meet new people everyday and get to know the diversity around you. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\An eating disorder is a way of using food to work out emotional problems.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ An eating disorder is a way of using food to work out emotional problems. These illnesses develop because of emotional and/or psychological problems. Eating disorders are the way some people deal with stress. In today's society, teenagers are pressured into thinking that bring thin is the same thing as being happy. Chemical balances in the brain that may also result in depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, and bi-polar disorders may also cause some eating disorders. Other causes may be emotional events, illnesses, marital or family problems, manic depression, or ending a relationship. Over eight million Americans suffer from eating disorders. Over 80% of girls under age thirteen admit to dieting, one of the main factors linked to eating disorders. Although eating disorders are mainly found in middle- to upper class, highly educated, Caucasian, female adolescents, no culture or age group is immune to them (EDA HP, n.p.). The three major eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and compulsive over-eating or binge-eating. The most dangerous eating disorder is anorexia nervosa. "Anorexia nervosa translates to "nervous loss of hunger". It is a mental illness involving the irrational fear of gaining weight. Usually, the victim is a perfectionist, although he or she may suffer from a low self-esteem. In general, a member of the opposite sex triggers anorexia. The first disease resembling present-day anorexia is one called "Anorexia Mirabilis," or "Miraculous lack of appetite." It is described as a disease of insanity, possibly like cancer, tuberculosis, or diabetes. It was believed to arise from a diseased mental state. Sir William Gull, a physician to England's royal family, said that these anorexics were suffering from "a perversion of the will" (Silverson). In 1888, a French psychiatrist, Charles Lasegue viewed anorexia from a social standpoint. He believed it was a way of rebelling. The Children of this time were expected to and forced to clean their plates. They were also accustomed to well-regulated meal times. Another cause of the disease in the Victorian era may have been women's expectations, such as to remain home after childhood. Their only job was to get married and enhance the family's social status. No emotional outbursts, such as temper tantrums were permitted. The family life was suffocating, but a young woman was able to protest in a semi-acceptable manner by not eating. If she became ill, she became the center of attention and concern, often her goal. Victorian women kept with the ideals of the time by refusing food and restricting any intake. A hearty appetite was said to represent sexuality and a lack of self-control, which was strictly prohibited for women. The era was emphasized by spirituality, which also had an impact on the restriction of meat. Ironically, most of the women were large, as common meals were high in starches. Medical evidence of the existence of anorexia has been documented as far back as 1873. It was decided that this refusal of food was to attract attention. An American neurologist, Silas Weir Mitchell saw anorexia as a form of neurasthenia, a nervous disorder characterized by nervous exhaustion and lack of motivation. Mitchell thought the disease was caused by any stressful life situation in combination with social pressure. Treatment was a so-called "parentectomy," which was removal from the home, and force-feeding, if necessary. Mitchell preferred the pampering method, consisting of a diet low in fats, total seclusion, bed-rest, and massage therapy. Sigmund Freud, a psychiatrist from Vienna, believed that anorexia was a physical manifestation of an emotional conflict. He believed that anorexia might be linked to the subconscious desire to prevent normal sexual development. In the 1930s, doctors theorized that the only way to permanently recover from anorexia was to explore the cause of the disease in the individual, in addition to weight gain. In 1973, Dr. Hilde Bruch brought the disease to light for the first time with her book, Eating Disorders: Obesity, Anorexia Nervosa, and the Person Within. She believed that anorexics had "sever body-image disturbances that made them unable to identify with and express their emotions" (Bruch). In 1982, scientists at the Edinburgh hospital in England hypothesized that anorexia had a physical basis. These scientists conducted an experiment with 22 volunteers, ten of which were recognized as anorexics. The anorexics claimed to feel full several hours after eating, supporting the idea that anorexia may have been a digestive disorder. They disregarded this theory as they noticed that waste excretion was equal to the normal samples'. Anorexia was finally recognized as an eating disorder in the late 1870s. Anorexics use food to focus on controlling their life by starving to death. Ultimately, the illness takes control and the chemical changes in the body affect the brain and distort thinking, making it impossible for the person to make rational decisions, especially about eating. Sa the illness progresses, the victim will suffer from a form of exhaustion from food deprivation. If left untreated, anorexia can result in death as the body literally feeds off the person's organs, muscles, and tissue. Anorexia can cause moodiness and fatigue. Anorexics are hungry all the time, and their mainstream of thinking revolves around food, sometimes to the point of obsession (Silverson, 9). Physical symptoms of the illness make it very easy to recognize, such as a constant feeling of coldness, fine hair growth as a result of decrease in body temperature, lack of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and dehydration cause the skin to turn brownish and crack, hair falls out, and lack of potassium causes kidney and heart failure (Epstein, 55). Often, anorexics claim to feel better after they begin to restrict their diet. More than 90% of cases of anorexia are women. Factors that contribute to the illness are personality, family relationship, and distorted body image. For a young man, anorexia is often a result of dieting to over-come obesity or to attract a member of the opposite sex. As the victim begins to lose weight from the restricted diet, she enjoys the extra admiration and attention she receives. As the comments stop, as a result of her becoming too thin, she assumes that she is too fat, that her diet is failing, and she restricts her food intake even more. Although anorexia is the most dangerous eating disorder, it is certainly not the only eating disorder that can harm mental and physical health. In addition to anorexia, another dangerous eating disorder is bulimia. Bulimia is different from anorexia in that bulimics eat continually, or have large amounts of food in a short period of time, and the throw up or purge in some way to prevent gaining weight from the food (Vitkus 115). Bulimia was first described in the late nineteenth century, but did not receive much attention until the 1940s, when it was thought to be a symptom of anorexia. Because of this supposed relationship, the disease was first called "bulimarexia." In 1979, it was declared to be a separate disease, and named "bulimia," a name that means "ox hunger." Bulimics are easier to diagnose than anorexics, as they are not hungry during assessment, and depression is also noticed. In order for bulimia to be classified, certain criteria must be met, including the food binge must be ingested within a two-hour time frame, terminated by sleep, social interruption, abdominal pain, or self-induced vomiting, and the episodes must occur at least twice a week for over three months. Bulimia is most often caused by problems in dieting. A person who goes off the diet and binges may purge to relieve himself from the guilt because of it. Bulimia most often occurs in the late teens to early twenties (Worsnop 1100). The severity of the illness varies with the individual and the length of time that the illness has progressed. A bulimic binge may be anywhere from a simple ice cream cone to ten thousand calories in a two-hour time span. Purging is the relief for most bulimics. Because they tend to repress anger, insecurity, anxiety, and cannot handle stress very well, purging feels as though they are being cleansed of stress as well as food. Once a person realizes she can eat anything and not gain weight, she becomes caught in a binge-purge cycle that can last for years. Bulimia, for some, is a way of feeling totally out of control one minute, and then expressing total control the next. Symptoms of bulimia are not always easy to recognize. They are difficulty swallowing and retaining food, swollen and infected salivary glands, damage to the esophagus, burst blood vessels in the eyes, and tooth decay and loss of enamel (Epstein 66). Therapists suggest that stuffing the food down symbolizes trying to fill oneself with all the things one lacks, such as love, self-esteem, and control; but purging illustrates getting rid of the guilt and unhappiness she feels about her life. One therapist sees the binge-purge cycle as a way of acting out her life: "Taking rules and definitions of others as guiding principles in her life, and then purging the fact that she cannot tolerate them and embrace them as her own" (Mathews 45). Clearly, bulimia is a devastating illness, but it is not the most common eating disorder. The most common eating disorder is compulsive over-eating. Also known as binge eating, this eating disorder is similar to bulimia, except that the food is retained. Compulsive over-eating, or binge eating is believed to be the most common eating disorder. About 10% of compulsive over-eaters are obese. Compulsive over-eating causes stress on the body, resulting in hypertension, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Bingeing is a relief from reality. It is a way to nurture disappointments as opposed to facing them. Despite large quantities of food consumed in a binge, the over-eater may suffer from nutritional shortcomings, as mainly junk food is binged. Teens who are compulsive over-eaters are often depressed, socially isolated, and have a low self-esteem. 60% of the cases are women, but no evidence of likelihood in ethnic groups. Depression is a common symptom, and in some cases, is the main cause. Binge-eaters should seek help from a psychiatrist, as the disorder is often a result in lacking in coping skills. Symptoms of binge eating include: eating more rapidly than usual, eating until uncomfortably full, eating large amounts when not physically hungry, eating alone because of embarrassment of the quantities of food consumed, and not being able to purge after consuming large quantities of food (Dobie 1). Because it is not always recognized as an eating disorder, compulsive over-eating may have the most adverse effects on health. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and compulsive over-eating are extremely serious illnesses that must be recognized before they can be treated. The media is blamed for so many distorted images of the body. People are beginning to refuse the idea, however, that thinner is better. Body shapes are known to go in and out of style. In the 1800s, plumpness was a sign of wealth and class. Thinness became a sign of beauty in the 1970s with the British super-model Twiggy. There are many treatments for eating disorders today. One of the hopes of many psychologists is that humans will begin to feel happy about the way they are, even if it is a little bigger than the media portrays as ideal. Works Cited Claypool, Jane. Food Trips and Traps; Coping With Eating Disorders. Watts, 1983. Dobie, Michael. "Losing Weight, Losing Lives." Newsday, 28 December 1982, SIRS Researcher CD-ROM. Epstein, Rachel. Eating Habits and Disorders. Philadelphia, Chelsea house, 1990. Kolodny, Nancy J. When Food's a Foe; How to Confront and Conquer Eating Disorders. Little Brown, 1987. Mathews, John R. Little Brown, 1987. Mathews, John R. Eating Disorders: Facts on File. 1991 "Recognizing Eating Disorders." Current Health 2, Highland Park, December 2000, Vol. 27, Issue 4. 24 January 2001: http://proquest.umi.com/pdq.web. Samz, Jane. Drugs and Diet. Chelsea House, 1988. Silverson, Alvin. So You Think You're Fat? All About Obesity, Anorexia, Bulimia, and other Eating Disorders. New York, 1993. "What Are Eating Disorders?" March 1999, 25 January 2001. http://my.webmd.com/content/article11680.50411. Worsnop, Richard I. Eating Disorders, CQ Researcher, Vol. 2, Issue 47; 1097-1120. Washington D.C., Congressional Quarterly Inc., 18 December 1992. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Anorexia And What Causes It.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Anorexia And What Causes It What causes Anorexia Nervosa? Eating disorders are not new. Anorexia Nervosa was first formally diagnosed in 1874, and the symptoms have been observed as far back as 300 years ago.(Walsh and Devlin 1) Although the condition has been known for centuries, it seems to be center stage now during the last decade or so. What is behind Anorexia? Is it inherited? Is Anorexia caused by some type of mental illness, or maybe environmental pressures? Does culture play a role in whether or not someone suffers from Anorexia? These questions are not easily answered,as we know if we have had any family members or close friends who have suffered from Anorexia. It's not as easily diagnosed as the measles or chickenpox, where the doctor knows exactly what the cause is. We will discover that there is no one clearcut cause for Anorexia. According to Women's Health Weekly one research study collected blood from 200 families where at least two of the siblings were suffering from Anorexia, several of the test results suggest a possible link between Anorexia and a shared suseptability gene found in many of the siblings (10) . We must keep in mind that although this research is promising it is still as of yet incomplete data, which in essence makes it a theory. This by no means suggests that there is not a biological link, but that more research needs to be done. There have also been a connection made between Anorexia and mental illness. Indeed recent research has discovered a strong link between Anorexia and several psychiatric disturbances such as; depression, agoraphobia, and social phobics to mention a few. The most promising connection is that many Anorexics are responding to a wide variety of psychiatric medication(Nagel and Jones 2). Although the numbers are not in yet, the fact that many of these people are responding to medication suggests a solid connection between mind and body. If we look at just a couple of behaviors many Anorexics display it does very much mimic that of a psychiatric disturbance. Most Anorexics are overly preoccupied with meal preparation and feeding everyone except themselves. Does this sound somewhat compulsive? Depression also seems to be a common trait among Anorexics, although the mere fact that these people are literally starving themselves can itself induce depression. One study found that 93% of their "persistant"Anorexic subjects suffered from depression. Interestingly 37% of their "recovered" Anorexics still presented with depression.(2) A less researched area is that of environmental causes. Suzette, a 41 year old mother of two relates: " My mother was always dieting, although she didn't seem occupied with other peoples weight. My mother was great and I always wanted to be like her. I was about thirteen when I stated to diet, with every pound I lost people would tell me; "Oh you look so good, just like your mother". I thought that was wonderful I just kept losing more and more". Suzette also talks about how during her adolescent years she felt pressure too from school mates and fashion magazines to maintain a certain weight. Models like Twiggy were looked at as the most beautiful and intelligent. And after all as young people who we see on T.V. and in magazines become our role models. Suzette also suggests that as time went on and fashions and women became thinner and thinner she too dieted to the point of emaciation. When asked , " If you could name one thing that caused your Anorexia what would you say?" Suzette explained that it wasn't just one thing, but to name one of the main reasons she said "It was probably mainly watching my mother's patterns as a child and wanting to be like her in every way". Suzette also points out that she never had a close relationship with her father, and that she seemed to get some recognition when she lost a few pounds. She relates he wasn't cruel to her but she had a need to please him, which she felt carried over into her married life, dragging Anorexia along with her. Although circumstantial ,evidence suggests that culture has a lot to do with whether or not a person will have an eating disorder. Here in the U.S. where there is more than enough food, girls who are at so called ideal body weight are still trying to lose more. In this country even though we promote good health our advetising on T.V., fashion magazines, and even on the World Wide Web equate thinness with beauty and good health. This type of advertisement seems to be directed toward caucasion girls in general. Black girls who do not usually develop Anorexia are more confident about their body images than are white girls of similar weights(Walsh ad Devlin3). Although it seems biology may play some part in the development of Anorexia, it seems more likely that the images that our culture bombards the youth of today with can and is overwhelming. If in the unfortunate incident that a person has a mental illness such as obsessive compulsive disorder or depression they are more likely to succumb to the pressures of being thin and therefore are more likely to develop Anorexia. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\AntiSocial.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Anti-Social In a world full of fears, perhaps the worst one a human being should have is that to be afraid of his fellow man. The human that should be most feared is the one that has Anti-Social Personality Disorder or in laymen's terms the psychopath. The psychopath is probably the most deviant mind that exists and treatment is not very successful because there is not a cure or drug to control it. The solution in my mind to control the problem of sociopaths is to let them live in colonies with each other. Through my research I will develop an understanding of this personality disorder and convince you the reader that my solution might be a viable solution. The sociopath is a combination of other mental illnesses that are incurred in childhood as a result of heredity, trauma and the lack of emotional development. The lack of moral or emotional development which gives a sociopath a lack of understanding for other people's feelings which enables them to be deceitful without feeling bad about whatever they do. The under developed emotional system as explained in the video "The World of Personality Disorders volume 5" says the sociopath is "emotionally retarded" . The sociopathic behavior problems that start as a child have links to heredity, a family with a pre-disposition to perform crimes, alcoholic parents that do crimes, irresponsible behavior that persists and parents that do not discipline. The child that will eventually be a sociopath exhibits certain feeling inside that they are inadequate, shamed and because of that they are teased and made fun of. The child characteristics of a future sociopath consist of being incapable of following the rules. The youngster will skip school, bully, steal! , torment animals, run away from home and the child is likely to develop Attention Deficit \Hyperactivity Disorder or AD|HD. At an earlier age than their peer group the child will smoke drink, do drugs, and become sexually active. The diagnoses of Anti-Social Personality Disorder is not used for people under the age of 18. The Psychopath is defined in the dictionary as a person suffering from, especially a severe mental disorder with aggressive antisocial behavior which is a nice way of saying a really bad and mean person. There are many characteristics of a sociopath and each sociopath has their own special traits. A sociopath gets great gratification in the act of hurting someone for absolutely no reason. The behavior of a sociopath is so close to normal it is extremely hard to diagnose. A sociopath is a person that acts against society and their sole purpose it seems is to act against the laws of the given land their end. The sociopath will in most cases become violent and abuse drugs and alcohol to facilitate the violent behavior. The violence in many cases is the result of sub-concious decisions that might lead to murdering or assaulting someone for no reason. When a sociopath is attacking someone they will inflict more pain if the victim fights back. The lack of moral development lets the person feel no guilt or pain for what they did and quite possibly feel great about their actions. A sociopath has little self regard for themselves and pays little attention to their own personal safety when picking fights. Quite often they will be outsized and get hurt. Some sociopaths are non-violent and stay out of prison by doing small crimes like swindling and insurance fraud. It is possible that a sociopath will come from a normal home but their are more that do not. A sociopath has the opposite morals of society and by doing things like beating up people that are stronger than them they feel like they did something positive. A psychopath is very reactive and will blow their cool because of little things and no doubt assault the person they are reacting to. There is a possibility that saratonin a chemical that is linked to behavior has something to do with the disorder but is not the major cause. The type 2 male sociopath drinks heavily no matter what, has a history of frequent fights and arrests, they are impulsive risk takers, curious, excitable, quick tempered, optimistic and independent. Characteristic List · be glib or superficial · have a grandiose self image · be deceitful or manipulative · lack of remorse · lack of empathy · be impulsive · be irresponsible · be easily angered or frustrated · have serious problems as a child or teenager · shows callous unconcern from other's feelings · disregard social norms or the rights of other people · be unable to maintain enduring relationships · be incapable of experiencing guilt · blame others or rationalize antisocial behavior · be constantly irritable The antisocial tends to have short lasting relationships if they are capable of having a relationship. The psychopath is incapable of having long lasting, close, warm and responsible relationships with people. The adult will habitually lie and cannot hold a job for long. The sociopath can seem charming in superficial social interactions but repeatedly hurt, anger, exploit, cheat, rob, harass or injure them. The actions a psychopath no matter what laws they break, whoever they hurt, whatever trouble they have to deal with they do not feel bad. When a sociopath is punished they have no feeling of regret because no matter how cruel or selfish the behavior is they feel it is justified. People like us give the sociopath little sympathy because they hurt people so bad but their illness is recognized as somewhat of an explanation of why they do it. The idea of the disorder is no excuse for their behavior that results from it. The sociopath is very intelligent and knows how to manipulate people into thinking they are normal and that is when they work their magic. Beneath the mask of sanity a sociopath is full of tension, hostility, irritability, rage, emptiness and sadness at the core of the sociopathic personality. When they hurt a person a sociopath might think he had it coming or I'm watching out for number 1. Those sociopaths with children neglect them and do not keep them safe. As a spouse the sociopath can be glib, superficial, manipulative, dishonest, abusive and unfaithful. The sociopath tends to borrow, squander and not repay the money they owe. Many sociopaths never settle down for any period of time, they will travel without aim looking for jobs or whatever they need and get it by doing anything. A sociopath may look tough and resilient but is very fragile and can erupt very easily. The diagnoses of a sociopath or psychopath is very difficult and has to meet several criteria in order to get that diagnoses. Diagnoses as explained in Caring for the Mind is based on " a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since the age of fifteen, as indicated by at least three of the following, 1. failure to conform to the social norms for lawful behavior, as indicated by repeatedly performing illegal acts that are grounds for arrest 2. deceitfulness, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure 3. impulsivity failure to plan ahead 4. irritability and aggressive , as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults 5. reckless disregard for safety of self or others 6. consistent irresponsibility as indicated by failure to keep a job or honor financial obligations 7. lack of remorse, as indicated by indifference or rationalizations for having hurt , mistreated or stolen from others · must be older than 18 to be diagnosed with it · must be evidence of a conduct disorder before the age of 15 · antisocial behavior doesn't occur only during the course of schizophrenia or manic episodes of bipolar illness Anti-Social Personality Disorder is found in as much as 75% of the prison population. Alcohol is a contributing cause or consequence of being antisocial. People that are both antisocial and alcoholic are prone to violent behavior. Not every antisocial becomes a criminal. An antisocial person's disorder peaks between the ages of 24 and 44 and drops off sharply after that. After the age of 30 the sociopath fights less and performs less crime but the illness can persist into the ages of between 60 and 70 but after 30 are less likely to be in trouble with the law. In a sociopaths in their thirties will continue to have problems such as unstable relationships, substance abuse, impulsiveness, poor temper control and failure to honor financial obligations. In our population 3% men have Anti-Social Personality Disorder and 1% women in the overall population have it. The ratio of men to women is 4 to 1. Identical twins are several times more likely to have a personality disorder compared to fraternal twins. A genetic link strongest in anti-social disorder has a pattern of irresponsible behavior 5 times more common amongst close relatives of anti-social men than in the general population. Some people with a genetic link to alcoholism have a genetic link to anti-social personality disorder too. Male relatives of people with Somatization Disor! der have a higher incidence of anti-social personality disorder ( somatization - begins in the teens to twenties and consists of chronic physical problems and complaints). Sociopaths with a history of substance abuse and criminal behavior fit Manchausen Syndrome ( Manchausen is the extreme type of factitious disorder which symptoms are lying ,falsification and pathological lying). Sociopaths also have a tendency to have a non -psychiatric condition that is called malingering which is the production of grossly exaggerated symptoms for a specific illness or problem for the purpose of winning legal action or things like committing insurance fraud or basically anything they have to lie to get. The sociopath is a bundle of problems that could come from any part of life and they are very hard to handle. If a person is diagnosed with Anti-Social Personality Disorder is very hard to treat and there is no cure for their behavior. Because the disorder remits in the thirties, it tends to be less obvious. Those that are forced into psychotherapy cannot tolerate the intimacy of the required therapy.The therapist has to focus on enhancing strength, channel the sensation of seeking actions on people into more positive socially responsible behaviors and to teach practical ways in dealing with every day frustration. Medications are not recommended in the treatment of sociopath but drugs can diminish the violent episodes. People with Anti-Social Personality Disorder also have Attention Deficit\ Hyperactivity Disorder and stimulants are used to treat that such as Ritalin. There are no long term results to study of this approach of using stimulants but they should not be prescribed unless the person is specifically diagnosed with AD\HD and has not responded to other medication. The use of drugs cannot be abused and should be closely monitored. Those that are co! nvicted of crimes are usually incarcerated. Some sociopaths may be able to instead of a jail term choose a residential facility that has counseling but there is a high drop out rate in those facilities. Another alternative to jail for the adolescents with delinquent behavior and are in trouble with the law are wilderness programs that are designed to be like Outward Bound.The camps much like that in the T.V. show Neon Rider provide difficult and dangerous challenges that would keep their minds busy. The success of the wilderness camps is not quite clear. There is a disorder called Borderline that is often misdiagnosed as Anti-Social Personality Disorder which is quite similar to it. Borderline Disorder is a little bit more aggressive than Antisocial. Characteristics of Borderline Disorder · Violating the rights of others and age appropriate societal norms or rules with at least three of the following in the past 6 months and one in the last 12 Aggression to People and Animals 1. often bullying, threatening, or intimidating others 2. often iniating fights 3. use of a weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others (bat ,brick , broken bottle, gun, knife ) 4. physical cruelty to people and animals 5. stealing in a confrontation with victim ( mugging, purse snatching, extortion, armed robbery ) 6. forcing someone into sexual activity 7. Destruction of Property - deliberate fire setting with intention to cause serious damage 8. deliberate destruction of other's property in other ways 9. Deceitfulness or Theft-breaking into someone's house, car, building 10. frequent lying to get goods, favors and avoid obligations 11. stealing items of non - trivial value without confronting the victim -forgery, shoplifting 12. Serious Violation of the Rules- often staying out all night dispite parental rules that begin before the age of 13 13. running away from home at least twice (once not returning for a lengthy period) 14. frequent truancy from school · significant impairment in functioning socially at school or work · in individuals 18 or older but symptoms don't meet criteria for Anti - Social Disorder The diagnoses of a sociopath is extremely difficult because they have so many mental problems to contend with the complete diagnoses might not occur. The possibility of being diagnosed with something similar to being a sociopath is quite great and this point should be stressed with relationship between Borderline and Anti-Social Disorder. The inability to diagnose and treat properly leads me to believe that there is not a clear solution as to how the general population should react and treat these severely troubled people. This is a disorder that blinds the emotions and actions the sociopath which in no way is their fault for having it. Although the disorder is not the given sociopath's fault there is no real place for a sociopath in our society. Because sociopaths hurt us, I believe that once diagnosed with the disorder that all sociopaths should be sent to some kind of controlled colony that would run like a normal city or town except all it's residents would be sociopaths. I come to this solution as almost a way to remove them from society and treat the people in a way to. By having sociopaths colonized together with all the parts of a normal society it would be good for them because the only people the could hurt or manipulate would be their fellow sociopath. The sociopath would be constantly bored with average person and sometimes causing them to hurt the average person when if! they were caused to interact with fellow sociopaths it would keep them interested because it is not as easy to manipulate or con. The possibility of violence in my colony is great but the sociopaths would not mind because it is in their personality and it would serve us better if they killed or hurt each other rather than us. In closing the sociopath is so hard to deal with we should make strides to control their behavior in public. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Wing , John Kenneth, Reasoning About Madness, Oxford Press, Oxford ,1978 Milt, Harry ,Basic Handbook on Mental Ilness,Scribner, New York , 1974 Hales, Dianne,Caring for the Mind, Bantam Books , New York , 1995 ARTICLES Salama M.D., Aziz A.,The Antisocial Personality,The Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa , Ottawa , 1988 Malaney M. D. , Kathleen R., Patients with Antisocial Personality Disorder, Post Graduate Medicine,1992 Unknown, unknown , Psychopathic Patients Pose Dilemma For Physicians and Society, CMAJ ,1995 Hare Ph.D.,Robert,Predators, Psycology Today , Feb. 1994 Hill, Heather,Monsters In Our Midst,Homemaker's Magazine, Oct. 1995 VIDEO The World of Abnormal Psychology Personality Disorder Word Count: 2598 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Anxiety And Pain.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Anxiety And Pain How Have Psychological Theories Elucidated the Nature of Anxiety: With Particular Reference to Panic Disorder Everybody has had experience with anxiety. Indeed anxiety responses have been found in all species right down to the sea slug (Rapee, et al 1998). The concept of anxiety was for a long time bound up with the work of Sigmund Freud where it was more commonly known as neurosis. Freud's concept of neuroses consisted of a number of conditions characterised by irrational and disproportionate fear. Through time it became apparent that the term was a) becoming to wide a term to be of any use in explanation and b) too intimately connected to psychoanalytic theory, of which many of its basic theoretical assumptions were being increasingly called into question. As successive versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) were created the term neurosis was eventually superseded by Anxiety disorder.The current version of the Manual (DSM-IV) recognises six specific categories of anxiety: phobias, panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and acute stress disorder. Obviously in an essay such as this it would be impossible to give an adequate account of psychological theories regarding all of these distinct anxiety categories. Instead this essay will focus in on one important diagnostic category, that of Panic Disorder (PD). PD is chosen as it is has such extremely debilitating effects on the patient and has also been shown to incur a large proportion of health care costs relative to other anxiety disorders (Rees, Richards, & Smith, 1998) of which more is said below. This being the case there has been much recent research conducted into elucidating the nature of the condition and this offers a good opportunity to explore the way psychological research can help us to come to an understanding of such conditions in general.The Greek God Pan used to delight in terrifying lone travellers and it is his name that is used for the psychiatric condition known as Panic Disorder, though it has gone under many names including Dacosta's syndrome, soldiers heart, neurasthenia and anxiety hysteria (Baron-Cohen 1997). The condition is characterised by sudden and overwhelming dread. It is now widely recognised that the disorder is not merely an extreme form of ordinary fear but rather a condition with its own causes and treatments. The diagnostic criteria that defines PD in the DSM-IV include: a fear and discomfort that arises suddenly and mounts to high intensity in 10 minutes or less, along with several of the following symptoms: a palpitating or pounding heart, laboured breathing, sweating, trembling, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, chills, hot flushes, choking sensations, a feeling of unreality, or a fear of collapsing, dying or going insane. The diagnostic criteria corresponds well with individual accounts of panic attacks, for example here is an account of a female sufferer:"--It started 10 years ago. I was sitting in a seminar in a hotel and this thing came out of the clear blue. I felt like I was dying. For me panic attack is almost a violent experience. I feel like I'm going insane. It makes me feel like I'm losing control in a very extreme way. My heart pounds really hard, things seem unreal, and there's this very strong feeling of impending doom." (Rapee, 1998) Typical onset of symptoms begin around late twenties and early thirties. There is a 6-month prevalence of panic disorder in major U.S. cities of around 6 in 1000 for men and 10 in 1000 for women (Weissman, 1985; cited in Baker, 1989). Onset is also associated with stressful life experiences (Pollard, Pollard & Corn, 1989; cited in Davison & Neale, 1998). PD is known to occur through a variety of cultures though it often carries with it strong cultural characteristics, for example among the Eskimo people of west Greenland it can take the form of kayak angst where symptoms include intense fear, disorientation and fear of drowning (Davison & Neale, 1998)PD has a high comorbidity with other disorders, which can make diagnosis difficult. It often occurs with or can lead to agoraphobic disorder, especially for women (Hallam, 1985). It often co-exists with major depression (Breier et al, 1986; cited in Davison & Neale, 1998) and/or alcoholism, which may function as a coping strategy, especially for males (Hallam, 1985).Research (Rees, Richards, & Smith, 1998) has shown that PD sufferers have more medical tests, use emergency services more and are more likely to be misdiagnosed than other anxiety groups i.e. social phobics. Sufferers have also been shown to incur health service costs 11 times higher than controls and 5 times higher than social phobics. This may be due to PD sufferers being misdiagnosed in the first place or simply unconvinced by a PD diagnosis in the face of intense feelings of bodily dysfunction, i.e. a perceived feeling of heart attack or choking etc (Rees, Richards, & Smith, 1998).The two prevalent psychological theories for PD are the cognitive model (Clark, 1986, cited in Baker, 1989) and the psychophysiological (PP) model (Ehlers, 1989, cited in Baker, 1989). Both models assume the PD arises as a result of a tendency to associate harmless bodily symptoms (Clark, 1986; cited in Windmann, 1998) or of "bodily and/or cognitive changes" (Ehlers, 1989; cited in Windmann, 1998) with threat of immanent attack. The models consider PD as quantitatively not qualitatively different from normal panic episodes (as opposed to the more medical models which view it as more of a qualitative difference, see Baker, 1989) on a number of different dimensions. Which include the nature of the triggering event (internal vs. external), the nature (somatic vs. psychic) and time factor (sudden vs. gradual) of the dominant symptoms and also the nature of the feared outcomes of the attacks (immediate bodily/mental catastrophes vs. long term negative events, (Margraf & Ehlers; cited in Baker 1989)).Both PP and cognitive models propose that the perception of threat based upon physical symptoms create a positive feedback loop which exacerbates the perceived feeling of panic which spirals up into a full-blown panic attack. The cognitive model refers to this process as 'cognitive misinterpretation' as sufferers erroneously take normal bodily sensations (such as increased heart rate) and catastrophically misinterpret them as signs of physical threats. The PP model extends this idea in that it also proposes that associated conditioning of fear responses can also provide panic provoking mechanisms (McNally, 1994; cited in Windmann, 1998). Any one of the features of the feedback loop could precipitate the panic attack, for instance physiological changes may occur due to activity, drug intake, situational stressors etc. The person perceives these changes though not necessarily accurately, for example heart rate may seem to increase when lying down due to a change in posture, which increases cardiac awareness, the person may associate these bodily perceptions with danger which in turn cause further anxiety which leads to more physiological changes and so-on. PP theories consider bodily sensations to be the initial precipitator of panic attacks and the PD sufferer to have characteristics that make him/her more likely to experience bodily symptoms that are likely to trigger the attack. Such attributes can include a tendency for subtle hyperventilation, 'weak neurological signs, and cardiovascular events (Margraf & Ehlers; cited in Baker, 1989).PD has also been found to run in families (Crow et al, 1987; cited in Davison & Neale, 1998) which may reflect a genetic diathesis. Klein (1980, 1981; cited in Baker, 1989), proposes that PD is linked to separation anxiety responses in early childhood. As such PD in this model is seen as a regression phenomenon whereas more evolutionary based approaches see PD as a normal if exaggerated adult response that performs an adaptive function in our species history (Baron-Cohen, 1997).Problems with the PP model include a lack of explanatory power as anxiety is said to be the result of perception of anxiety, which is a circular argument (Lang, 1988; cited in Windmann, 1998) and scientific theories need to avoid confounding explanans and explananda in the same account of a phenomena. A second problem is that the temporal succession of the 'presumed causes from the presumed consequences' is difficult to empirically disentangle, as they are strongly interdependent (Windmann, 1998 p.490). A third problem of both cognitive and PP models is that they do not explain why some people misread bodily symptoms as catastrophic whilst others do not.Cognitive models usually imply that PD sufferers have an attentional bias towards threat cues and bodily sensations (Beck, Emery & Greenberg, 1985; cited in Windmann, 1998). PD patients have been shown to have shorter response latencies to presentations of threatening words (Asmundsun, Sandler, Wilson & Walker, 1992; cited in Windmann, 1998). However it is unclear whether a cognitive bias towards threat perception in PD sufferers is a cause or a consequence of the disorder (McNally, 1994; cited in Windmann, 1998).A new model by Beck & Clark (1997) proposes a multistage information processing model. In this model a proposed threat can be detected by an early warning system, which operates subconsciously, and is purely stimulus-driven. Processing done at this stage is "relatively undifferentiated" and classifies threats only on a rough perceptual basis. This system is argued to be evolutionary useful in that a person who is 'weighted' towards more responses to possible threats, even if some of these constitute false alarms will have a greater chance of survival. And it is these false alarms that are described as 'cognitive misinterpretations' in the clinical literature (Clark, 1986, 1988; cited in Windmann, 1998). However the false alarm rates have to be minused from the 'hit rates' to be able to come to a figure of optimum survival value (see Windmann & Krüger, in press).Windmann (1998) suggests that the revised Beck & Clark (1997) model can be combined with neurobiological perspectives to provide a new model of PD. It is suggested that a dysfunction in the amygdala and the ascending transmitter system can lead to false alarm perceptions of threat, causing irrational fear and anxiety. This theory represents a monistic approach that unites the previously antithetical medical and psychological approaches. The new theory sheds some light on previously problematical aspects of PD. Some of these include the observation of groundless respiratory manoeuvres that occur during a panic attack. This can be accounted for in the new theory as the amygdala is connected to the central nuclei of respiratory regulation. It is also possible to see why antidepressants and alcohol can have alleviative effects upon PD as these should also counteract the effects of the pre-attentive alarm system (Windmann, 1998). The theory is supported by other finding of the role the amygdala has in fear production (Gloor, 1992; cited in Windmann, 1998).An implication of the theory regards the assumption that anxiety reflects an enhanced propensity to give false alarm reports regardless of the stimulus (i.e. whether it is neutral or not). The implication being that PD sufferers should display an enhanced response bias to tasks requiring the discrimination between threatening and neutral stimuli (Windmann, 1998) Although the theory is based upon the assumption of a physical dysfunction, Windmann does not go on to suggest a drug based therapeutic approach. Firstly, the problem of systemic effects that psychoactive drugs have on the whole brain often lead to unavoidable side effects, and secondly the brain's extreme plasticity, even in adulthood offer the possibility that cognitive therapies may be useful in re-organising the structure of neuronal connections which can facilitate coping stratagies for the PD sufferer.Much research is still being done into the problem of Panic Disorder. Until recently the psychological and medical approaches have tended to avoid each other. In psychology the more successful models have tended to stress the cognitive aspects of the disorder and have proven useful in providing therapies for helping sufferers re-evaluate the symptoms and enable them to cope to a certain extent with the debilitating effects of the disorder. Drug therapies can be effective in taking away the symptoms but often entail deleterious side effects and can also be addictive. The new monistic approach offered by Windmann (1998) seems to provide a conceptual framework for both the medical and psychological approaches to work together for a more encompassing understanding of the disorder. According to this model the underlying cause, whilst biological in nature, may well still benefit from being treated with psychological/cognitive methods. The theory's multidisciplinary approach also avoids the crude physical/mental distinctions that have to a large extent hindered a better understanding of the disorder until this time. REFERENCESBaker, R. (1989) Panic Disorder: Theory Research and Therapy. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Baron-Cohen, S. (1997) The Maladaptive Mind: Classical readings in Evolutionary Psychology. Hove, UK: Taylor & Francis.Davison, G.C. & Neale, J.M. (1998) Abnormal Psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Hallam, R.S. (1985) Anxiety: Psychological Perspectives on Panic and Agoraphobia. London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Rapee, R., Mattick, R. & Murrel, E. (1998) Cognitive mediation in the affective component of spontaneous panic attacks, Journal of behaviour therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, Vol. 17, pp.245-53.Rees, C.S., Richards, J.C. & Smith, L.M. (1998) Medical utilisation and cost in Panic Disorder: A comparison with Social Phobics. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Vol. 12, No. 5 Sept-Oct 98, pp. 421-435.Windmann, S. (1998) Panic Disorder from a Monistic perspective: Integrating Neurobiological and Psychological Approaches. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Vol. 12, No. 5 Sept-Oct 98, pp.486-507. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Anxiety Disorders.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Anxiety Disorders Anxiety Disorders Anxiety is a feeling of tension associated with a sense of threat of danger when the source of the danger is not known. In comparison, fear is a feeling of tension that is associated with a known source of danger. I believe it is normal for us to have some mild anxiety present in our daily lives. Everyday that I can think of I have some kind of anxiety though out that day. Anxiety warns us and enables us to get ready for the 'fight or flight' response. However, heightened anxiety is emotionally painful. It disrupts a person's daily functioning. Anxiety can be seen with several other emotional disorders including the following: Acute Stress Disorder Panic Attack Agoraphobia Phobia Anxiety Disorder Due to Medical Condition Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder There are many characteristics associated with anxiety. Frequently, people with anxiety experience tightness in their chest, a racing or pounding heart, and a pit in their stomach. Anxiety causes some people to get a headache, to sweat, and even make them have the urge to urinate. Severe anxiety, which can be described as an episode of terror, is referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks can be extremely frightening. People who experience panic attacks over a prolonged time period may become victims of agoraphobia, which is a psychiatric disorder that is closely associated with the panic disorder. Patients with Agoraphobia avoid certain places or situations such as airplanes, crowded theaters, a grocery store or anyplace from which escape might be difficult. It is said that Agoraphobia can be so severe that it has made certain individuals housebound. Some people argue that there is a genetic basis for these anxiety disorders. Research shows that there is strong evidence for a genetic basis for anxiety. If a person has anxiety, more than ten percent of his or her relatives will also suffer form some form of anxiety if not the same form that they have. It has been found that anxiety disorder affect males and females differently. Females are known to be twice as likely to suffer from anxiety than males. On the other hand, an equal number of males and females are both seen for the treatment of their anxiety. The ages that the people have anxiety attacks vary but, anxiety problems commonly begin when people are in their twenty's. This is something really great to know when you are only a year a way from being twenty. When will my anxiety start? Or has it already? There some known cases of anxiety at early ages but these are rare. Still again people of any age can suffer from anxiety and require the treatment for it. I wondered to myself how common are anxiety disorders in our society today. Then I found out how common they really are. They end up being very common. At least three percent of the population in the untied states has had or will eventually be diagnose with some form of abnormal anxiety. Being a college student I am almost positive that I am in that three percent. How lucky am I? Knowing now that I am almost at the right age to have anxiety who would diagnose a type of disorder like these? I found out that a mental health professional may diagnoses the anxiety disorder after taking a careful look at my personal history. It will be important to the therapist to learn the details of my life. It is also very important not to overlook a physical illness that might mimic or contribute to this psychological disorder since some medical illnesses can cause anxiety like symptoms. Take for instance, a person with an overactive thyroid, known as hyperthyroidism, may have symptoms similar to anxiety. This is something that the professional would pick up and diagnose you accordingly. If there would be a question whether the individual might have a physical problem, the mental health professional would recommend a complete physical examination by a medical doctor. People examined during an anxiety attack usually have rapid pulse, rapid breathing, dry mouth, and sweating palms. They might also complain of dizziness or numbness or tingling in their extremities. Laboratory tests are also a necessary part of the physical work up and check out. Anxiety disorders can be treated in several ways. The first is being Psychotherapy. This is recommend for someone with a moderate to severe anxiety problem. Secondly, antianxiety medications can be used to reduce severe anxiety. Take for example when people sometimes start experiencing a panic attack they think that they are having a heart attack, and they begin to worry that they might die. Therefore, they go to a hospital emergency room to be evaluated. Once they are evaluated and diagnosed with anxiety, they are given reassurance that they are not going to die, and they may be treated with medications to lessen their anxious symptoms. The third way that a anxiety disorder can be treated is with the help of your family. If you have a friend, family member or a loved relative they can help you cope with your hard time and make you life a little easier just with them being there and them giving you encouragement. What could happen if a person had a type of anxiety disorder? Well some forms of anxiety are sort lived. However, many people with anxiety battle the disorder for years. The prognosis for the recovery from anxiety is variable. However, with treatment many people learn to live with or control their anxiety so that they can continue to be fully functioning. I have learned through my own situations in life that anxiety can be very stressful. . Doing this paper how made me realize how really messed up I really am. I have many anxiety problems. I guess I can say though who doesn't is the world today. Not only have I learned a lot about anxiety but thorough out this semester in psychology I have learned different problems people face and what they do to help themselves get better. There are problems that I never knew existed. With the help of God may I never have any more anxiety problems. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Applying Psychological Thinking To Sports.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Applying Psychological Thinking To Sports "Sports is by far one of the fastest growing pass times in the United States" (Rainer 1987). Even if people don't take it to the professional level, sporting events are happening in our backyards, and at all of our local schools around the country. With the growing popularity and the increasing competitiveness of the sports, it will take more than just a physical advantage to compete at the highest level. This is where the psychology of sports comes into play. In my research I will cover different areas in which you can psychologically strengthen you mental and physical skills to become a more skilled and competitive athlete. Goal setting is a hugely powerful technique that can yield strong returns in all areas of you life. At its simplest level the process of setting goals and targets allows you to choose where you want to go in life. By knowing what you want to achieve, you know what you have to concentrate on and improve, and what is merely a distraction. Goal setting gives you long-term vision, and short-term motivation. By setting goals you can achieve more, improve performance, improve the quality of you training, increase your motivation to achieve, increase your pride and satisfaction in your performance, and improve your self-confidence (Bull, 1983). Research (Bull, 1983) has shown that people who use goal-setting effectively suffer less from stress and anxiety, concentrate better, show more self-confidence, perform better, and are happier with their performance. The way in which you set your goals strongly affects their effectiveness. Before you start to set goals, you should have set the background of goal setting by understanding your commitment to sports, understanding the level you want to reach within the sport, knowing the skills that will have to be acquired and the levels of performance that will be needed, and know where this will fit into your overall life goals. The following broad guidelines apply to setting effective goals. Positive statements, be precise, set priorities, write goals down to avoid confusion and give them more force, and keep operational goals small (Rainer, 1987). "Your body is a beautifully evolved sporting machine, comprising, among other things, muscles that can be trained to a peak of fitness and nerves that control the muscles" (Morris 1992). The nerves are massively linked in your brain: vast numbers of nerve cells are linked with a hugely greater number of interconnections. Many of the pathways, however, lie within the brain. These pathways can be effectively trained by the use of mental techniques such as imagery and simulation. Imagery is the process by which you can create, modify or strengthen pathways important to the co-ordination of your muscles, by training purely within your mind. Imagery rests on the important principle that you can exercise these parts of you brain with imputes from our imagination rather than from your sences: the parts of the brain that you train with imagery experience imagined and real inputs similarly, with the real inputs being merely more vividly experienced (Rainer 1987). Simulation is similar to imagery in that it seeks to improve the quality of training by teaching your brain to cope with circumstances that would not be otherwise met until an important competition was reached. Simulation, however, is carried out by making your physical training circumstances as similar as possible to the "real thing"-for example by bringing in crowds of spectators, by having performances judged, or by inviting press to a training session (Rainer 1987). Deciding your Commitment to your sport is possibly the most important "Sports Psychology" decision you will make. It is important to realize that excellence demands complete dedication: if you want to be the top athlete, then training to be the top athlete must be the most important thing in you life (Orlick 1994). Self-Confidence is arguably one of the most important things you can have. Self-confidence reflects your assessment of you own self-worth. It will play a large part in determining your happiness through life. Sports can be both enormously effective in improving self-worth, and highly destructive in damaging it (Orlick 1994). Imigery, positive thinking, and goal setting can dramatically help in ones own self-confidence. You can help yourself to routinely apply sports psychology techniques by getting into the habit of using a Training and Performance Diary before and after every training session and performance. Take a diary that has a full page for every day. Block each page into sections for Entries before the Session: goals, and Entries after the Session: achievements, errors, quality of session, and mindset. Keeping this diary has the following advantages: it focuses your attention before a session on what you need to achieve. It helps you to track the achievement of goals. It helps you to isolate areas needing improvement. It give you the raw data you need to track improvement over. It helps you to see and analyze how mood, distraction, and stress relate to performance (Orlick 1994). Part of Mental Preparation for competition is ensuring that you start your performance in a state of flow. Many high level athletes do this by developing routines that help them to focus their minds and block out distractions. These may involve complex and detailed rituals that involve preparation, detailed dressing rules, or precisely executed warm-ups. You can perform best in competition if you remember the following pointers. Enjoy the performance. Execute, analyze, and improve skills in practice, and if you make a mistake during performance, forget about it and focus on executing (Morris 1992). One thing to watch out for as you get better at a sport is loss of Focus. This can happen for two main reasons. As your reaction becomes automatic, they hold your attention less. And the other reason is because as you get better, you may find that you are not as challenged by other competitors. You may find that these focus problems have their root in goal setting: if you are setting outcome goals such as "coming first", then this will not be challenging if you win easily (Orlick 1994). Bad Moods damage your motivation to succeed in training or competition. They make you more prone to negative thinking, and cause distraction, often as you trigger bad moods in other people. Bad moods emerge as bad temper, unhappiness, lethargy and sluggishness. If you are in a good mood, then even dull training can be enjoyable. Your mood is completely under your control. You can improve you mood in the following ways: through positive thinking and suggestion, by treating each element of a performance individually, by using imagery, by reviewing your goals to remotivate yourself, and by smiling (Orlick 1994). Distraction is damaging to you performance because it interferes with your ability to focus and disrupts flow. It interferes with the attention that you need to apply to maintain good technique. This causes stress and consumes mental energy that is better applied somewhere else. "Distraction can come from a number of sources, both internal and external" (Rainer 1987), such as: the presence of loved ones you want to impress, family or relationship problems, media, teammates and other competitors, coaches who do not know when to keep quiet, frustration at mistakes, unjust criticism, poor refereeing decisions, or changes in familiar patterns. What is worth remembering is that when you are distracted, lose concentration, and make a mistake, you have not lost your skills. You have just lost your focus. The following points help to deal with distractions. Your reaction to distractions is controllable, think positive, prepare for distractions, expect distractions, learn how to change bad moods to good moods, sleep and rest more before big events (Bull 1983). Too much Stress and Anxiety can seriously affect your ability to focus on your skills and low in a performance. It is important that you recognize you are responsible for your own stress levels. Very often they are a product of the way you think. Always be aware that others may be out to manipulate your stress levels. A certain level of Stress is needed for optimal performance. If you are under too little stress then you will find it difficult to motivate yourself to give a good performance. Too little stress expresses itself in feelings of boredom and not being stretched. At an optimum level of stress you will get the benefits of alertness and activation that a good level of stress brings. Excessive levels of stress damage performance and damage your enjoyment of the sport. When you are in a competitive environment or are in an environment in which you are being evaluated, Adrenaline may enter your bloodstream. This has the following positive and negative effects on you body. Those positive include: adrenaline causes psychological arousal, it causes alertness, it prepares the body for explosive activity. Those negative effects include: it inhibits judgement, and it interferes with fine motor control (Morris 1992). Anxiety is different from stress. Anxiety comes from a concern over lack of control over circumstances. In some cases being anxious and worrying over a problem may generate a solution, normally, however, it will just result in negative thinking (Bull 1983). You need mental energy to be able to concentrate your attention and maintain good mental attitudes. If you are concentrating effectively then you can conserve physical energy by maintaining good technique when your muscles are tired. You can waste mental energy on worry, stress, fretting over distractions, and negative thinking. Over a long competition, these not only damage enjoyment, but also drain energy so that performance suffers. It is therefor important to avoid these by good use of sports psychology, and by resting effectively between events and by ensuring that you sleep properly. References *Orlick, Terry. (1994) Human Kinetics. In Pursuit of Excellence. 121-150 *Martens, Rainer. (1987) Human Kinetics. Coaches Guide to Sports Psychology . 33-38 *Bull, Stephen. (1983) Sports Psychology: A Self Help Guide. Crowood Press. 46,47 *Morris, Summers,. (1992) Wiley: Sports Psychology. 7-16 *Dorcas, Bull. Reinhold, Van Nost. (1983) Psychology of Sports: Behavior, Motivation, Personality and Performance of Athletes. 66-69 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Are We Free Within Our Culture.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Are We Free Within Our Culture? I believe that within limitation we are free in our culture. George Herbert Mead thought, "both our mind and our body are social products". He believed they were the outcome of our interactions with other people rather than how we grew up. I think that no matter what we believe to be right or true at a given time, if we have peers around we will tend to go with the crowd. Sigmund Freud believed that is was important that the social agents of an individual were important to create the "sense of right and wrong as these matters are defined by cultural values, beliefs, and norms". Freud also believed in the he thought it was important to "counteract the antisocial impulses of the id". I think that Freud would have believed that we are free within our culture. He thought that the parents, peers, and teachers were important in guided us in the right direction but when it comes down to it we are the only one that can make the decision. We might have society behind us trying to edge us in one direction but we truly chose which way to go. I agree with Freud on this topic. I know that we have all been put in the situation to chose between right and wrong and have had a hard time choosing. I know that I have. You want to make the right choice but you are not really sure. You want to go with want the society says but is it always right? I think this is where we are culturally free. Even though we have the believes of our family, our friends, what we have been taught in school, and what society says is right we also have our own believes. What we choose in the end is what we choose. Just because someone sees us how the see us does not mean that is how we are. When I think of a rich person I think of someone rolling in money and being stuck up. I do not know any rich people so this is how I will continue to see them until I am proven wrong. They have the freedom of will to change how most people thing of them. People in any situation have the freedom to change their status and position to get to a better one or one that they enjoy more. We are never stuck in any place. We can always move up or down depending on how you want to be. It is all based on how much will power we have and how motivated we are to change our positions. I think that understanding sociology could restrict personal freedom. I think of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other shoulder when I think of this. Understanding sociology is the one of them (you choose which one). It pulls you one way and wants you to go that way but then you have your own believes pulling you the other way. Understanding sociology just gives you more options. I think that it is good to have more options sometimes but other times you only want one choice. You just want to go the way everyone wants you to go and not ague with it. Just go with the flow. When it all comes down I believe we are culturally free. We have a lot of knowledge on how to solve problems our handle life but we have the finale say on things. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\ATTACKS ON THE INSANITY DEFENSE 2.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ATTACKS ON THE INSANITY DEFENSE The insanity defense refers to that branch of the concept of insanity which defines the extent to which men accused of crimes may be relieved of criminal responsibility by virtue of mental disease. The terms of such a defense are to be found in the instructions presented by the trial judge to the jury at the close of a case. These instructions can be drawn from any of several rules used in the determination of mental illness. The final determination of mental illness rests solely on the jury who uses information drawn from the testimony of "expert" witnesses, usually professionals in the field of psychology. The net result of such a determination places an individual accordingly, be it placement in a mental facility, incarceration, or outright release. Due to these aforementioned factors, there are several problems raised by the existence of the insanity defense. Problems such as the actual possibility of determining mental illness, justifiable placement of judged "mentally ill" offenders, and the overall usefulness of such a defense. In all, I believe that these problems, as well as others which will be mentioned later, lead us to the conclusion that the insanity defense is useless and should be abolished entirely. Insanity is a legal, not a medical definition. Therefore, mental illness and insanity are not synonymous: only some mental illness constitutes insanity. Insanity, however, includes not only mental illness but also mental deficiencies. Due to this, there are problems in exactly how to apply a medical theory to a legal matter (Herman, 1983;128). The legal concepts of mental illness and insanity raise questions in a conflict between what are termed legalistic criminology and scientific criminology: mens rea, punishment v. treatment, responsibility, and prisons v. hospitals. This debate seesaws to and fro amidst a grey area between law and science. The major difficulty with a theory such as mental illness is that it is just that, a theory. To scientists theories are a way of life, but applied to the concept of law theories become somewhat dangerous. By applying a loose theory such as mental illness to law we are in essence throwing the proverbial "monkey wrench" into the wheels of justice. TESTING FOR INSANITY At the center of the legal use of insanity lies the mens rea. Every crime involves a physical act, or actus reus, and a mental act, or mens rea, the non-physical cause of behavior. The mens rea is the mental element required for a crime, and if absent excuses the defendant from criminal responsibility and punishment (Jeffery, 1985;49). The difficulty here lies in analyzing the mens rea. In order to do this lawyers apply one of several rules used by psychologists. These rules range from the Irresistible Impulse Test to the M'Naghten Rule. Each of these rules approach mental illness/capacity in a different way and in my opinion each falls short of actual proof. I will discuss each in detail. The M'Naghten Rule The M'Naghten Rule, also known as the right-wrong test, arose in 1843 during the trial of Daniel M'Naghten who argued that he was not criminally responsible for his actions because he suffered from delusions at the time of the killing. The M'Naghten Rule reads: A defendant may be excused from criminal responsibility if at the time of the commission of the act the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from a disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and the quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know that he was doing what was wrong. Thus, according to the rule, a person is basically insane if he or she is unable to distinguish between right and wrong as a result of some mental disability. Criticism of the M'Naghten Rule has come from both legal and medical professions. Many criticize that the test is unsound in its view of human psychology. Psychiatry, it is argued, views the human personality as an integrated entity, not divisible into separate compartments of reason, emotion, or volition (Herman, 1983;138). Additionally, the test is criticized for defining responsibility solely in terms of cognition. While cognitive symptoms may reveal disorder, they alone are not sufficient to give an adequate picture of such a disorder or determine responsibility. Also, it has been shown that individuals deemed insane by psychologists have possessed the ability to differentiate right from wrong. I believe that the major weakness of this test, however, lies in the fact that courts are unable to make clear determinations of terms such as disease of the mind, know, and the nature and quality of the act. The Irresistible Impulse Test This rule excludes from criminal responsibility a person whose mental disease makes it impossible to control personal conduct. Unlike the M'Naghten Rule, the criminal may be able to distinguish between right and wrong, but may be unable to exercise self-control because of a disabling mental condition. Normally this test is combined with the M'Naghten Rule. Many of the criticisms of the Irresistible Impulse Test center around the claim that the view of volition is so extremely narrow that it can be misleading. Just as the M'Naghten Rule focused on cognition rather than the function of the person in an integrated fashion, the Irresistible Impulse Test abstracts the element of volition in a way that fails to assess a person's function in terms of an integrated personality. Additionally, it has been asserted that the concept at best has medical significance in only minor crimes resulting from obsession-compulsion, and that seldom, if ever, can it be shown that this disorder results in the commission of a major crime (Seigel 1993;144). Such a claim is subject to the objection that it cannot be conclusively proven. Interestingly, it has been shown by many psychiatric authorities that no homicidal or suicidal crime ever results from obsession-compulsion neurosis. Another criticism of this test is the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of proving the irresistibility of the impulse, which the definition of the test requires. The jury, as I said earlier, has the final decision, and is faced with deciding when the impulse was irresistible and when it was merely unresisted, a task that psychiatrists suggest is impossible to perform. We are also able to argue that the test is one of volition. It is too narrow in that it fails to recognize mental illness characterized by brooding and reflection (Herman 1983;140). The test is misleading in its suggestion that where a crime is committed as a result of emotional disorder due to insanity, it must be sudden and impulsive. The Durham Rule The Durham Rule, also known as the Products Test, is based on the contention that insanity represents many personality factors, all of which may not be present in every case. It was brought about by Judge David Bazelon in the case of Durham v. U.S. who rejected the M'Naghten Rule and stated that the accused is not criminally responsible if the unlawful act was the product of mental disease or defect. The primary problem with this rule of course lies in its meaning. Again it is impossible for us to define mental disease or defect, and product does not give the jury a reliable standard by which to base a decision. It is unnecessary to offer further criticism, for my purpose I believe this attempt fails at it's onset. The Substantial Capacity Test Another test is termed the Substantial Capacity Test which focuses on the reason and will of the accused. It states that at the time of the crime, as a result of some mental disease or defect, the accused lacked the substantial capacity to (a) appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct or (b) conform their conduct to the requirements of the law. This test is disputable in the fact that it is not only impossible to prove capacity of reason or will, but to even test such abstracts seems absurd. Additionally, the term "substantial capacity" lies question in that it is an abstract impossible to define. INSANITY: HOW IT IS ESTABLISHED The meaning of insanity is the legal definition as put forth in a rule such as the M'naghten Rule or whatever school of thought is in use on any given day. The legal test is applied in an adversary system which pitches lawyer against psychiatrist and psychiatrist against psychiatrist. Because of this, the psychiatrist is often perceived not as a scientist but a partisan for the side which is paying for his testimony (Jeffery, 1985;56). The major problem in this case being that the use of a neutral expert is impossible to implement. In the end the determination of insanity is a layman's decision since it is the jury which ultimately decides whether the defendant is sane or insane. This of course is ludicrous since professional scientists cannot agree on the meaning of mental illness. How can a layman make such a decision especially after listening to contradictory testimony which is manipulated by opposing lawyers. I believe that the major problem that we can point out here is in the futility of asking psychiatrists to testify in terms of legal concepts of insanity. The psychiatrist finds himself in a double bind: he has no medical definition of mental illness and he must answer questions from lawyers concerning legal insanity, right and wrong, and irresistible impulses. As stated by Packer: "The insanity defense cannot tolerate psychiatric testimony since the ethical foundations of the criminal law are rooted in beliefs about human rationality, deterribility, and free will. These are articles of moral faith rather than scientific fact." MENTAL ILLNESS AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR In the insanity defense we have no variable independent of the criminal behavior we are studying. Insanity refers to a class of behaviors known by observing the behavior of the patient, and criminality is a class of behavior likewise known by observing the behavior of the defendant. We are involved in classification and labels. Where we have one class of behaviors labeled as schizophrenia, and the other class labeled as crimes, what we have are two co-existing classes of behavior in the same individual, and not a cause or effect relationship (Simon, 1988;47). A person can be Catholic and commit a robbery without a casual relationship existing; likewise, a person can be schizophrenic and a robber without a casual relationship existing between the two classes of behavior. Coexistence does not show a casual relationship. Behavior cannot cause behavior. What we must do, in order to prove a relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior is produce some independent link between the two classes of behavior on a biochemical level. We must have a definition of mental illness independent of the behavioral symptoms in order to establish a casual relationship between crime and mental illness. There is such a view and it is termed the Biological Psychiatric view. The view basically states that there is some defect or malfunction in the actual make-up of the brain of an individual which causes schizophrenia. This same defect then causes the criminal behavior such as robbery or murder. The problem here is that we have no actual way of mapping the brain and conclusively determining exactly what portion thereof is responsible for either type of behavior much less that one area is responsible for both. In essence even if true this theory is unprovable. There is also a statistical relationship between crime and mental illness. Guttmacker and Weihofen found 1.5 percent of the criminal population psychotic, 2.4 percent mentally defective, 6.9 percent neurotic, and 11.2 percent psychopathic (Jeffery, 1985:66). These figures are very unconvincing. Additionally they are based on old diagnostic categories and procedures which are most unreliable. Also, the meaning of neurotic or psychotic or psychopathic is uncertain within the context of these studies and they do not refer to modern biological categories of brain disease. Terms such as insanity, mental illness, and mens rea have no scientific meaning, therefore we must leave as unspecified and uncertain the relationships between insanity, mental illness and criminal law. We certainly cannot conclude that mental illness bears any relationship to diseases of the brain, nor can we conclude that mental illness or insanity causes criminal behavior. THE MYTH OF MENTAL ILLNESS Not only is there no agreement as to the meaning of insanity and mental illness, but to add further confusion, there is a school of thought that states that mental illness is a myth and does not exist. This approach is found in the works of such persons as Thomas Szasz (1961;1963) who argues that mental illness is a myth and label applied to behavior by psychiatrists who are making political and ethical decisions, and Laing (1969;1971) who claims that labels are being used by society to impose violence and control on people. View such as these and others deny the physical and biological basis of behavioral disorders. They separate completely biology and behavior, brain and behavior, and mental and physical. The fact that we refer to "mental" disease has been cited as evidence that we do not regard it as disease but as something outside the realm of biological science. Szasz states, for example, that the psychiatrist confuses physical disease and neurological disorders with mental diseases. A study in evidence of this was done by Rosenhan (Ziskin, 1975:54) known as "Being Sane in Insane Places." Rosenhan, a psychologist, placed eight normal people in mental hospitals as "pseudo-patients." They were diagnosed as schizophrenic, and later on when they appeared normal, rediagnosed as schizophrenia in remission. After one experiment one hospital challenged Rosenhan to send them "pseudo-patients" during the next several months. At the end of the period the hospital announced that they had discovered that 12 percent of their admission were "pseudo-patients" from Rosenhan went in fact none had ever been sent. USEFULNESS OF THE INSANITY DEFENSE As we have already seen, there is much confusion dealing with the placement of insanity and mental illness, it's definition, and even it's very existence. We have likewise seen the use of several of the various testing techniques used to determine mental illness and their shortcomings. This information alone would lead us to believe that the insanity defense needs at least to be revised and improved in many areas. What we have looked at thus far is what precedes the actual judgment of sanity. What we have not looked at, however, is that implementation of the actual judgment of sanity. That is to say, the actual results of the defense when successful. I believe that it is here that we will see the most heinous travesties of justice. There are several decisions which can be reached when insanity is at last proven. These judgements include not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI), and guilty but mentally ill (GMI), with the later verdict not being implemented until the early eighties in an attempt to reform the insanity defense and decrease the amount of NGI verdicts. The NGI verdict is the more dangerous verdict and the one which I believe has the strongest argument against the insanity defense. The objection here is that it allows dangerous men to return to the streets where they commit heinous crimes. Of the 300 persons committed on NGI verdicts 80 percent were released from mental hospitals by psychiatrists, and in several instances these mental patients went on to kill again (Jeffery, 1985;73). My belief is that psychiatrists and mental hospitals do not cure the mentally ill. This is the reality of the insanity defense which I find irrefutable; in many cases criminals are released due to loopholes such as the insanity defense to simply commit the same crime again. Even is these cases make up 10 out of 100,000, there now exist 10 crimes that need not have happened. The guilty but mentally ill approach has three serious flaws. First it strikes indirectly at the mens rea requirement, introducing the slippery notion that the accused had partial, but not complete, criminal intent. Second, it creates a lesser and included offense that judges and juries may choose as simply a compromise verdict. They believe the accused probably did something wrong and deserves some punishment, but they are unwilling to bring in a verdict of guilty on the top charge. The GMI verdict would allow them to split the difference. Finally the GMI verdict is fraudulent on the issue of treatment. As proposed, it makes no provision for treatment of the person who has been declared mentally ill. The GBI option has already proved to be a bogus reform. A 1981 Illinois law added the GMI as an additional verdict, retaining the traditional insanity defense. In Cook County, verdicts of not guilty by reason of insanity actually increased from 34 to 103 between 1981 and 1984. At the same time GMI went from 16 in 1982, the first year the option was available, to 87 in 1984. There has been much evidence of a "hydraulic" effect that was contrary to the law's intent. In both Illinois and Michigan, GMI verdicts involved people who would otherwise have been found guilty, not defendents who would have been found not guilty by reason of insanity (Walker, 1994;155-156). The real function of the GBI option is to appease public opinion. The public has little concern for the details of what actually happens to a mentally ill criminal defendent. Basically, it wants a symbolic statement of "guilty." In practice, the GMI verdict has as much meaning as "guilty but brown eyes." How dangerous is the GMI verdict? As we say with the NGI verdict, many extremely dangerous mentally ill criminals were simply released onto the streets where they committed the same crimes. Does the GMI verdict solve this problem? We have some "natural experiments" on this questio rising from some court decisions. A 1971 decision forced to reassessment of 586 inmates of Pennsylvania's Fairview State Hospital for the Criminaly Insane who were placed there under the GMI verdict. Over two-thirds were eventually released. Over the next four years, 27 percent were rearrested. Eleven percent were rearrested for violent crime. Including some others who were rehospitalized for a violent act, a total of 14.5 percent of those released proved to be dangerous. ABOLISH THE INSANITY DEFENSE Abolishing the insanity defense is easier said than done for the simple reason that the mens rea requirement remains a fundamental legal principle. The proposal that "mental condition shall not be a defense to any charge of criminal conduct" could be interpreted in one of two ways. The broader interpretation would mean that absolutly no aspect of mental condition could be taken into account. In effect, this interpretation would abolish the mens rea requirement altogether. The prosecution would not have to prove anything about the accused's mental state. This is unneccessarry. For one thing, it would wipe out the distintions that separarte first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter. It is doubtful that anyone againt the insanity defense would choose to take this approach. So sweeping, in fact, would be it's effect, that it would probably be declared unconstitutuional. A more limited reading of the wording "mental condition shall not be a defense to any charge of criminal conduct" would mean that an affermative plea of "not guilty by reason of insanity" could not be raised. The crucial distinction here is drawn between affermative and ordinary defenses. An ordinary defense is simply an attempt to shown that the prosecution has failed to connect the accused with the crime, a defense used in everyday law. An affermative defense is raised when the prosecution has connected the accused with the crime, as in an example of self-defense. The defense argues that, yes, the accused did shoot and kill the person and did so intentionally, but because the act was commited in self-defense the accused does not bear criminal responsibilty for it. The same is true in the case of a criminal act commited under duress. The insanity defense, in this respect, is an affermative defense. It is this usage that needs to be abolished. In cases such as self defense it may be an adequate and totally acceptable defense, for in how many cases do you hear of a man being aquitted due to a self-defense plea returning to the streets in order to kill again? To draw a comparison between the two and argue that both defenses are neccessarry to the total order is naive and unfounded. CONCLUSION The law of insanity involves the conceptes of mens rea and punishments, as does the criminal law in general. Insanity is a legal concept, not a medical concept, and insanity is defined within the context of an adversary system wherin psychiatrists and lawyers battle one another over the meaning of terms such as "right and wrong" and "ability to control one's behavior." Mental illness and mental disease are psychoanalytic concepts, not scientific concepts. Mental illness is defined by talking to people or by giving them written tests, and there is no agreement among psychiatrists as to the meaning of this illness or whether or not it really exists. Some psychiatrists call mental illness a myth. The psychoanalyst has not been successful in treating or predicting mental illness. The psychoanalyst has never established a casual relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior. The insanity defense would require both a mental illness and a relationship between the illness and the criminal behavior, neither of which could be scientificly established. Of the criminals both aquited and convicted using the insanity defense, a good number have shown conclusive evidence of recidivism. Many dangerous persons are allowed to return to the streets and many non-dangerous persons are forced into facilities due to an insanity plea adding further confusion and injustice within both the legal and medical systems. In my opinion the iunsanity defense is impossible to maintain on the basis of rules such as the M'Naghten Rule, and the relationship between law and psychiatry must be reestablished on a more scientific level, based on the neurological work now going on in the brain sciences. The insanity defense is impracticle in it's present usage and should therefore be abolished. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\ATTACKS ON THE INSANITY DEFENSE.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ATTACKS ON THE INSANITY DEFENSE The insanity defense refers to that branch of the concept of insanity which defines the extent to which men accused of crimes may be relieved of criminal responsibility by virtue of mental disease. The terms of such a defense are to be found in the instructions presented by the trial judge to the jury at the close of a case. These instructions can be drawn from any of several rules used in the determination of mental illness. The final determination of mental illness rests solely on the jury who uses information drawn from the testimony of "expert" witnesses, usually professionals in the field of psychology. The net result of such a determination places an individual accordingly, be it placement in a mental facility, incarceration, or outright release. Due to these aforementioned factors, there are several problems raised by the existence of the insanity defense. Problems such as the actual possibility of determining mental illness, justifiable placement of judged "mentally ill" offenders, and the overall usefulness of such a defense. In all, I believe that these problems, as well as others which will be mentioned later, lead us to the conclusion that the insanity defense is useless and should be abolished entirely. Insanity is a legal, not a medical definition. Therefore, mental illness and insanity are not synonymous: only some mental illness constitutes insanity. Insanity, however, includes not only mental illness but also mental deficiencies. Due to this, there are problems in exactly how to apply a medical theory to a legal matter (Herman, 1983;128). The legal concepts of mental illness and insanity raise questions in a conflict between what are termed legalistic criminology and scientific criminology: mens rea, punishment v. treatment, responsibility, and prisons v. hospitals. This debate seesaws to and fro amidst a grey area between law and science. The major difficulty with a theory such as mental illness is that it is just that, a theory. To scientists theories are a way of life, but applied to the concept of law theories become somewhat dangerous. By applying a loose theory such as mental illness to law we are in essence throwing the proverbial "monkey wrench" into the wheels of justice. TESTING FOR INSANITY At the center of the legal use of insanity lies the mens rea. Every crime involves a physical act, or actus reus, and a mental act, or mens rea, the non-physical cause of behavior. The mens rea is the mental element required for a crime, and if absent excuses the defendant from criminal responsibility and punishment (Jeffery, 1985;49). The difficulty here lies in analyzing the mens rea. In order to do this lawyers apply one of several rules used by psychologists. These rules range from the Irresistible Impulse Test to the M'Naghten Rule. Each of these rules approach mental illness/capacity in a different way and in my opinion each falls short of actual proof. I will discuss each in detail. The M'Naghten Rule The M'Naghten Rule, also known as the right-wrong test, arose in 1843 during the trial of Daniel M'Naghten who argued that he was not criminally responsible for his actions because he suffered from delusions at the time of the killing. The M'Naghten Rule reads: A defendant may be excused from criminal responsibility if at the time of the commission of the act the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from a disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and the quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know that he was doing what was wrong. Thus, according to the rule, a person is basically insane if he or she is unable to distinguish between right and wrong as a result of some mental disability. Criticism of the M'Naghten Rule has come from both legal and medical professions. Many criticize that the test is unsound in its view of human psychology. Psychiatry, it is argued, views the human personality as an integrated entity, not divisible into separate compartments of reason, emotion, or volition (Herman, 1983;138). Additionally, the test is criticized for defining responsibility solely in terms of cognition. While cognitive symptoms may reveal disorder, they alone are not sufficient to give an adequate picture of such a disorder or determine responsibility. Also, it has been shown that individuals deemed insane by psychologists have possessed the ability to differentiate right from wrong. I believe that the major weakness of this test, however, lies in the fact that courts are unable to make clear determinations of terms such as disease of the mind, know, and the nature and quality of the act. The Irresistible Impulse Test This rule excludes from criminal responsibility a person whose mental disease makes it impossible to control personal conduct. Unlike the M'Naghten Rule, the criminal may be able to distinguish between right and wrong, but may be unable to exercise self-control because of a disabling mental condition. Normally this test is combined with the M'Naghten Rule. Many of the criticisms of the Irresistible Impulse Test center around the claim that the view of volition is so extremely narrow that it can be misleading. Just as the M'Naghten Rule focused on cognition rather than the function of the person in an integrated fashion, the Irresistible Impulse Test abstracts the element of volition in a way that fails to assess a person's function in terms of an integrated personality. Additionally, it has been asserted that the concept at best has medical significance in only minor crimes resulting from obsession-compulsion, and that seldom, if ever, can it be shown that this disorder results in the commission of a major crime (Seigel 1993;144). Such a claim is subject to the objection that it cannot be conclusively proven. Interestingly, it has been shown by many psychiatric authorities that no homicidal or suicidal crime ever results from obsession-compulsion neurosis. Another criticism of this test is the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of proving the irresistibility of the impulse, which the definition of the test requires. The jury, as I said earlier, has the final decision, and is faced with deciding when the impulse was irresistible and when it was merely unresisted, a task that psychiatrists suggest is impossible to perform. We are also able to argue that the test is one of volition. It is too narrow in that it fails to recognize mental illness characterized by brooding and reflection (Herman 1983;140). The test is misleading in its suggestion that where a crime is committed as a result of emotional disorder due to insanity, it must be sudden and impulsive. The Durham Rule The Durham Rule, also known as the Products Test, is based on the contention that insanity represents many personality factors, all of which may not be present in every case. It was brought about by Judge David Bazelon in the case of Durham v. U.S. who rejected the M'Naghten Rule and stated that the accused is not criminally responsible if the unlawful act was the product of mental disease or defect. The primary problem with this rule of course lies in its meaning. Again it is impossible for us to define mental disease or defect, and product does not give the jury a reliable standard by which to base a decision. It is unnecessary to offer further criticism, for my purpose I believe this attempt fails at it's onset. The Substantial Capacity Test Another test is termed the Substantial Capacity Test which focuses on the reason and will of the accused. It states that at the time of the crime, as a result of some mental disease or defect, the accused lacked the substantial capacity to (a) appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct or (b) conform their conduct to the requirements of the law. This test is disputable in the fact that it is not only impossible to prove capacity of reason or will, but to even test such abstracts seems absurd. Additionally, the term "substantial capacity" lies question in that it is an abstract impossible to define. INSANITY: HOW IT IS ESTABLISHED The meaning of insanity is the legal definition as put forth in a rule such as the M'naghten Rule or whatever school of thought is in use on any given day. The legal test is applied in an adversary system which pitches lawyer against psychiatrist and psychiatrist against psychiatrist. Because of this, the psychiatrist is often perceived not as a scientist but a partisan for the side which is paying for his testimony (Jeffery, 1985;56). The major problem in this case being that the use of a neutral expert is impossible to implement. In the end the determination of insanity is a layman's decision since it is the jury which ultimately decides whether the defendant is sane or insane. This of course is ludicrous since professional scientists cannot agree on the meaning of mental illness. How can a layman make such a decision especially after listening to contradictory testimony which is manipulated by opposing lawyers. I believe that the major problem that we can point out here is in the futility of asking psychiatrists to testify in terms of legal concepts of insanity. The psychiatrist finds himself in a double bind: he has no medical definition of mental illness and he must answer questions from lawyers concerning legal insanity, right and wrong, and irresistible impulses. As stated by Packer: "The insanity defense cannot tolerate psychiatric testimony since the ethical foundations of the criminal law are rooted in beliefs about human rationality, deterribility, and free will. These are articles of moral faith rather than scientific fact." MENTAL ILLNESS AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR In the insanity defense we have no variable independent of the criminal behavior we are studying. Insanity refers to a class of behaviors known by observing the behavior of the patient, and criminality is a class of behavior likewise known by observing the behavior of the defendant. We are involved in classification and labels. Where we have one class of behaviors labeled as schizophrenia, and the other class labeled as crimes, what we have are two co-existing classes of behavior in the same individual, and not a cause or effect relationship (Simon, 1988;47). A person can be Catholic and commit a robbery without a casual relationship existing; likewise, a person can be schizophrenic and a robber without a casual relationship existing between the two classes of behavior. Coexistence does not show a casual relationship. Behavior cannot cause behavior. What we must do, in order to prove a relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior is produce some independent link between the two classes of behavior on a biochemical level. We must have a definition of mental illness independent of the behavioral symptoms in order to establish a casual relationship between crime and mental illness. There is such a view and it is termed the Biological Psychiatric view. The view basically states that there is some defect or malfunction in the actual make-up of the brain of an individual which causes schizophrenia. This same defect then causes the criminal behavior such as robbery or murder. The problem here is that we have no actual way of mapping the brain and conclusively determining exactly what portion thereof is responsible for either type of behavior much less that one area is responsible for both. In essence even if true this theory is unprovable. There is also a statistical relationship between crime and mental illness. Guttmacker and Weihofen found 1.5 percent of the criminal population psychotic, 2.4 percent mentally defective, 6.9 percent neurotic, and 11.2 percent psychopathic (Jeffery, 1985:66). These figures are very unconvincing. Additionally they are based on old diagnostic categories and procedures which are most unreliable. Also, the meaning of neurotic or psychotic or psychopathic is uncertain within the context of these studies and they do not refer to modern biological categories of brain disease. Terms such as insanity, mental illness, and mens rea have no scientific meaning, therefore we must leave as unspecified and uncertain the relationships between insanity, mental illness and criminal law. We certainly cannot conclude that mental illness bears any relationship to diseases of the brain, nor can we conclude that mental illness or insanity causes criminal behavior. THE MYTH OF MENTAL ILLNESS Not only is there no agreement as to the meaning of insanity and mental illness, but to add further confusion, there is a school of thought that states that mental illness is a myth and does not exist. This approach is found in the works of such persons as Thomas Szasz (1961;1963) who argues that mental illness is a myth and label applied to behavior by psychiatrists who are making political and ethical decisions, and Laing (1969;1971) who claims that labels are being used by society to impose violence and control on people. View such as these and others deny the physical and biological basis of behavioral disorders. They separate completely biology and behavior, brain and behavior, and mental and physical. The fact that we refer to "mental" disease has been cited as evidence that we do not regard it as disease but as something outside the realm of biological science. Szasz states, for example, that the psychiatrist confuses physical disease and neurological disorders with mental diseases. A study in evidence of this was done by Rosenhan (Ziskin, 1975:54) known as "Being Sane in Insane Places." Rosenhan, a psychologist, placed eight normal people in mental hospitals as "pseudo-patients." They were diagnosed as schizophrenic, and later on when they appeared normal, rediagnosed as schizophrenia in remission. After one experiment one hospital challenged Rosenhan to send them "pseudo-patients" during the next several months. At the end of the period the hospital announced that they had discovered that 12 percent of their admission were "pseudo-patients" from Rosenhan went in fact none had ever been sent. USEFULNESS OF THE INSANITY DEFENSE As we have already seen, there is much confusion dealing with the placement of insanity and mental illness, it's definition, and even it's very existence. We have likewise seen the use of several of the various testing techniques used to determine mental illness and their shortcomings. This information alone would lead us to believe that the insanity defense needs at least to be revised and improved in many areas. What we have looked at thus far is what precedes the actual judgment of sanity. What we have not looked at, however, is that implementation of the actual judgment of sanity. That is to say, the actual results of the defense when successful. I believe that it is here that we will see the most heinous travesties of justice. There are several decisions which can be reached when insanity is at last proven. These judgements include not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI), and guilty but mentally ill (GMI), with the later verdict not being implemented until the early eighties in an attempt to reform the insanity defense and decrease the amount of NGI verdicts. The NGI verdict is the more dangerous verdict and the one which I believe has the strongest argument against the insanity defense. The objection here is that it allows dangerous men to return to the streets where they commit heinous crimes. Of the 300 persons committed on NGI verdicts 80 percent were released from mental hospitals by psychiatrists, and in several instances these mental patients went on to kill again (Jeffery, 1985;73). My belief is that psychiatrists and mental hospitals do not cure the mentally ill. This is the reality of the insanity defense which I find irrefutable; in many cases criminals are released due to loopholes such as the insanity defense to simply commit the same crime again. Even is these cases make up 10 out of 100,000, there now exist 10 crimes that need not have happened. The guilty but mentally ill approach has three serious flaws. First it strikes indirectly at the mens rea requirement, introducing the slippery notion that the accused had partial, but not complete, criminal intent. Second, it creates a lesser and included offense that judges and juries may choose as simply a compromise verdict. They believe the accused probably did something wrong and deserves some punishment, but they are unwilling to bring in a verdict of guilty on the top charge. The GMI verdict would allow them to split the difference. Finally the GMI verdict is fraudulent on the issue of treatment. As proposed, it makes no provision for treatment of the person who has been declared mentally ill. The GBI option has already proved to be a bogus reform. A 1981 Illinois law added the GMI as an additional verdict, retaining the traditional insanity defense. In Cook County, verdicts of not guilty by reason of insanity actually increased from 34 to 103 between 1981 and 1984. At the same time GMI went from 16 in 1982, the first year the option was available, to 87 in 1984. There has been much evidence of a "hydraulic" effect that was contrary to the law's intent. In both Illinois and Michigan, GMI verdicts involved people who would otherwise have been found guilty, not defendents who would have been found not guilty by reason of insanity (Walker, 1994;155-156). The real function of the GBI option is to appease public opinion. The public has little concern for the details of what actually happens to a mentally ill criminal defendent. Basically, it wants a symbolic statement of "guilty." In practice, the GMI verdict has as much meaning as "guilty but brown eyes." How dangerous is the GMI verdict? As we say with the NGI verdict, many extremely dangerous mentally ill criminals were simply released onto the streets where they committed the same crimes. Does the GMI verdict solve this problem? We have some "natural experiments" on this questio rising from some court decisions. A 1971 decision forced to reassessment of 586 inmates of Pennsylvania's Fairview State Hospital for the Criminaly Insane who were placed there under the GMI verdict. Over two-thirds were eventually released. Over the next four years, 27 percent were rearrested. Eleven percent were rearrested for violent crime. Including some others who were rehospitalized for a violent act, a total of 14.5 percent of those released proved to be dangerous. ABOLISH THE INSANITY DEFENSE Abolishing the insanity defense is easier said than done for the simple reason that the mens rea requirement remains a fundamental legal principle. The proposal that "mental condition shall not be a defense to any charge of criminal conduct" could be interpreted in one of two ways. The broader interpretation would mean that absolutly no aspect of mental condition could be taken into account. In effect, this interpretation would abolish the mens rea requirement altogether. The prosecution would not have to prove anything about the accused's mental state. This is unneccessarry. For one thing, it would wipe out the distintions that separarte first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter. It is doubtful that anyone againt the insanity defense would choose to take this approach. So sweeping, in fact, would be it's effect, that it would probably be declared unconstitutuional. A more limited reading of the wording "mental condition shall not be a defense to any charge of criminal conduct" would mean that an affermative plea of "not guilty by reason of insanity" could not be raised. The crucial distinction here is drawn between affermative and ordinary defenses. An ordinary defense is simply an attempt to shown that the prosecution has failed to connect the accused with the crime, a defense used in everyday law. An affermative defense is raised when the prosecution has connected the accused with the crime, as in an example of self-defense. The defense argues that, yes, the accused did shoot and kill the person and did so intentionally, but because the act was commited in self-defense the accused does not bear criminal responsibilty for it. The same is true in the case of a criminal act commited under duress. The insanity defense, in this respect, is an affermative defense. It is this usage that needs to be abolished. In cases such as self defense it may be an adequate and totally acceptable defense, for in how many cases do you hear of a man being aquitted due to a self-defense plea returning to the streets in order to kill again? To draw a comparison between the two and argue that both defenses are neccessarry to the total order is naive and unfounded. CONCLUSION The law of insanity involves the conceptes of mens rea and punishments, as does the criminal law in general. Insanity is a legal concept, not a medical concept, and insanity is defined within the context of an adversary system wherin psychiatrists and lawyers battle one another over the meaning of terms such as "right and wrong" and "ability to control one's behavior." Mental illness and mental disease are psychoanalytic concepts, not scientific concepts. Mental illness is defined by talking to people or by giving them written tests, and there is no agreement among psychiatrists as to the meaning of this illness or whether or not it really exists. Some psychiatrists call mental illness a myth. The psychoanalyst has not been successful in treating or predicting mental illness. The psychoanalyst has never established a casual relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior. The insanity defense would require both a mental illness and a relationship between the illness and the criminal behavior, neither of which could be scientificly established. Of the criminals both aquited and convicted using the insanity defense, a good number have shown conclusive evidence of recidivism. Many dangerous persons are allowed to return to the streets and many non-dangerous persons are forced into facilities due to an insanity plea adding further confusion and injustice within both the legal and medical systems. In my opinion the iunsanity defense is impossible to maintain on the basis of rules such as the M'Naghten Rule, and the relationship between law and psychiatry must be reestablished on a more scientific level, based on the neurological work now going on in the brain sciences. The insanity defense is impracticle in it's present usage and should therefore be abolished. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Attention Deficit Disorder.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Attention Deficit Disorder Attection Deficit Disorder To be nobody-but-myself--in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else-means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. -E.E. Cummings, 1958 Attention Deficit Disorder is a long and some what mysterious sounding name that tries to describe something you probably already call Hyperactivity. But, attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is much more that Hyperactivity. History of ADD In 1902 children who demonstrated many of the symptoms that are today part of attention deficit disorder would be described as children with "morbid defects in moral control". In the 1940's, children exhibiting this form of behavior were diagnosed with "brain injured syndrome" because children with brain injuries from disease or trauma behave in much the same way. Any child displaying these behaviors regardless of evidence of brain injury were diagnosed as having brain injury syndrome. What Causes ADD? ADD may be caused by a abnormally from trauma, disease, fetal exposure to alcohol and tobacco, or high levels of Lead. In parts of the brain there is a diminished activity in the morphology and frontal region of the brain. Statistics of ADD Most of the diagnosis is at childhood. Experts say that over 2 million (3 to 5%) children have ADD. About 50% of these 2 million children who have ADD are believed to be underachievers. Also with this 50% the children are believed to have social and academic difficulties. About 40% of the 2 million have a 40% IQ discrepancy. The glad part is that 80% - 90% of these children receive medication for there problem, but most of them still need behavior modifications. Most schools help with that. Behaviors Observed in ADD Some characteristics are: -Makes careless mistakes in school work. -Dislikes tasks that involve sustaining mental effort. -Has difficulty sustaining attention. -Does not seem to listen when spoken to. -Often loses things. -Does not follow through on instructions. -Often distracted. -Has difficulty organizing tasks. -Often forgetful in daily activities. Six or more of the following symptoms will result in the diagnosis of peractivity- impulsivity: Hyperactivity Impulsivity Fidgets or squirms Often talks excessively Often leaves seat in classroom Often blurts out answers Often runs about inappropriately Often has difficulty waiting turn Difficulty playing quietly Often interrupts others Also while the person with ADD gets older the Impulsivity gets more consistent. Usually girls don't show Impulsivity as much as guys. How To Help ADD In The Classroom Researchers have identified classroom characteristics which promote success for many children that have ADD: -predictability -structure -shorter work periods -small teacher to pupil ratio -more individualized instruction -interesting curriculum -use of positive reinforcements The teachers attitude is very helpful if she/he has the following characteristics: -positive academic expectations -frequent monitoring and checking of work -clarity in giving directions -warmth, patience and humor -consistency and firmness -knowledge of different behavioral interventions -willingness to work with a special education teacher ADD In The Classroom School is where the characteristics of ADD are first noticed. Most tasks in school are hard for a person with ADD. The student has difficulty: sitting in his/her seat, understanding directions, and often distracted. How To Diagnose ADD One of the most common ways to diagnose ADD is for the person to stare at a clock. In doing this the doctor looks for three or more of the following: -Difficulty sustaining attention at the clock. -Often fidgets or moves excessively. -Difficulty following directions. -Does not seem to listen when spoken to. -Often distracted by other things around him/her. Treating ADD With Common Drugs The most common way of treating ADD is giving him/her drugs (exp: syler, dexedrine, and the most common ritelin). There is non-drug related ways of chemically changing the physiological imbalance of the brain. One of them is a school that is completely devoted to ADD. Another one is electrical impulses sent to the brain to control his/her motor skills in both mental and physical. With electrical impulse treatment it seems to work better than drug related practice. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Aversive Conditioning.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Aversive Conditioning Aversive conditioning is a manufactured negative response to certain things, much like the operant conditioning developed by Skinner. The contingent behavior is behavior that, when performed, results in the delivery of specific consequences or reinforcers. This article described the measures taken to make coyotes stop wanting to kill lambs for food. The authors' contention is that it may be possible to reconcile the desires of both ranchers and conservationists. The latter group wishes to enable the coyote and, perhaps other predators, to survive in the open range, as they have for millions of years. Species that kill farm animals include others: mountain lions, bears, bobcats, and red wolves as well as coyotes. This paper on aversive conditioning mainly addresses whether behavior of coyotes can be altered without affecting their survival in the wild. The question Mssrs. Gustavson and Garcia attempt to address is whether coyotes can be conditioned to kill animals such as mice, rabbits, gophers, and squirrels- species of no economic value in the western United States- while leaving sheep alone. Clearly, sheep have tremendous economic value in terms of meat and wool production, and ranchers as well as the general meat-consuming public have a vested interest in the survival and success of the ranching industry. Just as clearly, environmentalist and conservationists have an interest in seeing that certain species are enabled to survive in their native habitat, and not simply confined in zoos under whatever terms humans dictate. To see if they could make coyotes stop killing lambs, the authors first took a sample population of coyotes from different regions of Montana where coyotes were notorious for killing shepherds' flocks. They captured seven coyotes, five from the wild and two from captivity. Presumably all of them loved to eat lamb meat. They fed them tainted lamb, wrapped in fresh lamb hide. The meat itself was not toxic to the long-term health of the coyotes that devoured it. Instead, it was laced with lithium chloride, which causes vomiting. One assumption made was that the lithium did not actually affect the taste of the meat. Therefore, the coyotes actually did consume the meat, and uniformly became sick after eating the lamb. As a result of associating the meat with vomiting the coyotes didn't want to eat lamb anymore. On the contrary, they ran away and hid from the lambs after having eaten the bad lamb meat. Only weeks afterward did they begin to approach lambs as prey when given the chance, and they didn't devour their food as they usually did. They tested their food one bite at a time, waiting between bites to see if they got sick. In fact, during an earlier experiment with hamburger tainted with lithium the coyotes all became ill. After the coyotes associated the hamburger with emesis, they didn't even taste hamburger offered to them. Instead, the coyotes urinated on the meat, turned over their meat dish, or actually buried it. The experiment with lithium-laced lamb was a temporarily successful one in that the coyotes were weaned off of lamb meat. Despite this apparent success, other problems could arise which this experiment did not address. For example, coyotes might not have any other source of food other than lamb. There may or may not be enough other edible things available to enable coyotes to survive. Lamb is a staple food for coyotes in Montana, and other food sources might not replenish that lost by having lamb removed from the coyotes' diet. It is noted that coyotes feed on mice, squirrels, rabbits, and even grasshoppers. Yet it is by no means certain that these small animals alone would enable coyotes to survive in the wild. Neither author claimed that coyotes kill sheep to drive ranchers out of business, they kill sheep to survive. Furthermore, wrapping lamb meat in sheep skin, which is how the authors attracted the coyotes, to bait the lithium capsules may not exactly mimic the taste of lamb "on the hoof". It is very possible that the meat wrapped as bait tastes different in qualitative ways from that of a live or freshly killed lamb. Moreover, the number of animals used in these experiments was extremely small- fewer than ten for all experiments run. It is unclear from the reading of this article whether it would be either possible or feasible for every coyote living near sheep ranchers in Montana could be captured, imprisoned for a period of time, and subjected to this kind of aversion therapy. The authors suggest that coyote pups might be conditioned to learn to like the types of food that their mothers do- to learn eating habits in the den from parents rather than only from people. If this were so, then aversion therapy would be self-perpetuating. Yet they advance no evidence that this could be the case. In fact, it is unclear that the coyotes retain a dislike for food for any length of time. For example, three coyotes, which the authors conditioned not to eat rabbit meat, actually learned to eat them again. One such coyote killed and ate a rabbit within one week, albeit cautiously. Therefore, although it may be deemed a success to be able to state that a certain coyote is well on his/her way to hating lamb, it may be that these coyotes need repeated aversion therapy towards sheep, or towards other livestock which other ranchers might raise. Finally, even if aversion therapy turns out to be effective, or whether it must be repeated to be effective, there is reason to think that this behavior will not be self-perpetuating. There is no evidence produced that a coyote will avoid sheep simply because its mother does. Aversion to lamb meat is obviously a learned habit, not a genetic one. If all coyotes need to be captured, and perhaps tagged and periodically recaptured, in order persistently avoid or hate lamb meat, the conservationists are defeating their own purpose. For their plan to work, all coyotes will have to be captured and "domesticated" in some way. It would appear that, if this turns out to be the case, truly wild coyotes will have become a thing of the past, and they will not be allowed to roam free in their feral state in any real sense after all. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Battered Womens Syndrome.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Battered Women's Syndrome: A Survey of Contemporary Theories Domestic Violence November 16, 1996 In 1991, Governor William Weld modified parole regulations and permitted women to seek commutation if they could present evidence indicating they suffered from battered women's syndrome. A short while later, the Governor, citing spousal abuse as his impetus, released seven women convicted of killing their husbands, and the Great and General Court of Massachusetts enacted Mass. Gen. L. ch. 233  23E (1993), which permits the introduction of evidence of abuse in criminal trials. These decisive acts brought the issue of domestic abuse to the public's attention and left many Massachusetts residents, lawyers and judges struggling to define battered women's syndrome. In order to help these individuals define battered women's syndrome, the origins and development of the three primary theories of the syndrome and recommended treatments are outlined below. I. The Classical Theory of Battered Women's Syndrome and its Origins The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), known in the mental health field as the clinician's bible, does not recognize battered women's syndrome as a distinct mental disorder. In fact, Dr. Lenore Walker, the architect of the classical battered women's syndrome theory, notes the syndrome is not an illness, but a theory that draws upon the principles of learned helplessness to explain why some women are unable to leave their abusers. Therefore, the classical battered women's syndrome theory is best regarded as an offshoot of the theory of learned helplessness and not a mental illness that afflicts abused women. The theory of learned helplessness sought to account for the passive behavior subjects exhibited when placed in an uncontrollable environment. In the late 60's and early 70's, Martin Seligman, a famous researcher in the field of psychology, conducted a series of experiments in which dogs were placed in one of two types of cages. In the former cage, henceforth referred to as the shock cage, a bell would sound and the experimenters would electrify the entire floor seconds later, shocking the dog regardless of location. The latter cage, however, although similar in every other respect to the shock cage, contained a small area where the experimenters could administer no shock. Seligman observed that while the dogs in the latter cage learned to run to the nonelectrified area after a series of shocks, the dogs in the shock cage gave up trying to escape, even when placed in the latter cage and shown that escape was possible. Seligman theorized that the dogs' initial experience in the uncontrollable shock cage led them to believe that they could not control future events and was responsible for the observed disruptions in behavior and learning. Thus, according to the theory of learned helplessness, a subject placed in an uncontrollable environment will become passive and accept painful stimuli, even though escape is possible and apparent. In the late 1970's, Dr. Walker drew upon Seligman's research and incorporated it into her own theory, the battered women's syndrome, in an attempt to explain why battered women remain with their abusers. According to Dr. Walker, battered women's syndrome contains two distinct elements: a cycle of violence and symptoms of learned helplessness. The cycle of violence is composed of three phases: the tension building phase, active battering phase and calm loving respite phase. During the tension building phase, the victim is subjected to verbal abuse and minor battering incidents, such as slaps, pinches and psychological abuse. In this phase, the woman tries to pacify her batterer by using techniques that have worked previously. Typically, the woman showers her abuser with kindness or attempts to avoid him. However, the victim's attempts to pacify her batter are often fruitless and only work to delay the inevitable acute battering incident. The tension building phase ends and the active battering phase begins when the verbal abuse and minor battering evolve into an acute battering incident. A release of the tensions built during phase one characterizes the active battering phase, which usually last for a period of two to twenty-four hours. The violence during this phase is unpredictable and inevitable, and statistics indicate that the risk of the batterer murdering his victim is at its greatest. The batterer places his victim in a constant state of fear, and she is unable to control her batterer's violence by utilizing techniques that worked in the tension building phase. The victim, realizing her lack of control, attempts to mitigate the violence by becoming passive. After the active battering phase comes to a close, the cycle of violence enters the calm loving respite phase or "honeymoon phase." During this phase, the batterer apologizes for his abusive behavior and promises that it will never happen again. The behavior exhibited by the batter in the calm loving respite phase closely resembles the behavior he exhibited when the couple first met and fell in love. The calm loving respite phase is the most psychologically victimizing phase because the batterer fools the victim, who is relieved that the abuse has ended, into believing that he has changed. However, inevitably, the batterer begins to verbally abuse his victim and the cycle of abuse begins anew. According to Dr. Walker, Seligman's theory of learned helplessness explains why women stay with their abusers and occurs in a victim after the cycle of violence repeats numerous times. As noted earlier, dogs who were placed in an environment where pain was unavoidable responded by becoming passive. Dr. Walker asserts that, in the domestic abuse ambit, sporadic brutality, perceptions of powerlessness, lack of financial resources and the superior strength of the batterer all combine to instill a feeling of helplessness in the victim. In other words, batterers condition women into believing that they are powerless to escape by subjecting them to a continuing pattern of uncontrollable violence and abuse. Dr. Walker, in applying the learned helplessness theory to battered women, changed society's perception of battered women by dispelling the myth that battered women like abuse and offering a logical and rationale explanation for why most stay with their abuser. As the classical theory of battered women's syndrome is based upon the psychological principles of conditioning, experts believe that behavior modification strategies are best suited for treating women suffering from the syndrome. A simple, yet effective, behavioral strategy consists of two stages. In the initial stage, the battered woman removes herself from the uncontrollable or "shock cage" environment and isolates herself from her abuser. Generally, professionals help the victim escape by using assertiveness training, modeling and recommending use of the court system. After the woman terminates the abusive relationship, professionals give the victim relapse prevention training to ensure that subsequent exposure to abusive behavior will not cause maladaptive behavior. Although this strategy is effective, the model offered by Dr. Walker suggests that battered women usually do not actively seek out help. Therefore, concerned agencies and individuals must be proactive and extremely sensitive to the needs and fears of victims. In sum, the classical battered women's syndrome is a theory that has its origins in the research of Martin Seligman. Women in a domestic abuse situation experience a cycle of violence with their abuser. The cycle is composed of three phases: the tension building phase, active battering phase and calm loving respite phase. A gradual increase in verbal abuse marks the tension building phase. When this abuse culminates into an acute battering episode, the relationship enters the active battering phase. Once the acute battering phase ends, usually within two to twenty-four hours, the parties enter the calm loving respite phase, in which the batterer expresses remorse and promises to change. After the cycle has played out several times, the victim begins to manifest symptoms of learned helplessness. Behavioral modification strategies offer an effective treatment for battered women's syndrome. However, Dr. Walker's model indicates that battered women may not seek the help that they need because of feelings of helplessness. II. An Alternate Battered Women's Syndrome Theory: Battered Women as Survivors. Over the years, empirical data has emerged that casts doubt on Dr. Walker's explanation of why women stay with their batterers or, in extreme cases, why they kill their abusers. Two researchers, Edward W. Gondolf and Ellen R. Fisher, make reference to voluminous statistics that refute the classical battered women's syndrome theory, and suggest Dr. Walker erroneously attributes a victim's refusal to leave her batterer to learned helplessness. For instance, the two, in discounting Dr. Walker's theory, cite a study conducted by Lee H. Bowker that indicates victims of abuse often contact other family members for help as the violence escalates over time. The two also note that Bowker observed a steady increase in formal help-seeking behavior as the violence increased. In addition to citing empirical data, Gondolf and Fisher point out that using Dr. Walker's theory to explain the battered woman's actions in extreme cases creates the ultimate oxymoron: a woman so helpless she kills her batterer. In an effort to account for the shortcomings of the classical battered women's theory, Gondolf and Fisher offered the markedly different survivor theory of battered women's syndrome, which consists of four important elements. The first element of the survivor theory surmises that a pattern of abuse prompts battered women to employ innovative coping strategies and to seek help, such as flattering the batterer and turning to their families for assistance. When these sources of help prove ineffective, the battered woman seeks out other sources and employs different strategies to lessen the abuse. For example, the battered women may avoid her abuser all together and seek help from the court system. Thus, according to the survivor theory, battered women actively seek help and employ coping skills throughout the abusive relationship. In contrast, the classical theory of battered women's syndrome views women as becoming passive and helpless in the face of repeated abuse. The second element of Gondolf and Fisher's theory posits that a lack of options, know-how and finances, not learned helplessness, instills a feeling of anxiety in the victim that prevents her from escaping the abuser. When a battered woman seeks outside help, she is typically confronted with an ineffective bureaucracy, insufficient help sources and societal indifference. This lack of practical options, combined with the victim's lack of financial resources, make it likely that a battered women will stay and try to change her batterer, rather than leave and face the unknown. The classical battered women's syndrome theory differs in that it focuses on the victim's perception that escape is impossible, not on the obstacles the victim must overcome to escape. The third element expands on the first and describes how the victim actively seeks help from a variety of formal and informal help sources. For instance, an example of an informal help source would be a close friend and a formal help source would be a shelter. Gondolf and Fisher maintain that the help obtained from these sources is inadequate and piecemeal in nature. Given these inadequacies, the researchers conclude that the leaving a batterer is a difficult path for a victim to embark upon. The fourth element of the survivor theory hypothesizes that the failure of the aforementioned help sources to intervene in a comprehensive and decisive manner permits the cycle of abuse to continue unchecked. Interestingly, Gondolf and Fisher blame the lack of effective help on a variation of the learned helplessness theory, explaining help organizations are too overwhelmed and limited in their resources to be effective and therefore do not try as hard as they should to help victims. Whatever the case may be, the researchers argue that we can better understand the plight of the battered woman by asking did she seek help and what happened when she did, rather than why didn't she leave. Because the survivor theory of learned helplessness attributes the battered woman's plight to ineffective help sources and societal indifference, a logical solution would entail increased funding for programs in place and educating the public about the symptoms and consequences of domestic violence. There are battered women's advocacy programs in place in courts located throughout the country. However, inadequate funding limits their effectiveness. By increasing funding, citizens can assure that all battered women will receive the assistance that will permit them to escape their batterer. Additionally, if we educate citizens about the harmful effects of domestic abuse, the public will no longer treat victims with indifference. To recap, Edward W. Gondolf and Ellen R. Fisher developed the survivor theory of battered women's syndrome to explain why statistics indicate that battered women increase their help seeking behavior as the violence escalates. The theory is composed of four important elements. The first recognizes that battered women actively seek help throughout their relationship with the abuser. The second element posits that a lack of options, know-how and finances creates anxiety in the victim over leaving her batterer. The third element describes the inadequate and piecemeal help the victim receives. Finally, the fourth element concludes that the failure of help sources, not learned helplessness, accounts for why many battered women remain with their abusers. Under the survivor theory, the best method for helping battered women is to increase funding for battered women's assistance programs and agencies and educate the public about the harmful effects of domestic abuse. III. Battered Women's Syndrome Equals Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Although the DSM-IV does not recognize battered women's syndrome as a distinct mental illness or disorder, some experts maintain that battered women's syndrome is just another name for post traumatic stress disorder, which the DSM-IV recognizes. The post traumatic stress disorder theory is also applied to individuals who were never exposed to domestic abuse, and, in the domestic abuse ambit, does not exclusively focus on the battered woman's perception of helplessness or ineffective help sources to explain why she stayed with her batterer. Instead, the theory focuses on the psychological disturbance an individual suffers after exposure to a traumatic event. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association added the post traumatic stress disorder classification to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III, a manual used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental illness. Although the diagnosis was controversial at the time, post traumatic stress disorder has gained wide acceptance in the mental health community and revolutionized the way professionals regard human reactions to trauma. Prior to the disorder's inception, experts attributed the cause of emotional trauma to individual weakness. However, with the advent of the theory of post traumatic stress disorder, experts now attribute the etiology of emotional trauma to an external stressor, not a weakness in the psyche of the individual. Since 1980, the American Psychiatric Association has revised the criteria for diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder several times. Currently, the diagnostic criteria for post traumatic stress disorder include a history of exposure to a traumatic event and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms and hyper arousal symptoms. Recent data indicate that many individuals qualify for a post traumatic stress disorder under the current diagnostic criteria, with prevalence rates running between 5 to 10% in our society. As noted earlier, in order for a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder to apply, the individual must have been exposed to a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death or injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of the person or others. The authors of the early theory of post traumatic stress disorder considered a traumatic event to be outside the range of human experience, such events included rape, torture, war, the Holocaust, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanos, airplane crashes and automobile accidents, and did not contemplate applying the diagnosis to battered women. The American Psychiatric Association loosened the traumatic event criteria in the DSM-IV, which replaced the DSM-III and DSM-IIIR. Presently, the traumatic event need only be markedly distressing to almost anyone. Therefore, battered women have little trouble meeting the DSM-IV traumatic event diagnostic requirement because most people would find the abuse battered women are subjected to markedly distressing. In addition to meeting the traumatic event diagnostic criteria, an individual must have symptoms from the intrusive recollection, avoidant/numbing and hyper arousal categories for a post traumatic stress disorder diagnosis to apply. The intrusive recollection category consists of symptoms that are distinct and easily identifiable. In individuals suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, the traumatic event is a dominant psychological experience that evokes panic, terror, dread, grief or despair. Often, these feelings are manifested in daytime fantasies, traumatic nightmares and flashbacks. Additionally, stimuli that the individual associates with the traumatic event can evoke mental images, emotional responses and psychological reactions associated with the trauma. Examples of intrusive recollection symptoms a battered woman may suffer are fantasies of killing her batterer and flashbacks of battering incidents. The avoidant/numbing cluster consists of the emotional strategies individuals with post traumatic stress disorder use to reduce the likelihood that they will either expose themselves to traumatic stimuli, or if exposed, will minimize their psychological response. The DSM-IV divides the strategies into three categories: behavioral, cognitive and emotional. Behavioral strategies include avoiding situations where the stimuli are likely to be encountered. Dissociation and psychogenic amnesia are cognitive strategies by which individuals with post traumatic stress disorder cut off the conscious experience of trauma-based memories and feelings. Lastly, the individual may separate the cognitive aspects from the emotional aspects of psychological experience and perceive only the former. This type of psychic numbing serves as an emotional anesthesia that makes it extremely difficult for people with post traumatic stress disorder to participate in meaningful interpersonal relationships. Thus, a battered woman suffering from post traumatic stress disorder may avoid her batterer and repress trauma-based feelings and emotions. The hyper arousal category symptoms closely resemble those seen in panic and generalized anxiety disorders. Although symptoms such as insomnia and irritability are generic anxiety symptoms, hyper vigilance and startle are unique to post traumatic stress disorder. The hyper vigilance symptom may become so intense in individuals suffering from post traumatic stress disorder that it appears as if they are paranoid. A careful reading of post traumatic stress disorder symptoms and diagnostic criteria indicates that Dr. Walker's classical theory of battered women's syndrome is contained within. For instance, both theories require that the victim be exposed to a traumatic event. In Dr. Walker's theory, she describes the traumatic event as a cycle of violence. The post traumatic stress disorder theory, on the other hand, only requires that the event be markedly distressing to almost everyone. Thus, the cycle of violence described by Dr. Walker is considered a traumatic stressor for the purposes of diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, like the classical theory of battered women's syndrome, the theory of post traumatic stress disorder recognizes that an individual may become helpless after exposure to a traumatic event. Although the post traumatic stress disorder theory seems to incorporate Dr. Walker's theory, it is more inclusive in that it recognizes that different individuals may have different reactions to traumatic events and does not rely heavily on the theory of learned helplessness to explain why battered women stay with their abusers. There are several methods a professional can utilize to treat individuals suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The most successful treatments are those that they administer immediately after the traumatic event. Experts commonly call this type of treatment critical incident stress debriefing. Although this type of treatment is effective in halting the development of post traumatic stress disorder, the cyclical nature and gradual escalation of violence in domestic abuse situations make critical incident stress debriefing an unlikely therapy for battered women. The second type of treatment is administered after post traumatic stress disorder has developed and is less effective than critical incident stress debriefing. This type of treatment may consist of psychodynamic psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy and group therapy. The most effective post-manifestation treatment for battered women is group therapy. In a group therapy session, battered women can discuss traumatic memories, post traumatic stress disorder symptoms and functional deficits with others who have had similar experiences. By discussing their experiences and symptoms, the women form a common bond and release repressed memories, feelings and emotions. To summarize, many experts regard battered women's syndrome as a subcategory of post traumatic stress disorder. The diagnostic criteria for post traumatic stress disorder include a history of exposure to a traumatic event and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms and hyper arousal symptoms. After exposure to a traumatic event, defined by the DSM-IV as one that is markedly distressing to almost everyone, an individual suffering from post traumatic stress disorder may suffer intrusive recollections, which consist of daytime fantasies, traumatic nightmares and flashbacks. The individual may also try to avoid stimuli that remind him/her of the traumatic event and/or develop symptoms associated with generic anxiety disorders. Critical incident stress debriefing, psychodynamic psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy and group therapy are all recognized as effective treatments for post traumatic stress disorder. IV. Conclusion Although there are many different theories of battered women's syndrome, most are all variations or hybrids of the three main theories outlined above. A sound understanding of Dr. Walker's classical battered women's syndrome theory, Gondolf and Fisher's survivor theory of battered women's syndrome and the post traumatic stress disorder theory, will permit the reader to identify the origins and essential elements of these various hybrids and provide them with a better understanding of the plight of the battered woman. Given the prevalence of domestic abuse in our society, it is important to realize that the battered woman does not like abuse or is responsible for her victimization. The three theories discussed above all offer rationale explanations for why a battered women often stays with her abuser and explore the psychological harm caused by abuse while discounting the popular perception that battered women must enjoy the abuse. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Battered Women's Syndrome.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Battered Women's Syndrome In 1991, Governor William Weld modified parole regulations and permitted women to seek commutation if they could present evidence indicating they suffered from battered women's syndrome. A short while later, the Governor, citing spousal abuse as his impetus, released seven women convicted of killing their husbands, and the Great and General Court of Massachusetts enacted Mass. Gen. L. ch. 233  23E (1993), which permits the introduction of evidence of abuse in criminal trials. These decisive acts brought the issue of domestic abuse to the public's attention and left many Massachusetts residents, lawyers and judges struggling to define battered women's syndrome. In order to help these individuals define battered women's syndrome, the origins and development of the three primary theories of the syndrome and recommended treatments are outlined below. I. The Classical Theory of Battered Women's Syndrome and its Origins The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), known in the mental health field as the clinician's bible, does not recognize battered women's syndrome as a distinct mental disorder. In fact, Dr. Lenore Walker, the architect of the classical battered women's syndrome theory, notes the syndrome is not an illness, but a theory that draws upon the principles of learned helplessness to explain why some women are unable to leave their abusers. Therefore, the classical battered women's syndrome theory is best regarded as an offshoot of the theory of learned helplessness and not a mental illness that afflicts abused women. The theory of learned helplessness sought to account for the passive behavior subjects exhibited when placed in an uncontrollable environment. In the late 60's and early 70's, Martin Seligman, a famous researcher in the field of psychology, conducted a series of experiments in which dogs were placed in one of two types of cages. In the former cage, henceforth referred to as the shock cage, a bell would sound and the experimenters would electrify the entire floor seconds later, shocking the dog regardless of location. The latter cage, however, although similar in every other respect to the shock cage, contained a small area where the experimenters could administer no shock. Seligman observed that while the dogs in the latter cage learned to run to the nonelectrified area after a series of shocks, the dogs in the shock cage gave up trying to escape, even when placed in the latter cage and shown that escape was possible. Seligman theorized that the dogs' initial experience in the uncontrollable shock cage led them to believe that they could not control future events and was responsible for the observed disruptions in behavior and learning. Thus, according to the theory of learned helplessness, a subject placed in an uncontrollable environment will become passive and accept painful stimuli, even though escape is possible and apparent. In the late 1970's, Dr. Walker drew upon Seligman's research and incorporated it into her own theory, the battered women's syndrome, in an attempt to explain why battered women remain with their abusers. According to Dr. Walker, battered women's syndrome contains two distinct elements: a cycle of violence and symptoms of learned helplessness. The cycle of violence is composed of three phases: the tension building phase, active battering phase and calm loving respite phase. During the tension building phase, the victim is subjected to verbal abuse and minor battering incidents, such as slaps, pinches and psychological abuse. In this phase, the woman tries to pacify her batterer by using techniques that have worked previously. Typically, the woman showers her abuser with kindness or attempts to avoid him. However, the victim's attempts to pacify her batter are often fruitless and only work to delay the inevitable acute battering incident. The tension building phase ends and the active battering phase begins when the verbal abuse and minor battering evolve into an acute battering incident. A release of the tensions built during phase one characterizes the active battering phase, which usually last for a period of two to twenty-four hours. The violence during this phase is unpredictable and inevitable, and statistics indicate that the risk of the batterer murdering his victim is at its greatest. The batterer places his victim in a constant state of fear, and she is unable to control her batterer's violence by utilizing techniques that worked in the tension building phase. The victim, realizing her lack of control, attempts to mitigate the violence by becoming passive. After the active battering phase comes to a close, the cycle of violence enters the calm loving respite phase or "honeymoon phase." During this phase, the batterer apologizes for his abusive behavior and promises that it will never happen again. The behavior exhibited by the batter in the calm loving respite phase closely resembles the behavior he exhibited when the couple first met and fell in love. The calm loving respite phase is the most psychologically victimizing phase because the batterer fools the victim, who is relieved that the abuse has ended, into believing that he has changed. However, inevitably, the batterer begins to verbally abuse his victim and the cycle of abuse begins anew. According to Dr. Walker, Seligman's theory of learned helplessness explains why women stay with their abusers and occurs in a victim after the cycle of violence repeats numerous times. As noted earlier, dogs who were placed in an environment where pain was unavoidable responded by becoming passive. Dr. Walker asserts that, in the domestic abuse ambit, sporadic brutality, perceptions of powerlessness, lack of financial resources and the superior strength of the batterer all combine to instill a feeling of helplessness in the victim. In other words, batterers condition women into believing that they are powerless to escape by subjecting them to a continuing pattern of uncontrollable violence and abuse. Dr. Walker, in applying the learned helplessness theory to battered women, changed society's perception of battered women by dispelling the myth that battered women like abuse and offering a logical and rationale explanation for why most stay with their abuser. As the classical theory of battered women's syndrome is based upon the psychological principles of conditioning, experts believe that behavior modification strategies are best suited for treating women suffering from the syndrome. A simple, yet effective, behavioral strategy consists of two stages. In the initial stage, the battered woman removes herself from the uncontrollable or "shock cage" environment and isolates herself from her abuser. Generally, professionals help the victim escape by using assertiveness training, modeling and recommending use of the court system. After the woman terminates the abusive relationship, professionals give the victim relapse prevention training to ensure that subsequent exposure to abusive behavior will not cause maladaptive behavior. Although this strategy is effective, the model offered by Dr. Walker suggests that battered women usually do not actively seek out help. Therefore, concerned agencies and individuals must be proactive and extremely sensitive to the needs and fears of victims. In sum, the classical battered women's syndrome is a theory that has its origins in the research of Martin Seligman. Women in a domestic abuse situation experience a cycle of violence with their abuser. The cycle is composed of three phases: the tension building phase, active battering phase and calm loving respite phase. A gradual increase in verbal abuse marks the tension building phase. When this abuse culminates into an acute battering episode, the relationship enters the active battering phase. Once the acute battering phase ends, usually within two to twenty-four hours, the parties enter the calm loving respite phase, in which the batterer expresses remorse and promises to change. After the cycle has played out several times, the victim begins to manifest symptoms of learned helplessness. Behavioral modification strategies offer an effective treatment for battered women's syndrome. However, Dr. Walker's model indicates that battered women may not seek the help that they need because of feelings of helplessness. II. An Alternate Battered Women's Syndrome Theory: Battered Women as Survivors. Over the years, empirical data has emerged that casts doubt on Dr. Walker's explanation of why women stay with their batterers or, in extreme cases, why they kill their abusers. Two researchers, Edward W. Gondolf and Ellen R. Fisher, make reference to voluminous statistics that refute the classical battered women's syndrome theory, and suggest Dr. Walker erroneously attributes a victim's refusal to leave her batterer to learned helplessness. For instance, the two, in discounting Dr. Walker's theory, cite a study conducted by Lee H. Bowker that indicates victims of abuse often contact other family members for help as the violence escalates over time. The two also note that Bowker observed a steady increase in formal help-seeking behavior as the violence increased. In addition to citing empirical data, Gondolf and Fisher point out that using Dr. Walker's theory to explain the battered woman's actions in extreme cases creates the ultimate oxymoron: a woman so helpless she kills her batterer. In an effort to account for the shortcomings of the classical battered women's theory, Gondolf and Fisher offered the markedly different survivor theory of battered women's syndrome, which consists of four important elements. The first element of the survivor theory surmises that a pattern of abuse prompts battered women to employ innovative coping strategies and to seek help, such as flattering the batterer and turning to their families for assistance. When these sources of help prove ineffective, the battered woman seeks out other sources and employs different strategies to lessen the abuse. For example, the battered women may avoid her abuser all together and seek help from the court system. Thus, according to the survivor theory, battered women actively seek help and employ coping skills throughout the abusive relationship. In contrast, the classical theory of battered women's syndrome views women as becoming passive and helpless in the face of repeated abuse. The second element of Gondolf and Fisher's theory posits that a lack of options, know-how and finances, not learned helplessness, instills a feeling of anxiety in the victim that prevents her from escaping the abuser. When a battered woman seeks outside help, she is typically confronted with an ineffective bureaucracy, insufficient help sources and societal indifference. This lack of practical options, combined with the victim's lack of financial resources, make it likely that a battered women will stay and try to change her batterer, rather than leave and face the unknown. The classical battered women's syndrome theory differs in that it focuses on the victim's perception that escape is impossible, not on the obstacles the victim must overcome to escape. The third element expands on the first and describes how the victim actively seeks help from a variety of formal and informal help sources. For instance, an example of an informal help source would be a close friend and a formal help source would be a shelter. Gondolf and Fisher maintain that the help obtained from these sources is inadequate and piecemeal in nature. Given these inadequacies, the researchers conclude that the leaving a batterer is a difficult path for a victim to embark upon. The fourth element of the survivor theory hypothesizes that the failure of the aforementioned help sources to intervene in a comprehensive and decisive manner permits the cycle of abuse to continue unchecked. Interestingly, Gondolf and Fisher blame the lack of effective help on a variation of the learned helplessness theory, explaining help organizations are too overwhelmed and limited in their resources to be effective and therefore do not try as hard as they should to help victims. Whatever the case may be, the researchers argue that we can better understand the plight of the battered woman by asking did she seek help and what happened when she did, rather than why didn't she leave. Because the survivor theory of learned helplessness attributes the battered woman's plight to ineffective help sources and societal indifference, a logical solution would entail increased funding for programs in place and educating the public about the symptoms and consequences of domestic violence. There are battered women's advocacy programs in place in courts located throughout the country. However, inadequate funding limits their effectiveness. By increasing funding, citizens can assure that all battered women will receive the assistance that will permit them to escape their batterer. Additionally, if we educate citizens about the harmful effects of domestic abuse, the public will no longer treat victims with indifference. To recap, Edward W. Gondolf and Ellen R. Fisher developed the survivor theory of battered women's syndrome to explain why statistics indicate that battered women increase their help seeking behavior as the violence escalates. The theory is composed of four important elements. The first recognizes that battered women actively seek help throughout their relationship with the abuser. The second element posits that a lack of options, know-how and finances creates anxiety in the victim over leaving her batterer. The third element describes the inadequate and piecemeal help the victim receives. Finally, the fourth element concludes that the failure of help sources, not learned helplessness, accounts for why many battered women remain with their abusers. Under the survivor theory, the best method for helping battered women is to increase funding for battered women's assistance programs and agencies and educate the public about the harmful effects of domestic abuse. III. Battered Women's Syndrome Equals Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Although the DSM-IV does not recognize battered women's syndrome as a distinct mental illness or disorder, some experts maintain that battered women's syndrome is just another name for post traumatic stress disorder, which the DSM-IV recognizes. The post traumatic stress disorder theory is also applied to individuals who were never exposed to domestic abuse, and, in the domestic abuse ambit, does not exclusively focus on the battered woman's perception of helplessness or ineffective help sources to explain why she stayed with her batterer. Instead, the theory focuses on the psychological disturbance an individual suffers after exposure to a traumatic event. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association added the post traumatic stress disorder classification to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III, a manual used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental illness. Although the diagnosis was controversial at the time, post traumatic stress disorder has gained wide acceptance in the mental health community and revolutionized the way professionals regard human reactions to trauma. Prior to the disorder's inception, experts attributed the cause of emotional trauma to individual weakness. However, with the advent of the theory of post traumatic stress disorder, experts now attribute the etiology of emotional trauma to an external stressor, not a weakness in the psyche of the individual. Since 1980, the American Psychiatric Association has revised the criteria for diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder several times. Currently, the diagnostic criteria for post traumatic stress disorder include a history of exposure to a traumatic event and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms and hyper arousal symptoms. Recent data indicate that many individuals qualify for a post traumatic stress disorder under the current diagnostic criteria, with prevalence rates running between 5 to 10% in our society. As noted earlier, in order for a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder to apply, the individual must have been exposed to a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death or injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of the person or others. The authors of the early theory of post traumatic stress disorder considered a traumatic event to be outside the range of human experience, such events included rape, torture, war, the Holocaust, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanos, airplane crashes and automobile accidents, and did not contemplate applying the diagnosis to battered women. The American Psychiatric Association loosened the traumatic event criteria in the DSM-IV, which replaced the DSM-III and DSM-IIIR. Presently, the traumatic event need only be markedly distressing to almost anyone. Therefore, battered women have little trouble meeting the DSM-IV traumatic event diagnostic requirement because most people would find the abuse battered women are subjected to markedly distressing. In addition to meeting the traumatic event diagnostic criteria, an individual must have symptoms from the intrusive recollection, avoidant/numbing and hyper arousal categories for a post traumatic stress disorder diagnosis to apply. The intrusive recollection category consists of symptoms that are distinct and easily identifiable. In individuals suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, the traumatic event is a dominant psychological experience that evokes panic, terror, dread, grief or despair. Often, these feelings are manifested in daytime fantasies, traumatic nightmares and flashbacks. Additionally, stimuli that the individual associates with the traumatic event can evoke mental images, emotional responses and psychological reactions associated with the trauma. Examples of intrusive recollection symptoms a battered woman may suffer are fantasies of killing her batterer and flashbacks of battering incidents. The avoidant/numbing cluster consists of the emotional strategies individuals with post traumatic stress disorder use to reduce the likelihood that they will either expose themselves to traumatic stimuli, or if exposed, will minimize their psychological response. The DSM-IV divides the strategies into three categories: behavioral, cognitive and emotional. Behavioral strategies include avoiding situations where the stimuli are likely to be encountered. Dissociation and psychogenic amnesia are cognitive strategies by which individuals with post traumatic stress disorder cut off the conscious experience of trauma-based memories and feelings. Lastly, the individual may separate the cognitive aspects from the emotional aspects of psychological experience and perceive only the former. This type of psychic numbing serves as an emotional anesthesia that makes it extremely difficult for people with post traumatic stress disorder to participate in meaningful interpersonal relationships. Thus, a battered woman suffering from post traumatic stress disorder may avoid her batterer and repress trauma-based feelings and emotions. The hyper arousal category symptoms closely resemble those seen in panic and generalized anxiety disorders. Although symptoms such as insomnia and irritability are generic anxiety symptoms, hyper vigilance and startle are unique to post traumatic stress disorder. The hyper vigilance symptom may become so intense in individuals suffering from post traumatic stress disorder that it appears as if they are paranoid. A careful reading of post traumatic stress disorder symptoms and diagnostic criteria indicates that Dr. Walker's classical theory of battered women's syndrome is contained within. For instance, both theories require that the victim be exposed to a traumatic event. In Dr. Walker's theory, she describes the traumatic event as a cycle of violence. The post traumatic stress disorder theory, on the other hand, only requires that the event be markedly distressing to almost everyone. Thus, the cycle of violence described by Dr. Walker is considered a traumatic stressor for the purposes of diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, like the classical theory of battered women's syndrome, the theory of post traumatic stress disorder recognizes that an individual may become helpless after exposure to a traumatic event. Although the post traumatic stress disorder theory seems to incorporate Dr. Walker's theory, it is more inclusive in that it recognizes that different individuals may have different reactions to traumatic events and does not rely heavily on the theory of learned helplessness to explain why battered women stay with their abusers. There are several methods a professional can utilize to treat individuals suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The most successful treatments are those that they administer immediately after the traumatic event. Experts commonly call this type of treatment critical incident stress debriefing. Although this type of treatment is effective in halting the development of post traumatic stress disorder, the cyclical nature and gradual escalation of violence in domestic abuse situations make critical incident stress debriefing an unlikely therapy for battered women. The second type of treatment is administered after post traumatic stress disorder has developed and is less effective than critical incident stress debriefing. This type of treatment may consist of psychodynamic psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy and group therapy. The most effective post-manifestation treatment for battered women is group therapy. In a group therapy session, battered women can discuss traumatic memories, post traumatic stress disorder symptoms and functional deficits with others who have had similar experiences. By discussing their experiences and symptoms, the women form a common bond and release repressed memories, feelings and emotions. To summarize, many experts regard battered women's syndrome as a subcategory of post traumatic stress disorder. The diagnostic criteria for post traumatic stress disorder include a history of exposure to a traumatic event and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms and hyper arousal symptoms. After exposure to a traumatic event, defined by the DSM-IV as one that is markedly distressing to almost everyone, an individual suffering from post traumatic stress disorder may suffer intrusive recollections, which consist of daytime fantasies, traumatic nightmares and flashbacks. The individual may also try to avoid stimuli that remind him/her of the traumatic event and/or develop symptoms associated with generic anxiety disorders. Critical incident stress debriefing, psychodynamic psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy and group therapy are all recognized as effective treatments for post traumatic stress disorder. IV. Conclusion Although there are many different theories of battered women's syndrome, most are all variations or hybrids of the three main theories outlined above. A sound understanding of Dr. Walker's classical battered women's syndrome theory, Gondolf and Fisher's survivor theory of battered women's syndrome and the post traumatic stress disorder theory, will permit the reader to identify the origins and essential elements of these various hybrids and provide them with a better understanding of the plight of the battered woman. Given the prevalence of domestic abuse in our society, it is important to realize that the battered woman does not like abuse or is responsible for her victimization. The three theories discussed above all offer rationale explanations for why a battered women often stays with her abuser and explore the psychological harm caused by abuse while discounting the popular perception that battered women must enjoy the abuse. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Big Brothers.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Big Brothers Becoming a mentor can have a tremendous impact on the life of a youngster. Children need someone to look up to that doesn't necessarily need be a part of their immediate family. Sometimes they have no siblings, or maybe their siblings or parents are busy. Perhaps they have no grandparents to do things with. These children are the ones that spend their afternoons in crowded after school programs where they may not get the attention the crave. This may lead to isolation and oppositely over hyperactive children starved for attention. In other cases, some children who are not so fortunate as to be offered after-school programs are subject to the world outside all on their own. In too many cases, these are the children that become statistics. These are the children who turn to drugs or crime, be it out of fear, or simply to feel accepted. Accepted in the wrong crowds still may comfort a lonely child. One of the most renowned mentoring agencies is a non-profit organization called big brothers/ big sisters of America. A man who saw a young boy sifting through the trash for food created this establishment over 90 years ago. He took the boy home, fed him, and then met his poverty-stricken family. From that point on, he became a mentor to the little boy, and this inspired him to form the organization for other boys, and in following years, a group of Christian women created a program for little girls. The soon joined forces and became the big brothers and big sisters of America. In today's society, there are a lot of things for a child to face each day. These things can include anything from illegal drugs to simply being harassed by the school bully. No matter how trivial the obstacle, children should not have to live in fear or feel as if they are alone and have no one to talk to. This happens in too many instances, and just a simple friend could have made all the difference. Though juvenile crimes are not on the rise, according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice, 18% of all arrests in the US are youths under the age of 18. Most of these crimes include rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Students ages 12-18 were victims of an estimated 2.1 million in-school thefts in 1996-62% of all crimes in school. Students ages 12-18 were victims of an estimated 1.6 million thefts away from school in 1996-53% of all crimes against students away from school. Even if crime isn't on the rise with school-aged children, problems do exist. These are problems that will not go away by themselves and all the metal detectors and safety measures will not keep kids safe outside of school. It is easy to say that the kids are misunderstood. Just a satisfying excuse to the behaviors of troubled kids. It doesn't have to be that way. Directly quoted from the big brother/big sister web site is the following mission statement: Big Brothers Big Sisters of America have matched millions of children in need with caring adult mentors since 1904. Research shows that children with Big Brothers and Big Sisters are less likely to use drugs and alcohol, skip school, and exhibit violent behavior. Our program provides positive mentoring relationships for young people in hundreds of communities in all 50 states When a child spends time with his or her mentor, at least once a week, showed dramatic results as follows :46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol 5 3 percent less likely to skip school, Kids become more confident of their performance in schoolwork, less likely to hit someone, and get along better with their families This organization has been around for many decades, and has been successful at helping the lives of kids in a violent world. If everyone could dedicate one or two hours a week to a less fortunate child can help create harmony in the world. If you teach children well when they are young, they are less likely to have criminal instincts as they mature. Simple things like taking a child to the zoo, or the movies, or even the library can make a child feel important. It doesn't take much to help a child. Sometimes they may just need to talk to someone that isn't related to them, and older friend, someone with more life experience that wont judge them based on familial instincts. Happier children lead to an overall happier future. All kids need is someone to look up to. If they don't, kids will continue to end up as statistics, and things will never change. It is this simple, you don't need to be rich, or you don't have to drive a car. All you need is an open mind and an open heart, to accept a child who desperately needs you. If you have ever needed a friend to talk to, or if you ever did have that special someone, I urge you to take a step toward helping another, because as beneficial as it is to the child. The rewards you will reap mentally from knowing you are making the world a brighter in a place where its dark for a child is unexplainable. Not only that but it is fun. It is fun to meet and get to know another being. You can help that child learn about life, and they can also help you learn about life as well, by their viewpoints and their experiences. Again I urge you to spend a Sunday a week with a little boy or girl, make the difference they have been waiting for. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Bipolar Disorder.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bipolar Disorder The phenomenon of bipolar affective disorder has been a mystery since the 16th century. History has shown that this affliction can appear in almost anyone. Even the great painter Vincent Van Gogh is believed to have had bipolar disorder. It is clear that in our society many people live with bipolar disorder; however, despite the abundance of people suffering from the it, we are still waiting for definite explanations for the causes and cure. The one fact of which we are painfully aware is that bipolar disorder severely undermines its' victims ability to obtain and maintain social and occupational success. Because bipolar disorder has such debilitating symptoms, it is imperative that we remain vigilant in the quest for explanations of its causes and treatment. Affective disorders are characterized by a smorgasbord of symptoms that can be broken into manic and depressive episodes. The depressive episodes are characterized by intense feelings of sadness and despair that can become feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Some of the symptoms of a depressive episode include anhedonia, disturbances in sleep and appetite, psycomoter retardation, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, difficulty thinking, indecision, and recurrent thoughts of death and suicide (Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990 ). The manic episodes are characterized by elevated or irritable mood, increased energy, decreased need for sleep, poor judgment and insight, and often reckless or irresponsible behavior (Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990 ). Bipolar affective disorder affects approximately one percent of the population (approximately three million people) in the United States. It is presented by both males and females. Bipolar disorder involves episodes of mania and depression. These episodes may alternate with profound depressions characterized by a pervasive sadness, almost inability to move, hopelessness, and disturbances in appetite, sleep, in concentrations and driving. Bipolar disorder is diagnosed if an episode of mania occurs whether depression has been diagnosed or not (Goodwin, Guze, 1989, p 11). Most commonly, individuals with manic episodes experience a period of depression. Symptoms include elated, expansive, or irritable mood, hyperactivity, pressure of speech, flight of ideas, inflated self esteem, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, and excessive involvement in reckless activities (Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990 ). Rarest symptoms were periods of loss of all interest and retardation or agitation (Weisman, 1991). As the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association (MDMDA) has demonstrated, bipolar disorder can create substantial developmental delays, marital and family disruptions, occupational setbacks, and financial disasters. This devastating disease causes disruptions of families, loss of jobs and millions of dollars in cost to society. Many times bipolar patients report that the depressions are longer and increase in frequency as the individual ages. Many times bipolar states and psychotic states are misdiagnosed as schizophrenia. Speech patterns help distinguish between the two disorders (Lish, 1994). The onset of Bipolar disorder usually occurs between the ages of 20 and 30 years of age, with a second peak in the mid-forties for women. A typical bipolar patient may experience eight to ten episodes in their lifetime. However, those who have rapid cycling may experience more episodes of mania and depression that succeed each other without a period of remission (DSM III-R). The three stages of mania begin with hypomania, in which patients report that they are energetic, extroverted and assertive (Hirschfeld, 1995). The hypomania state has led observers to feel that bipolar patients are "addicted" to their mania. Hypomania progresses into mania and the transition is marked by loss of judgment (Hirschfeld, 1995). Often, euphoric grandiose characteristics are displayed, and paranoid or irritable characteristics begin to manifest. The third stage of mania is evident when the patient experiences delusions with often paranoid themes. Speech is generally rapid and hyperactive behavior manifests sometimes associated with violence (Hirschfeld, 1995). When both manic and depressive symptoms occur at the same time it is called a mixed episode. Those afflicted are a special risk because there is a combination of hopelessness, agitation, and anxiety that makes them feel like they "could jump out of their skin"(Hirschfeld, 1995). Up to 50% of all patients with mania have a mixture of depressed moods. Patients report feeling dysphoric, depressed, and unhappy; yet, they exhibit the energy associated with mania. Rapid cycling mania is another presentation of bipolar disorder. Mania may be present with four or more distinct episodes within a 12 month period. There is now evidence to suggest that sometimes rapid cycling may be a transient manifestation of the bipolar disorder. This form of the disease exhibits more episodes of mania and depression than bipolar. Lithium has been the primary treatment of bipolar disorder since its introduction in the 1960's. It is main function is to stabilize the cycling characteristic of bipolar disorder. In four controlled studies by F. K. Goodwin and K. R. Jamison, the overall response rate for bipolar subjects treated with Lithium was 78% (1990). Lithium is also the primary drug used for long- term maintenance of bipolar disorder. In a majority of bipolar patients, it lessens the duration, frequency, and severity of the episodes of both mania and depression. Unfortunately, as many as 40% of bipolar patients are either unresponsive to lithium or can not tolerate the side effects. Some of the side effects include thirst, weight gain, nausea, diarrhea, and edema. Patients who are unresponsive to lithium treatment are often those who experience dysphoric mania, mixed states, or rapid cycling bipolar disorder. One of the problems associated with lithium is the fact the long-term lithium treatment has been associated with decreased thyroid functioning in patients with bipolar disorder. Preliminary evidence also suggest that hypothyroidism may actually lead to rapid-cycling (Bauer et al., 1990). Another problem associated with the use of lithium is experienced by pregnant women. Its use during pregnancy has been associated with birth defects, particularly Ebstein's anomaly. Based on current data, the risk of a child with Ebstein's anomaly being born to a mother who took lithium during her first trimester of pregnancy is approximately 1 in 8,000, or 2.5 times that of the general population (Jacobson et al., 1992). There are other effective treatments for bipolar disorder that are used in cases where the patients cannot tolerate lithium or have been unresponsive to it in the past. The American Psychiatric Association's guidelines suggest the next line of treatment to be Anticonvulsant drugs such as valproate and carbamazepine. These drugs are useful as antimanic agents, especially in those patients with mixed states. Both of these medications can be used in combination with lithium or in combination with each other. Valproate is especially helpful for patients who are lithium noncompliant, experience rapid-cycling, or have comorbid alcohol or drug abuse. Neuroleptics such as haloperidol or chlorpromazine have also been used to help stabilize manic patients who are highly agitated or psychotic. Use of these drugs is often necessary because the response to them are rapid, but there are risks involved in their use. Because of the often severe side effects, Benzodiazepines are often used in their place. Benzodiazepines can achieve the same results as Neuroleptics for most patients in terms of rapid control of agitation and excitement, without the severe side effects. Antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's) fluovamine and amitriptyline have also been used by some doctors as treatment for bipolar disorder. A double-blind study by M. Gasperini, F. Gatti, L. Bellini, R.Anniverno, and E. Smeraldi showed that fluvoxamine and amitriptyline are highly effective treatments for bipolar patients experiencing depressive episodes (1992). This study is controversial however, because conflicting research shows that SSRI's and other antidepressants can actually precipitate manic episodes. Most doctors can see the usefulness of antidepressants when used in conjunction with mood stabilizing medications such as lithium. In addition to the mentioned medical treatments of bipolar disorder, there are several other options available to bipolar patients, most of which are used in conjunction with medicine. One such treatment is light therapy. One study compared the response to light therapy of bipolar patients with that of unipolar patients. Patients were free of psychotropic and hypnotic medications for at least one month before treatment. Bipolar patients in this study showed an average of 90.3% improvement in their depressive symptoms, with no incidence of mania or hypomania. They all continued to use light therapy, and all showed a sustained positive response at a three month follow-up (Hopkins and Gelenberg, 1994). Another study involved a four week treatment of bright morning light treatment for patients with seasonal affective disorder and bipolar patients. This study found a statistically significant decrement in depressive symptoms, with the maximum antidepressant effect of light not being reached until week four (Baur, Kurtz, Rubin, and Markus, 1994). Hypomanic symptoms were experienced by 36% of bipolar patients in this study. Predominant hypomanic symptoms included racing thoughts, deceased sleep and irritability. Surprisingly, one-third of controls also developed symptoms such as those mentioned above. Regardless of the explanation of the emergence of hypomanic symptoms in undiagnosed controls, it is evident from this study that light treatment may be associated with the observed symptoms. Based on the results, careful professional monitoring during light treatment is necessary, even for those without a history of major mood disorders. Another popular treatment for bipolar disorder is electro-convulsive shock therapy. ECT is the preferred treatment for severely manic pregnant patients and patients who are homicidal, psychotic, catatonic, medically compromised, or severely suicidal. In one study, researchers found marked improvement in 78% of patients treated with ECT, compared to 62% of patients treated only with lithium and 37% of patients who received neither, ECT or lithium (Black et al., 1987). A final type of therapy that I found is outpatient group psychotherapy. According to Dr. John Graves, spokesperson for The National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association has called attention to the value of support groups, and challenged mental health professionals to take a more serious look at group therapy for the bipolar population. Research shows that group participation may help increase lithium compliance, decrease denial regarding the illness, and increase awareness of both external and internal stress factors leading to manic and depressive episodes. Group therapy for patients with bipolar disorders responds to the need for support and reinforcement of medication management, and the need for education and support for the interpersonal difficulties that arise during the course of the disorder. References Bauer, M.S., Kurtz, J.W., Rubin, L.B., and Marcus, J.G. (1994). Mood and Behavioral effects of four-week light treatment in winter depressives and controls. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 28, 2: 135-145. Bauer, M.S., Whybrow, P.C. and Winokur, A. (1990). Rapid Cycling Bipolar Affective Disorder: I. Association with grade I hypothyroidism. Archives of General Psychiatry. 47: 427-432. Black, D.W., Winokur, G., and Nasrallah, A. (1987). Treatment of Mania: A naturalistic study of electroconvulsive therapy versus lithium in 438 patients. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 48: 132-139. Gasperini, M., Gatti, F., Bellini, L., Anniverno, R., Smeralsi, E., (1992). Perspectives in clinical psychopharmacology of amitriptyline and fluvoxamine. Pharmacopsychiatry. 26:186-192. Goodwin, F.K., and Jamison, K.R. (1990). Manic Depressive Illness. New York: Oxford University Press. Goodwin, Donald W. and Guze, Samuel B. (1989). Psychiatric Diagnosis. Fourth Ed. Oxford University. p.7. Hirschfeld, R.M. (1995). Recent Developments in Clinical Aspects of Bipolar Disorder. The Decade of the Brain. National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Winter. Vol. VI. Issue II. Hollandsworth, James G. (1990). The Physiology of Psychological Disorders. Plenem Press. New York and London. P.111. Hopkins, H.S. and Gelenberg, A.J. (1994). Treatment of Bipolar Disorder: How Far Have We Come? Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 30 (1): 27-38. Jacobson, S.J., Jones, K., Ceolin, L., Kaur, P., Sahn, D., Donnerfeld, A.E., Rieder, M., Santelli, R., Smythe, J., Patuszuk, A., Einarson, T., and Koren, G., (1992). Prospective multicenter study of pregnancy outcome after lithium exposure during the first trimester. Laricet. 339: 530-533. Lish, J.D., Dime-Meenan, S., Whybrow, P.C., Price, R.A. and Hirschfeld, R.M. (1994). The National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association (DMDA) Survey of Bipolar Members. Affective Disorders. 31: pp.281-294. Weisman, M.M., Livingston, B.M., Leaf, P.J., Florio, L.P., Holzer, C. (1991). Psychiatric Disorders in America. Affective Disorders. Free Press. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Birth Order.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Birth Order Does birth order have an effect on personality? Does being first born make people more responsible? If someone is the middle born child, are they going to be more rebellious? If people are last born are they more likely to be on television? Are first born children inconsiderate and selfish or reliable and highly motivated? These, and many other questions are being thoroughly studied by psychologists (Harrigan, 1992). In 1923, the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Adler, wrote that a person's position in the family leaves an undeniable "stamp" on his or her "style of life" (Marzollo, 1990). Research has shown that birth order does indeed affect a child; however, it does not automatically shape personality. If it did, life would be much more predictable and a great deal less interesting (Marzollo, 1990). Yogi Bera, a famous baseball player, said "Every now and then a reporter who thinks he is Freud asks me if being the youngest is why I made it (playing professional baseball). I almost alw ays say yes, but I don't think it had anything to do with it" (Harrigan, 1992). Birth order doesn't explain everything about human behavior. Personality is affected by many different factors, such as heredity, family size, the spacing and sex of siblings, education, and upbringing. However, there is an awful lot of research and plain old "law of averages" supporting the affect of birth order on personality (Leman, 1985). There are four basic classifications of birth order: the oldest, the only, the middle, and the youngest. Each has its own set of advantages, as well as its own set of disadvantages. While the birth order factor isn't always exact, it does give many clues about why people are the way they are (Leman, 1985). If there is one word that describes first born children it would be "perfectionist" (Harrigan, 1992). First born children tend to be high achievers in whatever they do. Some traits customarily used to label first born children include reliable, conscientious, list maker, well organized, critical, serious, scholarly (Leman, 1985), self-assured, good leadership ability, eager to please, and nurturing (Brazelton, 1994). Also, first born children seem to have a heightened sense of right and wrong. It is common in most books about birth order that first born children get more press than only, middle, and youngest children. This can be explained by the fact that the first born child is typically the success story in the family. They are the ones that are extremely driven to succeed in "high achievement" fields such as science, medicine, or law (Leman, 1985). For example, of the first twenty-three astronauts sent into outer space, twenty-one were first born or their close cousin, the only child, which we w ill discuss later on. In fact, all seven astronauts in the original Mercury program were first born children (Leman, 1985). Also, first born children tend to choose careers that involve leadership. For example, fifty-two percent of all U.S. presidents were first-borns (Lanning, 1991). Researchers say that, in general, first born children tend to have higher IQs than younger siblings. This is not because they start off more intelligent, but because of the amount of attention new parents give to their first child (Marzollo, 1990). Experts claim that a first born's will to succeed begins in infancy (Lanning, 1991). The extraordinary love affair that many new parents have with their first child leads to the kind of intensity that can probably never be repeated with a younger child. In the first few weeks, a new parent imitates the baby's gestures in a playful game. A rhythm is established by mimicry of vocalizations, motions, and smiles. Think what this cycle of action-reaction might mean to an infant: "I'm pretty powerful, aren't I? Everything I do is copied by someone who cares about me ." After a couple of weeks of game playing the infant develops a sense of "I recognize you!" (Brazelton, 1994). This special parent-child interaction helps to instill a deep sense of self-worth in first born children. In short, the parents put their first born child on a pedestal or throne. Also, new parents are convinced that their child is the cleverest child in the world when he or she rolls over or says "Mama" or "Dada" (Jabs, 1987). Even though the child is a baby it can still sense the profound sense of enthusiasm. So, first borns want to maintain their parents' attention and approval (Lanning, 1991). This is when the arrival of a second child is often a crisis for the first child. They are knocked off their pedestal by the baby (Leman, 1989). They are no longer the center of mom and dad's attention. This often causes them to become resentful toward their younger sibling. To reclaim the position at the center of their parents' attention, he or she will try imitating the baby. When the first child realizes that his or her parents frown upon a two-year-old who wants a bottle or a three-year-old who needs a diaper, he or she decides to aid his or her parents in caring for the younger child (Jabs, 1987). Parents usually tend to reinforce the older child's decision to be more adult by expecting him or her to set a good example for the younger child. These experiences help to make the first born a natural leader. However, first borns are sometimes so preoccupied with being good and doing things right that they forget how to enjoy life and be a kid (Jabs, 1987). Along with being the first child comes pressure. Each achievement becomes a miracle in a new parent's eyes. However, when a mistake occurs it is viewed as an enormous failure in the child's eyes because their parents weren't ecstatic, and so the child goes to enormous lengths to make his or her parents happy with their performance. Some parents may also burden the child with their own unfulfilled dreams and with setting the standard for the younger children (Brazelton, 1994). Norval D. Glenn, Ph. D., professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, explains that firstborns often suffer from pseudomaturity. They may act grown-up throughout childhood, but because their role models are grown-ups rather than older siblings, they may tend to reject the role of leader in early adulthood (Marzollo, 1990). Also, a firstborn is not always "the most gracious receiver of criticism". An adult's constant criticism of his or her performance may cause the child to become a worried perfectionist. They m ay come to fear making mistakes before eyes that he or she feels are always watching them. First born children may also come to hate any kind of criticism because it emphasizes the faults that he or she is trying to overcome (Marzollo, 1990). The first born child does not have unlimited time to view himself as the child in the relationship with parents. When a sibling arrives, he or she tends to eliminate the view of himself or herself as a child and he or she struggles to be "parental" (Forer, 1969). In short, the first born child will do anything to make everything perfect. In addition to the labels mentioned before, first born children also tend to be goal-oriented, self-sacrificing, people-pleasers, conservative, supporters of law and order, believer in authority and ritual, legalistic, loyal, and self-reliant. They are often achievers, the ones who are driven toward success and stardom in their given fields (Leman, 1985). First born children can be found in great numbers in positions like accountants, bookkeepers, executive secretaries, engineers, and, in recent years, people whose jobs involve computers. First borns typically choose a career that involves precision and requires a strong power of concentration (Leman, 1985). Some first borns that have gone on to become famous leaders, actors, scientists, novelists, astronauts, etc. include Mikhail Gorbachev (Russian leader), Jimmy Carter (president), Henry Kissinger (diplomat), Albert Einstein (scientist), Sally Ride (astronaut), Bill Cosby (actor), John Glenn (astronaut, senator), Steven Spielberg (producer), Joan Colli ns (actress), Clint Eastwood (actor), Peter Jennings (TV journalist), and Bruce Springsteen (singer) (Jabs, 1987; Lanning, 1991; Marzollo, 1990). In many ways, the only child is like the first born child. An only child is a first born child who never loses his or her parents' undivided attention. He or she benefits greatly from his or her parents' enthusiastic attention, as long as it isn't too critical. The only child also tends to have the first child's heightened sense of right and wrong (Jabs, 1987). Leman's "perfect" description of the "Lonely Only" include all the labels that were included with the first born child. However, preceding each word would be the prefix super (Leman, 1985). Where the first born child is organized, the only child is superorganized. Where the first born child is a perfectionist, the only child is a superperfectionist. Labels that are often applied to only children include spoiled, selfish, lazy, and a bit conceited. These labels tend to be applied because only children don't have to share with other siblings like the first, middle, or youngest children. Dr. Alfred Adler, a famous psychologist, said that "The Only Child has difficulties with every independent activity and sooner or later they become useless in life." However, most birth order experts, as well as myself, being an only child, disagree with Dr. Adler and the labels given to an only child. (Leman, 1989). Far from being people who are used to having things handed to them all their lives, only children are among the top achievers in every area of profession. For example some of the more famous only children include Franklin D. Roosevelt (president), Leonardo da Vinci (artist), Charles Lindbergh (pilot), Ted Koppel (TV journalist), Brooke Shields (model, actress), Nancy Reagan (first-lady), Frank Sinatra (singer), Danielle Steel (novelist), and John Updike (novelist) (Jabs, 1987; Leman, 1989). A problem that only children tend to have is when eager parents interfere with their child's development. For example, new parents tend to jump in too early to help the child with everything he or she tries. They can't sit back and let the child struggle. What they don't realize is that frustration is a powerful learning tool. When a child fights to master a task and succeeds on his or her own, their face lights up with pride. "I did it myself." If a parent tends to jump in to help at every little problem, then the child could lose his or her will to try to do things by their self. Only children seem to be very on top of things, articulate, and mature. They appear to have it all together. Yet, often there is an internal struggle going on. Their standards have always been set by adults and are often high, sometimes too high. Only children regularly have a hard time enjoying their achievements. They feel as if they can never do anything good enough. Even if they succeed, they often feel as though they didn't succeed by enough. This is usually the start of what experts call the "discouraged perfectionist" (Leman, 1985). Also, many other special problems may develop with only children. These problems are often classified as only children, who are "problem children." For example, the "special jewel" or "receiver" child often has a problem with the heliocentric theory that states that our solar system revolves around the sun. The special jewel or receiver child believes that the entire universe revolves around him or her. This type of child generally develops when the parents gi ve in to their child's every wish. It is important for this child's parents to say no. If the child says, "Mom, I want that !", her mother should respond by saying, "No, I will not buy that for you, but you may purchase it with money you have earned yourself." Once these children realize that they are dealing with someone who won't cave in to their every demand they become quite pleasant (Leman, 1989). Another "problem child" is the "friend-snatcher". The child who never learns to share his or her toys, will also have a problem with sharing friends as well. They become agitated when their friend tries to include other people into the pair's activities. They may try to bribe their "friend" by offering them toys, food, and maybe even money. For this problem, experts suggest confronting the child by proposing, that mabye, the reason he or she is not having very good relationships with his or her friends is because he or she is not willing to share friends with anyone. Suggest that they need to try doin g activities with more than two people and that they need to stop being so posessive (Leman, 1989). Next is the "target" child. This child also has a problem with the heliocentric theory. This child magnifies his or her importance in every situation and beleives he or she is the one being singled out for unfair treatment. When life is unfair, as it often is, he can sink into deep depression and bitterness. For example, if a teacher gives them an "F" on a world history test, it's because the teacher doesn't like them and not because they didn't do a good job (Leman, 1989). These are often problems of an only children who has been sheltered from society by their overprotective parents. Those who are well adjusted know from an early age that life is a mixture of good and bad (Leman, 1989). Middle children are the hardest to classify because they are so dependant different variables, including the personalities of their older and younger siblings and the number of years between them (Marzollo, 1990). "What happens to middle children depends on the total family dynamics," says Dr. Jeannie Kidwell, family therapist and research scholar (Jabs, 1987). Middle children can be shy or outgoing, reckless or responsible, uptight or laid back (Lanning, 1991). Any number of life-styles can appear, but they all play off the first born (Leman, 1985). He or she may try to imitate the first-born's behavior. If they feel that they can't match up, they may go off in another direction, looking for their identity, often in the exact opposite of that taken by his or her older sibling. The general conclusion of all research studies done on birth order is that second borns will probably be somewhat the opposite of first born children (Leman, 1985). In general, middle born children suffer from an identity cris is. They are always striving to be different from their older and younger siblings. Middle children feel that they are born too late to get the privileges and special treatment that firstborns seem to inherit by right and born too early to enjoy the relaxing of the disciplinary reins, which is sometimes translated as "getting away with murder" (Marzollo, 1990). Neither the achiever nor the baby, the middle child may feel that he or she has no particular role in the family. They may look outside the family to define themselves. This is why friends become very important to middle children (Marzollo, 1990). Middle children search to find their own identity and define their personality. Because middle children have to fight for their parents' attention, they become highly competitive. This generally makes middle children more successful in sports. Lacking the benefit of the exceptions parents make for their first borns and last borns, middle children may learn to negotiate, to compromise, and to give and take, valuable skills that will help them succeed (Marzollo, 1990). They can become effective managers and leaders because they are good listeners and can cope with varying points of view. Also, experts have found that because middle children have had to struggle for more things than their siblings they are better prepared for real life. One big plus for middle children is a well developed sense of empathy because they know what it's like to be younger and older. However, all the competing and negotiating may cause middle children to have an overall low self esteem and a self-deprecating attitude (Marzoll o, 1990). Nevertheless, middle children have many advantages. They can learn from the older sibling but can also regress to be like the younger one, doubling their learning opportunities. Yet, they may also have many mood swings between grown-up and baby-like behavior, especially during the teen age years (Brazelton, 1994). Leman (1989) says to "Remember, the average teenager has only two emotional outbursts per year. The problem is they last about six months each." Because slightly more than one third of American families today have only two children, many parents find themselves thinking in terms of the first born and second born. Middle and second born children share many of the same characteristics. Like the middle child, the second-born is likely to search for ways to be different from the first-born child (Marzollo, 1990). Dr. Kidwell says, "Problems arise when a family has very rigid expectations." If the only thing that matters is straight A's and the first kid is doing that, the middle kid has a profound dilemma. He or she needs something else to be known for (Jabs, 1987, p.29). Some famous middle and second children who have found their own identity include Bea Arthur (actress), Glenn Close (actress), Matt Dillon (actor), Linda Evans (actress), Jessica Lange (actress), Cyndi Lauper (singer), Tom Selleck (actor), Mary Decker Slaney (runner), Richard Nixon (president), Princess Diana (British royalty), George Burns (comedian), Bob Hope (comedian) (Jabs, 1 987; Marzollo, 1990). If a group of psychologists randomly picked out ten youngest born children, chances are that nine of them would have these characteristics: manipulative, charming, blames others, shows off, people person, good salesperson, precocious, engaging, and sometimes spoiled (Leman, 1985). By the time the youngest child is born, his or her parents have become veterans in the field of child care (Lanning, 1991). They are more experienced and confident in their parenting practices, and so they often decide to let the last born enjoy childhood as long as they can (Marzollo, 1990). This is why youngest children tend to be more pampered than older siblings. The youngest or "baby" of the family is often given an extra dose of affection and attention, as well as an occasional exception from the rules (Marzollo, 1990). This extremely positive upbringing helps to contribute to the youngest child's fun-loving, affectionate, and persuasive behavior (Marzollo, 1990). The youngest child can grow up to feel the most tre asured, and the most nurtured of all (Brazelton, 1994). Also, without the pressure of a younger sibling gaining from behind, the youngest may grow up easy going and carefree (Jabs, 1987). However, life isn't all fun and games for the family baby. The endless praise of last born children may leave them feeling that their families do not take them seriously (Marzollo, 1990). For instance, a common youngest child remark would be, "If I get upset or try to state my opinion, nobody takes me seriously. To them, I'm the baby. They think I don't know a whole lot," (Lanning, 1991). Youngest children often have feelings of insecurity or long periods of self-doubt (Lanning, 1991). For example, a youngest child grows up being coddled one minute as a darling little baby, but the next minute she's compared unfavorably with an older sibling. He or she is often unfairly compared with older and stronger siblings. According to Beverly Hills-based psychiatrist Carole Lieberman, M.D., the self-image of the youngest child may become confused (Lanning, 1991). As a result of conflicting experiences, youngest children can be extremely self-confident in someways and insecure in others (Leman, 1985). For the most part, youngest children learn to cope with the problems of self-doubt. In fact, youngest children often go on to become quite successful, thanks in part to their originality and determination to prove themselves to the world (Lanning, 1991). Often, they express their unique view of the world through the visual or literary arts. People-pleasing fields, such as art, comedy, entertainment and sales are full of youngest children (Lanning, 1991). Some examples of famous youngest children include Ronald Reagan (president, actor), Eddie Murphy (comedian), Paul Newman (actor), Mary Lou Retton (gymnast), Billy Crystal (comedian), Yogi Bera (baseball player), Ted Kennedy (politician), and Kevin Leman (psychologist) f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\brian tracy psy of selling the psychology of selling.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Psychology of Selling (Six audio cassettes or CDs plus workbook) Session 1: The Psychology of Selling The "winning edge" theory. The "inner game" of selling. Self-concept as a regulator. A simple way to increase your earnings. The six phases of selling. The single most significant indicator of your success. The best time to make a sale. Obstacles. Session 2: Developing a Powerful Sales Personality Characteristics of superior salespeople. Gaining ten extra years of income. Achieving wealth. Which products are right for you? Creating the profile for success and living up to it. Your invisible helper. What is happening when everything is going right? Becoming unstoppable. Session 3: Why People Buy The foundation for all professional selling. The key to business-to-business selling. The six sure-fire ways to uncover needs. Identifying basic and secondary needs. The "spotlight" technique. Phrasing for success. Session 4: Creative Selling How strategic selling works. A step-by-step process to determine your greatest opportunities. The crucial question you must ask yourself. Timing sales for success. Great ways to get testimonials. The "20-Idea" method. Selling to "non-customers." Session 5: Approaching the Prospect If it works for Corning Glass... Getting undivided attention. Planting the right questions in the customer's mind. Answering them. The selling temptation you must avoid. Building expectancy. Correctly using the powerful "suggested influences." Five personality types. Session 6: The Sales Process An opening question that both qualifies the buyer and intrigues him. The purpose of the presentation. Building your case. Stalling all price concerns until you're ready for them. Five keys to effective listening. A three-step presentation method. Session 7: The Psychology of Closing Planning your close in detail. Its major requirements. A new look at buying signals. The role of fear. Five errors to avoid. What not to do. Primary obstacles to closing. The only form of pressure you should ever use. Avoiding the biggest sales killer. Tag-team selling. Session 8: When Objections Get In the Way The basic rule about objections. Turning them around. The law of six applied to objections. Analyzing conditions. Nine common objections and how to demolish them. Show-off objections. Subjective objections. The last-ditch objection. The just suppose...sharp angle...instant reverse...and change places closes. Session 9: Winning Closing Techniques - I The ascending close. The law of six. Kindling desire. The invitational close. Overcoming price resistance. The law of the excluded alternative. Seven ways to handle price objections. A way to smoke out the real objection. The sudden death close. Finalizing a sale that was going nowhere. Session 10: Winning Closing Techniques - II The alternative close. The assumption close. The take away...summary...order sheet...relevant story...walk away...today only...go ahead...and doorknob closes. Questions to ask yourself after every sales call. A billionaire reveals the two requirements for success. Session 11: Managing Your Time Effectively The basics of managing time. A simple formula that puts things in perspective. Major time wasters. How to quit spinning your wheels. The essence of selling. Tips to increase effectiveness. How to start your day. When to end it. How to find six new weeks a year. Session 12: Ten Keys to Success in Selling What adversity shows you. The incompetent person of tomorrow. Selecting the right reference group. Shakespeare's advice. Why you're a genius. Tapping your enormous creativity reserves. The Universal Maximum. A key to success by Baron de Rothschild. A lesson from the airstrip. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Brian Tracy Psychology of Achievement.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ACHIEVEMENT By BRIAN TRACY YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT! A MAN BECOMES WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT ALL DAY LONG. -- RALPH EMERSON. YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE, BUT WHAT YOU THINK...YOU ARE. THE LAW OF EXPECTATIONS WHATEVER WE EXPECT WITH CONFIDENCE BECOMES OUR OWN SELF-FULLFILLING PROPHECY. ...WE ARE OUR OWN FORTUNE TELLERS. WE MANUFACTURE OUR OWN SELF-FULLFILLING PROPHECY. EXPECTATIONS HAVE A POWERFUL IMPACT ON OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS, AND WHAT WE BECOME. ALWAYS EXPECT TO GROW, TO GET BETTER -- EXPECT THE BEST. THROW OFF PAST MISTAKES OR FAILINGS. MAKE A HABIT OF ALWAYS EXPECTING THE BEST IN WHAT YOU DO. MANUFACTURE POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS. THE LAW OF ATTRACTION EACH HUMAN BEING IS A LIVING MAGNET. THINK CONTINUALLY OF THE PEOPLE AND CIRCUMSTANCES YOU ALLOW IN YOUR LIFE. SELF ESTEEM THIS IS THE CORE OF SELF CONCEPT. HOW MUCH YOU LIKE YOURSELF DETERMINES HOW WELL YOU PERFORM. THE MORE YOU LIKE YOURSELF THE BETTER YOU PERFORM. "I LIKE MYSELF ... I LIKE MYSELF ... I LIKE MYSELF..." SAY IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER. PICTURE YOUSELF AS AN ATTRACTIVE HIGH-PERFORMING HUMAN BEING. RELEASE YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS BRAKES. ACCEPT FULL RESPONSIBILTY FOR YOUR LIFE. WE ARE 100% IN CHARGE OF WHAT HAPPENS TO OURSELVES. WE CONTROL OUR DESTINY. DISCARD NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. ACCEPT TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH. KEEP YOUR CONSCIOUS MIND ON THE THINGS YOU DESIRE, RATHER THAN THE THINGS YOU FEAR. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Bulimia Nervosa.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bulimia Nervosa Bulimia nervosa is defined as two or more episodes of binge eating (rapid consumption of a large amount of food, up to 5,000 calories) every week for at least three months. The binges are sometimes followed by vomiting or purging and may alternate with compulsive exercise and fasting. The symptoms can develop at any age from early adolescence to 40, but usually become clinically serious in late adolescence. Bulimia is not as dangerous to health as anorexia, but it has many unpleasant physical effects, including fatigue, weakness, constipation, fluid retention, swollen salivary glands, erosion of dental enamel, sore throat from vomiting, and scars on the hand from inducing vomiting. Overuse of laxatives can cause stomach upset and other digestive troubles. Other dangers are dehydration, loss of potassium, and tearing of the esophagus. These eating disorders also occur in men and older women, but much less frequently. Women with diabetes, who have a high rate of bulimia, often lose weight after an eating binge by reducing their dose of insulin. According to recent research, this practice damages eye tissue and raises the risk of diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness. Many anorectic women also indulge in occasional eating binges, and half of them make the transition to bulimia. About 40% of the most severely bulimic patients have a history of anorexia. It is not clear whether the combination of anorexia with bingeing and purging is more debilitating, physically or emotionally, than anorexia alone. According to some research, anorectic women who binge and purge are less stable emotionally and more likely to commit suicide. But one recent study suggests that, on the contrary, they are more likely to recover. The exact cause of the disorder is unknown, but a variety of psychological, social, cultural, familial and biochemical theories are being investigated. Bulimia has been recognized for a much shorter time than anorexia, and there is less research on its origins. One theory is that bulimic women lack all the parental affection and involvement they need and soothe them with food as compensation. The overeating subdues feelings of which they are barely conscious, at the price of later shame and self-hatred. One recent study found that bulimic women differed from depressed and anxious women in several ways. They were more likely to be overweight, to have overweight parents, and to have begun menstruating early. They were also more likely to say that their parents had high expectations for them but limited contact with them. The parents themselves were not interviewed. According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, surprisingly, the risk for bulimia was not related to social class, income, education, occupation, the occupation of parents, or even an outgoing or introverted personality. A woman's childhood relationship with her mother, as she reported it, was not associated with bulimia, but neglect by her father was. Women with bulimia had lower self-esteem and more neurotic symptoms, and they were more likely to say they were not in control of their lives. They also had a slimmer ideal body image, and they dieted and exercised more. The risk factors for narrowly and broadly defined bulimia were similar (Kendler, 1991). Women with broadly defined bulimia had high rates of phobias, alcoholism, anxiety disorders, anorexia nervosa, and panic attacks. Their lifetime rate of major depression was also high (50 percent), but bulimia had no special association with that common disorder. All other things being equal, a woman with a history of major depression was 2.2 times more likely to have suffered from bulimia as well. The corresponding odds ratio for phobias was 2.4, for alcoholism 3.2, and for anorexia nervosa 8.2. In most studies of patients treated for both bulimia and depression, bulimia is found to precede depression, but in this group of largely untreated people the depression had usually come first (Roth, 1996). In some families of women with bulimia, the problem may be more serious than rigidity, over protectiveness, or inadequate nurturing. Child sexual abuse, an increasingly common explanation for psychiatric symptoms in women, has naturally been proposed as a cause of eating disorders. The connection has not been confirmed, and some recent studies raise serious doubts about it. Women with bulimia do not report more sexual abuse than an anxious and depressed woman in general. The problem of bulimia is closely related to the problem of obesity, since almost all bulimic women either are or think they are overweight. According to a widely accepted theory, each person's body weight has a biological set point that is strongly influenced by heredity and difficult to change. Studies in several countries have found that mothers and their biological daughters have a similar weight-height ratio, while the correlation between adoptive parents and adoptive children is low. According to the set point theory, metabolism during a diet shows to counteract the effect of reduced intake until it settles at a lower level consistent with the new weight. A person who continues the same diet will eventually regain weight until the set point is reached. Many individuals with bulimia do not seek help until they reach their thirties or forties when their eating behavior is deeply ingrained and more difficult to change. Bulimia is often treated more successfully than anorexia, partly because bulimic patients usually want to be treated. Most antidepressant drugs relieve the symptoms, usually more quickly than they relieve depression. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are probably most useful, because they have relatively few side effects and tend to cause weight loss rather than weight gain. In 1997, fluoxetine became the first drug specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for bulimia. References Roth, W.T., & Insel P.M. (1996). Core Concepts in Health. Toronto: Mayfield. Kendler, K.S. (1991). The genetic epidemiology of bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148:1627-1637. Mitchell, J.E. (1996). Bulimia Nervosa. West Virginia Health Page. http://www.wvhealth.wvu.edu/clinical/mentalhealth/edbulim.htm f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Carl Rogers.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Carl Rogers Eventually I am going to briefly explain the important parts of these chapters because I need to take up some room and I am not quite sure about what to write. So here is a little description of what, like it or not, this paper is going to contain. I'll start of with my thoughts and feelings about the structure and uniqueness of The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child, then get into the actual body of the book and talk about what I thought was interesting and what I think is still used today. Of course using my petite knowledge about the psychology of today and modern-day institutions and therapy. After that I am going to delve into Way of Life and do the same thing. The Way of Life section will probably be considerably shorter because of my limited interested in the book and my blatant laziness. Plus we had to have two sources and I decided to pick the two books that he wrote near the beginning of his career and near the end. There were a few stylistic things about the book that impressed me enough to include them into this paper. First off, it was written in 1939 when the study of psychology was in its infancy. At the end of every chapter or section throughout the book there is a bibliography showing every source that was cited. I think this is a very clever way to let people know that there is a science behind psychology and it is not all blind conjecture. I think that was very insightful and very much a slap in the face to everyone that didn't believe in psychology (of course if they put no stock in psychology they would not have read the book, but hey he tried). Preface "The primary purpose of this volume is to describe and discuss the variety of treatment skills actually used in clinical work. These 'ways of practice,' which have been evolving over a score of years, are set forth in organized fashion, in hope that their presentation will lead to a better understanding of treatment techniques and a more critical consideration of their use." This guy seems to genuinely want to establish psychology as a science and I think it is neat how easily he can simultaneously write to an audience of professionals in their field to someone like me with absolutely no background in psychology. Factors that Influence Behavior He mentions the Hereditary Factor, the Organic Influences, the Family, the Cultural and Social Influences, the Needs of the Organism, and the Interaction of Factors. May of the above mentioned Factors we have already discussed in class, which leads to to believe that Carl Rogers was either extremely ahead of his time, or that psychology has not advanced a great deal over the last fifty years. Probably a little bit of both, because Mr. Rogers states several times that he in no way claims to have all of the answers. "This is not to say, of course, that such qualities for any individual can be predicted by measurements of the parents, since the complex process of genes contributed by the parents insures variability as well as similarity" (pg.5). Being humble is always a bonus, especially if you went to college for ten years and know everything. The Foster Home as a Means of Treatment I can't tell if the author is criticizing the use of Foster Homes or if he is criticizing the reasons children are placed into these dwellings but there is definitely some sarcasm in the way he speaks of the Foster Home. He says "Even the psychiatrist, who more than most is apt to depend on processes that are internal rather than external, falls back with surprising frequency on gross changes of environment to accomplish his purpose" (pg. 63). I personally think that the only reason a child should be put in a foster home is if the parents are deemed unable or unworthy to raise the child. There are much better places for juvenile delinquents than a foster home, like a boot camp or jail. Types of Institutional Treatment This is one area that I think has changed greatly in the past fifty years and yet stayed the same . The goal of the institution is a "confused one". "Punishment is looked upon as almost inevitably a part of the goal, treatment of the child's behavior being in many cases a secondary aim" (pg. 109). Treatment in an Institution is a joke; there is no such thing. The only reason that patients seem to improve, or tell the doctor that they have been rehabilitated is so they can get out of the institution. That is my opinion of 1999 and good old Carl said, "All to often the two aims (punishment, treatment) are mingled so that the moralistic punishments are meted out with the thought that they will in some miraculous fashion improve the behavior of the child, in utter disregard if everything that we have come to know regarding the causation and treatment of behavior" (pg 109). That stuff is all the same, but today the use of Institutions and what is required to be admitted to them is radically different, possibly due to modifications of the penal system or wider range of illegal activities. Most Institutions now deal almost exclusively with drugs and alcohol. But there are other problems dealt with as well such as homicidal threats, aggression problems, run-a-ways, and suicide. The book doesn't really say why they institutionalized people in that period of time, but I took the Institutions of this time period to be like jails for children. I wrote way too much on this one. I do think that Institutions have changed very radically but are probably no better off. Means of Changing Parental Attitudes There are some interesting situations outlined in this chapter but instead of copying them verbatim I a simply going to summarize the cool ones and tell how they are a means to change parental attitudes. Direct Education was the one that struck me as the most simple and most logical is the one with "extreme limitations". The situation is as follows, a mother requests the help of a psychologist for her unmanageable child who has never been to school (she is 11). The physician realizes at little more than a glance that the child is a "Mongolian" and her mental development is that of a three year-old. Even after the mother was told that there was no cure and the child would never develop past this point the mother insisted that the child could read and write. While the mother was saying this, her child was making unintelligible noises, drooling, and other things that three year olds do. She blames the child's state on the fact that she has never been allowed to attend school, but reluctantly admits that four other psychologists have diagnosed her daughter with the same condition. That is more or less the situation and later Rogers says, "The fact that parents may be able easily to absorb training for a job, or to educate themselves in regard to current events, or to learn a new system of contract bridge, does not mean that they can learn even simply factual data when this goes contrary to their emotional needs"(pg. 186)." This man is a genius, he just summed my parents up in one sentence. They will not accept the fact that I don't wear diapers anymore and constantly talk about the good old days when I was normal, I am getting older and I think this is "contrary to their emotional needs" so they don't accept it. The next ones are Interpretive and Relationship therapy but how can those top the beautifully written section on Direct Education. I skimmed over them and I'm sure you know what they are anyways. On to the next "source", the Way of Being by Carl Rogers. This book has an interesting introduction where the author makes himself look good by talking about all of the things that have happened in his lifetime and about how he was an instrumental part of it all thorough his books on counseling and psychotherapy. I think he was just getting old and needed something to keep him from getting senile and to leave a farewell book that summed up his entire life's work. He says, "This book encompasses the changes that have taken place during the past decade - roughly, the seventies. It brings together diverse material which I have written in recent years (pg. Vii)." Blah, Blah, Blah... There are four main parts to this book and if I had the time or the energy I would not mind reading it all. Part One deals with Personal Experiences and Perspectives of the author, his "Experiences in Communication" and his "Philosophy of Interpersonal Relationships and How they Grow" garbage like that. The next section, "Aspects of a Person-Centered Approach" I thought was neat and described a technique that I had never heard of and never seem used. "The first element could be called genuineness, realness, or congruence. The more the therapist is himself or herself in the relationship, putting up no professional front or personal façade, the greater is the likelihood that the client will change and grow in a constructive manner" (pg. 114). This sounds cool, but in reality if therapists did this the career of a therapist would be drastically shortened, because I don't think there is any way a therapist without defenses could handle everyone else's problems all day every day. So they would have to make a trade-off between being a career mediocre therapist or a really good therapist for about five years before they become postal workers. Sections three and four were stupid so I'll just leave it at that. In conclusion, Mr. Rogers did really fit the mold of the hug-me psychiatrist that I thought he would. I don't really see why he is a humanist or maybe it's the fact that I still really don't know what a humanist is. Either way, I think he is a pretty sensible person who does not make up facts and figures and who has apparently been in the game for a long time. You have to respect that, but I bet he never had kids of his own. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Censorship.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Censorship What Happened To Our Rights? Censorship in America today has gotten way out of hand. There always seems to be some holier than thou group speaking out as if they were representing the majority of Americans. These groups want to censor just about anything and everything we do. When it comes to watching television, reading a book or magazine, listening to music, or buying products, people should be able to make these decisions for themselves. Where do we draw the line with censorship? After all we are Americans and we do have rights. Although censorship is needed with issues concerning children, majority of censorship is an infringement of our rights because what one person may find offensive and obscene does not necessarily represent all people and adults should have the right to make their own choices. The word censorship probably would not exist today if all people agreed upon all things. This however is not possible for we are all unique individuals and have our own likes and dislikes. For instance, a person who enjoys pornographic material has the right to read or view this material if he or she enjoys this type of material. On the other hand people who feel pornographic material is obscene or offensive and do not care to partake in it do not have to view or read this type of material. This material is not being forced upon anyone. Why take away something a person enjoys if it is not hurting anyone else? What people do in the privacy of their own home is their own business. Who's to say what a person likes or enjoys is wrong because another person does not agree. Playboy and Penthouse magazines are read and enjoyed by many Americans today; however, many people find these magazines offensive and obscene and others find these magazines to be an excellent source of reading for sexual entertainment. Years ago people tried to ban this type of magazine, now these magazines are in great demand and are available on shelves all around the world. The big question is who is right and who is wrong? Neither, because people have their own opinions, likes, and dislikes. After all this is America and we the people have rights as stated in the first amendment of the constitution. Adults should have the freedom to make their own choices in their everyday life. Whether the person's choices are good or bad is irrelevant. As the old saying goes, "to each his own." Censorship takes away a person's individual rights to make his or her own choices. No individual or law should be able to control a person's decisions in his or her private life. For years the American Medical Association has proven that smoking and drinking can cause numerous health problems, yet millions of Americans continue to drink and smoke everyday. This is a personal choice people are faced with everyday and no matter what decision they make they should not be ridiculed. Whether something is good or bad for a person, we as individuals have the right to make our own choices. Censoring what we buy, what we watch on television, what music we listen to, and what books or magazines we read strips us of our individual character and personality that make us unique individuals. Censorship is an issue that will continue to be debated for many years to come. Americans will continue to fight for their rights and there will always be groups of people who seem to think they know what is best for the majority. Yes there are issues in this country where censorship is needed; however, adults should be able to decide for themselves what is best for them as individuals. There should be a fine line between what should and should not be censored. Too much time is being wasted on trying to censor ridiculous things in our lives. These fanatical groups who try to censor everything in our lives need to find more important issues to argue. Instead of wasting valuable time on our personal lives, they could be working on their own lives! The purpose for censorship is to protect children not to invade the personal lives of people. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Characteristic Downfall.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Characteristic Downfall In T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the author is establishing the trouble the narrator is having dealing with middle age. Prufrock(the narrator) believes that age is a burden and is deeply troubled by it.. His love of some women cannot be because he feels the prime of his life is over. His preoccupation with the passing of time characterizes the fear of aging he has. The poemdeals with the aging and fears associated with it of the narrator. Prufrock is not confident with himself mentally or his appearance. He is terrified of what will occur when people see his balding head or his slim and aging body. He believes everyone will think he is old and useless. They will talk about him behind his back. (They will say"How is hair is growing thin!") My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin-- [They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!"] This insecurity is definitely a hindrance for him. It holds him back from doing the things he wishes to do. This is the sort of characteristic that makes Alfred into a tragic, doomed character. He will not find happiness until he finds self-assurance within himself. The repetition of words like vision and revision, show his feelings of inadequacy in communicating with the people around him. J. Alfred Prufrock's self esteem affects his love life greatly. The woman he is in love with is younger than he is and this distresses him. He does not believe that some younger women could possibly accept him or find him attractive. Expressing any kind of affection to her is awkward and difficult. Prufrock knows what he must say but cannot bring himself to say it. "Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, Have the strength to force the moment to it's crisis?"(79-80) His apprehensiveness in his love life, is very troublesome for him indeed. He wishes greatly to express his affection but it becomes suppressed within him. He compares himself to Lazarus who was an aged man restored to life by Jesus. He feels that it will take a miracle to make him feel young again. Prufrock sees his age as the end of his romantic zeal. He assumes the response to his love will be snappy and heartless. Prufrock believes that women do not find older men attractive or see a possibility of romance in them. The rhyme scheme Elliot uses in this poem depicts the disenchanted and confused mind of the narrator. The poem is written using a non-uniform meter and rhyme. Various stanzas are not of uniform length. This method is used to represent the mood and feelings in the verse. Prufrock is feeling confused and overwhelmed by the adversities of life so it is logical that his thought will have the same types of characteristics. His thoughts lead to ambiguity such as at the start of the poem. "There you go then, you and I"(1) This could be referring to Prufrock and himself, or Prufrock and his lover. Elliot wrote this poem in a time when social customs were still considered an issue. Everyone had their place and did not vary from that. Stereotypes of groups were lived up to and nobody tried to change it. Elliot uses blatant images of different classes in order to show these dissimilarities. The lower class lived a meager, dull and predictable life. They spend "restless nights in one-night cheap hotels."(6) The rich on the other hand are educated and enjoy life every day. They are busy and bustle around joyfully in order to get things done. In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo.(13-14) Unfortunately, because of his age Prufrock feels that he does not belong to any of these classes. He has similarities pertaining to each of them but as a whole feels that he simply exists in his own classification. The debate in Prufrock's mind finally comes to a close when he compares himself to Prince Hamlet from William Shakespear's masterpiece Hamlet. Hamlet was able to express his love and J. Alfred was envious of that. "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was it meant to be"(111) He feels he is more like Polonius an old, attendant to Lord Hamlet who is intelligent, wise, and eager to please. Prufrock decides he is diplomatic, conscientious, and strives for perfection. However at the same time he tends to lack some sort of mental power, fears he is looking like a fool. This is the conclusion he comes to in order to decide to accept his place in society and live life the way he should. Eliot uses the reference of time often in order to show the state of mind of the narrator. The contrasts used show the total indecisiveness of Prufrock. For the most part the examples are used to illustrate the stereotype of an old person. It is was accepted that aging people did not work and therefor had time for considering life and other aspects of their existence. And Indeed there will be time To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I Dare?" His eternal dilemma is characterized by his belief that there will be time to consider everything. The time allusions are to show that Prufrock is getting increasingly older. He says "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons."(51) This again shows his obsession with the passing of time. Feeling like that of an outsider, Prufrock discovers he cannot exist with the type of people he once did. He can relate to them but he feels they will not accept him because of his age and appearance. His existence is solitary and boring while their state is fun and exciting. "I know the voices dying with a dying fall/Beneath the music from a farther room."(52-53) He can hear the voices of his neighbors but he cannot go to them. He is bothered by the idea of the younger generation examining him. He wishes he could fit in but believes that is not a reality. Fantasizing of a world where these problems do not exist is a pleasant daydream for Prufrock. He imagines the peaceful world under the sea where social classes do not exist. This shows the internal conflict still occurring within him. Even though he has overcome his problem with his love life, he still has many other worries to contend with. The mermaids are singing beautifully, but in his opinion, they cannot possibly be singing for him. His insecurity is still present and seems incurable. His fantasy world is brought to a crashing halt easily. "Till human voices wake us, and we drown."(131) His only happiness can be found in daydreams and can be destroyed easily as such. Although giving him temporary relief from the pressures of his life, this dreamlike state is destroying his heart and only returning to the real world will save him. In Elliot's masterpiece "The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock," as time passes so does the human spirit of the narrator. His heart decays by the moment. Even within his fantasies he is tortured by the ever-present problems which plague him throughout his life. He can't even see the point in expressing his love because of the fear of being rejected. Elliot's depiction of the worries of aging is a major aspect incorporated into the poem. Although Prufrock is a man of knowledge and society he is still a misfit because of a little characteristic he can do nothing about. Age kills us all, but for Prufrock it has already killed him. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Child Psychology.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Child Psychology The child's mind a very delicate and fragile piece of space just waiting to be fulfilled with knowledge. With every touch, taste, sight, and sound a small part of the brain is in growth. It is these early stimulations that are so crucial to a child's intelligence in the years to come. Babies are born with some knowledge that was genetically pasted down to them form there biological parents, but it is in the next couple of years that will be so crucial to his development. Scientists are learning more and more about what, when, and how to talk and handle a baby that will further there brains development. One scientist by the name of Harry Chugani believes that early experiences "can completely change the way a person turns out." With the knowledge of where certain brain circuits are that control different skills, parents and teachers can provide significant help in a child's knowledge development. For example scientists know that basic language skills are located in the brains left hemisphere. So certain factors can come in to play. But in others, like the hemispherectomy patients it is possible to learn left hemisphere tasks in the right. Circuits of simple words begin to be wired by the age of one. The more words a child hears by the age of two years the larger their language skills will grow. Therefore parents now have the understanding that the more they talk to their children in early development the better the chance of his vocabulary to flourish. So what about the parents that neglect their children? Will they have a two-word vocabulary or not be able to understand a simple math question of 2+2? No but it will take a little longer the older the person is. But with new finding everyday a child's mind will grow and grow in the years to come. In one case unparticular a child by the name of Anna was neglected from the start. She was locked in a room and hardly ever looked after, besides maybe a monthly feeding. She was found and removed at the age of around six years. Anna couldn't do anything a normal six year old could do. Walk, talk, or even feed herself. In a similar case a girl by the name of Isabelle lived with her mother who was a deaf-mute. She could not talk but used gestures to communicate. In both cases the girls were able to learn skills that they didn't have before. It took awhile but basic skills were learned and used. But compared to children that had interacted with people when they were young Anna and Isabelle couldn't even compare. These two cases alone show how important it is to have people to interact with as a growing individual. Therefore the two isolation cases support the thesis presented by Sharon Begley's "Your Child's Brain." With new discoveries on the brain being made everyday a child's mind has nothing to do but grow with intelligence. Every touch, taste, sound and smell plays a crucial role making it so important to interact with your babies as soon as they are being created. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\CHILD.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CHILD ABUSE What is child abuse? It is the physical or emotional abuse of a child by a parent, guardian, or other person. Reports of child abuse, including sexual abuse, beating, and murder, have climbed in the United States and some authorities believe that the number of cases is largely under reported. Child neglect is sometimes included in legal definitions of child abuse to cover instances of malnutrition, desertion, and inadequate care of a child's safety. When reported, child abuse cases are complicated by inadequate foster care services and a legal system that has trouble accommodating the suggestible nature of children, who are often developmentally unable to distinguish fact from make-believe (Hay, 1996). In 1993, the United States Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect declared a child protection emergency. Between 1985 and 1993, there was a 50 percent increase in reported cases of child abuse. Three million cases of child abuse are reported in the United States each year. Treatment of the abuser has had only limited success and child protection agencies are overwhelmed (Lewitt, 1997). Recently, efforts have begun to focus on the primary prevention of child abuse. Primary prevention of child abuse must be implemented on many levels before it can be successful. Prevention plans on the social level include increasing the economic self-sufficiency of families, discouraging corporal punishment and other forms of violence, making health care more accessible and affordable, expanding and improving coordination of social services, improving the identification and treatment of psychological problems, and alcohol and drug abuse, providing more affordable child care and preventing the birth of unwanted children. Prevention plans on the family level include helping parents meet their basic needs, identifying problems of substance abuse and spouse abuse, and educating parents about child behavior, discipline, safety and development. Primary prevention is both the prevention of disease before it occurs, and the reduction of its incidence. In the case of child abuse, primary prevention is defined as any intervention designed for the purpose of preventing child abuse before it occurs (Hay, 1996). Between 1985 and 1993, the number of cases of child abuse in the United States increased by 50 percent. In 1993, three million children in the United States were reported to have been abused. Thirty-five percent of these cases of child abuse were confirmed. Data from various reporting sources, indicates that improved reporting could lead to a significant increase in the number of cases of child abuse verified by child protection agencies. The lack of verification does not indicate that abuse did not occur, only that it could not be verified. The facts are that each year 160,000 children suffer severe or life-threatening injury and 1,000 to 2,000 children die as a result of abuse. Of these deaths, 80 percent involve children younger than five years of age, and 40 percent involve children younger than one year of age. One out of every 20 murder victims is a child. Murder is the fourth leading cause of death in children from one to four years of age and the third leading cause of death in children from five to fourteen years of age. Neonaticide, which is the murder of a baby during the first 24 hours of life, accounts for 45 percent of children killed during the first year of life (Lewitt, 1997). As I stated above, deaths from abuse are under reported and some deaths classified as the result of accident and sudden infant death syndrome might be reclassified as the result of child abuse if comprehensive investigations were more routinely done. Most child abuse takes place in the home and is started by persons are know to and trusted by the child. Even though it has been widely publicized, abuse in day-care and foster-care settings accounts for only a small number of confirmed cases of child abuse. In 1996, only two percent of all confirmed cases of child abuse occurred in these settings. Child abuse if fifteen times more likely to occur in families where spousal abuse occurs. Children are three times more likely to be abused by their fathers than by their mothers. No differences have been found in the incidence of child abuse in rural versus urban areas. Following are the types of abuse and the percentages of the different types. Neglect - 54% Physical abuse - 25% Sexual abuse - 11% Emotional abuse - 3% Other - 7% (Davis, 1998). Not only do children suffer from the physical and mental cruelty of child abuse, they endure many long-term consequences, including delays in reaching developmental milestones, refusal to attend school and separation anxiety disorders. Other consequences include an increased likelihood of future substance abuse, aggressive behaviors, high-risk health behaviors, criminal activity, depressive and affective disorders, personality disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, schizophrenia and abuse of their own children and spouse. Research has shown that a loving, caring and stimulating environment during the first three years of a child's life is important for proper brain development (Davis, 1998). There have been some recent changes in regards to the causes of child abuse. The results of research initiated by the National Research Council's Panel on Research on Child Abuse and Neglect showed the first important step away from the simple cause and effect patterns. The panel stated that the simple cause and effect patterns have certain limitations, mostly related to their narrow focus on the parents. These patterns are limited by asking only about the isolated set of personal characteristics that might cause parents to abuse their children. These patterns failed to account for the occurrence of different forms of abuse in one child. These patterns had very little explanatory power in weighing the value of various risk factors involved in child abuse. As a result, they were not very accurate in predicting future cases of child abuse. To replace the old static pattern, the panel has substituted what it calls an ecologic model. This model considers the origin of all forms of child abuse to be a complex interactive process. This ecologic model views child abuse within a system of risk and protective factors interacting across four levels: (1) the individual, (2) the family, (3) the community and (4) the society. Some factors are more closely linked with some forms of abuse than others. The following are factors thought to contribute to the development of physical and emotional abuse and neglect of children: Community/society Parent-related High crime rate Personal history of physical or sexual abuse Lack of or few social services Teenage parents High poverty rate Lack of parenting skills High unemployment rate Unwanted pregnancy Emotional immaturity Child-related Poor coping skills Prematurity Low self-esteem Low birth weight Personal history of substance abuse Handicap Known history of child abuse Domestic violence Lack of preparation for extreme stress of having a new infant (Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect,1996). Many people would argue that our society does not really value its children. This argument is highlighted by the fact that one in four children in the United States lives in poverty, and many children do not have any form of health insurance. The presence of high levels of violence in our society is also thought to contribute to child abuse. Deadly violence is more common in the United States than in seventeen other developed countries. Seventy-five percent of violence occurring in this country is domestic violence. The United States leads developed countries in homicide rates for females older than 14 years and for children from five to fourteen years of age. Other factors that may contribute to high rates of violence include exposure to television violence and reliance on corporal punishment (McKay, 1997). Poverty is the most frequently and persistently noted risk factor for child abuse. Physical abuse and neglect are more common among the people who are the poorest. Whether this is brought on by the stress of poverty-related conditions or results from greater scrutiny by public agencies, resulting in over reporting, is debated. Other factors include inaccessible and unaffordable health care, fragmented social services and lack of support from extended families and communities (Besharov, 1990). Parents who were abused as children are more likely than other parents to abuse their own children. Lack of parenting skills, unrealistic expectations about a child's capabilities, ignorance of ways to manage a child's behavior and of normal child development may further contribute to child abuse. It is estimated that forty percent of confirmed cases of child abuse are related to substance abuse. It is also estimated that eleven percent of pregnant women are substance abusers, and that 300,000 infants are born each year to mothers who abuse crack cocaine. Domestic violence also increases the risk of child abuse (Helfer, 1998). Other factors that increase the risk of child abuse include emotional immaturity of the parents, which is often highly correlated to actual age, as in the case of teenage parents, poor coping skills, often related to age but also occurring in older parents, poor self-esteem and other psychologic problems experienced by either one or both parents, single parenthood and the many burdens and hardships of parenting that must be borne without the help of a partner, social isolation of the parent or parents from family and friends and the resulting lack of support that their absence implies, any situation involving a handicapped child or one that is born prematurely or at a low birth weight, any situation where a sibling younger than 18 months of age is already present in the home, any situation in which the child is the result of an unwanted pregnancy or a pregnancy that the mother denies, any situation where one sibling has been reported to the child protective services for suspected abuse, and finally, the general inherent stress of parenting which, when combined with the pressure of anyone or a combination of the factors previously mentioned, may exacerbate any difficult situation (Besharov, 1990). The United States Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect has stated that only a universal system of early intervention, grounded in the creation of caring communities, could provide an effective foundation for confronting the child abuse crisis. It is believed that successful strategies for preventing child abuse require intervention at all levels of society. No agreement has been formed concerning which programs or services should be offered to prevent child abuse. This is because research on the prevention of child abuse is limited by the complexity of the problem, the difficulty in measuring and interpreting the outcomes, and the lack of attention to the interaction among variables in determining risk status for subsequent abuse. A broad range of programs has been developed and implemented by public and private agencies at many levels, little evidence supports the effectiveness of these programs (Rushton, 1997). As 1994 look back on a review of 1,526 studies on the primary prevention of child abuse found that only thirty studies were methodologically sound. Of the eleven studies dealing primarily with physical abuse and neglect, only two showed a decrease in child abuse as measured by a reduction in hospital admissions, emergency department visits or reports to child protective services. Although there is a need for better designed research to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention strategies, recommendations for preventive interventions are based on what we currently know about causes of child abuse (Hay, 1996). Primary prevention strategies based on risk factors that have a low predictive value are not as likely to be effective as more broadly based social programs. In addition, programs focused on a society level rather than on the individual level prevent the stigmatization of a group or an individual. Society strategies for preventing child abuse that are proposed but unproven include increasing the value society places on children, increasing the economic self-sufficiency of families, enhancing communities and their resources, discouraging excessive use of corporal punishment and other forms of violence, making health care more accessible and affordable, expanding and improving treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, improving the identification and treatment of mental health problems, increasing the availability of affordable child care and preventing the births of unwanted children through sex education, family planning, abortion, anonymous delivery and adoption (Rushton, 1997). Common Features of Successful Child Abuse Prevention Programs Strengthen family and community connections and support. Treat parents as vital contributors to their children's growth and development. Create opportunities for parents to feel empowered to act on their own behalf. Respect the integrity of the family. Enhance parents' capability to foster the optimal development of their children and themselves. Establish links with community support systems. Provide settings where parents and children can gather, interact, support, learn from each other. Enhance coordination and integration of services needed by families. Enhance community awareness of the importance of healthy parenting practices. Provide emergency support for parents 24 hours a day. (Rushton, 1997). Plans aimed at helping the individual can also be considered strategies for helping the family. In the list of features of successful child abuse prevention programs listed above, the idea is to support parents in their role of parenting. Until parents' basic needs are met, they may find it difficult to meet the needs of their children. The first thing parents need is assistance in meeting their basic requirements for food, shelter, clothing, safety and medical care. Only when these needs are met can higher needs be addressed (Rushton, 1997). The next step should be to identify and treat parents who abuse alcohol or drugs, and identify and counsel parents who suffer from spousal abuse. Identifying and treating parents with psychologic problems is also important. Other issues that need attention include financial concerns, and employment and legal problems. Providing an empathetic ear and being a source of referral for help with these issues may take physicians a long way toward nurturing needy parents. The next higher level of need includes education about time management and budgeting skills, stress management, coping and parenting skills such as appropriate discipline, knowledge of child development, nutrition and feeding problems, and safety issues (Rushton, 1997). In the United States, some of the specific methods of delivering services to families include long-term home visitation, short-term home visitation, early and extended postpartum mother/child contact, rooming in, intensive physician contact, drop-in centers, child classroom education, parent training and free access to health care. Of all these methods, only long-term home visitation, up to two years, has been found to be effective in reducing the incidence of child abuse as measured by hospital admissions, emergency department visits and reports to child protective services. Man organizations are now embracing the concept of home visitation as a method of preventing child abuse by identifying family needs and providing the appropriate services. Results of one study on home visitation showed benefits or improvements in several areas: parents' attitudes toward their children, interactions between parents and children, and reduction in the incidence of child abuse. Without a basic framework of support services such as health care, social services and child care, home visitors will be unable to deliver needed services (Rushton, 1997). Strategies for Preventing Child Abuse • Diagnose pregnancy in unmarried mothers and explore its impact with them. • Assess the number of stressors on new parents, including: Social support Financial situation Martial status Level of education Number of children • Identify families with problems of: Substance abuse Domestic violence Mental health • Offer new parents: Services of a social worker Long-term home visitation Parenting classes • Educate new parents regarding: Developmental tasks of childhood Age-appropriate anticipatory guidance Nutrition and feeding problems Safety Discipline • Discourage corporal punishment • Survey parents to identify health issues that are of interest to them • Support universal health care for children • Advocate for quality, affordable and universally available child care • Advocate for community respite care for parents • Advocate for community alcohol and drug treatment, mental health, and spouse and child abuse centers (Rushton, 1997). Many of the causes of child abuse center on the needs and problems of the parents. In order to prevent child abuse, we must first help and support the parents. Parents with multiple emotional, medical, financial and social needs find it difficult to meet the needs of their children. It is imperative that physicians develop a supportive attitude toward parents to ultimately help the children. Effective prevention of child abuse and neglect can best be achieved using strategies designed to help parents protect and nurture their children. These strategies including giving parents the necessary support, resources and skills. The physician should obtain help from social workers, home health agencies, financial counselors, psychologist, local mental health facilities, alcohol and drug treatment centers and parenting centers, as appropriate. The National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse has a nationwide network of fifty-two chapters that provide leadership in prevention of child abuse (Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect, 1996). One source I read suggested setting up group parenting classes to discuss issues such as: safety issues, nutrition and feeding concerns, discipline and normal child development. Classes should be divided into two groups: one for the parents of infants and one for the parents of toddlers, since these two groups will require a different focus. Providing child care during these classes may be necessary to ensure attendance. Other suggestions are for a physician to help to try prevent child abuse. Spending less time examining an obviously well child and more time discussing psycho social issues with that child's parent is one suggestion. The following is a list of questions a physician can ask parents that might help assess the risk of child abuse. What is it like for you taking care of this baby? Who helps you with your children? Do you get time to yourself? What do you do when the child's behavior drives you crazy? Do you have trouble with your child at mealtime or bedtime? Are your children in day care? How are things between you and your partner? (Rushton, 1998). If psycho social problems are uncovered, the physician might schedule more frequent visits to allow for further discussions. Other strategies include inviting fathers for an office visit and encouraging the parents to rely on the support of families and friends. It is important to address issues that are of concern to the parents. It is also important to try to give very specific and concrete suggestions to parents instead of talking in broad generalities. Physicians could suggest that parents use an egg timer to help children anticipate and be more compliant with bedtime or use time-out as an alternative to spanking a child for bad behavior. Parents should be reminded of and taught to distinguish between childish behavior and willful disobedience, and to discipline only those actions that are in the child's control according to his or her stage of development (Rushton, 1997). Many things need to happen at international, national, state and community levels to prevent child abuse. Studies have shown that countries with the most generous social services have the lowest rate of child homicide. People should lobby for greater availability of drug and alcohol treatment programs, more shelters for the homeless, more accessible mental health care and more shelters for abused women and children. These programs and those that provide parenting skills, support groups and respite care for parents and care givers should be available in every community. Child abuse is a complex problem with many causes, it is important that people not take a defeatist attitude toward its prevention. Despite the absence of strong evidence to guide preventive efforts, society can do things to try to prevent abuse. Showing increased concern for the parents or care givers and increasing attempts to enhance their skills as parents or care givers may help save the most vulnerable people, our children, from the nightmare of abuse and neglect. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bass, Ellen. The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Abuse. New York: Harper & Row, 1997. Besharov, Douglas J. Recognizing Child Abuse. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990 Davis, Laura. Stop Domestic Violence. New York: Macmillan, 1998. Hay, T. "Social Interventions to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect." Child Welfare 5 February 1996: 379-403. Helfer, Mary Edna. The Battered Child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Lewitt, E. M.. "Reported Child Abuse and Neglect." Future Child April 1997: 233-242. McKay, Michael. "The Link Between Domestic Violence and Child Abuse." New York: Macmillan, 1997. Panel on Research on Child Abuse and Neglect. Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect: 1996. Rushton, Frank. "The Role of Health Care in Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention." Pediatrics March 1997: 133-136. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Choking in Sports.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Choking in Sports I was sitting in my chair in my room watching a college football game on ESPN2, and I was looking for a topic for my report. I knew it would have to do with sports in some way. As I was watching the game, I realized that this game was getting interesting. A unranked, unknown team was beating a ranked team with a whole lot of talent. The game was getting close and before I knew it there was only 7 second left in the game. The unranked team had the ball at their opponents 25 yard line and were inning up for a field goal. There kicker was going to be a pro soon and was automatic. He made three field goals already that game. He was inning for what seemed like an easy field goal. This field goal meant a huge upset. There was no wind. It was a shoe in, but the kick went wide. He shanked the kick and team lost. Why would he do that? He had the leg? Why did he shank it? That is what I am going to write about. I wanted to know why player choke and what does it do to their careers. I will dissect what happened to Mitch Williams and Scott Norwood. Two players who choked in big games and lost their careers because of it. They played in two different sports, but have similar positions. I will go through each position and what the NFL and MLB expects of these players. I will show you what kind of pressure Mitch Williams and Scott Norwood went through. I will use articles from sport web sites, and articles from Newsday magazine. I think that choking effects so many people and the outcome of games. Fantastic athletes that do there job with ease, but when it comes down to the big game, they play like how you and I would play. First, lets examine what a kicker's job is in the sport of football(specifically in the NFL). The kicker is a specialist who's sole purpose is to kick the football into the goal post. In the NFL, if the kicker fails to kick the field goal in about 80 to 90 percent of the time, the kicker is released or fired. This is the way the NFL is. The trick to being a great NFL kicker is consistency and wits. The kicker makes, at average, the league minimum which is $250,000 a year.(Tj Simers, 1997) They only receive one to two year contracts. The biggest being Morten Andersen, who is one of the greatest kickers of all time, so you have to be the best to get good contracts. His contract is for about five years, all not guaranteed, for $870,000 dollars a year. There are reasons for this. The big thing for kickers in the NFL these days are a strong legged kicker who can make the 50+ yard field goals on command. The need for short range, but automatic kickers like Gary Anderson, kicker for The Minnesota Vikings, is not being emphasized. Most teams are all looking for the Morten Andersens and the Jason Elams.(Peter King, 1998) Although, like life you can't have both unless you are the cream of the crop. John Hall has one of the biggest legs in the business, but he only made 18 field goals out of 27 tries. This is not a good average, but since he can make these long field goal with ease, he keeps his job, for now. Most of the kicker hired are fired within only two years because they cannot keep this same standard and not have a toll on them physically and mentally which bring us to my topic. "Chris Jacke and Adam Vinatieri are hoping Super Bowl XXXI won't come down to a last-gasp field goal, because they both have a case of the nerves. Jacke and Vinatieri both realize the Super Bowl can be a graveyard for a field-goal kicker. One "wide right" one, in particular, was SB XXV goat Scott Norwood of the Buffalo Bills. I was pulling for Norwood. In that situation, you have to pull for the kicker. "I felt for Scott Norwood," said Jacke. "So much was made of that one missed kick. Obviously, it ended his career." Actually, Norwood came back and kicked one more season (1991) for the Bills, but he was never the same. (Ray Buck, 1992) He's now retired and lives in Virginia. According to a Buffalo team spokesman, "He doesn't stay in touch with us anymore." The Pack and Pats were where they were two years ago, in large part, because their kickers didn't choke. Jacke, a noted long-range kicker, made 77.8 percent of his field-goal attempts (21 of 27) that season, although he was seldom tested in pressure situations. Vinatieri was under more pressure -- and stayed busier -- making 27 of 35 FG attempts. "This is a different kind of pressure," said Vinatieri. "In training camp, there was pressure going against a veteran like Matt Bahr. Then once I made the team, there was pressure not only to kick well but I had to kick well because Matt Bahr no longer was here." Jacke came out of Texas-El Paso. On the surface, he is more laid-back than Vinatieri. Inside, they are both the same -- nervous. "It'll be just another kick as long as it doesn't end my career," said Jacke. "Would I welcome the chance? No. Would I go out there? "I'd have to."" (Ray Buck, 1992) This article was written two years ago, but the attitude towards the winning kick is still the same. Kickers cringe at the thought of the game having to be in their hands, and rightfully so. They don't hang out with the rest of the team, they are basically outcast. Yet, they are supposed to come in and win the game for their team. They know that if they miss, in any game not just the Super Bowl, they might lose their job and in the case of Scott Norwood the rest of their career. I did not paraphrase this article because this article is important it's whole tot my paper. It was written in 1991. "Scott Norwood, who etched his name in Giants lore by missing a potential game-winning field goal in Super Bowl XXV, was placed on waivers yesterday by the Bills. The move wasn't a surprise. The 31-year-old place-kicker, who was the club's all-time leading scorer with 670 points, became expendable in February when Buffalo signed former Buccaneers kicker Steve Christie. (Rich Cimini, 1991) Norwood's clutch kicking helped establish the Bills as an AFC power in the late 1980s, but his early accomplishments were overshadowed by his miss in the Super Bowl. With four seconds left and the Bills trailing the Giants 20-19, Norwood missed wide right on a 47-yard attempt, giving the Giants their second Super Bowl title in five seasons. (Rich Cimini, 1991) Norwood never lived it down. In fact, during that season's playoffs, he declined on occasion to discuss the kick. In his seven-year NFL career, Norwood made 72 percent of his field goals, but his percentage dropped steadily, from 86 percent in 1988 to 62 percent last season. (Rich Cimini, 1991) Now there could be other reason for the decrease in productivity and the releasing of the kicker. Free agency had been introduced and they had signed a better kicker, Steve Christie, but you can defiantly attribute this downfall to his career to the missed kick that he will forever be known for. He had gone through allot in the past year. I have already told you about the kicker position and what a kicker had to go through, but there is the media and the fans. I think this article is suffice in proving my point as this was written in the end of Scott Norwood's last season as a kicker. Those close to Norwood claim he hasn't been affected by the intense scrutiny. But make no mistake, he hears the whispers around town and, who knows, maybe in his own locker room." (Rich Cimini, 1991) Scott Norwood was one of the best kickers in the league until the kick. Now think to yourself "What if he would have made it?" The answer would be that I wouldn't have much a paper to write. I believe that due to the stress of missing that kick, he was no longer able to be a the kicker he once was. Now god knows that some players can bounce back from something like this, but in the most case stuff like this can be as traumatic as getting in a car accident and then developing a fear for driving. The mind develops a kind of safety guard that helps protect us from that kind of extreme stress again and it can dramatically affect the way the player performs. Let's take the next case for example, except let's use a different game. A closer in baseball is a relieve pitcher the comes in usually in the 8th or 9th innings to keep the opponent from scoring to preserve the lead that eventually leads to a win. This position doesn't have as much pressure for the player to perform as a kicker would. If a closer blows a save, he will not lose his job, and their are 162 games in a season, so during a season it won't mean that much of a difference if the team loses a game. Although, in the case I will give to you, this was no ordinary game. This was game six of the World Series. It was the bottom of the 9th and The Philadelphia Phillies had a one run lead. Just like Scott Norwood, Mitch Williams was having a great season and a memorable career. He was affectionately known as "Wild Thing" by the Philadelphia fans. ""The best thing a closer can have is a short memory," he said. It was in 1993 when he was Wild Thing, the untamed relief pitcher on the dirty-shirt Phillies who shocked the Braves and went to Game 6 of the World Series. There were John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton and the guys, and Mitch - "gypsies, tramps and thugs," he called them. Not a role model in the lot. Philadelphia loved that team. "I loved that team," Williams said. "They were the best people. I loved playing with them. When the season ended, we were spent." (Steve Jacobson,1995) And devastated. Mitch Williams tried to come back with Kansas City. The Royals were trying to find something among five non-roster veteran left-handers here. A psychiatrist might say Williams is trying to find himself, or lose himself.(Steve Jacobson,1995) What does a tightrope walker remember when he falls, the times he went the distance, or the impact? There is no safety net for the closer. "Does he say, `Man, I don't ever want to work without a net again'?" said Royals manager Bob Boone, the resident psychiatrist.(Steve Jacobson,1995) He took a two-run lead into the ninth inning of the sixth game as the Phillies improbably were about to even the Series. Williams got an out and the Blue Jays had two runners on, which was how he had escaped late in the season, and Joe Carter pierced the Phillies' hearts with a home run. Never has the World Series ended with a home run that reversed the score, before or since.(Steve Jacobson,1995) He understands the mentality. "For some people I was the villain, no question," Williams said. "I know whatever I do, I'll be remembered for that. I don't want my career to end with the last two seasons the way they were." The kind of guy he is, if his career had been ended by a runaway beer truck in '93, he would have called it "great." It was the best year he ever had. He wasn't a tidy closer. He pitched at the brink of disaster all the time. Jim Fregosi cringed, didn't especially like him, but he knew Wild Thing accepted the call. He pitched in 65 games, struck out 60 in 62 innings and had 43 saves.(Steve Jacobson,1995) How quickly that was forgotten. Williams yesterday recalled the soccer player who was the national goat of the '94 World Cup, went home to Colombia and was shot dead in the street. Williams got death threats.(Steve Jacobson,1995) Eggs and stones were thrown at his house. "I could take it," he said. "But my wife and kid were in the house." Threats on his life were phoned to the ball club. Cops were stationed near his home. "They didn't tell me until I saw cops at the park the next day," he said.(Steve Jacobson,1995) He didn't sleep after Carter's home run, either. What some of us recall was that SkyDome was filled with joyous thunder and the Phillies' clubhouse was the Atlanta railroad station from "Gone With the Wind." Players sat in stunned silence while Wild Thing whipped himself before waves of questioners. "Some guys have to interview the guy who hit the home run and some the guy who threw it," he said yesterday. "I wasn't going to run from it."(Steve Jacobson,1995) He was traded to Houston that December. Perhaps it was because his market value was peak, perhaps it was because Philadelphia couldn't be expected to forgive, perhaps it was because he had lost some of his fastball as the season wore him down. He was what Boone called "an adrenaline-pitcher." He threw himself at the batter as hard as he could. "I always thought the pressure was my advantage," Williams said. "The hitter wants to be the hero - the ego thing. They swing at pitches they normally wouldn't."(Steve Jacobson,1995) He went from 43 saves to six with Houston to none with California, to a struggling half-season in the minors that ended last August when the Phillies decided he'd never get himself together to be of value to them again. "The home run didn't change me," he said. "What bothered me was everybody saying my fastball was going away." (Steve Jacobson,1995) So he tried to throw harder to prove them wrong. Ralph Branca said Bobby Thomson's home run didn't bother him, it was trying to prove it didn't bother him that ruined his arm. "I tried to throw 100 and ruined my mechanics," Williams said. "I was going to prove them wrong. In the process I proved them right." (Steve Jacobson,1995) Now of course my report just tells of two cases, of which a player "choked" and after that could not recover from it. I am sure there has been players that have given up the game winner and came back to have good careers. I can't use Mark Wohlers, who gave up the base hit to Edgar Renteria in the 1997 World Series, he also has hit a downfall in his career. I can't use him in my report because although the problem is psychological. I personally don't think it has to do with the game winning hit he gave up because no one placed much emphasis on him. They instead focused on Edgar Renteria's base hit. Did you know that Greg Maddox gave up the game winning home run to Steve Finley this year to give The San Diego Padres the NL pennant? He is one the best pitchers to ever play the game. So what can come from this report. Well, basically nothing if you asked me. Kicker and closers no that they have to go through the pressure of the game they are in. Also, you have to understand, these players are the cream of the crop and still make allot of money by our standards. The average closer makes about 2.5 million a year in baseball because it is such an overwhelmingly demanding position. It take allot of skill and craft. Most closer are not young. The youngest successful closer in Kary Lightenburg. Keep in mind though it is his first year. Older pitchers are closer because that can handle the pressure, but how can an pitcher, not just an old pitcher, take the stress he must endure to keep his job and do it effectively. The same goes for the NFL. The NFL wants gritty vets who get the job done, and can do it with a little leg. Sports "Choking" isn't a life threatning disease. It is just a condition that happens when pressure situations arise the player, who would normally be able to make it doesn't because of the pressure the can come with that situation. The experment deals with pressure situations and tells weather there is such a situation. Word Count: 2783 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Cognitive Dissonance Theory.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cognitive Dissonance Theory The theory of Cognitive Dissonance states that when individuals are presented with information that implies we act in a way that contradicts our moral standards, we experience discomfort (Aronson, Wilson, and Akert, 1998, P. 191). This is considered Cognitive Dissonance, A psychological term used to describe mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information; arouses unease or tension; relieved by one of several defensive maneuvers: rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding new information; persuading self that no conflict really exists; reconciling differences; or resorting to any other defensive means of preserving stability or order in conception of world and of self; first introduced in 1950s; has become major point of discussion and research in psychology (as cited in Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, 1996). This theory was developed by Leon Festinger (1957), is concerned with the relationships among cognitions. Cognition, for the purpose of this theory, may be thought of as a piece of knowledge, thoughts, feelings, or beliefs. Knowledge may be about an attitude, an emotion, a behavior, or a value. For instance, the fact that you like the color red is cognition. People have a massive amount of cognitions at the same time, and these cognitions create irrelevant, relationships with one another. Therefore, that the two cognitions have nothing to do with each other. This occurs most often when we do something that contradicts our moral beliefs. If dissonance is experienced it is almost always uncomfortable, so the individual is motivated to reduce it. This causes the individual to identify the magnitude of their discomfort and, it is possible to predict what we can do to reduce dissonance. There are three basic ways to reduce dissonance. First are changing cognitions, an example is if two cognitions don't relate we can change one to make it relate to the other; or change each cognition in the direction of the other. The second is adding cognitions, if two cognitions cause a certain degree of dissonance, adding one or more cognitions can reduce the degree of dissonance. The third is altering importance, attempting to justify the behavior by adding new cognitions. These are the three basic ways of reducing cognitive dissonance (Aronson, Wilson, and Akert, 1998, P. 192). Leon Festinger and James Carlsmith also tested his theory in 1959. They put all the participants through a dull task. The task consisted in placing a large number of spools on pegs on a board, turn each spool a quarter turn, take the spool off the pegs and then put them back on. The subject's attitudes toward this task were negative. The participants were then asked to lie about the task to another person. This person was actually an assistant in the study. The lie was to try to convince the assistant that the task was actually interesting and fun. The participants were either given one dollar or twenty dollars for lying about the task. The experimenters found that those who lied and received the one-dollar experienced the greatest dissonance, and they were more motivated to seek cognitive constancy than the participants who received twenty dollars. Those who received the one-dollar reported to have enjoyed the task more than those who received the twenty dollars. There was an inconsistency between the attitudes of the participants and the behavior. The participants who received twenty dollars just wanted the money. The larger amount of money provided external justification for the behavior. There was no dissonance, and the participants did not need to change their attitudes. For the subjects who received only one dollar there was less external justification, and more dissonance. They reduced their dissonance by changing their attitudes toward the task. The experimenters then asked the one-dollar group to evaluate the experiment, and rated the task more fun than the twenty-dollar group, or the control group. This simply explains cognitive dissonance; the participants changed their attitudes to make them consistent with behavior. This experiment shows how easily people rationalize behavior to make them consistent with their morals. (Price, et al, 1959 pg. 507). I have an almost perfect example of cognitive dissonance. One of my really close friends is what you would call a social smoker. She doesn't consider herself a smoker; she just does it on occasion. For example when she is drinking, or stressed. My friend doesn't think the typical stereotypes of a smoker correspond to her, she thinks she is different. This one time she decided she wanted a cigarette totally out of the blue, this went against her moral standards. She was experiencing dissonance; she began to wonder if she really was a smoker, if this could become a habit like other smokers. Then she began to justify her actions by saying, "just this one time, it is not like I do this all the time ". She justified her actions to try make herself feel better about her decision, and got rid of her dissonance. This is just one of many other solutions she could have chose. The second possible solution could have been for her to realize how bad smoking is, how it causes cancer, and you could possibly die. Realizing these factors also would have persuaded her to quit. The third way of getting rid of cognitive dissonance would be to add a new cognition such as, "smoking is so relaxing, and it really calms my nerves". In all these situations she should rid herself of cognitive dissonance, this is an example how the cognitive dissonance theory works in real life situations. In my opinion people without a background in social psychology would see cognitive dissonance theory, as a form of denial. It is a way of making themselves believe what they are doing is not wrong. Cognitive dissonance explains how people change their opinions about themselves and their environment. It is also concerned with the relationships and cognitions. When people do something that goes against their belief system, they experience dissonance. There are ways of resolving this dissonance, which vary for every person and situation. That is why people reduce dissonance in different ways. References Price, H. R., et al, (1982). Principles in Psychology. New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Simon, & Schuster (Ed.). (1996). Compton Interactive Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Massachusetts : Compton's New Media. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Cognitive Psychology.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cognitive Psychology- the study of how individuals acquire, process, and use information. Evolutionary Psychology- way of which behavior and mental processes are adaptive for survival. Wilhelm Wundt- STRUCURALISM. Founded the first formal psychology lab, 1897. goals = 1. analyze conscious processes into there basic units such as sensations, images, feeling 2. disover how the elements became connected 3.specify the laws of connection. "FATHER OF PSYCHOLOGY" Edward Titchener- STRUCTURALISM = what? and were? Falls under Wihelm Wundt William James- FUNCTIONALISM = how? And why?. Led first distinct school of psychology. Studied the mind as it functions in adapting to the environment Sigmund Freud- PSYCHODYNAMIC. Studied etiology, development, and treatment of abnormal behavior. John Watson and B.F Skinner - BEHAVIORISM. Studied behavioral observations. Max Werthheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler - GESTALT. Defined psychology as the study of immediate experience of the whole organism. Gestalt psychology was founded as a revolt against Wundt. Gender Culture Gender stereotypes Gender roles Race Ethnicity Ethnic identity Sexual orientation Femenist theory Human diversity Jean-Paul Sartre f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Comparison Between Environmentally and Genetically Influ~6C3.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Comparison Between Environmentally and Genetically Influenced Traits Intelligence is the level of competence, ability to learn or to some people it is how well an individual performs on an IQ test. The structure of intelligence is best subdivided into two significant categories. They are environmental and hereditary influences. Environmental differences can be divided into different factors. The deprivation model of social class and intelligence consists of three variables. These variables explain, in terms of environmental factors, development and performance which are correlated with social status. The first of these variables consists of the combination of birth order, nutrition, and prenatal care. Children who are first born, on average score better on mental tests. There is a definite higher number of first born children among higher socioeconomic groups as opposed to lower socioeconomic groups. According to Bruce Eckland, children of higher economic class tend to be brighter, on average, than children of lower economic groups (65). Both prenatal stress and malnutrition, impair development and are found much more frequently among lower socioeconomic classes. According to Philip E. Vernon, the fetus can have lack blood supply and growth of the fetus can be disturbed if the mother takes certain drugs or suffers from certain diseases. Severe stress on the mother can also be hazardous to the fetus (84). These conditions expressed are both genetic and or resulting from environmental conditions and are known to as constitutional factors. The second variable of the deprivation model which helps exhibit differences in performance is the cultural variable. It seems that lower socioeconomic classes experience a unique pattern of behavioral and psychological traits which impair development in children raised in these conditions. The last environmental variable that accounts for differences in the cognitive development is the social cultural variable. This variable includes deprivation which involves socially structured inequalities in education and other social opportunities for improving performance. Sidney W. Bijou states that in order to help development, an ample supply of physical stimuli for cognitive development is favorable along with the people who have to manage these stimuli in contingent relationships after the birth of the child (230). Another environmental contribution to intelligence, which Bijou points out is the availability of people who enhance opportunities for cognitive development. These people have the job of shaping responses and for bringing responses under stimulus control. Examples of this contribution are conceptualizations and symbolizations. An unwanted contribution would be some situation where there are people with marital discord or if they are economically poor. Another contribution, explained by Bijou, refers to the kinds of reinforcers in effect in cognitive situations. An example of this contribution would be to use positive reinforcing contingencies. A hampering situation would entail adults who use aversive, neutral or random stimulus contingencies. The last of these contributions refers to the schedules of reinforcement. These contributions are categorized by a high number of people who schedule contingencies of reinforcement in ways which maintain the cognitive repertories acquired (230). Greenfield insists that people learn what they need to accomplish a goal presented by the environment. The specification of a particular set of goals by the environment not only determines whether learning (255). In an experiment done on children, Werner and Kaplan found out that variable verbal and action contexts for a certain concept provide a way of generalizing that particular concept by differentiating it from its context. Educationally this provides a wide variety of action goals but even more important during the initial stage instead of the later stages. This goal structure of the environment plays a most important role in early life and then gradually declines in importance, according to Patricia M. Green field. Greenfield also points out in a study administered by Garves that middle class mothers give significantly more positive feed back as opposed to lower class mothers who give a high rate of negative feedback to their children. This scenario leads to feelings of failure on the on the child's part. In other words, lower class mothers believe that their goals cannot be attained, therefore giving way to a feeling of discouragement and a response of negative feedback to their children. This condition produces a lack of self-determination for the lower class mothers which then in turn gives the child himself lack of self-determination among other things. The home environment is also a major factor for cognitive development. For starters, middle class mothers may mothers may supply their children with an image of goals towards which school is aimed. On the other hand lower class lower class families seem to lack this positive feedback all together (252-260). Vernon states that child and parent interactions greatly influence the cognitive growth of the child. Evidence of the previous is best demonstrated in the work of Wulbert et al. Wulbert's experiments compared the homes and mothers of twenty children who were retarded in language and matched them with twenty normal children. The mothers of the language retarded children had lower results in emotional and verbal responsiveness and were more liable to punish their children than the mothers of the other twenty normal children. Davis helps to illustrate the views of Vernon. Davis described a girl who lived with a deaf mute mother and did not develop any speech until she was moved from that environment (p.131). Spitz, on the other hand, describes the effects of early hospital upbringing but still helps support Vernon's views. He studied infants who layed inside of their cribs with very little to look at unless they were being fed or cleaned. Many of these infants died and all of them, including those that died fell into a state of "apathy" (132). Both of these studies support Vernon's views to the point that parent and child interactions influence the child's cognitive development and growth , especially early in life. It seems that environmental differences play a major role on the level of intelligence of an individual. Evidence of environmental differences and its impact on intelligence is better illustrated through higher IQ gains generated by the help of environmental enrichment programs. These programs are more effective if they are begun early in the life of the child. The reason behind that is that the programs are better able to create lifelong changes in capacity to generate and sustain responses to cognitive stimulation. These programs entail the development of visual and auditory competence as well as encourage attention and labeling which help cognitive development in children. Storfer notes the Drash and Stolberg experiment were it was found that extraordinary high competence, emotional maturity and speech development were attained by children as a result of an enrichment program designed to modify the behavior of parents during the first year of their child's life. The Stanford Binet scores of the four children averaged one hundred fifty-five. Before we start to discuss Hereditary influences we must initially note that both genetic or hereditary and environmental influences are equally important, according to Dobzhansky. Many psychologist refer to genetics as one of the major influences upon the level of individual intelligence. Cancro states that the expression of "like produces like" is an oversimplification with a strong basis underlying it. He points out that offspring are more likely to be similar instead of unlike to their parents on any genetically loaded trait. Cancro expresses that genetic as far as heredity is concerned, is a distinct property of a population. This statement was made to note that inheritance is not a measure of an individual or of the trait itself. Inheritance estimates the proportion of the total variance in a proportion of the total variance in a population at a particular point. Inheritance for intelligence usually falls between .70 to .90, according to Cancro. This number depends on the population which is being considered and on the specific test or method being used. The Polygenic model suggests that both environmental and hereditarian variables are required to explain differences in individual intelligence. The Polygenic model is basically the same as the deprivation model from environmental influences. The difference between these two model is the fact that the Polygenic model introduces three new variables. The first of these variables is the mid-parent and child's heredities which refer to the genotypes of intelligence and furthermore result in "quantitive" variations in cognitive functioning. The second variable of the Polygenic model is referred to as mid-parent's and child's intelligence. The last variable of the model is the child's heredity which stands for all the sources of variance in the child's heredity accounted for by the mid-parent's heredity. A connection between each variable supports the model. The path is the connection and the path taken from parental intelligence to social status is the most important. according to Eckland, it is the primary link between genetic and environmental parts and it also forms the weakest link in the genetic loop. Two other links in the model's loop deal with the proportion of variance in intelligence and how this is due to genetics. These other links are labeled as PMP and PIH. Since the coefficient or magnitude of this proportion is increasing then the coefficient is a population statistics and always depends upon the absolute value of variance of trait factors in the environment. The paths of the two links change with any strong change in the environmental factors. This means that if either one of the paths from parental social status and parent's intelligence to the child's environment increase then we would see a decrease in the proportion of the variance in measured intelligence. The last link to consider in the genetic loop of the polygenic model is labeled PHP, and is highly strong. Cancro points out that a child receives half of his or her genes from each parent. This makes the correlation between parent-child intelligence equal to .50. Cancro warns that this correlation is considerably larger since this figure is only subject under conditions of random mating. This means that the closer the parents resemble one another then the more closely children will resemble their parents (73). This holds true to the fact that males and females of like intelligence would generally end up in similar settings such as school dropouts or graduate students. These factors either limit mating or pair like individuals together and therefore changing the previous correlation. If both parents have above average intelligence then their children will most likely exhibit this trait. This evidence, according to Canro, therefore is partly due to the hereditary basis of intelligence. According to kinship correlations, proportions of genes of intelligence that are held in common by two relatives enable us to predict correlations between their IQs. Identical twins, for example, posses identical genes. Vernon points out that the interclass correlation of identical twins should be 1.0 since they share the same genetic makeup. Heritability analysis covers the subject of twins among other kinship relations. The correlations, according to Vernon of genetic expectation for both dizygotic twins and non twin siblings raised apart or together is .50. According to studies performed on these groups, there is a high similarity between the genetically expected and the obtained results. Vernon states that the results of his tests support the conclusion that both genetic and environmental components have a significant effect upon the intelligence of the child. There has also been some research done on identical twins who live in different environments. They have been compared with siblings who are not twins but live in the same environment. The correlation results for twins who live apart is .75 and .24 for no-twin siblings who do live together. It seems that together, these two correlations almost add up to 1.00 which is the total phenotypic variance. Vernon points out that the effect of genes is much more powerful than that of the environment. Even though the precise values of the correlations are of dispute, analyses of kinship data, concludes Vernon, provides the most convincing demonstration of genetic influence on intelligence. Undoubtedly ,the subject of intelligence can be defined in many ways. To better understand intelligence psychologist have rendered two main influences as cause for variable intelligence levels. These two main influences as discussed previously cannot be explained as one being the main determinant of intelligence. This two influences are environmental and hereditary influences. Word Count: 2035 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Competition.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Competition INTRODUCTION: Competition occurs between any organisms living in a mutual habitat. Whether it is for food, water, shelter, or a mate, competition can be harmful or helpful to each organism. There are two basic types of competition; intraspecific and interspecific. These terms refer to competition within a specific species and the competition between different species, respectively. In this lab, we conducted 3 basic experiments. Our goal was to observe the effects of the competition in each instance.The first one was to observe the intraspecific competition between the wheat plant species, the second was for the intraspecific competition between the mustard plant species. The third was the interspecific competition of the wheat and mustard species together. The latter experiment's data was divided into two sub groups of high density and low density, for purposes of graphing Dewitt diagrams. Dewitt diagrams are a way of expressing % yield and total productivity data so it can be evaluated and compared effectively. It has been noted that intraspecific competitions tend to be more intense than interspecific ones (Ciara, 1993). This is because members of the same species need the same types and amounts of nutrients. When these similar species are in the same habitat with fixed resources, then they consequently have to "fight " for their needs. This is was basis for our hypothesis. We hypopthesized that the species that were involved with the interspecific competitions would have greater production (by ave. weight of grams) than their counterparts involved in the intraspecific competitions. Furthermore, we hypothesized that as the density of the intraspecific and interspecific competition species increased, then the production of the plants (by ave, weight in grams) would go down. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six weeks previous to the conductance of this lab, Biology 108 section,planted wheat and mustard plants according to table#1 on page 3 of the Principles of Biology 108 Lab Manual . This table depicts all of the total pots and number and type of seeds planted in the pots. It accounts for the experiments of the intraspecific competition and interspecific competition. Replicates of each pot were planted to add precision and more acceptable statistics. Therefore, there were 40 pots, that is, 20 treatments conducted twice(Ciara, 1993). Each Biology 108 section planted these pots and the data from every section was to be combined for an overall data sheet. Our group in section 6 had the role of planting 5 of the experimental pots with the assigned number of wheat seeds or mustard seeds or both. We filled each 4" pot with artificial soil mix and packet it down below the rim, and then placed the required number of seeds onto the surface and sprinkled a little more soil on top. We were ordered by the TAs to plant a few extra seeds into each pot, depending on the original number of seeds originally assigned to each pot. This was meant to account for the statistical expected non-germination of some of the seeds. In a week or two following the initial planting, the extra plants were weeded out, so that each pot contained the originally assigned number of plants. The pots were then placed in the University greenhouse and watered routinely , and given supplemental light (Ciara, 1993). Six weeks later the data was collected. There were several calculations included in the expression of the data, primarily the interspecific data and the Dewitt diagrams. The Dewitt diagrams were graphs that enabled comparison of; the percent yield of the mustard ( mustard ave. pot weight in mixture / mustard ave, pot weight when alone x 100) and percent yield of wheat ( wheat ave. pot weight in mixture / wheat ave, pot weight when alone x 100). The Dewitt diagrams also enabled us to graph the Total Pot Productivity, which is the percent yield of mustard added to the percent yield of wheat, all on the same graph. The data for the Dewitt diagrams were divided into 2 groups, that of high density and low density relating to the number of plants in a pot. RESULTS: INTERSPECIFIC DATA The interspecific data is displayed on figures #1 and #2, the Dewitt Diagrams. The low density data is on figure #1 and it shows the percent yield of the mustard plant treatments in relation to the treatments of 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 number of mustard plants compared to the percent yield of the wheat plant treatments with the same number of plants per treatment, respectively. Also shown ( by the dotted line) is the optimum percent yield of each species had there been no interaction or competition between species. In comparision to the optimum percent yield, the species in this low density competition, the graph shows us that the mustard exhibited a slightly higher percent yield than the wheat, as it had more plotted points above its optimum percent yield. Another set of data that it recorded on this graph is Total Pot Productivity. This curve showed that the biomass of both species was slightly higher than the optimum of 100%. In figure #2, the high density Dewitt Diagrams, the percent yield of the mustard plant treatments in relation to the treatments of 0, 8, 16, 24 and 32 number of mustard plants compared to the percent yield of the wheat plant treatments with the same number of plants per treatment, respectively. Again, as in the low density results, the mustard had a higher percent yield. There was one extravagently high percent yield for the mustard at the 24 mustard / 8 wheat plant treatment. There was also a higher percent yield at the same treatment for the wheat. INTRASPECIFIC DATA In figure #3 (Density Data) there is a visualization of the data collected for the intraspecific experiments. This graph shows the average plant weight compared to the number of plants in its respective pot. There is a line graphed for the wheat plants and one for the mustard plants. We see that, overall, the average plant weight of each species decreases as the density of the plants in each pot increases. Figure #4 displays the comparison between the average weights per treatment of the mustard plants in intraspecific competition and interspecific competition. It also compares the weights per treatment of the wheat plants in intraspecific competition and interspecific competition. In the interspecific competition, the number of plants ( of the particular species being documented) does have an additional number of the other species in its pot which is indicated in the figure. Both the mustard and the wheat plants had, overall, higher average weights per plant as the number of plants per pot decreased. Discussion: The intraspecific data in figure #3 of a line graph was designed to visualize the density data for the mustard plant average weights compared to that of the wheat, per treatment. We can clearly see that the mustard plants had greater average weights at every treatment. This may be due to faster growth by the mustard plants or the fact that that they have more above-ground biomass than the wheat. Since we haven't taken into consideration the below ground biomass, we will ignore the latter, for now. Also, as our hypothesis projected, the average weights of the plants per treatment decrease as the density, or number of plants per pot, increases. This is due to the competition of the plants for nutrients in an environment in which the nutrient levels and life necessities are fixed. As the number of plants increases, the amount of nutrients per plant decreases and thus, each plant has less nutrients than the pot treatment before it with less plants. The interspecific data for low density data in figure #1 showed us that predation was occurring. The Mustard exhibited a higher than optimum overall percent yield and the wheat, overall seemed to be below normal. Although the wheat did have one percent yield plot point that was higher than its optimum, the trend for the line graph was below the optimum. This information lead us to believe that the mustard was the "predator" because it seemed to take away nutrients from the growth of the wheat, which is the reason the percent yield of the wheat was lower than optimum. The reason the mustard species dominated over the wheat could be for two reasons: 1) The mustard is a faster growing species and its plants mature early and are able to dominate in that fashion over the immature wheat. This conclusion was reached after examining the intraspecific data, where the mustard had higher averages of plant weight per treatment; or 2) The mustard is simply a more aggressive species that has adaptive features which enable it to overtake plants such as the wheat. For figure #2, The Dewitt Diagram of high density data, there did not seem to be predation as in the low density interspecific treatments because there was not as great of a distinction between one species benefiting and the other costing. Overall, both species seemed to benefit and have higher percent yields than their optimum. This is considered mutualism because they both benefited. However, the mustard did still have a distinctively higher percent yield. Concerning the very high data point at 131%, there could have been a data collection error or a calculation error involved. This is not to be considered valid because it is impossible to have over 100% yield. However, it is taken into consideration as a high value (over its optimum percent yield) because the data trend is such. As for the Total Pot Productivity Curve, it simply represents the biomass of the two species combined and therefore allows us to see the overall productivity compared to the optimum. In the case of the low density data in figure #1, the Total Pot Productivity was higher than optimum in some points and lower in others, reflecting the higher % yield of the mustard and the predation of the mustard upon the wheat. In the high density data in figure #2, the Total Pot Productivity Curve was entirely above the optimum level. This is because of the combination of wheat not overall below its optimum percent yield and the mustard having some very high percent yield figures. Refering to our hypothesis, the average weights of the mustard plants interspecific experiments were higher than those in the intraspecific experiments, per treatment ( plant #). This is observed in figure #4 . These results are because in the interspecific experiments the plants did not have to compete with their own species that needed similar nutrients at the same growth stages. Also, as we predicted, the plants produced less as the density grew. This was observed in the intraspecific data when the average weight of the plants per treatment decreased as the number of plants per treatment increased. And in the interspecific data, in both high and low density, the percent yield of the plants went down as there were more plants added, in each treatment. This was exhibited in both the mustard and the wheat plants for all experiments. One aspect which we paid respect to in our consideration of our experiment was that in our data we only measured the above-ground biomass and not the plant structure below ground. This could be a factor that could introduce error in our results. This is because a plant species such as wheat or mustard could have an extensive root structure which could add a significant increase to its measurement of weight. Some plants, as we know, produce most of their biomass underground, such as a potato or carrot. Our data proposed a question as to what might happen if this experiment was extended over a longer period of time, or each pot was replanted to sow new generations. We concluded that, first of all, there would be much more accurate results given the longer time span which would more closely represent the length of time and generations that a plant species would go through in an existance. Secondly, that the mustard would probably exterminate (only after a long battle) the wheat from the pots. This hypothesis is taken from our determination from our results of our experiments where we decided that the mustard was the more aggressive plant and that it was also the faster growing. But the final results on that hypothesis would be another experiment. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Conformity Esssay.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Conformity Esssay According to Leon Mann, conformity means 'yielding to group pressures'. Everyone is a member of one group or another and everyone expects members of these groups to behave in certain ways. If you are a member of an identifiable group you are expected to behave appropriately to it. If you don't confirm and behave appropriately you are likely to be rejected by the group. Like stereotypes, conforming and expecting others to conform maintains cognitive balance. There are several kinds of conformity. Many studies of conformity took place in the 1950's which led Kelman to distinguish between compliance, internalisation and identification. Compliance is the type of conformity where the subject goes along with the group view, but privately disagrees with it. Internalisation is where the subject comes to accept, and eventually believes in the group view. Identification is where the subject accepts and believes the group view, because he or she wants to become associated with the group. Leon Mann identifies normative conformity which occurs when direct group pressure forces the individual to yield under the threat of rejection or the promise of reward. This can occur only if someone wants to be a member of the group or the groups attitudes or behaviour are important to the individual in some way. Apart from normative conformity there is informational conformity which occurs where the situation is vague or ambiguous and because the person is uncertain he or she turns to others for evidence of the appropriate response. Thirdly, Mann identifies ingratiational conformity which occurs where a person tries to do whatever he or she thinks the others will approve in order to gain acceptance (if you make yourself appear to be similar to someone else, they might come to like you). The first major research into conformity was conducted in 1935 by Sherif who used a visual illusion, known as the auto-kinetic effect. Sherif told his subjects that a spot of light which they were about to see in a darkened room was going to move, and he wanted them to say the direction and distance of the movement. In the first experimental condition the subjects were tested individually. Some said the distance of movement wasn't very far in any directio, others said it was several inches. Sherif recorded each subjects response. In the second experimental condition, Sherif gathered his subjects into groups, usually of three people, and asked them to discribe verbally the movement of light. He gave them no instructions as to whether they needed to reach any kind of agreement among themselves but simply asked them to give their own reports while being aware of the reports that other members gave. During the group sessions it became apparent that the subjects reports strarted to converge much nearer to an average of what their individual reports had been. If a subject who had said that the light didn't move very far when tested individually said 'I think it is moving 2 inches to the left' then another who had reported movement of 4 inches, when tested individually, might say 'I think it may have been 3 inches'. As the number of reported movements continued the more the members of the group conformed to each others reports. This spot of light was in fact stationary so whatever reports were made was the consequence of the subject imagining they saw something happen. So they were not certain about the movement they observed and so would not feel confident about insisting that their observations were wholly correct. When they heard other reported judgements they may have decided to go along with them. The problem with this study, for understanding of conformity, as one aspect of social psychology is that it is a total artifical experimental situation - there isn't even a right answer. Requested reports of imaginary movements of a stationary spot of light in a darkened room when alone, or with two others, hardly reflects situations we come accross in our every day lives. Generalising from its conclusions to real life might be innacurate. However, some of them do have a common sense appeal. Ash was a harsh critic of Sherifs experimental design and claimed that it showed little about conformity since there was no right answer to conform to. Ash designed an experiment where there could be absolutely no doubt about whether subjects would be conforming or not and it was absolutely clear what they were conforming to. He wanted to be able to put an individual under various amounts of group pressure that he could control and manipulate and measure their willingness to conform to the groups response to something that was clearly wrong. Ash conducted what are now described as classic experiments in conformity. This is not to say they aren't criticised today or that its conclusions are wholly acceptable now - they showed the application of the scientific method to social psychology and we used as models of how to conduct psychological research. In an early experiment Ash gathered a group of seven university students in a classroom. They sat around one side of a large table facing the blackboard. On the left side of the board there was a white card with a single black line drawn vertically on it. On the right of the board there was another white card with three vertical lines of different lengths. Two of the lines on the card on the right were longer or shorther than the target line. Matching the target line to the comparison line shouldn't have been a difficult task however for these seven students, all but one was a confederate of Ash and they had been instructed to give incorrect responses on seven of the twelve trials. The one naive subject was seated either at the extreme left or next to the extreme left of the line of students so that he would always be last (or next to last) to answer. He would have heard most of the others give their judgements about which comparison line matches the target line before he spoke. The naive subject was a member of a group he didn't know and might never see again who suddenly and for no apparent reason started saying something which directly contradicted the evidence of his own eyes. In subsequent experiments Ash used between 7 and 9 subjects using the same experimental procedure. In the first series of experiments he tested 123 naives on 12 critical tests where 7 were going to be incorrect. Each naive therefore had 7 opportunities to conform to something they could see to be wrong. One third of the naives conformed on all 7 occasions. About three quarters of them conformed on at least one occasion. Only about one fifth refused to conform at all. Just to be certain that the result was due to the influence of the confederates responses and not to the difficulty of the task Ash used a control group. Each control subject was asked to make a judgement individually - there were no pressures at all. Over 90% gave correct responses. Hollander and Willis give some criticisms of the early research into conformity. Firstly the studies do not identify the motive or type of conformity. Do the subjects conform in order to gain social approval? Are they simply complying? Do they really believe that their response is correct? Secondly Hollander and Willis claim that the experiments do not identify whether the subjects are complying because they judge that it's not worth appearing to be different, or because the actually start to believe that the groups judgement is correct. Hollander and Willis also claim that the studies cannot show whether those who do not conform do so because they are independant thinkers or because they are anti-conformists. And Lastly, they claim that the studies seem to assume that independance has to be good and conformity has to be bad. However conformity is often benificial. Sherif and Asch have each conducted fairly artificial laboritory experiments which showed that about 30% of responses can be explained by the need or desire of the subjects to conform. These experiments may not accurately reflect real life when conformity might be benificial and sometimes contribute to psychological well-being. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Could Schizophrenia Be The Answer To The Mysterious Vampire Legend.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Could Schizophrenia Be The Answer To The Mysterious Vampire Legend Could Schizophrenia be the Answer to the Mysterious Vampire Legend? The vampire legend and many behaviors and experiences of schizophrenics seem to share many common traits. The traits that are most recognizable are "fears of being enclosed, periods of semistarvation or complete starvation, which can be associated with periodic gorging, reversal of the day-night cycle, and a preoccupation with or dread of mirrors" (Kayton 304). Though the term 'schizophrenia' or 'demence precoce' was only introduced in 1852 (Boyle 43), behaviors of people affected by this illness have been documented much earlier. The concept of a dead person returning in his living physical form and feeding on the living is considered a vampire. The vampire is believed to also be capable of transmitting his vampirism to those he infect or bite. Kayton recognizes that though this belief has been found in early writings of the Babylonians, Semites, and Egyptians, the most famous vampire scare swept Europe in 1730. This vampire epidemic lasted approximately five years (305). The legend consistency continues with adolescent and young adult schizophrenia. It is presented to us that young suicide victims were most likely believed to become vampires and attack members of their families (Kayton 304-05). Suicide was not an uncommon event among schizophrenic patients (Boyle 255). Suicide patients are a very important part of this equation because according to the legend in England suicides were buried with a stake pierced in or near the heart. This was to ensure that that the ghost of the person would not come back and haunt the living, to prevent the suicide victim from becoming a vampire (Kayton 305). In Dracula, Lucy was killed after she had already started to haunt the living. She was killed after with a stake driven through her heart as a "duty to others" and to the dead, so that she may truly be "passed away", as "God's true dead" (266, 277-279). Some documented cases of vampirism indicate that sometimes the psychodynamics' of vampires can erupt into materialized behavioral psychopathology (Kayton 304). For example, Vincenz Verzeni an Italian in 1872, a Frenchman named Leger in 1827, and a German Fritz Haarman demonstrate to the rare appearance of clinical vampirism (Kayton 306). Haarman himself killed approximately 24 adolescent males. This is interesting since many believe that vampires only attack those of the opposite sex. Even Bram Stoker's Dracula disproves this belief when the Count (Dracula) informs the three vampire women that Jonathan belongs to him (55). Psychoanalyst, Karl Abraham, had an advanced early psychoanalytic theory, which examined the beginning of these characteristics. He claimed that early libidinal (sexual desire/ sex drive) stages had a lot to do with later character development. He divided the oral phase into sucking and biting stages. He goes on to discuss that the nursing infant is first a passive recipient of the nutrients that is placed in his mouth. The infant then learns that his teeth are a tool he can use for revenge when they become frustrated (Kayton 309). Later, Melanie Klein, Abraham's analyst, moved away from oral libido as the main focus in early infant development and focused more on the early mother-child interactions. She stated that it was through these early interactions that the child developed internal psychological structure by the internalization of introject. With this child analysis, she developed her concepts of the paranoid-schizoid position and the depressive position in early infant development (309). Another psychoanalyst, W.R.D. Fairbairn, took intensive case material of schizoid-schizophrenic persons, and theorized that intense oral sadistic libidinal need form in response to actual maternal deprivation. He states that eventually the child splits off part of his ego (Kayton 309), not to be mistaken with multiple personalities (McMahon 203). This regressed part of the ego is called "the schizoid citadel". In here is where the love needs grow (Kayton 310). Here is where an important part of the legend draws reference. According to Kayton, the vampire (young suicide) was known to either devour or steal the hearts of his victims. When the heart was stolen, it was placed over a fire to create an intense unfulfilled love in the bosom of the person it was taken from (307). In Dracula we sort of get that sense the three vampire women wanted this from Jonathan. Because when the Count told them that they could not have him, one of them boldly told him: "You yourself never loved" (55). Also, according to schizophrenic suicide history the family members who were often attacked were mainly members who showed their guilt over the oral deprivation onto the fantasized vampire (patient) with a feared oral attack (Kayton 311). That would be the logic of why the victims of the vampire are usually family members or persons they love; as we witness this with Lucy as she tried to kiss Arthur a two different occasions when she became a vampire. This theory also suggests that the parent's role is very important and their actions with the child of either showing affection or rejection when the child attempts to become close to them (McMahon 212). Besides the removal of the heart, unmistakably, the most important part of the legend is that the vampire attacks his victims by sucking out their blood. There are claims that the attack of the vampire shows consistency with some of the unconscious fantasies of schizophrenic persons. First, there is a taking of life by the oral route by the vicious attack with the use of teeth. Second, the victim is held and controlled while the vampire feeds (Kayton 310). Though in Dracula, it is Mina who feeds, we see the same sort of control displayed. And finally, after feeding the victim also becomes a vampire, indicating a union between the feeder and the victim (Kayton 310), which Mina becomes. A case in recent studies gives us an example of what a schizophrenic might have on his mind. This is a white male, Lenny, who suffered from severe paranoid schizophrenic psychosis. The overview of his inner fears states: He also had cannibalistic fears that he would be orally devoured by the other male patients. Intermittently during the early phases of his psychosis, he would hold his breath for periods of time, for he felt his inspiring air would deprive his father of needed air, and his father would die. Lenny also had recollections of maternal rejection, with images of his mother as hostile and cruel. He therefore turned to his father for maternal nurturing and received some of this from his father. All thwarted needs to be mothered were focused on his father, which made him fear for his father's life lest his neediness deprive his father of life. (Kayton 310) Another known fact of the legend is that the vampire roams by night and sleeps during the day. Kayton reveals that the vampire's sleeping in a coffin by the day and looking for food at night is very similar to the schizophrenic's time spent in the regressed ego ("schizoid citadel") during the day. The schizophrenic sleeps during this time or becomes very motionless because it presents him with the escape he needs to let all his cannibalistic fears and needs surface (312). This role/cycle reversal in schizophrenics' was first notice by a Dr. Meehl (311). Two patients emulate these traits: .... Ronald would lie beneath his bed during the day with sheets and blankets covering the opening from view. Another deeply regressive enclosure need was expressed by a very interesting behavioral display. He would take his clothing locker, lay it upon the floor and sleep within it during the day. His psychological tests were consistent with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. (Kayton 312) Another patient Penny would sit quietly and motionless with little expression on her face, during the day. She produced no logical thoughts and hardly ever spoke (313). Interesting enough the vampire has been nicknamed "the living dead", which basically tells us that the vampire is trapped between the two worlds. Penny showed this attribute because, afraid of reality, she retreated into a fantasy world, yet this still made her fearful of 'stepping through the looking glass.' Therefore, this made her stuck between two worlds (Kayton 313). According to Fairbairn and Guntrip, this also goes back to the relationship between child and mother. When not having "good enough mothering", these desires and needs builds up in the regressed ego. It is this part of the ego that 'splits off' from the rest of the ego that holds the person in reality. Because so much emotional feelings is held within the regressed ego, it is not experienced as being a part of the body, therefore it creates the feeling of not being part of the external world by the schizophrenic (qtd. in Kayton 311-312). One last thing is that the vampire's inability to cast a reflection in the mirror is consistent to the schizophrenic fears or feelings of being invisible or reduce visibility in the eyes of others (McMahon 215; Kayton 312). As you can see that there are many coincidences and aspects of the vampire legend and schizophrenia that are very similar. The vampire legend can be viewed as either "visual portrayal of the world of the schizophrenic" or "an empathic bridge to the understanding of certain aspects of schizophrenic" (Kayton 313). The most vital and striking aspect of everything is that both vampire and schizophrenic are just longing to be loved and to love. As the Count said, "I too can love" (Stoker, 55). Works Cited Boyle, Mary. SCHIZOPHRENIA A scientific delusion? London: Routledge, 1990. Kayton, Lawrence. The Relationship of the Vampire Legend to Schizophrenia. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 1, No. 4. New York: Plenum, 1972, 303-313. McMahon, Frank B. Abnormal Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 198-237, 255. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Ed. Maurice Hindle. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Counseling v psychotherapy.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Name: psythep.txt Differences Between Counseling and Psychotherapy Counseling Theories August 3, 1995 Running head: Coun. v. Psychotherapy Counseling v. psychotherapy is there a difference between the two? This paper will attempt to prove that there are several differences between counseling and psychotherapy. While counseling and psychotherapy have several different elements in each, the following information will also attempt to show the reader that there are some areas where the two overlap. At times this was a confusing topic to research. A fine line distinguishes the two topics and one must look hard to see this line. Definition of Counseling One survey taken by Gustad suggests a definition of counseling where he included three key elements. Counseling is a learning-oriented process, carried on in a simple, one to one social environment, in which a counselor, professionally competent in relevant psychological skills and knowledge, seeks to assist the client by methods appropriate to the latter's needs and within the context of the total personnel program, to learn more about himself, to learn how to put such understanding into effect in relation to more clearly perceived, realistically defined goals to the ` end that the client may become a happier and more productive member of his society (1957, p. 36). In lay terms counseling can be described as a face to face relationship, having goals to help a client to learn or acquire new skills which will enable them to cope and adjust to life situations. The focus is to help a person reach maximum fulfillment or potential, and to become fully functioning as a person. Definition of Psychotherapy Psychotherapy is the process inwhich a therapists assists the client in re-organizing his or her personality. The therapist also helps the client integrate insights into everyday behavior. Psychotherapy can be defined as "more inclusive re-education of the individual" (Brammer& Shostrom,1977). Objectives of counseling The objectives of counseling according to the Committee on Definition, Division of Counseling Psychology, American Psychological Association are to "help individuals toward overcoming obstacles to their personal growth, wherever these may be encountered, and toward achieving optimum development of their personal resources" (Arbuckle, 1967). In a paper written by Dr. T. Millard, it is stated that "Counseling provides clarity and a positive and constructive venue for the individual to sensibly examine the instinctive-emotional and rational (or irrational) motives which determine the drive, content, and even the form of human conduct." This shows the part which counseling plays in a clients treatment. Objectives of psychotherapy According to Everett Shostrom (1967) , the goal of psychotherapy is " to become an actualizer, a person who appreciates himself and others as persons rather than things and who has turned his self defeating manipulations into self fulfilling potentials (p. 9). Shostrom also feels that awareness is the goal of psychotherapy, "The reason is that change occurs with awareness!" (1967 p. 103). Shostrom feels that awareness is a form of non-striving achieved by being what you are at the moment,l even if what you are means the phony manipulative role that we all play sometimes for external support (1967 p. 103). Professional opinions Not all therapists feel that there is a distinction between counseling and psychotherapy. C.H. Patterson feels that it is impossible to make a distinction, He feels that the definition of counseling equally applies as well to psychotherapy and vice a versa. Donald Arbuckle (1967) argues that counseling and psychotherapy are identical in all essential aspects. Others believe that there is a distinction. Psychotherapy is concerned with some type of personality change where counseling is concerned with helping individuals utilize full coping potential. IN Donald Arbuckle's work he included Leona Tyler's thoughts on the differences between counseling and psychotherapy. Leona Tyler attempts to differ between counseling and psychotherapy by stating, "to remove physical and mental handicaps or to rid of limitations is not the job of the counselor, this is the job of the therapist which is aimed essentially at change rather than fulfillment (Arbuckle 1967). Differences between counseling and psychotherapy One of the major distinctions between counseling and psychotherapy is the focus. In counseling, the counselor will focus on the "here and now", reality situations. During psychotherapy, the therapist is looking into the unconscious or past. A psychotherapist is looking for a connection of past to undealt with problems which are now present in the real world. Donald Arbuckle states, "There is a further distinction to be made. This involves the nature or content of the problem which the client brings to the counselor. A distinction is attempted between reality-oriented problems and those problems which inhere in the personality of the individual" (1967, p.145). Counseling and psychotherapy also differentiate when it comes to the level of adjustment or maladjustment of the client. Counseling holds an emphasis on "normals". One could classify "normals" as those without neurotic problems but those who have become victims of pressures from outside environment. The emphasis in psychotherapy however is on "neurotics" or other severe emotional problems. Counseling can also be described as problem solving where in psychotherapy it is more analytical. In counseling a client may have a situation where they do not have any idea how to handle it. There are two types of problems, solvable and unsolvable. If the problem is a solvable one, a therapist may help that client by looking at the problem with them and helping the client draw out solutions. When thinking of solutions one must also think of the consequences. While counseling deals with problem solving, psychotherapy on the other hand deals with the analytical view. Here the therapist would determine the cause of ones behavior from the results of that behavior. An example could be if a spouse was abusing the other spouse it could stem from the abusive spouse's past. The abusive spouse may have been a victim of abuse as a child, abused in a relationship themselves or even have been a witness to abuse. The counselor would analyze each act and try to link it to something in the unconscious past. Length of treatment also differs between counseling and psychotherapy. Counseling is shorter in duration than psychotherapy. The time spent in counseling is determined by goals set by the client and the counselor. Once these goals are met the client should then be able to go back on their own. Psychotherapy tends to last a while longer. Sessions range from two to five years. Psychotherapy is more of a comprehensive re-education of the client. The intensity and length of therapy depends on how well the client can deal with all of the new found information. It could take quite sometime for the client to be able to live with these feelings which originated in past experiences which are usually hurtful ones. A -psychotherapists also needs time to modify all existing defenses. The setting of treatment also differs between counseling and psychotherapy. A counseling session usually takes place in a non medical setting such as an office. Psychotherapy is the term used more in a medical setting such as a clinic or hospital. Another difference between counseling and psychotherapy has to do with transference. Brammer and Shostrom (1977) state, "The counselor develops a close personal relationship with the client, but he does not encourage or allow strong transference feelings as does the psychotherapist (p.223). The counselor tends to find this transference as interfering with his or her counseling effectiveness. A psychotherapist might feel that this transference is helpful and the client may be able to see what he is trying to do with the therapist relationship. A counselor may look at transference as "manifestations in an incomplete growing up process"(Brammer & Shostrom 1977), where the psychotherapist interprets these transference feelings as an unconscious nature of feelings. Resistance is another area of counseling and psychotherapy that tends to differ. Counselors see resistance as something that opposes or goes against problem solving. A counselor tries to reduce this as much ass possible. A psychotherapist on the other hand finds resistance to be very important. If the therapist can understand the clients resistance, he can then understand how to help the client change his or her personality. Similarities in counseling and psychotherapy While there are clearly many differences between the counseling approach and psychotherapy, there are some similarities between the two. First, each of these are similar in the sense that each client brings with them the assets, skills, strengths and possibilities needed with them to therapy. Secondly, counseling and psychotherapy are similar in the way that they both use an eclectic approach. The counselors and therapists do not have only one technique, they borrow from all different techniques. Arbuckle argues that" counseling and psychotherapy are in all essential respects identical" (1967, p.144) He states that the nature of the relationship which is considered basic in counseling and psychotherapy are identical. Secondly, Arbuckle says that the process of counseling cannot be distinguished from the process of psychotherapy. Third of all he feels that the methods or techniques are identical. Arbuckle lastly states in the matter of goals and or outcomes there may appear to be differences but no distinction is possible. One major similarity between counseling and psychotherapy are the elements which build a person's personality. Each of these processes deal with attitudes, feelings, interests, goals, self esteem and related behaviors are all which are affected through counseling and psychotherapy. Summary and Conclusion One can see from the material provided that there are several differences between counseling and psychotherapy. The biggest difference in my opinion is the time factor/ focus faced in each of these approaches. Counseling primarily deals with reality situations versus the unconscious past focus of psychotherapy. Secondly counseling has been described as helping one to develop competencies in coping with life situations where as psychotherapy is a re organization of one's whole personality. Finally a last distinction is that the counselor deals with life adjustment problems while the psychotherapist deals with past unresolved issues from the family of origin. While there are many distinguishing differences between counseling and psychotherapy, there are some aspects that do spill over into each other. As one can see by the graph provided (see figure. 1.1) there is a section where the two approaches cross paths. One must definitely take a close look at counseling and psychotherapy to distinguish whether or not there is a difference between the two approaches. I found this to be a very confusing topic at times. Just when I thought I had completely grasped a concept I would run across authors such as Arbuckle who speaks of the fact that one can not distinguish counseling from psychotherapy. Luckily, I researched part of this topic using my class notes, to my advantage the lecture on June 15, 1995 discussed the differences between counseling and psychotherapy. After reading these notes I realized that I was right on track and there is a difference between counseling and psychotherapy References Arbuckle, D. S. (1967). Counseling and Psychotherapy: An Overview. New York: McGraw Hill. Bettelheim, B. & Rosenfeld, A. (1993). The Art of the Obvious...Developing Insight For Psychotherapy and Everyday Life. New York: Knopf. Brammer, L . & Shostrom, E. (1977). Theraputic Psychology: Fundamentals of Counseling and Psychotherapy Third Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Rogers, C. (1951). Client Centered Therapy. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Shostrom, E. (1967). Man the Manipulator. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Critically Evaluate The Cognitive Theory Of Stereotyping.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Critically Evaluate The Cognitive Theory Of Stereotyping. Critically evaluate the cognitive theory of stereotyping. B231: Social Interaction, Exam Paper 1998, Question 4. Graeme Gordon Stereotyping is a form of pre judgement that is as prevalent in today's society as it was 2000 years ago. It is a social attitude that has stood the test of time and received much attention by social psychologists and philosophers alike. Many approaches to, or theories of stereotyping have thus been raised. This essay evaluates the cognitive approach that categorisation is an essential cognitive process that inevitably leads to stereotyping. Hamilton (1979) calls this a 'depressing dilemma'. Brown's (1995) definition of stereotyping through prejudice is the 'holding of derogatory social attitudes or cognitive beliefs, the expression of negative affect, or the display of hostile or discriminatory behaviour towards members of a group on account of their membership to that group'. This definition implies that stereotyping is primarily a group process, through the individuals psyche's within that group. A further idea of stereotyping, defined by Allport (1954) as 'thinking ill of others without warrant', is that people 'make their mind up' without any personal experience. This pre judgement about a whole group is then transferred to the stigmatisation of any individuals in that group. It is these ideas that the essay aims to evaluate, through the cognitive process of categorisation and the above definitions that bring about three distinct features of stereotyping, that our cognition can be demonstrated through. The first characteristic of stereotyping is over-generalisation. A number of studies conducted found that different combinations of traits were associated with groups of different ethnic and national origin (Katz and Braly, 1933). However, stereotyping does not imply that all members of a group are judged in these ways, just that a typical member of a group can be categorised in such judgements, that they possess the characteristics of the group. Still, when we talk of a group, we do so by imagining a member of that group. The second feature and characteristic of stereotyping is the exaggeration of the difference between ones own group (the in-group) and the 'other' group (the out-group). This can be traced back to the work of Tajfel during the 1950's - 'the accentuation principle' (Tajfel, 1981). Tajfel's work was specifically on physical stimuli, and concluded that judgements on such stimuli are not made in isolation, but in the context of other factors. Applied socially - a judgement about an out-group relies upon other factors surrounding the judgement in question, as well as making a statement about the in-group and the relationship between the two groups. Through stereotyping and categorisation we exaggerate the differences between the groups. From this comes the effect that in believing an out-group is homogenous, through exaggerated differences, their in-group is not - with very much less over-generalisation taking place (Linville, et al., 1986). The third characteristic of stereotyping is that of the expression of values. Most stereotypical judgements of group characteristics are in fact moral evaluations (Howitt, et al., 1989). For example, Katz and Braly (1933) studied a group of students' attitudes to towards minority groups. They found that Jews were attributed to being 'mean' (in terms of money), rather than they themselves being 'spendthrifts'. Also, they found that there was a strong view that French people were 'excitable'. This actually implies that they are over-excitable - above the norm, as everybody is excitable, per se, and thus there would be no necessity to mention it. Concluding from this, it is valid to say that a value has been put on a characteristic - in this case, a stereotypical one. A criticism with much of this research is that participants are asked to make judgements out of social context - in abstract situations. Howitt, et al. (1989) say that this leads to a derogatory implication: that attributing a group with a characteristic is also withholding others. However, stereotyping leads to more than merely placing an adjective onto a group or category. The cognitive processes that give reason to stereotyping are much deeper than this, giving rise to the above characteristics. The cognitive approach to stereotyping is that we all stereotype, at varying levels - because of the essential cognitive process of categorisation (Brown, 1995). Howitt, et al. (1989) take this view also, and add that it is an ordinary process of thought to over-generalise, and then protect it. We live in a complex social environment, which we need to simplify into groups, or categories. This simplification is present at all levels of life - it is part of our language, distinguishing between dog and cat, male and female, and even in the basic motives of distinguishing between food and non-food. Such categorisation may seem linguistically simple, but is essential - for example, the classification of elements and organisms by biologists and chemists: 'one of the most basic functions of all organisms is the cutting up of the environment into classifications' (Rosch, et al., 1976). However, the point must be made that, even though language suggests so, categorisation leads to different functions and features in non-humans and humans. For stereotyping is not present in non-humans, thus, we may come to the conclusion that stereotyping is possible through linguistics - this topic is discussed further later. This categorisation also has varying depths of moral meaning, or value, which can lead to varying levels of stereotyping. For example, the categorisation of Catholic - Protestant in Northern Ireland. Categorisation is seen as a way of ordering what we perceive (Billig, 1985), stimuli of the external world that needs to be simplified, using 'iconic images, to pass into our short-term memory' (Neisser, 1976). This simplification process transforms James' 'blooming, buzzing confusion' into a more manageable world in which it is easier to adapt - categorisation is a cognitive adaptation. For we do not have the capability to respond differently to each stimulus, whether it be a person, an object, or an event. Categorisation is important in every day life, as well as in the most extreme of circumstances - for example, the discrimination between friend and foe. For categorisation to be useful, we enhance the difference between groups. This was found to be the case at both social and physical levels, and later became known as the 'accentuation principle' (see above). However, the distinction between physical stimuli and 'social objects' must be made clear. We ourselves our 'social objects', thus, we are implicated by such categorisations. As Hogg and Abrams (1988) state: 'it would be perilous to disregard this consideration'. This can be seen in the accentuation of out-group homogeneity (Park and Rothbart, 1982). Tajfel (1981) made two hypothesis on the cognitive consequences of categorisation. First, that if stimuli are put into categories, then this in itself enhances the difference between groups. Secondly, on a social level, individuals of different groups appear more different from each other, and those of the same group, more similar. Tajfel studied judgements of physical stimuli, using two categories, and found that the extremes of these groups were exaggerated. However, the differences within the two categories were reduced. This was the first of many experiments testing the two hypotheses, all finding that introducing categorisation into an otherwise undifferentiated situation, distorts people's perceptual and cognitive reasoning, and their functioning. Further studies have been conducted with the aim of taking these findings beyond the physical level, and into the social context, by examining the favouritism of the in-group over the out-groups - pre judgement, or stereotyping. Horwitz and Rabbie (1982) reported on an earlier experiment in which they demonstrated this inter-group discrimination. They found that, in groups of four people, for there to be any inter-group judgements, or biases, possibly a feeling of interdependence was needed in addition to classification itself, even in the most meaningless categorisation of groups. A more recent experiment that they conducted found that, with larger group numbers, in-group - out-group discrimination was present. Tajfel (1981) studied the 'meaning' of a group, and found that simply belonging to a group, of no meaning, is enough to lead to stereotyping. Simply belonging to a group meant that subjects were put into one of two categories, that had no group characteristics attached to them (i.e. interaction, beliefs, previous background). Such a design has become known as the Minimal Group Paradigm. The subjects in this particular experiment were assigned to one of the two categories by their preferences of a group of paintings by two artists, and done so anonymously. Using code numbers (which specified what group each subject was in) and a set of matrices, the subjects were asked to allocate money to different people. They found that more money was given to subjects of the same group than the other group. With no information except group membership, this must have been the only cause for such discrimination, maximising the differences between the two groups. According to Allport's earlier definition of stereotyping, such a pre judgement must be resistant to change. Such resistance may be put down to the processes of thinking leading to biases (Howitt, et al., 1989), as seen in the experiment above. For us to believe that our prejudgements are correct, what we perceive to be is what we see. For example, Duncan (1976) showed that how we perceive the social world can be affected by our categorisations, such as , in this case, racial stereotypes. The study found that, because black people were stereotyped as aggressive people (by the subjects), the subjects perceived a situation as being more aggressive, close to a fight, when played by black actors whereas with white actors, it was seen as playful. Such biases may also be looked at as self-fulfilling, or even self-protecting, the 'sense of self'. This self positivity is 'natural', and as such can be projected onto one's perception of the in-group - having similar effects at the other end of the spectrum. That is, a negative view of an individual, projected onto 'their' group, or the out-group. This is the reason for most stereotypes being negative. Our categorisation and biases can also have an effect on others. Essed (1988) found that white stereotyping of black people had a damaging effect in job interviews, through discomfort and unrest due to the questions asked during the interview. This study was conducted out of the laboratory. A further example of the effects of racial stereotyping on others is a replication of a British government commissioned study in which a black and a white person apply to rent a flat. The landlords pre judgement of black people through stereotyping affected the black man's chance and legal right to rent the flat (BBC television, Black and White, 1987). This is an example of the out-group homogeneity effect (Brown, 1995). As well as exaggeration of inter-group differences, another key effect of categorisation is the enhancement of intra-group similarities, known as inter-group homogeneity. The effect of this cognitive process of thought, through categorisation is the perception that the out-group is more homogenous than the in-group Hamilton (1979) found that black families were viewed in more categorical terms than white families, who were individually perceived. Jones, et al. (1981) found a similar effect; that members of university clubs saw their group members' personality traits as more diverse than out-group members'. A criticism of this study, and the homogeneity effect as a whole, is that members of an in-group will know their peers more than those of the out-group, especially in terms of personality. Thus, such studies do not contribute wholly to the cognitive explanation of stereotyping. However, the homogeneity effect has undergone investigation by many studies, and conflicting evidence has arisen. Nevertheless, a point that has been overlooked is that, with members of an in-group recognising variability within their group, surely such variability is seen by members of an out-group, within their group. This displays a cognitive error of ignorance. Even so, there is no empirical evidence to support such a claim. Categorisation, according to the above, is a 'natural' cognitive process, that 'naturally' leads to stereotyping. As Howitt, et al. (1989) state: 'cognitive dynamics [of stereotyping] are a natural part of thinking because we must categorise the social world, and in doing so, inevitably build up stereotypical assumptions, protected by our cognitive biases'. The cognitive approach of categorisation does have its flaws however. Categorisation theorists give a rather mechanistic impression of cognition, and thus, their approach to stereotyping (Billig, 1985). We do have a choice in our assumptions and there is a flexibility about human thinking (Howitt, et al., 1989). Therefore, cognition is not as rigid as categorisation implies. It is an oversimplification in itself to suggest that language oversimplifies the world, because it is due to language that our views of the social world can be expressed. However, language does not have to be present for stereotyping to be present. For example, the Minimal Group Paradigm. Even so, language aids our categorisation and thus, our stereotyping. It is the same language that we may use to stereotype that enables us to be the reverse. For example, in the interviews mentioned above, the interviewers could be taught to ask non-categorical questions. As concepts in our minds, tolerance is as easy as prejudice. Our supposed necessity to simplify the world, as we are 'incapable' of taking in 'every new stimulus as unique' (Park and Rothbart, 1982), may also be balanced by a statement of the opposite: 'we would find difficulty in adapting to a world which required action, if no new stimulus could be treated as unique, but every unique stimulus had to be considered as similar to others' (Billig, 1985). This is the basis of Billig's argument of particularisation against categorisation - that gives rise to the processes of individualisation - treating and perceiving group members as individuals. Categorisation argues that, through our 'natural' pattern of thought, or cognition, our perception of stimuli is categorised by its similarities rather than its individuality. Billig suggests that this can change, through a motivational process in categorisation itself, giving flexibility to such cognitive processes. We are aware of the possibility and ability to change. However, we do not express this flexibility because it is a disruption of the norm, or, of the social group-thought. Goffman (1959) views everyday life as dramaturgical ('All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players...' Shakespeare). To disrupt this would be to change the script, and break out of the conformity of the social group, self-to-self and to others. Even so, this illustrates that through our ability to categorise, we have the ability to particularise and 'do more with the stimuli than accumulate more instances of predetermined categories' (Billig, 1985). In Billig's alternative approach to stereotyping, he also raises the point of category selection - a problem that cognitive psychologists have often overlooked. Tversky and Gati (1978) found that different stimuli are judged on their similarities and differences before categorisation and this judgement can be different depending on what way the stimuli is perceived. Billig's point is that we must particularise before categorising and thus a link has been formed. Categorisation implies a rigidity in our cognition. Stereotypes, by nature, are over generalisations. Such inflexibility is not a possible process of our cognition - 'categorisation do not exist in isolation' (Billig, 1985). As categorisation leads to many categories, through its definition, surely only one such category could possibly be so rigid and inflexible, as other categories must be used by it, and thus be flexible. Therefore, categorisation is not a rigid process, but involves change - which is reflective of our cognition and change is possible (conflicting with Allport's definition). The difference between two groups affects other attributes of the out-group, including those that are similar to the in-group. By subdividing further such similarities, we are initiating a defence against change in our attitudes and categories. This inventiveness is another example of the flexibility of categorisation. In the most extreme cases, this can lead to an inventiveness demonstrated by racial theorists, which in fact, contradicts their prejudice and rigidity of categories. This flexibility can be illustrated further by studies that have shown that in stereotyping, people imply that most of a group posses a stereotypic trait but not all members. Thus, is the need for 'special cases', realisation of individualisation and tolerance (Billig, 1985). According to the cognitive approach, stereotyping is a group process. It may occur in groups, but it is the individual psyches that make up the group, that project their stereotypes through a group. We do have the ability to see people as individuals and particularise their unique characteristics. We can change, as even categorisation is flexible, which undermines the cognitive approach with categorisation, although it may take time on a social level. To conclude, the cognitive approach alone does not give us an understanding of stereotyping. However, it does anchor the fact that through our 'natural' thought processes we do categorise, which leads to stereotyping. It also highlights the importance of the individual and the group. There are, however, problems that have been overlooked by cognitive psychologists which we need to understand, in order to fully understand the 'changing dynamics and nature of stereotyping in our society' (Howitt, et al., 1989). There is also the need to look further than the causes of stereotyping and into its effects in order to understand the processes of our thought, of stereotyping. References ALLPORT, G.W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. London: Addison-Wesley. BILLIG, M. (1985). Prejudice, categorisation and particularisation: From a perceptual rhetorical approach, European Journal of Social Psychology, 15, 70-103. BROWN, R. (1995). Prejudice. Oxford: Blackwell and Cambridge, Massachusetts. DUNCAN, B.L. (1976). Differential social perception and attribution of intergroup violence: Testing the lower limits of stereotyping blacks, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 590-598. ESSED, P. (1988). Understanding verbal accounts of racism: Politics and heuristics of reality constructions, Text, 8, 5-40. HAMILTON, D.L. (1979). A cognitive - attributional analysis of stereotyping, In: Berkovitz, L. (ed.), Advances in Experimental Psychology, Vol. 12, Academic Press, New York. HOGG, M.A. & ABRAMS, D. (1988). Social identifications, London: Routledge. HORWITZ, M. & RABBIE, J.M. (1982). Individuality and membership in the intergroup system, pp.241-274, In: Tajfel, H. (ed.), Social Identity and Intergroup Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. HOWITT, D., BILLIG, M., CRAMER, D., EDWARDS, D., KNIVETON, B., POTTER, J. & RADLEY, A. (1989). Social psychology: Conflict and continuities, Milton Keynes: Open University Press, and Philadelphia. JONES, E.E., WOOD, G.C. & QUATTRONE, G.A. (1981). Perceived variability of personal characteristics in in-groups and out-groups: the role of knowledge and evaluation, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7, 523-528. KATZ, D. & BRALY, K. (1993). Racial prejudice and racial stereotypes, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 30, 175-93. LINVILLE, P.W., SALOVEY, P. & FISCHER, G.W. (1986). Stereotyping and perceived distributions of social characteristics: An application to in-group - out-group perceptions, In: Dovido, J.F. and Gaertner, S.L. (eds.), Prejudice, discrimination and racism, Orlando, FL: Academic Press. NEISSER, U. (1976). Cognition and reality, W. H. Freeman, San Francisco. PARK, B., & ROTHBART, M. (1982). Perception of out-group homogeneity and levels of social categorisation: memory for the subordinate attributes of in-group and out-group members, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 1031-1068. ROSCH, E., MERVIS, C.B., GRAY, W.D., JOHNSON, D.M. & BAYES-BRAEM, P. (1976). Basic objects in natural categories, Cognitive Psychology, 8, 382-439. TAJFEL, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Dementia.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dementia What is Dementia ? Dementia is an organic brain syndrome which results in global cognitive impairments. Dementia can occur as a result of a variety of neurological diseases. Some of the more well known dementing diseases include Alzheimer's disease (AD), multi-infarct dementia (MID), and Huntington's disease (HD). Throughout this essay the emphasis will be placed on AD (also known as dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and primary degenerative dementia), because statistically it is the most significant dementing disease occurring in over 50% of demented patients (see epidemiology). The clinical picture in dementia is very similar to delirium, except for the course. Delirium is an acute transitory disorder. By contrast Dementia is a long term progressive disorder (with the exception of the reversible dementias). The course of AD can range anywhere from 1.5 to 15 years with an average of about 8.1 years (Terry , 1988). AD is usually divided into three stages mild, moderate, and severe. Throughout these stages a specific sequence of cognitive deterioration is observed (Lezak, 1993). The mild stage begins with memory, attention, speed dependent activities, and abstract reasoning dysfunction. Also mild language impairments begin to surface. In the moderate stage, language deficits such as aphasia and apraxia become prominent. Dysfluency, paraphasias, and bizzare word combinations are common midstage speech defects. In the severe stage the patient is gradually reduced to a vegetative state. Speech becomes nonfluent, repetitive, and largely non-communicative. Auditory comprehension is exceedingly limited, with many patients displaying partial or complete mutism. Late in the course of the disease many neuropsychological functions can no longer be measured. Also primitive reflexes such as grasp and suck emerge. Death usually results from a disease such as pneumonia which overwhelms the limited vegetative functions of the patient. Dementia is commonly differentiated along two dimensions: age and cortical level. The first dimension, age, distinguishes between senile and presenile dementia. Senile dementia is used to describe patients who become demented after the age of 65, whereas presenile dementia applies to patients who become demented prior to that age. Late onset AD (LOAD) also known as senile dementia Alzheimer's type (SDAT) is the predominant cause of senile dementia. Early onset AD (EOAD) is the most frequent cause of presenile dementia, but HD, Pick's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease though not as frequent are also important causes in presenile dementia. The second dimension, cortical level, differentiates between cortical and subcortical dementia. Cortical dementia is used to describe dementia which results from brain lesions at the cortical level, whereas subcortical dementia describes dementia resulting from subcortical brain lesions. AD and Pick's disease are the best known examples of cortical dementia; whereas HD, Parkinson's disease (PD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) are good examples of subcortical dementia (Mayke, 1994). Dementia with both cortical and subcortical features is also possible, in that case the term mixed dementia is used. MID is a common example of mixed dementia. Historical developments in dementia Pre-Modern Developments The use of the term dementia dates back to Roman times. The Latin word demens did not originally have the specific connotation that it does today. It meant 'being out of one's mind' and, as such, was a general term for insanity (Pitt, 1987). It was the encylopedist Celsus who first used the word dementia in his De re medicina, published around AD 30. A century later the Cappadocian physician Aretaeus first described senile dementia with the word dotage (i.e., "The dotage which is the calamity of old age...dotage commencing with old age never intermits, but accompanies the patient until death."). Curiously, dementia was mentioned in most systems of psychiatric classification throughout pre-modern times, though the precise meaning of the word is often unclear (Pitt, 1987). Nineteenth Century It can be argued that the origins of the scientific study of dementia date back to the early nineteenth century. The initial steps were undertaken by the great French psychiatrist Pinel at the beginning of that century. Pinel's observations led him to the conclusion that the term dementia should be applied in relation to the "progressive mental changes seen in some idiots" (Pitt,3). Furthermore, Pinel thought that dementia was a distinct abnormal entity, and thus he used the term dementia to designate one of the five classes of mental derangement. However, by applying the term dementia to 'idiots', Pinel failed to differentiate between dementia and mental subnormality. This was accomplished by Pinel's student Esquirol in his 1838 textbook Mental maladies-A treatise on insanity. Esquirol summed up the difference between the demented and the mentally handicapped in the following epigram: "The dement is a man deprived of the possessions he once enjoyed, he is a rich man who has become poor. But the defective has been penniless and wretched all his life" (Mahendra, 10). Furthermore, Esquirol was also instrumental in the popularization of the term senile dementia. Remarkably, his description of senile dementia is very similar to our present day definition. Interestingly, in 1845 Griesinger proposed that senile dementia was due to a disease of the cerebral arteries, a faulty view which persisted until Alzheimer's time. Much of today's basic knowledge about dementia was accumulated throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, and the first decade of the twentieth century. 1872 saw Huntington present a paper called "On chorea", in which he discussed a typical case of what is now known as Huntington's disease. Twenty years later in 1892 two significant events occurred. First Pick in a paper called "On the relation between aphasia and senile brain atrophy" described the case of August H. a 71 year old patient with senile dementia. Although the case is not typical of our present day conception of the disease Pick was given credit for discovering a new disease. The other more significant event in 1892 was Blocq and Mariensco's description of scattered silver staining plaques in the cortex of senile patients. These plaques were subsequently named senile plaques (SP) by Simchowitz in 1911. The year 1894 saw Alzheimer's first major contribution , a differentiation between senile and vascular (arteriosclerotic)dementia. Alzheimer described the specific changes observed in arteriosclerotic atrophy of the brain, which resemble what we might call vascular dementia. In 1898 another milestone occurred when Binswanger introduced the term presenile dementia. Thus by the twentieth century significant changes were taking place in our understanding of dementia. The nineteenth century view that there was only one mental disease-insanity-and that dementia was its terminal stage was dispelled by Kraepelin in the 6th edition of his textbook Psychiatrie, published in 1899 (Pitt, 4). Kraepelin separated dementia praecox (a concept he proposed in 1898 in relation to Schizophrenia) from the other dementias (paralytica and organic), and Senile dementia was included under another category called involution psychosis (Pitt, 4). Twentieth Century In 1907 Alzheimer published his landmark case "A unique illness involving the cerebral cortex" in which he described a fifty-five year old demented woman. The case was very unusual for two reasons its clinical course, and the discovery of a striking microscopic lesion in the woman's brain (Beach, 1987). The clinical course was unusual because of the young age of the patient and the rapidity of degeneration (the patient died within four and a half years of symptom onset). At autopsy neuropathological findings were even more unusual. One quarter to one third of cerebral cortical neurons had disappeared, and many of the remaining neurons contained thick, coiled masses of fibers within their cytoplasm (Beach, 1987). Alzheimer speculated that a chemical change had occurred in the neurofibrils. Thus Alzheimer described for the first time neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), which togther with SP are considered to be the neuropathologocal halmarks of AD (See Appendix 1 for Alzheimer's original drawing of NFT). Alzheimer concluded that he discovered a unique entity separate from senile dementia as it was known at that time. However, it was not until 1910 when Kraepelin discussed the condition in the 8th edition of his textbook Psychiatrie that AD gained official recognition. The second decade of the twentieth century witnessed the end of the golden period in dementia research (this only lasted until the 1960's when a renaissance occurred). U'Ren cites two reasons as the principal causes (Pitt, 6). First the rise of Freud's Psychodynamic theory caused American psychiatry to swerve in the direction of psychological explanations. Second Kraepelin's descriptions and classifications seemed to leave little room for therapeutic efforts or optimism. Notwithstanding, several key contributions have been made in the 'Dark Ages' of dementia research. In 1920 Creutzfeldt, and in 1921 Jakob, described cases of dementia with pyramidal and extrapyramidal signs. Although it is now thought that only Jakob's case was typical of the disease the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was given to the world. The year 1936 saw an important change with regards to the diagnosis of AD. Before 1936 it was common practice to provide a diagnosis based on both clinical and pathological characteristics. However, when it became clear that many non-demented people had some senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, Jervis and Soltz advised that only clinical criteria would suffice for a diagnosis of AD (Mahendra, 14). In 1948 Jervis published his landmark paper called "Early senile dementia in Mongoloid idiocy." Jervis described three individuals with Down's syndrome (DS), aged 37, 42 and 47 years, each of whom had shown a profound emotional and intellectual deterioration in the last few years of life. At autopsy, all were found to have SP and two also displayed NFT (Beach, 39). This was the first demonstration of NFT in DS and the first full clinical and pathological correlation supporting an Alzheimer- like syndrome in DS (Beach, 39). Research in dementia began to revive in the early sixties. New causes of the dementia syndrome have been recognized including, depression, which in the form of psuedodementia may mimic dementia (Kiloh, 1961), progressive supranuclear palsy (Steele et al, 1964) and normal pressure hydrocephalus (Adams et al, 1965) , (cited in Pitt, 6). Prior to the 1960's dementia was still viewed as a chronic, irreversible and untreatable condition (Mahendra, 14). Accordingly, in the 1960s, several writers in Europe called for a revision of the concept and emphasized that irreversibility should not be viewed as an essential feature of dementia. Another important change that took place in the 1960's concerned epidemiology. Prior to the sixties arteriosclerosis was thought to be the predominant cause of dementia, whereas AD was thought to be rare (Pitt, 12). However, arteriosclerosis was decisively challenged as the prime cause of dementia by several reports between 1960 and 1970 (i.e.,Tomlinson, Blessed, and Roth, 1968 and 1970). These reports demonstrated that arteriosclerosis was greatly overestimated as a cause of dementia, and that the majority of patients dying with dementia in fact showed the characteristic plaques and tangles of AD. Furthermore, Katzman, in 1976 argued that because of similarity in the clinical picture and the identical nature of the histopatholgy, distinctions between AD and senile dementia were arbitrary and no longer useful (Pitt, 12). Thus when it was understood that AD and senile dementia are similar, it was clear that AD is a common illness. In the mid-1970's two important contributions were made. First, Butler in his 1975 book Why survive? Being old in America criticized the widespread notion that senility was a normal part of aging. Butler argued that, senility, was a result of brain disease or depression and was potentially treatable. The extension of this view was that senility was abnormal, and that its usual causes were diseases, not just aging (Pitt, 1987). Second, three different labs (Bowen et al, 1976; Davies & Maloney, 1976; and Perry et al, reported low levels of choline acetyltransferase, the marker enzyme for acetylcholine 1977) (ACh), in the brains of patients who died from AD. ACh deficiency has since been the target of most therapeutic efforts in AD (see treatment). Throughout the 1980's and 1990's two trends emerged. First, with regards to diagnosis, criteria have been made stricter. Classification systems like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual have evolved towards a more precise and comprehensive definition of dementia. Moreover, neuoroimaging techniques are becoming more and more standard, allowing in some cases for a more accurate diagnosis. Second, the past fifteen years have witnessed a substantial growth in genetically based research. For instance one of the genes involved in AD, the amyloid precursor protein (APP), has been localized to a specific segment of chromosome 21 (see risk factors). Epidemiology Dementia is known as the quiet epidemic, but it affects a significant proportion of our population. In 1989 the Canadian consensus conference on the assessment of dementia reported that Canada had about 250,000 cases of dementia (which at the time comprised about 1% of the population), with 25,000 new cases occurring annually (Clarfield, 1989). Jorm et al. (1988) project that until the year 2025 Canada will experience a growth in the prevalence of dementia, more rapid than the rise if the number of elderly aged over 65. The majority of dementia cases are attributable to AD, vascular dementias, or a combination of these (Table 1). In the past there were hopes that up to 40% of dementias had reversible causes. However, recent reports (Clarfield, 1988; Barry and Moskowitz, 1988) suggest that the true incidence of reversible dementias is at the most 11% and is probably far lower, with drugs, metabolic causes and depression accounting for about two thirds of the cases (Clarfield, 1989). Overall, there are no significant gender differences in prevalence and incidence rates for dementia as a whole. However, for AD, there is an increased prevalnce in females. Jorm et al. (1987) estimate a female to male AD prevalence ratio of 1.6. Ethnically there seem to be important differences in both prevalence and subtype of dementia. Prevalence wise, Heyman et al. (1991) found that out of a random sample of 4116 16% of African Americans had dementia compared to only 3.1% of Caucasians. The same study also found that mixed and MID were more likely to occur in African Americans (26% of dementias in African Americans compared to 14% in Caucasians). Moreover, in both Europe and North America most studies point to AD as the most common dementing illness; whereas in Asia (especially Japan) MID predominates (Morris, 1994). The observed high rate of stroke in Japan is consistent with a high MID rate. Possibly the higher level of stress in Japan leads to more strokes and therefore a higher incidence of MID. Table 1. Etiology of Progressive Dementia and Approximate Incidence senile dementia of the Alzheimer type 50% Multi-infract dementia 10-15% Mixed SDAT and MID 10-15% Alcoholic-nutritional dementia 5-10% Normal pressure hydrocephalus 5% Miscellaneous: Huntington's disease, neoplasms, chronic subdural hematomas, Parkinson's disease, Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease, AIDS, unknown cause 5-20% Life Expectancy and Mortality Estimates The following summary is based on Terry's (1988) review of the Wang (1978) and Barclay et al. (1985) studies. The Wang study examined senile dementia (mean age of onset 71.3 years) and presenile dementia (mean age of onset 53.8 years) survival rates during the 1960s. Senile dementia patients survived on the average 6.0 years, close to half of the expected survival rate (11.1 years) of similarly aged non demented people. Presenile demented patients survived slightly longer an average of 6.9 years, against an expected survival of 22.3 years. The Barclay et al. Studies examined survival rates in AD and MID patients in the 1980s. The mean survival rates for AD and multi-infarct dementia were 8.1 and 6.7 years respectively. Interestingly, the survival rate of demented women on the whole is significantly higher than that of men. Terry (1988) suggests that the lower survival rate of demented men is due to a higher incidence of MID in men. Risk Factors Age Age is the biggest risk factor for developing dementia. According to a model proposed by Jorm et al. (1987) a doubling of the prevalence rate occurs every 5.1 years. (1987) For the elderly population aged 65 and above the prevalence of dementia is estimated at about 10%. Whereas in the very elderly it can reach up to 40% (Clarfield, 1989). Genetics Genetic factors are important in some dementing diseases. In HD an autosomal dominant gene on chromosome 4 is directly responsible for the disease. The genetic evidence in AD is less conclusive. On the one hand there are studies (i.e., Breitner et al. , 1988) which have reported a cumulative risk of AD among relatives of patients approaching 50%, thus implying an autosomal dominant mode of transmission (Morris, 1994). But, on the other hand, genetically transmitted diseases should be concordant in monozygotic twins, this does not appear to be the case in AD. For instance both Creasey et al. (1989) and Kumar et al. (1991) have reported three pairs of monozygotic twins who were discordant. Whereas Nee et al. (1987) only found a 41% concordance rate for AD in 17 monozygotic twins. Farrer et al. (1990) suggest that AD appears as an autosomal dominant in families in which the average age of onset among kindreds is under 58. Supporting evidence for this comes from studies which have linked EOAD with DS (Lezak, 1993). Individuals who are afflicted with Down syndrome and who survive to age 40 almost invariably develop Alzheimer like dementia. During the intermediate and terminal stages of DS the individual suffers from recent memory loss, apraxia, temporal disorientation, and mutism, all of which are also common in AD (Morris, 1994). Thus it is not surprising that four studies have found an increased risk for AD with late maternal age (Morris, 1994). The increased risk of AD to patients born to mothers over 40 is consistent with Down syndrome risk curve (Rocca et al. , 1991). Both EOAD and DS have been localized to chromosome 21. However, chromosome 21 does not appear to be a very good genetic marker for EOAD (Green book, 104). Recent studies have shown that a defect in chromosome 14 is more likely to be associated with EOAD, but the specific gene(s) have not yet been isolated (Green book, 104). Evidence for genetic predisposition to LOAD has only emerged over the last two years. It is now known that a gene which codes for a lipoprotein called ApolipoproteinE (APOE) in chromosome 19 is involved (Green book, 101). APOE is linked to the type 4 allele (e4). It has now been proven that an increase risk for dementia is dependent on a strong chemical binding between the main ingredient of SP, the Beta amyloid protein, and the APOE-e4 (Green book, 102). Table 2 summarizes the genetic findings that have been made thus far in EOAD and in LOAD. Table 2. Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Chromosome 21 Chromosome 14 Chromosome 19 Onset EOAD EOAD LOAD Risk factor for developing AD Low Higher Highest Specific gene(s) APP Not yet isolated Not yet identified Marker APOE-e4 ________________________________________________________________________________ Note: Reproduced from Berger & Finkel, 1995, Treating Alzheimer's and other dementias , New York: Springer publishing Other Risk Factors Corsellis and Brierly (1959) [as cited by Graves & Kukull, 1994] have shown that dementia similar to that seen in AD may occur following a single head injury. In addition, dementia puglistica, (the so called 'punch-drunk syndrome') develops in some boxers. Lower education has also been associated with dementia. Animal studies demonstrate a positive relation between environmental stimulation and dendritic growth. It is also known that dendritic growth in humans continues throughout life. Possibly lower education is related to a lack of mental exercise, which could delay the onset of significant cognitive decline (Graves & Kukull, 1994). Aluminum (Al) has been implicated as a possible neurotoxin, but the evidence is inconclusive (Carson & Butcher, 1992)). Proponents of the Al neurotoxin hypothesis argue that Al has been shown to accumulate in neurons with neurofibrillary degeneration, and that aluminosilicates accumulate in senile plaques. Critics argue that the abnormal accumulation of Al is an effect, not a cause, of brain degeneration. Another controversial risk factor is depression. Four studies have reported a statistically significant association between a history of depression and AD (Graves & Kukull, 1994). The controversy revolves around the idea that depression is possibly an early manifestation of AD. There is some research suggesting that individuals with a weakened immune system may be more susceptible to develop AD. Heyman et al. (1984) [as cited by Graves & Kukull, 1994] have found an increased risk of AD associated with thyroid disease in women. However, their findings have not been replicated. Interestingly, there is some evidence to suggest that smoking can have a protective effect from AD. For instance, Duijn and Hofman (1991) [as cited by Graves & Kukull, 1994] have found a negative correlation between smoking and AD in a study involving 198 individuals. Neuropathology For each dementing disease a specific neuropathological pattern is observed. However, due to the limited scope of this essay the discussion will be limited to the most important dementing disease, AD. Gross Features Several changes are observed at the gross neuropathological level in AD (Mirra & Gearing, 1994). Cortical atrophy is generally observed in the frontal, temporal, and parietal cortex. Sectioning of the brain reveals variable enlargement of the lateral and third ventricles. Disproportionate enlargement of the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle is commonly encountered, with concomitant atrophy of the entorhinal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. Microscopic Features At the microscopic level the two most distinguishing neuropathological features are senile plaques (SP) and Neurofibrillary tangles (NFT). There are two types of SP, neuritic and diffuse, both plaques share antigenic determinants with the Beta amyloid 4 protein. Neuritic plaques can be distinguished by their abnormally thickened neurites ( i.e., axons or dendrites) arranged around a central core of amyloid (Mirra & Gearing, 1994). By contrast the diffuse plaques lack the thickened neurites and the amyloid core seen in the neuritic plaques (Mirra & Gearing, 1994). Plaques of both types are found in varying degrees in the neocortex, entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and in the amygdala. SP also occur in the brains of healthy people. It is only when they exceed a certain critical number that AD emerges. NFT are intraneuronal structures which occupy the cell body of the neuron. Usually NFT coexist with SP in the neocortex, but they may be absent there in up to 30% of AD patients (Mirra & Gearing, 1994). However, NFT are consistently found in the entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, nucleus basalis of Meynert, and dorsal raphe nucleus (Mirra & Gearing, 1994). It is thought that the major antigenic component in NFT is the protein tau. Neuronal Loss Neuronal loss is directly related to the degree of synaptic density, which has been found to be crucial in determining the severity of cognitive decline. It is greatest in the temporal lobes, but is also significant in the frontal and parietal lobes (Lezak, 1995). The strongest correlation with a global measure of dementia is the loss of functional synapses in the midfrontal and lower parietal areas which surround the temporal lobes (Lezak, 1995). The effect of this pattern of neuronal cortical loss is twofold. First it disconnects the temporal lobe structures from the rest of the cerebral cortex. This accounts for the prominence of memory impairments (Lezak, 1995). Second this pattern also disconnects the prefrontal structures from the parietal ones. This accounts for the compromised capacity for attentional tasks (Lezak, 1995). It is thought that besides the effects of SP and NFT, neuronal loss is chiefly related to the depletion of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (see treatment). Overall Picture In a study conducted by Brun and Gustafson (1978) [as cited by Cummings, 1988], the regional distribution of SP, NFT, and neuronal loss, was examined in AD patients. The results indicated that the most severely affected areas were the medial temporal and the temporo-parieto-occipital junction region (see figure 1). Two positron emission tomography (PET) studies by Benson et al. (1983) and Foster et al. (1984) [as cited by Cummings, 1988] have confirmed this pattern. [A1] Cognitive Deficits General Intelligence A profile of declining IQ scores reliably discriminates normals from AD patients. However, the utility of IQ scores in other dementing diseases is unknown. In the early stages of the disease performance IQ tends to decline at a faster rate than Verbal IQ which remains relatively unimpaired. Subsequently, as the disease progresses the decline is evident in both performance and verbal IQ (Schmitt & Sano, 1994). Memory Memory dysfunction is often considered to be the distinguishing clinical feature of AD. Therefore, it is unlikely that a diagnosis of AD will be assigned unless a memory deficit is present. Hom's (1992) study [as cited by Schmitt & Sano, 1994] compared the verbal and visual memory of elderly demented patients with similarly aged normals, under two conditions, immediate and delayed recall. Memory performance in the immediate recall condition was 29% for verbal memory and 31% for visual memory, of the average performance of the normals. The deficit was even more pronounced in the delayed recall condition, where the figures were 11% for verbal recall and 6% for visual recall. Common examples of memory dysfunction in mild dementia include misplacement of items without independent retrieval, failure to recall details of re cent conversations or events, and frequent repetition of questions. At a more advanced stage recent events are forgotten, and even knowledge of highly learned material erodes (Morris, 1994). It is thought that in AD, memory failure occurs as a result of improper encoding rather than due to retention failure (Schmitt & Sano, 1994). Orientation dysfunction usually co-occurs with a memory deficit. There are difficulties with dates, temporal sequencing, day/night distinction, and navigating through familiar places (Morris, 1994). With regards to the last deficit it seems that an underlying visuospatial impairment is the critical causal factor (see other cognitive impairments). Language The most common language impairment in AD patients is dysnomia, the inability to name common objects. Dysnomia emerges early in the course of AD, later on expressive and receptive aphasia are often present (Schmitt & Sano, 1994). Table 3 illustrates the linguistic impairments seen in each of the three AD stages (mild, moderate, and severe dementia). Table 3. Progressive Changes in Linguistic abilities in AD Stage I 1. Dysnomia 2. Empty, fluent speech 3. Poor word list generation 4. Mild anomia 5. Lack of spontaneously initiated conversation Stage II 1. Anomia 2. Paraphasia with increasingly little relation to target word 3. Impaired auditory comprehension 4. Impaired comprehension of written language 5. Aphasic agraphia 6. Relative preservation of repetition and reading aloud 7. Poor engagement in conversation Stage III 1. Incoherent verbal output 2. Echolalia, palilalia, logoclonia 3. Diminished articulatory agility 4. Terminal mutism 5. Mechanical agraphia ____________________________________________________________________________________ Note: Modified from Cummings & Benson, 1983, Dementia: A clinical approach, Boston: Butterworths The typical AD linguistic impairment pattern includes poor auditory comprehension, poor naming with paraphasia, writing impairment, and poor reading comprehension (Cummings, 1988). According to Benson (1979) [as cited by Cummings, 1988] the pattern of verbal output seen in AD resembles transcortical sensory aphasia (which is associated with focal posterior left hemisphere damage). The difference is that in AD there is less paraphsia, echolalia, and the completion phenomenon, and more impairment of automatic speech production. Other Cognitive impairments Several other cognitive impairments are commonly seen in AD patients. Constructional dyspraxia (impairment in constructional tasks) is often present. Additionally, many patients suffer from basic visuospatial impairment. It is quite common for patients to find themselves lost in familiar neighborhoods, or drive in the wrong direction on a one way road (Cummings, 1988). Also common are attentional deficits, and disturbances of abstraction, calculation, problem solving and judgment. The latter cluster of deficits points to an underlying frontal lobe dysfunction (Morris, 1994). Model for Overall Cognitive Deficit Picture Cummings (1988) has proposed a model to explain the above deficit picture observed in AD. The following discussion summarizes the main points. The combination of all of the cognitive deficits in AD is greater than the sum of the individual losses. For instance a focal lesion which results in a memory defect has a small impact on verbal output, and an aphasic disorder does not effect memory . By contrast, the dysfunction seen in AD results from multiple defects which interact to produce additive abnormalities. In AD a memory deficit directly contributes to impoverished linguistic output and the aphasia in turn magnifies the memory problems. Furthermore, other abnormalities such as visuospatial and calculation deficits are superimposed on these, and together they disable various integrative abilities such as insight, strategy formulation, and anticipatory planning. Taking into account these considerations, Cummings (1988) proposes a three-tired model of human intellectual activity which applies to AD. The most basic activities (i.e., arousal, attention, motivation) are mediated by subcortical structures. These fundamental functions are largely intact in AD. However, two other aspects of intellectual activity are damaged in AD. First instrumental functions which are specific neuropsychological abilities (i.e., memory, language, calculation) mediated by the cerebral cortex are damaged. More importantly, the distinguishing feature of AD involves damage to supraordinant functions (integrative abilities). These functions are dependent upon a proper interaction between the fundamental and instrumental functions. Behavioral Problems and Psychopathology The gradual destruction of various brain structures, causes several maladaptive behavioral changes. Typically dementia is viewed as a collection of negative symptoms, but positive symptoms are present as well. Tariot and Blazina (1994) suggest that these behavioral changes may be collectively present up to 90% of the time during the course of a given dementing illness. Furthermore, they have determined that certain behaviors occur at a particularly high rate. Table 4 shows the eight different categories which include these behaviors. During the early stages of the illness when the patient is only mildly impaired it is very common for individuals to avoid active participation in life. Patients tend to withdraw from social engagements, lack initiative, and overall behave in an indifferent and apathetic manner. A possible explanation for this behavior is that these patients may be embarrassed by their cognitive deficits, and so they avoid interacting. As the illness progresses and the cognitive deficits increase patients may become more anxious and agitated. Patients with preexisting psychological problems are prone to experiencing hallucinations and delusions. In particular these patients exhibit paranoid delusions, for instance accusing the elderly spouse of being unfaithful. Misperceptions, such as the inability to distinguish real people from television images, are also common at this stage (Tariot & Blazina, 1994). Aggression, in particular verbal hostility tends to increase as accurate perception declines. According to Cohen-Mansfield et al. (1986) [as cited by Tariot & Blazina, 1994, P. 470] agitated and aggressive behaviors may represent "adaptive efforts to obtain stimulation and certain verbal behaviors may be frustrated efforts to communicate or obtain assistance." Table 4. Schematic Summary of Reported Frequencies of Behavioral disturbances Associated with Dementia (% of patients) Behavioral Disturbance Range Median 1. Disturbed affect/mood 0-86 19 2. Disturbed ideation (Delusions) 10-73 33.5 3. Altered perception Hallucinations 21-49 28 Misperceptions 1-49 23 4. Agitation Global 10-90 44 Wandering 1-49 23 5. Aggression Verbal 11-51 24 Physical 0-46 14.3 Resistive/uncooperative 27-65 14 6. Anxiety 0-50 31.8 7. Withdrawn/passive behavior 21-88 61 8. Vegetative behaviors Sleep 0-47 27 Diet/appetite 12.5-77 34 _________________________________________________________________________________ Note: Reproduced from Morris, 1994, Handbook of Dementing Illnesses, New York, Marcel Dekker Assessment Interview The initial diagnostic procedure used in the assessment of dementia is the interview. The purpose of the interview is twofold. First it is important for the clinician to gain an accurate picture of the case history. It is important to interview at least one significant other person, and if possible more, to gain an objective view. Information should be collected about premorbid functioning, and about the nature, onset, and course of the symptoms. Second during the interview the clinician evaluates whether the individual's presenting complaints match the clinical profile for dementia. It is important to rule out other disorders that may mimic dementia. For instance self reported memory complaints correlate better with the presence of depression than with dementia ( Morris, 1994). Brief Mental Status Examination Alongside the interview, a brief mental status examination is often used. The exam's purpose is to indicate whether any gross cognitive deficits are present. According to Schmitt & Sano (1994, P. 94) the strengths of such an exam are: "(1) the ability to rapidly screen a large number of people, and (2) the ability to measure progression in those who have been identified with dementia". The problem with these exams is that they are insensitive to mild dementia, particularly in highly educated individuals. Furthermore, they lack the ability to assess specific neuropsychological functions, and thus are of little value in specifying the type of dementia (Schmitt & Sano, 1994). Nevertheless, these brief exams can be very useful. In practice many primary care physicians do not routinely administer these tests. For instance in a study by McCartney and Palmateer (1985) [as cited by Katzman et al. , 1988] it was found that these exams were carried out in only 4 out of 165 patients in the United States. As a result 50 patients with cognitive impairments were missed. The two mental status tests which are in widest use are the information-concentration-orientation test of Blessed et al. and the mini-mental state exam of Folstein et al. The Blessed test is the most sensitive, and thus is used the most in very early cases. The mini-mental test is broader in that it also tests language, writing, and drawing. Both tests are inappropriate to use with mentally retarded individuals or those with a poor educational background. Also the tests should be adjusted for individuals who are not fluent in English or for those who have a different cultural background (Katzman et al. , 1988). Another useful brief item is the dementia rating scale. It is utilized to estimate the severity of dementia. Neuropsychological Testing According to Morris (1994, P. 79) neuropsychological testing in demented patients serves three functions: "(1) to provide objective documentation of impaired cognition and therefore support the clinical diagnosis of dementia (2) to assess cognitive changes longitudinally, and (3) to identify selective patterns of cognitive deficits for correlation with neuroimaging and postmortem findings". The shortest battery for discriminating dementia patients from normals is the Iowa screening battery for mental decline. It consists of three neuropsychological tests, Temporal Orientation, Benton Visual Retention Test and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test. This battery is used to determine if further evaluation is necessary. If further evaluation is necessary usually the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD) battery is used. The battery consists of seven tests, some of which are slightly modified from their original form (Lezak, 1995). These tests include the Word List Memory Test and the Boston Naming Test, which test for memory and language respectively. The word List Memory Test tests for memory by verifying how well a person can recall three lists of ten words. Whereas the Boston Naming Test tests for language by verifying how well the person can duplicate three lists of five words (Lezak, 1995). Sometimes it is useful to test for specific cognitive abilities. For instance the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised is often used to see if a memory impairment is present. Table 5 illustrates some of the more common neuropsychological tests utilized in the assessment of dementia. Table 5. Assessment of Neuropsychological Functions for Dementia Diagnosis Function(s) assessed Examples of useful clinical tests Global mental status Mini Mental State, Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, Information-Memory Concentration Test, Syndrome Kurtz Test Premorbid functioning National Adult Reading Test, Wide-Range Achievement Test-Reading General intellectual functioning Wechseler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, Ravens Progressive Matrices, Test of Nonverbal Intelligence Memory Wechsler Memory Scale Revised, Benton Visual Retention Test, Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Selective Reminding Test, California Verbal Learning Test, Rivermade Behavioral Memory Test Language (naming and fluency) Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, Western Aphasia Battery, Holland Communicative Abilities in Daily Living, Halstead-Wepman Aphasia Screening Test, Boston Naming Test, Controlled Oral Word Association, Semantic Category Naming Problem solving (and executive functioning) Halstead-Reitan Category Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Trailmaking A & B, Stroop Praxis and constructional ability Rosen Drawing Test, Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure (copy), Benton 3-Dimensional Blocks, Beery Test of Visual Motor Integration, WAIS-R Block Design, BDAE Stick Test Motor Finger Oscillation, Grooved and Purdue Pegboards, Diadokinesis Attention/concentration WAIS-R Digit Span, Reaction Time Tests, Cancellation Tasks, Syndrome Kurtz Test ______________________________________________________________________________________ Note: Reproduced from Morris, 1994, Handbook of Dementing Illnesses, New York: Marcel Dekker Clinical Diagnosis and Related Problems A definitive diagnosis of AD and many other dementing diseases can only be made either through cerebral biopsy, the surgical removal of a small piece of the cerebral cortex, or when the patient dies and an autopsy is performed. The two most widely used criteria for the diagnosis of dementia are the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Third Edition-Revised (DSM-IIIR) and the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS/ADRDA). DSM-IIIR is more often used for research purposes and the NINCDS/ADRDA for clinical purposes. There are several problems in diagnosing dementia, most notably differentiating dementia from normal aging and from depression. In general, the cerebral processing resources needed for attention demanding tasks and secondary memory functions are adversely affected by age (Morris, 1994). Clinically, these impairments result in limited attentional capacity and diminished speed of information processing and retrieval. But unlike in dementia these symptoms are largely nonprogressive, and do not interfere substantially with everyday life (Morris, 1994). In patients with mild cognitive changes it is almost impossible to make an exact diagnosis even with the best neuropsychological tests. Only the likelihood of developing dementia can be estimated. There can be a great deal of symptom overlap between dementia and depression especially in the early stages of dementia. Depression presenting as dementia is often called pseudodementia. The term pseudodementia implies that the dementia is reversible, and is not caused by an organic disorder but rather it is caused by a psychiatric disorder (Clarfield, 1989). Currently there are no definitive tests to differentiate between dementia and depression. Clinical Subgroups of Alzheimer's Disease Blenow, Wallin & Gttfries (1994) have proposed a model for clinical subgroups in AD based upon differential clinical symptomatology and neuropathology. Their findings indicate that there are two distinct subtypes which they have termed Alzheimer's disease type I and type II. Alzheimer's disease type I is characterized by dominant temporoparietal symptoms, low frequency of vascular factors, normal blood-brain barrier function, low frequency of CT indicated leukoaraiosis (white matter lesions), and relatively younger age of onset. These characteristics correspond to the classic description of AD. Therefore AD type I appears to constitute classical or pure AD (Blenow et al. , 1994). Alzheimer's disease type II is characterized by general cognitive symptoms, absence of or mild temporo- parietal symptoms, high frequency of confusional symptoms, relatively high frequency of vascular factors, mildly impaired blood-brain barrier function, high frequency of CT indicated leukoaraiosis, and relatively late age of onset. These characteristics suggest that vascular changes are responsible for the production of dementia symptoms in AD type II (Blenow et al. , 1994). Markers Markers Reflecting Brain Changes Markers which belong to this category utilize cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) changes to reflect altered neurotransmitter levels or abnormal proteins (Katzman et al. , 1988). The enzyme Acetylcholinesterase (which regulates the neurotransmitter Achetylocholine, see treatment) is known to be decreased in the cerebral cortex of demented patients. Several investigators have found it decreased in the CSF, while others have failed to confirm this. According to Thal (1985) [as cited by Katzman et al. , 1988] the apparent decrease in some studies may be a dilutional effect secondary to ventricular enlargement. Similarly Somatosatin and Norepinephrine are also reduced in the cerebral cortex of demented patients. However, in the CSF Somatosatin is only decreased in some patients, whereas Norepinephrine is actually increased in the CSF. A good area for future research is to investigate whether any of the abnormal proteins associated with AD can be found in the CSF (Katzman et al. , 1988). Peripheral Markers Peripheral markers are markers which reflect changes in the skin or blood cells (Katzman et al. , 1988). Most of the findings in this category are either inconclusive or have not been replicated. For instance Diamond et al. (1983) [as cited by Katzman et al. , 1988] have found that the sodium-lithium counter- transport rates in red blood cells were elevated in AD patients, but this finding has not been replicated. Olfactory deficit Markers Several investigators have found that AD patients have olfactory recognition and threshold deficits. Peabody and Tinklenberg (1985) [as cited by Katzman et al. , 1988] have found that 8 out of 18 AD patients had these deficits compared to only 1 out of 26 normals. Katzman et al. (1988) discuss increased carbon dioxide production, increased superoxide dismutase, and decreased calcium uptake as possible causes for these deficits in AD patients. Pharmacological Treatment Cholinergic Drugs There is no known cure for AD or many other dementing diseases. Several medications are available but their effectiveness is limited. The most promising group of drugs work by potentiating the cholinergic systems in the brain. During the 1970's several studies have shown that demented patients have low levels of the neurotransmitter Acetylocholine (ACh). This has led to the development of the cholinergic hypothesis for dementia. It has since been established that the enzyme from which ACh is synthesized, Choline Acetyltransfearse (ChAT), is severely decreased in AD patients. There are three mechanisms by which these drugs work (1) precursor loading , (2) preventing the breakdown of ACh , and (3) the direct stimulation of the postsynaptic receptors. Precursor loading in AD is similar to Parkinson's disease (PD). The difference is that instead of using the precursor L-dopa for dopamine in PD, the precursors choline and lecithin are used in AD to synthesize ACh. Generally this treatment when used alone fails to improve cognitive performance (Schneider, 1994). Preventing the breakdown of ACh involves inhibiting the enzyme Acetylocholinesterase (AChE). The principal drugs which utilize this mechanism are Physostigmine, Tacrine, and Valancrine. The problem with Physostigmine is that the duration of its therapeutic effect is very short, usually about one to two hours, whereas Tacrine and Valancrine have serious side effects (Schneider, 1994). A second generation of cholinesterase inhibitors which are longer acting and more selective are currently being developed, and the initial results are encouraging. In AD the postsynaptic M-1 cholinergic receptors are relatively intact. It is the presynaptic M-2 cholinergic receptors which regulate ACh release that are damaged. Therefore, it makes sense to try to directly stimulate the postsynaptic receptors (Schneider, 1994). These cholinergic agonists include Bethanechol, Oxotremorine, Pilocrapine, RS-86, and Arecholine. When these drugs are given orally they are not very effective. They are more effective when administered through an implant of an intracereroventricular pump. But the risks of such an implant are not insignificant. For instance in one trial out of 68 implants 16 resulted in surgical complications, including one death, two hemorrhages, and seven seizures (Schneider, 1994). Other Drugs There are several other drugs used in the treatment of dementia, although their therapeutic mechanisms are not understood very well. Hydergine is the longest used and most extensively studied antidementia drug. Hydergine is an ergoloid derivative which effects the alpha-adrenergic, dopaminergic, and sertoninergic receptors. There have been conflicting reports about its efficacy, but overall it seems that it is only slightly better than a placebo in relieving symptoms (Schneider, 1994). Nootropics are a group of drugs derived from the neurotransmitter GABA. But instead of having GABA effects they have a neuroprotective effect on the central nervous system, and they may stimulate central cholinergic activity. Still, the specific mechanism of action relevant for dementia has not been established for these drugs. Overall results with Nootropics such as Piracetam, and Oxiracetam have not been very encouraging (Schneider, 1994). Summary As the human race marches forward into the new millennia, one of the challenges that will remained to be solved is the dementia epidemic. The continuous increase in life span means that the number of people which are afflicted with dementia will continue to grow. Notwithstanding, we have come along way in our understanding of the dementia syndrome since the days of Pinel or even since the days of Alzheimer. We now know that dementia (senility) is not the natural outcome of aging, rather it is the result of a variety of possible abnormal brain processes. For instance in AD (the most important dementing disease) the formation of SP and NFT in the brain have been proven to be the main causal factors of the disease. Furthermore, in AD these processes have been shown to occur mainly in the cerebral cortex, and in particularly in the temporal lobes. The effects of these brain lesions are mainly manifested in various cognitive and behavioral impairments. With regards to cognition, memory and language dysfunction are the most commonly encountered deficits in AD. In fact memory impairment is so crucial, that a diagnosis of AD will almost never be made unless it is present. With respect to behavior, anxiety disturbances tend to predominate in the earlier stages of AD, whereas aggression is encountered in the latter stages. Significant progress has also been made in the assessment of dementia. Standard interviewing methods are now used alongside brief mental status examinations. Although the mental status exams have a limited diagnostic usefulness (they are only used as initial screening devices), they are nevertheless important because of their relative low cost and quick administration time. When further confirmation is required or more detail is desired neuropsychological testing is performed. Neuropsychological testing allows for the assessment of specific cognitive functions (i.e. memory, language, attention) thus discovering which brain areas are affected. This is useful because not only is it possible to judge if the person suffers from dementia, but with a high degree of accuracy it is possible to say which dementing disease is responsible. Notwithstanding, even the best neuropsychological tests may run into difficulties at times. For instance differentiating dementia from depression is extremely difficult since people who are depressed may display many of the clinical symptoms observed in dementia. As our understanding of dementia grows it is conceivable that an effective treatment will be found within the next century. Genetically several important breakthroughs have occurred recently in AD. Abnormalities in chromosomes 14 and 19 have been added to chromosome 21 as causal factors. Furthermore, investigators are now close to localizing the specific genes involved in these chromosomes (it is already known that in chromosome 21 the specific gene involved is the APP gene). With regards to pharmacological treatment the ACh hypothesis for dementia has led to the development of three groups of cholinergic drugs, some of which show great promise. Other drugs are also available but their effectiveness is questionable. References Beach, Thomas G. (1987). The history of Alzheimer's Disease: three debates. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 42, 327-349. Blenow, Kaj, Wallin, Anders & Gottries, Carl-Gerhard. (1994). Clinical subgroups of Alzheimer's Disease. In V. Olga, B. Emory and Thomas E. Oxman (Eds.), Dementia: Presentations, Differential Diagnosis, and Nosology. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. Carson, Robert C and Butcher, James N (1992). Abnormal psychology and modern life. New York: Harper Collins publishers Clarfield, A. Mark. (1989). Canadian consensus conference of the assessment of dementia. Montreal: the Canadian Consensus Conference on the Assessment of Dementia. Cummings, Jeffery L. (1988). Dementia of the Alzheimer type: challenges and definition and clinical diagnosis. In Harry A. Whitaker (Ed.), Neuropsychological studies of nonfocal brain damage. New York: Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Derix, Mayke M.A. (1994). Neuropsychological differentiation of dementia syndromes. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger B.V., Lisse. Graves, Amy B. and Kukull, Walter A. (1994). The epidemiology of dementia. In John C. Morris (Ed.), Handbook of dementing illnesses. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc. Hart, Siobhan and Semple, James M (1990). Neuropsychology and the dementias. London: Taylor & Francis Ltd. Katzman, Robert, Lasker, Bruce and Bernstein, Nancy. (1988) Advances in the diagnosis of dementia: accuracy of diagnosis and consequences of misdiagnosis of disorders causing dementia. In Robert D. Terry (Ed.), Aging and the brain. New York: Raven Press. Lezak, Muriel Deutsch. (1995). Neuropsychological assessment (Third edition). New York: Oxford University Press. Mahendra, B. (1984). Dementia a survey of the syndrome of dementia. Lancaster: MTP Press Limited. Marco, L.A. (1995). Alzheimer's dementia and related disorders: genetic and molecular pathology. In Manfred Bergner and Sanford I. Finkel (Eds.), Treating Alzheimer's and other dementias. New York: Springer Publishing. Mirra, Suzanne S., & Gearing, Marla. (1994). The neuropathology of dementia. In John C. Morris (Ed.), Handbook of dementing illnesses. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc. Morris, John C. (1994). Evaluation of the demented patient. In John C. Morris (Ed.), Handbook of dementing illnesses. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc. Plum, Fred. (1987). Dementia. In George Adelman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (Volume 1). Boston: Birkhauser. Schmitt, Frederick A. and Sano, Mary C. (1994). Neuropsychological approaches to the study of dementia. In John C. Morris (Ed.), Handbook of dementing illnesses. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc. Schneider, Lon S. (1994). Experimental pharmacotherapy of primary symptoms of dementia. In John C. Morris (Ed.), Handbook of dementing illnesses. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc. [A1] f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Depression.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Depression Clinical characteristics DSM IV - for major (unipolar) depression, 5 of the following should occur nearly every day for at least 2 weeks: * Emotional symptoms - sadness, depressed mood, loss of appetite, loss of motivation for usual activities. * Somatic symptoms - insomnia/hyperinsomnia, weight loss/gain, tiredness. * Cognitive symptoms - negative self-concept, low self esteem, apathy, self-blame, lack of concentration, recurring thoughts of suicide and death. For manic (bipolar) depression: * Emotional symptoms - mania (elation, euphoria, unjustified high self-esteem, talkativeness). 10% of males and 20% of females suffer from depression and 90% of that is unipolar. Unipolar depression is either reactive or endogenous. Egeland et al - research done with the Amish in Pennsylvania showed that about 80 members of the same family had depression and this was thought to be caused by a mark on chromosome 11. However, this research has not been supported. Wender - adopted children are 8 times as likely to become depressed. Allen - concordance rates for depression between twins were greater for MZ twins than for DZ twins. The rates were also higher for bipolar depression than unipolar depression. Supported by Bertelsen et al. Biochemical explanation * Neurotransmitters from the catecholamine/monoamine group e.g. serotonin, noradrenalin and dopamine cause depression. * Antidepressant drugs - monoamine oxidase inhibitors increased levels of serotonin (serotonin agonists). Manic depressants have higher levels of serotonin, so they need lithium which works as an agonist. * Serotonin has a knock-on effect on noradrenalin and dopamine. * Treatment aetiology fallacy (Macloud) - just because drugs successfully tackle depression by treating serotonin levels doesn't mean that serotonin is the cause. The cognitive explanation * Depression is caused by negative thought patterns. * If you attribute failure to an unstable cause you believe it is going to persist. * Global/specific cause - if it is a global cause, you will fail in many situations. * The cognitive triad (Beck and Clark): Self World Future * Beck's depression inventory - scores for sadness. Most college students would get about 3/4. * However, the questions were things like "have you ever considered killing yourself?" which would make a depressed person feel worse. * Also people don't just get depressed because of failures, it could also be because of loss. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Developmental psychology.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Developmental psychology- a branch of psych. That studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span. Physiological psychology- Experimental psychology Personality psychology Clinical and counseling psychology- a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders Social psychology Industrial and organizational psychology- a subfield of psychology that studies and advises on workplace behavior. Person-situation- Stability-change- Diversity- Mind-body- Psychology-science/study of behavior and mental process Scientific method- Theory-an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations Hypothesis- educated guess Structuralism- Wilhelm Wundt argued that the subject matter of psychology was immediate experience Functionalist theory- William James defined psychology as the study of the mind as it functions in adapting the organism to the environment Psychodynamic theory- Sigmund Freud concluded that unconscious mental forces direct our everyday behavior Behaviorism- John Watson and B.F. Skinner redefined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior Gestalt psychology- Max Werthheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler defined it as the study of immediate experience of the whole organism. Existential psychology- Humanistic psychology- f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Disability Essay.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Disability Essay In today's society men have an attraction towards skinny women. The most gorgeous super models are thin and when other girls look at them, they get jealous. Many girls see this, and view themselves as being overweight and have a complex and a desire, which is to be skinny, this disease is called Anorexia. Anorexia is a disease, which affects mostly women and sometimes men. Anorexia is when you think you are fat, and you deprive yourself of food in order to be skinny. They see themselves as being fat and want to strive to be better than the "norm", and by that, being as skinny as possible. The glamorous women are skinny and we see this everywhere in movies, fashion shows, television, magazines etc... Lennard Davis describes normalcy as "Each of us endeavors to be normal or else deliberates tries to avoid that state". (p47 Davis) We humans do everything by comparison, whether it be comparisons between cars, weight, looks, money, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Mostly all us strive to be better than "normal". Anorexia is a disease, which exists when a person has a goal, a goal to look better than anyone else does. Anorexia in itself is a disability because they are unable to function like a normal person should. Their bodies physically deteriorate and they have a complex that is practically incurable. Anorexia physically ruins your skin because you are not consuming any oils and the skin dries out. With prolong Anorexia, females are prone to losing their ability to give birth because of malnutrition. Mentally it kills you because all you think about is how you look, and looks aren't that important in comparison to your personality. It is called the incurable disease because once someone has this complex they can never really let they eat a fatty food, or ever see them even a pound heavier than they are. When my sister was Anorexic, her doctor asked her, "What would you do if I forced you to eat a Burger King(tm) french fry?" She responded "I'd kill myself". At one point she weighed 97 pounds, and was 5 feet 10 inches tall. My sister fortunately has technically been cured because she eats normally but she still watches what she eats extremely carefully. "Any bell curve will always have at its extremities those characteristics that deviate from the norm. So, with the concept of the norm comes the concept of deviations or extremes. When we think of bodies, in a society where the concept of the norm is operative, then people with disabilities will be thought of as deviants. This, as we have seen, is in contrast to societies with the concept of an ideal, in which all people have a non-ideal status" (Davis, p29) Davis is saying that there are many people who are considered normal and want to be better than that. Anorexia deals with this because girls feel they have to be skinny in order to be beautiful. Beautiful as in being prettier than "average" women are. They want to be the ideal but then they stray away from it as they get into the extremes cases of anorexic they go toward the non-ideal situation. Ideology plays a big part in this because with anorexia the girls strive to be skinny, and this is their "ideal" situation. With anorexia they get to their ideal stage and still have a complex of thinking they are fat. They go far beyond they ideal stage and then the disease takes them far beyond their desired state and get into an acute situation. In my sister's situation it became so severe that she had to put in a hospital and had to be fed intravenously. She weighed 97 pounds and was 5'10" at her worst. Anorexia is also caused by a stigma. We ask why does a person become Anorexic? One way a person may become anorexic is by them being alienated, or mentally abused due to their obesity. Having a stigma hurts a lot and sometimes people must take extreme measures in order to fight the stigma and get on with their normal life. As Goffman says, society categorizes people and when people get into a category they are not happy with they tend to repent and reform. By reforming means whatever they much do to get themselves happy with themselves and more importantly society. Although anorexia is not always a complex that has to do with someone striving to be skinny, it may just be a chemical imbalance or depression that can cause this aswell. "Society establishes the means of categorizing persons and the complement of attributes felt to be ordinary and natural for members of each of these categories. Social settings establish these categories of persons likely to be encountered there." (Goffman, p.31 reader) According to Goffman societies kind of causes diseases such as anorexia because a person feels very insecure in society and believes that they are over weight and starve themselves. Society categorizes people in basically two groups, pretty and ugly. Although I do not agree with this, many people are rude to many people who are over weight. If you go to a school where the average girl weighs 160lbs and you weigh 140lbs you may be placed in a category with the "pretty" group. On the other hand if the situation is reversed and the average girl weighs 115lbs, and you weigh 120lbs you may be in the "ugly" group which causes many people to become self conscious and go anorexic. In my sisters case she used to hang out with a group of girls who were very pretty and she had a complex and wanted to look better than the rest of them. Her way was starvation, and once she got to her best looking stage, the "ideal" point, she kept on starving herself leading to detrimental consequences. Many people have many different ideas about anorexia and how it is trying to be more like the "norm" by removing a stigma of being overweight, like in my sisters case except she was never really overweight. Ideology plays a big role in this as well because they never get to their ideal state causing problems. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Dream.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dream Theories attempting to explain the origin and functions of REM sleep include: (1) that REM sleep provides stimulation for the development of the brain; (2) that it performs a chemical restoration function, since during REM dreaming neuro-protein synthesis occurs along with the restoration of other depleted brain chemicals; (3) that it provides oculomotor (eye movement) coordination, since during non-REM sleep the eyes move independently of each other; (4) that it provides a vigilance function, since REM sleep (stage I) is characterized by a level of consciousness close to the awakened state; (5) in a more recent and controversial theory, REM dreaming performs a neurological erasure function, eliminating extraneous information build-up in the memory system; and (6) that, in a more cognitive psychological explanation, REM dreaming enhances memory storage and reorganization. Contrary to popular belief, dreaming is not caused by eating certain foods before bedtime, nor by environmental stimuli during sleeping. Dreaming is caused by internal biological process. Some researchers have proposed the activation-synthesis hypothesis. Their neurological research indicates that large brain cells in the primitive brain stem spontaneously fire about every 90 minutes, sending random stimuli to cortical areas of the BRAIN. As a consequence, memory, sensory, muscle-control, and cognitive areas of the brain are randomly stimulated, resulting in the higher cortical brain attempting to make some sense of it. This, according to the research, gives rise to the experience of a dream. Now, as in the past, the most significant controversy centers on the question of whether dreams have intentional, or actual personal, meaning. Many psychotherapists maintain that while the neurological impulses from the brain stem may activate the dreaming process, the content or meaningful representations in dreams are caused by nonconscious needs, wishes, desires, and everyday concerns of the dreamer. Thus, such psychotherapists subscribe to the phenomenological-clinical, or "top-down," explanation, which holds that dreams are intentionally meaningful messages from the unconscious. The neurological, or "bottom-up," explanation maintains that dreams have no intentional meaning. In between these two positions is an approach called content analysis. Content analysis simply describes and classifies the various representations in dreams, such as people, houses, cars, trees, animals, and color, though no deep interpretation is attributed to the content. Differences in content have been discovered between the dreams of males and females, and between dreams and occurring in different developmental stages of life. What these differences mean is under investigation. Some recent research seems to indicate that dream content reflects problems that the dreamer experiences in life, and that the function of such dreams is to facilitate the emotional resolution of the problems. Numerous accounts exist of scientific problems being resolved, and literary works being developed in dreams after dreamers had consciously immersed themselves in a problem for an extended time. Cognitive psychologists are concerned with logic and thought processing during dreaming, and how they are different from mental processes during the waking state. In studies of the developmental cognitive processes of children's dreams, for instance, it has been found that the increasing complexity of children's dreams parallel waking cognitive development. Many researchers believe that knowledge about dreaming is important for understanding waking imagination.&127; Current and future research issues involve further establishing and extending all of the above areas. Anthropologists are studying cross-culture similarities and differences in dreams. Research into NIGHTMARES and bizarre dreams continues. In addition, REM research is important for understanding psychobiological abnormalities. Some findings indicate that epileptic seizures are suppressed during REM sleep. Narcoleptics, people who may involuntarily fall asleep at any time, enter REM sleep almost immediately. Research continues on the variations in dream recall. For instance, artists tend to recall more dreams than scientists, and, for the population at large, only a small percentage of dreams are recalled. Lucid dreaming, the ability of dreamers to become aware of and to control their dreams while dreaming, is also the focus of some current research. Some lucid dreamers can learn to communicate with researchers through nonverbal signals. New research also promises to yield significant knowledge about memory, storage an retrieval, cognitive organization, psychobiological processes, human consciousness, and specific operations of the mind f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Dreaming and Sleeping.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dreaming and Sleeping Dreams and dreaming are an important part of our lives and cultures of epopel around the world. They are a reliable source of insight, personal enrichment, and life affirming revelations. Dreams are the language of a person's subconscious mind. Before a person starts to dream, there are certain cylces or stages that a person goes through in their sleep. Sleeping is important in our lives. The ancient Geeks beleived that sleep was a grant. Manny people spend about 25 years in sleeping and dreaming. There are four 90 minute stages of sleep that a person go through in their sleep. Ot begins with stage 1. This is when breathing is regular, heart rate slows down, and blood pressure decreases. A perosn could still be awake during this stage. They are still concious. Slowly the person drifts to stage 2. During this stage, the person is still realzed and they do not know what is going on in the outside surroundings. As the perosn falls deeper into sleep, the person falls into stage 3 and 4. It is harder to wake soemone up when they reached this stage. It takes about an hour for a perosn to go through all four stages. Yet, not everyone goes through all of these stages a nioght. Throughout the night, stages four and fivere repeated. REM (rapid eye movement) takes place when a person is at the deepest level of sleep. In REM, eyes move quicly under the eyelid. Dreaming takes place at this stage. Dreams occur more often and they are more real at this stage. These dreams are story like, intense, and passionate. There are amny ways to look at dreams. The psychoanalytic, biological, and cognitive views of dreaming are the three wyas theories to look at dreams. THese theories has not been tested for researchers to find enough information. In psychoanalytic view, Freud came up with a theory called the "wish-fulfilmetn theory." Wish-fulfilemtn throy is "Freud's theory of dream interpretation that emphasizes the roles of maiffest and latent content of dreams" (Huffman, Vernoy, and Vernoy, 139). In a psychoanalytic view, they say that dreams are hidden signs of supresses needs. In a biological perspective, they beleive that dreams are not importatn- they are stimultaion of brain cells. In a cognitive view, they beleive dreams is an important part of information proecssing. There is no proven fact on why we dream. This is why there are a lot og theories on dreaming. There is amnu dream theorists that wrote theories on why epople dream. Fruend was always nchnated by dreams. He belived that all dreams are meaningful. In Frued's theory, he wrote that dreams carry our hidden desires. Jung, another perosn who wrtoe about therores on dreaming wrtoe that dreams carry meaning and that these dreams can be interperted by the dreamer. There is many theories about dreams yet, Freud's theory stands out the most. He beleived that a dream portrays an ongoping wish wioth the previous days activites. People mioght also deram about wihses that they had as a child. Freud also beleived that nothing ismade up in a dream. They are biologically determined and obtained from perosn's needs and personal ecperiences. The most iunteresting ideas among his theroy is his theory of dream occurence. Dream will occur when the unconscious wish is bound to the preconscious instead of just being removed. If there is too much going through a person's ,ind-denial, regression, or repression, a dream will take place. Jung disagreed wiht Freud's theory and developed his own theory that contradicted Freud's. Jung beleived the most effective method for a dream interpretaion wa sthe use of series correlation. Freud did not beleive that the dreamer could interpret theor own dream. He beleived that only trained psychologists could interpret dreams. Jung also categorized the mind into three parts- the collective unconsciou, the personal unconscious, and the conscious. The collective unconscious does not depend on personal expereinces. The personal unconscious hold forgoteen assocation, unnoticed expereinces, repressed and discarded thoguths and half thoughts. The conscious develops through sensing, thinking, and intution. A dream can also be traslated yet it involves sevreal stages. The first stage involes clear understanding of dream structuvre. In every dream, there is a dreamer. The dreamer represents consciousness and the psyche. The person represent their awareness and perspective of life. The second stage involvoes understanding the influences producing dream content. Dremas infleunces affecting the person's subliminally. These inflerunces affecting the person's life and consciouness. A person's dream is a product of subliminal infleince. Understanding dream descritpion is the third stage of dream translation. This stage is the most difficult to understand. Our social and cultural diffreences affect dreams and how we perceive certain dream images when we are awake. However, there are two rules of dream translation. The first rule is that all dream images are representations. Words are not iused, the subconscious mind has metaphoric images. The second rule is that all dream images reflect seomthing mental. Dreams occur in mental domain. The objects and epople in a person's dream are not physical images. They are mental images. The final stage invovles the order of the process and teh context of dream imagery. When a person is trying to remeber their dream they are remembering series of images. All the images from the entire dream is needed to traslate the meaning of the dream. Studying the whole dream is more important to understand then studying only one image of a dream. Review dreams is condtions and challenges of life and how we view ourselves. These dreams show how we evolve through our life expereices. Many people beleive that theoriues on dreaming is pointless. Some beleive that dreams are meaningless to us and jsut another thing that is part of our lives. Yet, there are otehr who say dreams are either the clearing of fragments from our memory that was stored. However, there are other people who do not beleive it and argue aainst it. These epople say the dreams are important to live a full and complete life. It is difficult for us to study dream and how it works while we are sleeping. People can only decide for themselves and belive what they wa to believe in. Only the dreamer can determine what is right or wrong. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Dreams.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dreams "I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough." (Escher) Why do we dream? Are they instructions from the spiritual world or just deep, hidden wishes that can be used to unlock the secrets of the unconscious mind? Nobody knows for sure. One theory that is prevalent today is that dreams result from the physiological "exercise" of the synapses of the brain. There is no proven fact on why we dream, which is why there are so many theories on the topic. There is Freud's theory that dreams carry our hidden desires and Jung's theory that dreams carry meaning, although not always of desire, and that the dreamer can interpret these dreams. After these theories, others continued such as the Cayce theory in that dreams are our bodies means of building up of the mental, spiritual and physical well being. Finally came the argument between Evans' theory and the Crick and Mitchinson theory. Evans states that dreaming is our bodies way of storing the vast array of information gained during the day, whereas Crick and Mitchinson say that this information is being dumped rather than stored. Whichever theory is true, we may never know, but from these following theories we can decide for ourselves what we believe to be true and further help us into understanding our dreams. My own personal theory on why we dream is that the subconscious mind is always working. This results in dreams. The subconscious mind in an attempt to file away all of the information from the previous day results in dreams. A dream in my opinion is nothing more than a chemical reaction in the brain. In laboratory tests, when people were awaked during the RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (REM) stage of sleep and asked to report what was on their mind just before awaking, about 90% reported an experience termed TRUE DREAM. When a true dream is experienced is seems as if it were an actual event rather than one thought or imagined. True dreams often involve a series of such experiences woven together in a somewhat bizarre story. Even those people who claimed to rarely dream or only remember fragments of dreams in the mornings were able to give detailed accounts of a true dream experience when awakened during REM sleep. Those who were awakened during SLOW-WAVE sleep (the deeper, less mentally active stages of sleep) reported mental activity in only about 60% of cases. Usually, this activity lacked the vivid sensory and motor hallucinations of true dreams. This type of mental activity is called SLEEP THOUGHT, and usually pertains to what the person had been thinking about most of the day. However this thought is usually much less productive than that of conscious thoughts (while the person is awake). Those who believe that we dream due to the brain's regular exercise of groups of neurons cite evidence that synapses can degenerate if they go too long without being active; this neural activity during REM sleep helps to preserve important neural pathways. When neurons in the motor and perceptual regions of the brain are exercised in this manner, the inevitable side-effect are the dreams we experience. The increased mental thought activity is due to the sleep thought being engaged in trying to make sense of these movements and hallucinations f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Eating Disorders.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Eating Disorders Eating Disorders Anorexia Nervosa: A condition characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image, leading to an excessive weight loss from restricting food intake and excessive exercise. Bulimia Nervosa: An eating disorder in which persistent overconcern with the body weight and shape leads to repeat episodes of bingeing (consuming large amounts of food in a short time) associated with induced vomiting. Those are the clinical definitions for eating disorders, the definitions that most people think of when they hear one of the two names. Unfortunately, that's as far as their thoughts go. Almost no one thinks about what causes them, how the disorders are treated, or, most importantly, what it's like to have one. My report is meant to cover all aspects of eating disorders... and that's what it's going to do. Although, I'm going to offer a more in-depth look into the biological, psychological and sociological aspects of these diseases. Needless to say, the physical effects of an eating disorder are nothing to sneeze at... but that's just the tip of the iceburg. Imagine a thirteen-year-old girl who weighs 60 pounds because she is starving herself. Every time she looks in the mirror, she sees herself as fat. Picture her parents watching their daughter literally disintegrating into thin air. This is the life of a family dealing with an eating disorder. Eating disorders are a major problem with the young people of today's society. While anorexia and bulimia are socio-logical problems plaguing the world's youth, there are also other eating disorders. This "fat phobia", or fear of being over-weight, disturbs people to the point where they are in a way, committing suicide. Eating disorders have been termed the disease of the 1980's. Even though it has been found that 95% of people who suffer anorexia or bulimia are woman, mostly from white, relatively affluent families, the pre-occupation and obsession with food are not limited to women. Although some men also deal with eating disorders, most research has been done on women. In 1985, 95% of women felt they were overweight, while only 25% were actually considered medically overweight. By the age of thirteen approx-imately 53% of females are unhappy with their bodies, and by the age of eighteen approximately 78% are unhappy. Our culture could be seen as a narcissist society. Narcissism is a preoccupation with one's self, a concern with how one appears to others, and with living up to an image. It seems that appear-ance is an important factor in our everyday life. While all women want to look as perfect as "Barbie", for some it just isn't possible. For women, being slender is almost synonymous with being successful. It is also thought that 40% of the adult U.S. population is significantly overweight. Some experts feel that eating disorders are reaching epidemic proportions and estimate the national rate to be as high as 12% of women . In fact, according to the Phoenix Gazette on November 7, 1985, "Almost one out of three women diet once a month, and one in six considers herself a perpetual dieter" . It is considered that 54-86% of college women binge eats. They do this and still research shows that most college aged women: 1) widely accept the idea that "guys like thin girls", 2) think being thin is crucial to physical attractiveness, and 3) believe that they are not as thin as men would like them to be. While in fact most college women want to be thinner then most college men say women should be. In the United States alone, our society spends $33 billion on the diet industry, $20 billion on cosmetics, and $300 billion on plastic surgery. This just proves the fetish Americans have with their looks. Unfortunately being thin does play a role in our society. It is a fact that attractive defendants seem to receive more positive courtroom judgements and a company is more likely to hire a tall thin man then a short pudgy man. These factors are just increasing the chance of eating disorders throughout society. The most common eating disorder being experienced in today's youth is anorexia nervosa. Anorexia is usually defined as: willful starvation-deliberate and obsessive starvation in the pursuit of thinness. This "willful starvation" is seen as the only way to lose weight. Anorexics who are close to their deaths will show you the spots on their body where they feel they need to lose weight. An estimated 10- 20% of anorexics will eventually die from complications related to the disorder. Some signs and symptoms of anorexia are: noticeable weight loss, becoming withdrawn, excessive exercise, fatigue, always being cold, muscle weakness, excuses for not eating, guilt or shame about eating, mood swings, irregular menstruation, evidence of vomiting, laxative abuse, or diet pills, and the frequent checking of body weight on a scale. Some theorists believe that these disorders may be caused by the mass media's presentation of the ideal body. But according to the ABNFV or the Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa Foundation of Victoria it is over simplification to blame the mass media's presentation of the 'ideal' shape; though western society's increased emphasis on the slim, fit body places pressure on many people. So there is no conclusive evidence on exactly what causes anorexia. Another common eating disorder seen in society is bulimia. Bulimia involves binge eating accompanied by induced vomiting to inhibit weight gain. The average women in the United States between the ages of 19 and 39 periodically go on food binges where they eat extremely high quantities of high calorie foods in a short space of time. Bingeing varies for all people, for one person a binge may range from 1000 to 10000 calories, for another, one cookie could be considered a binge. Bulimics are usually people that do not feel secure about their own self worth, and usually strive for the approval of others. Food becomes the only source of comfort for a bulimic, and usually serves as a function for either blocking in or letting out feelings. Unlike anorexics, bulimics do realize they have a problem and are more likely to seek help. The likely hood of a bulimic seeking help decreases the percentage of people who die from this disorder. A third eating disorder experienced in our society is body dysmorphic disorder. This is defined as "imagined ugliness", or where the person sees herself/himself as ugly no matter what. This disorder is much harder to recognize then anorexia or bulimia. Clues to this disorder are slight and often subtle but they indicate an estrangement from the body and a distorted self-image that reflects an underlying mental illness. Some people feel this is a new disorder because they haven't heard about it as much, but the truth is that in 1891 an Italian physician named Morselli discovered it, the root word dysmorfia literally means ugliness, so this disorder is actually the fear of one's own ugliness. This pre-occupation with ones looks tends to be persis-tent and eventually leads to marked social dysfunctional and, occasionally, behavioral extremes. This disorder can liter-ally drive people crazy. The number of eating disorders in athletes is on the rise, especially in sports like gymnastics, figure skating, dancing, and swimming. According to a 1992 American College of Sports Medicine study, eating disorders affected 62% of females in sports like figure skating and gymnastics. Famous gymnasts such as Kathy Johnson, Nadia Comaneci, and Kathy Rigby, a 1972 Olympian who fought eating disorders for 12 years, have come forward and admitted to fighting eating disorders. It got so bad for Rigby that she went into cardiac arrest twice because of it. Many female athletes fall victim to eating disorders in a desperate attempt to be thin in order to please coaches and judges. Many coaches are guilty of pres-suring these athletes to be thin by criticizing them or making reference to their weight. Those comments could cause an athlete to resort to dangerous methods of weight control and can do serious emotional damage to the athlete. For example, in 1988, at a meet in Budapest, a US judge told Christy Henrich, one of the world's top gymnasts that she had to lose weight if she hoped to make the Olympic Squad. Christy resorted to anorexia and bulimia as a way to control her weight and her eating disorders eventually took her life. On July 26, 1994, at the age of 22, Christy Henrich died of multiple organ failure. It had gotten so bad for her that at one point she weighed as little as 47 pounds. Athletes with eating disorders can be at a higher risk for medical complications such as electrolyte imbalances and cardiac arrhythmia. Coaches need to educate them-selves on the dangers and the signs that an athlete may be suffering from an eating disorder, and not only coaches, but athletes, need to remember no gold medal is worth dying for. There are many ways of helping someone with an eating disorder. If you suspect that your child or anyone you know has an eating disorder you should never: tell them their crazy, blame them, gossip about them, follow them around to check their eating or purging behavior. You should also never ignore them, reject them, tell them to quit the ridiculous behavior, or feel you need to solve their problems. Some things you should do are to listen with understanding, appreciate their openness and the risk they took to tell you, support them and be available. Two of the most important things you should do are to always give her hope, and continuously, but gently suggest counseling. Through medical treatment, there are also many ways to help a person with an eating disorder. One method is by psychological counseling. A problem with treating anorexia is getting the victim to first admit that they have a problem, and to not deny their illness any longer. Through counseling, the root of the victims' problem is found. They are helped to find and recognize their distorted view of their body. Also any form of abuse they may have been through is brought up and often family members are in counseling sessions to help the victim. It has been found that group-counseling sessions have been found to be useful because a common perception of the problem is found. For the physical aspect of anorexia, weight gain is the first step to recovery. Some patients may even have to be hospitalized because their weight loss has been so severe. Physicians may prescribe gradual in-creases in food intake and dietary supplements, and tell a patient not to exercise. In the most severe cases, especially if a patient resists instructions to eat, nutrients and fluids may be admin-istered intravenously. During hospitalization, patients receive both physical and mental care. They may have to stay there for a few days or even weeks at a time to help treat anorexia. However, the mental effects of this disease may take longer to treat. With both physical and mental care, anorexia can often be treated and its effects can be reversed. Researchers estimate that of those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, 42 percent recover, 30 percent improve somewhat, and more than 20 percent suffer from a chronic eating disorder. New ways are being found to prevent anorexia. Through self-image awareness, the virtues of self-esteem and acc-eptance are being promoted. Perhaps with less emphasis in society over appearance, anorexia may finally be prevented. Roughly two million young women suffer from the symptoms of anorexia nervosa or bulimia. Eating disorders are caused by a striving to "look good". This need to "look good" is so bad that in the mid 1980's 477,000 esthetic surgeries were done, that was up 61% from 1981. Although not all is known about eating disorders, we must keep studying them, and the effect society has on causing these problems, so we can someday be able to control and prevent these diseases. The pain and suffering that both the victim and their family and friends go through is unfathomable. No matter how many words are written or situations are explained, the true understanding and reasoning of an eating disorder is only known by the victim themself. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Ecological Self.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ecological Self Diversity is a whirlwind of color through a society. There are no two people in the world that are exactly alike. Individuality distinguishes one person or thing from others (Landau, 364 Ed). A person's environment as a whole: an interaction with others, experiences, and time, makes a collage of traits that distinguishes someone as an individual. David Sibley's theory of the "Ecological Self" or Identity is bound by his determents of social, cultural, and spatial context. Sibley believes that class, race, gender, and nation shapes our identity, it is a single concept that is molded by our experiences from the world. I do not agree with this claim because people are individuals, not a development of their surroundings. Identity is not a single concept, there are many factors that shape it, environment cannot just effect identity. Sibley is a British sociologist that has dedicated his life to the studies behind the "Ecological Self." Sibley claims that the "Ecological Self" is not internal, it cannot be separated from the physical. "The social positioning of the self means that the boundary between self and other is formed through a series of cultural representations of people and things which frequently elide so that the non-human world also provides a context for selfhood (Sibley, 250)." The "other," that is being spoken of, is also known as the "Generalized Other." This is when we cannot separate from the physical and consider it to be the norm. How do I know who I am? Where do I fit in? Internal and external forces mold our sense of self. Heredity and personal moral are examples of internal forces. Children are often most effected by this. "The forces of physical inheritance takes place mainly in childhood, though even as adults we have the possibility of dealing in our personal development (Grunewald, 2)." Environment also plays an important role in the formation of self-identity. The surroundings, which can include people, places, and experiences, mold an individual into whom they become. The past shapes our identities, and builds from our experiences. "It is our memories which help us make the connections, gives us the insights, and provides us with the sense of continuity, which is so important for our personal identity (http://ozcountry.com/life/tip5.html)." "When we go through times of crisis, massive changes, serious illness, deep conflicts or stress, our sense of self can be seriously challenged, particularly if we have not faced such experiences before. Rather than assuming that personal identity is permanent, static and secure we might see it better as our personalities are dynamic, evolving, fluid and changing. This will enable us to grow with life's changes as we develop new skills, insight, attitudes, beliefs and values. We are never the same person (http://ozcountry.com/life/tip5.html)." Identity is a lifelong, continual process of identification with contexts. The final point made by Sibley was to what extent do individuals alter their identity to conform to social roles. To most, fitting in and being liked is a very important part of life. The way that others look at us is a part of our social standing. Everyone conforms in some way to simply "fit in." College is an excellent example of the way that people conform. This is at a time that many begin to venture out and make decisions on their own. Many college students face the choice of whether or not they would join a fraternity or sorority. On college campuses being part of the in-crowd means that you are in a social organization. Students alter their identities and conform so that they are able to fit in and affiliate themselves with others. Individualism and Identity have many factors involved. There can not be just one cause that influences a person so greatly. I would like to see myself as a collection of interactions and experiences. The surroundings that I have encountered have had an impact on my life, but it is not the single determinate that makes the person that I am today. David Sibley's "Ecological Self" and the other related topics discussed, have some validity of defining the concept of self-identity. Social and Cultural expectations are not the only dominant forces that shape ones personality. WC: grunewald,peter.genetic engineering and medicine. 1997. 1 jan 2000. www. anth.org landau, sidney, ed. The doubleday dictionary. doubleday co., inc. new york: bogus, 1975. life tips center. how do i know who i am? ozcountry.com f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Episodic Memory.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Episodic Memory Introduction The mechanism of human memory recall is neither a parallel nor a sequential retrieval of previously learned events. Instead, it is a complex system that has elements of both sequential and parallel modalities, engaging all of the sensory faculties of the individual. On an everyday level, issues about memory and recall affect everyone. It has a bearing on ramifications from the trivial to matters of life and death. Thus, a particular student might worry about his or her ability to remember 'memorized' material, a person might worry about losing his or her mind, and, there are the more troubling issue of diseases affecting memory such as Alzheimer's disease. According to Tulving, episodic memory represents only a small part of the much larger domain of memory (Tulving, 1992, p.1). Specifically, episodic memory is the process involved in remembering past events. This paper is a review of research findings on episodic memory with specific attention to episodic memory in adults and infants. Episodic Memory in Adults In society, it is quite common for people in their golden years or even well before that, to worry about losing their memory. There is scientific evidence to support this notion of degradation of memory with age. It is now well known in neurology that brain cells die off as one ages. Verhaeghen and Marcoen (1993, pp. 172-178) found that the decline associated with age in relation to the ability to perform episodic memory tasks involving deliberate recall appears to be largely a quantitative rather than a qualitative phenomenon. The ability of older adults to recall individual items in lists, or ideas in texts could be predicted based on the performance by younger adults on the same tasks. From their data in a sample of 48 younger and 45 older adults, they postulated a relationship between recall and age with a median correlation of r = .88. The same item characteristics could be used to predict probability of recall by younger or older adults. Kliegl and Lindenberger (1993, pp. 617-637) tested a model for correct recall and intrusions in cued recall of word lists. Intrusions are defined as false responses that were correct in an earlier list. The model assumes three exclusive states for memory traces after encoding; 1) with a list tag-with information about list origin, 2) without list tags, and 3) missing. Across lists, a trace can lose its list tag or it's content. For retrieval, an optimal strategy of response selection was assumed. Younger and older laboratory-trained mnemonists participated in two separate experiments in which recall of permutations of a single word list across a single set of cued was held constant with individually adjusted presentation times. They reported that younger adults were more apt to have correct recall, while older adults were more susceptible to intrusions. Age differences were restricted to model parameters estimating the probability of generation of list tags. In another study, Denney and Lasen (1994, pp. 270-275) compared the ability of youngsters and adults to remember specific information and / or information related to a particular context. They investigated the ability of individuals not just to remember some given information, but also the ability to connect specific information related to a context. The study involved eighty adults in a bimodally stratified age range. The subjects were either between 18 and 30 years of age or 60 and 85 years. They were shown slides containing a word related to a specific information. Denney and Lasen concluded that although the elderly have memory problems, it is not with regard to remembering specific information. In a study of adults with a similar bimodal age distribution, (eighteen men, 18- to 26-years-olds and eighteen men, 60- to 79-year-olds), Jennings, Nebes, and Yovetich (1990, pp. 77-91) hypothesized that older volunteers allocate more attentional resources to memory maintenance than do younger volunteers. Allocation of a resource supporting memory maintenance was inferred from performance and cardiovascular measures. Individuals performed a serial memory task both as a 'single task' and as a 'dual task' that added simple reaction time stimuli. Jennings et al. found that items presented early or later in the serial list created relatively low and high memory loads, respectively. The results of this task-oriented experiment suggested that older men allocated greater attention to memory maintenance, particularly during high-memory-load items and activities. The older men exhibited a slowing of dual-task reaction time and increased heart rate during high- versus low-memory-load items. Cardiac and vascular reactions further suggested that memory maintenance is supported by phasic autonomic adjustments, and that with age, more of this support is required for adequate maintenance of episodic memory. The foregoing studies were focused on understanding memory in healthy adults. Since failing memory and mental diseases have been shown to have some association, some studies have also examined the use of memory in the diagnosis of primary stages of dementia. Herlitz, Hill, Fratiglioni, and Backman (1995, pp. M107-M113) reported that a study of the efficiency of cognitive tests in diagnosing and staging dementia proceeds with the aid of cognitive parameters evaluating episodic memory, while visuospatial assessments help stage dementia. This finding was held by the researchers to imply a faster degeneration of episodic memory than visuospatial capacities. Episodic Memory in Infants Bauer and Dow (1994, pp. 403-417) conducted a series of three experiments that tested whether 1- to 2-year-olds generalize their knowledge of events to new "instantiations," and postulated one possible mechanism by which generalization is accomplished. In their first experiment, 16 and 20 month-old children enacted six separate event sequences. One week later the same children were tested for delayed recall. At delayed testing, the props used to enact one-half of the events were replaced by novel, functionally equivalent props. Children in both age groups used the new props to enact the events, thereby demonstrating spontaneous generalization. Experiments 2 and 3 tested whether generalization is accomplished through forgetting of the specific details of the original event. At Session 1, 16- (Experiments 2 and 3) and 20-month-olds (Experiment 2) enacted four separate events. One week later the same children selected from an array of props those used to enact the events in Session 1. Among the objects from which selection was made were functionally equivalent props of the sort used to assess generalization in Experiment 1. Children in both age groups performed reliably on the recognition-memory task. Results found that 16- and 20-month-old children have at their disposal the capacity to productively generalize their knowledge of events and to form specific, episodic event memories. Conclusion Episodic memory is the process of recalling personally experienced past events. The efficiency of this process is adversely affected by age. In a sense, this may explain the level of emotional distress that the aged and their kin and all others feel at the onset of failing episodic memory. Because it relates to individuals and their family and friends in a very personal way, it tends to rob them of past shared experiences in a way that other memory failures do not. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Euthanasia.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Euthanasia Immoral or Human Right? Recent debates over active euthanasia, "killing" a terminally ill patient, in Holland, has risen the question whether euthanasia is immoral or a simple human right. Doctors seem to have no doubt. They made an oath. The definition of Euthanasia depends on whether it is active or passive. Active Euthanasia i only allowed in Holland, and it means that the doctor takes direct measures to put a patient to sleep, whereas passive Euthanasia only involves stopping pill consumption, or stopping treatment. In England, only passive Euthanasia is allowed. Euthanasia touches some of the deepest feelings in human beings. It is the power over life and death, and responsibilities no one wishes to take, have to be taken. This, of cause, leads to the ultimatum, that it is the patients own choice. But can we allow some one to take their own lives? Doesn't this mean that everyone else around the patient have failed, that more could have been done? From the patients point of view, a lot of arguments talk in favor of euthanasia. For one, no body wants to be a burden. If a person has had a car accident which paralyses him from neck and down, and is doomed to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he knows that he will be 100% dependant on the ones that care for him, his lived ones, forever. It can also be mentioned that the life quality of a terminally ill patient, gets reduced a lot. Never being able to walk again, never being able to talk to your children again, never being able to go shopping, swimming, playing, driving etc. must be terrible for anyone. The whole situation only gets worse, if the patient himself, can see that his condition is worsening, and only time keeps his thoughts clear. A third very important point, is pain. If people see a deer, which had been hit by a car, and is in terrible pain, they will kill it, out of pitty. Why shouldn't the same be allowed with humans, if pain reaches a level, where it is unbearable? For these people, who do not have the choice of active euthanasia, self-starvation is the only choice. The doctors view on euthanasia, seems to be overall different. First of all, they have taken their wove, always to assist patients in prolonging their lives, and Euthanasia completely contradicts this. Their approach is "Where there is life, there is hope", so even a person, who has 20 tubes stuck in them, feeding them, breathing for them, there is still life, and who knows? Maybe the future will bring the cure? Euthanasia does mean "Good death", but there can still be no conclusion to a question, whether Euthanasia should be accepted or not. Psychologists, philosophers, doctors and everybody else, will consider this question for all time. My opinion is, that anyone who is terminally ill, should have the choice, but to all rules there are exceptions, and to something as serious as this, there shouldn't be. WHY I BELIEVE IN VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA There are at least two forms of suicide. One is 'emotional suicide', or irrational self-murder in all of it complexities and sadness. Let me emphasis at once that my view of this tragic form of self-destruction is the same as that of the suicide intervention movement and the rest of society, which is to prevent it wherever possible. I do not support any form of suicide for mental health or emotional reasons. But I do say that there is a second form of suicide -- justifiable suicide, that is, rational and planned self-deliverance from a painful and hopeless disease which will shortly end in death. I don't think the word 'suicide' sits well in this context but we are stuck with it. Many have tried to popularize the term 'self-deliverance' but it is an uphill battle because the news media is in love with the words 'assisted suicide'. Also, we have to face the fact that the law calls all forms of self-destruction 'suicide.' Let me point out here for those who might not know it that suicide is no longer a crime anywhere in the English-speaking world. (It used to be, and was punishable by giving all the dead person's money and goods to the government.) Attempted suicide is no longer a crime, although under health laws a person can in most states be forcibly placed in a psychiatric hospital for three days for evaluation. But giving assistance in suicide remains a crime, except in the Netherlands in recent times under certain conditions, and it has never been a crime in Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Uruguay. The rest of the world punishes assistance in suicide for both the mentally ill and the terminally ill, although the American state of Oregon recently (Nov. l994) passed by ballot Measure 16 a limited physician-assisted suicide law. At present (Feb. l995) this is held up in the law courts. Even if a hopelessly ill person is requesting assistance in dying for the most compassionate reasons, and the helper is acting from the most noble of motives, it remains a crime in the Anglo-American world. Punishments range from fines to fourteen years in prison. It is this catch-all prohibition which I and others wish to change. In a caring society, under the rule of law, we claim that there must be exceptions. ORIGIN OF THE WORD The word 'euthanasia' comes from the Greek -- eu, "good", and thanatos, "death". Literally, "good death". But the word 'euthanasia' has acquired a more complex meaning in modern times. It is generally taken nowadays to mean doing something about achieving a good death. Suicide, self-deliverance, auto-euthanasia, aid-in-dying, assisted suicide -- call it what you like -- can be justified by the average supporter of the so-called 'right to die' movement for the following reasons: Advanced terminal illness that is causing unbearable suffering to the individual. This is the most common reason to seek an early end. Grave physical handicap which is so restricting that the individual cannot, even after due consideration, counseling and re-training, tolerate such a limited existence. This is a fairly rare reason for suicide -- most impaired people cope remarkably well with their affliction -- but there are some who would, at a certain point, rather die. What are the ethical parameters for euthanasia? The person is a mature adult. This is essential. The exact age will depend on the individual but the person should not be a minor who come under quite different laws. The person has clearly made a considered decision. An individual has the ability nowadays to indicate this with a "Living Will" (which applies only to disconnection of life supports) and can also, in today's more open and tolerant climate about such actions, freely discuss the option of euthanasia with health professionals, family, lawyers, etc. The euthanasia has not been carried out at the first knowledge of a life-threatening illness, and reasonable medical help has been sought to cure or at least slow down the terminal disease. I do not believe in giving up life the minute a person is informed that he or she has a terminal illness. (This is a common misconception spread by our critics.) Life is precious, you only pass this way once, and is worth a fight. It is when the fight is clearly hopeless and the agony, physical and mental, is unbearable that a final exit is an option. DOCTOR AS FRIEND The treating physician has been informed, asked to be involved, and his or her response been taken into account. What the physician's response will be depends on the circumstances, of course, but we advise people that as rational suicide is not a crime, there is nothing a doctor can do about it. But it is best to inform the doctor and hear his or her response. For example, the patient might be mistaken -- perhaps the diagnosis has been misheard or misunderstood. It used to be that patients raising this subject were met with a discreet silence, or meaningless remarks, but in today's more accepting climate most physicians will discuss potential end of life actions. The person has made a Will disposing of his or her worldly effects and money. This shows evidence of a tidy mind, an orderly life, and forethought -- all something which is paramount to an acceptance of rational suicide. The person has made plans to exit that do not involve others in criminal liability or leave them with guilt feelings. As I have mentioned earlier, assistance in suicide is a crime in most places, although the laws are gradually changing, and very few cases ever came before the courts. But care must still be taken and discretion is the watchword. The person leaves a note saying exactly why he or she is taking their life. This statement in writing obviates the chance of subsequent misunderstandings or blame. It also demonstrates that the departing person is taking full responsibility for the action. NOT ALWAYS NOTICED A great many cases of self-deliverance or assisted suicide, using drugs and/or a plastic bag, go undetected by doctors, especially now that autopsies are the exception rather than the rule (only 10 percent, and only when there is a mystery about the cause of death). Also, if a doctor asked for a death certificate knows that the patient was in advanced terminal illness then he is not going to be too concerned about the precise cause of death. It hardly matters. I find that police, paramedics and coroners put a very low priority of investigation of suicide when evidence comes before them that the person was dying anyway, and there is a note from the deceased. Detectives and coroners' officers will walk away from the scene once they are satisfied that the person who committed suicide was terminally ill. But, having considered the logic in favor of auto-euthanasia, the person should also contemplate the arguments against it. First, should the person go instead into a hospice program and receive not only first-class pain management but comfort care and personal attention? Put bluntly, hospices make the best of a bad job, and they do so with great skill and love. The right-to-die movement supports their work. But not everyone wants a lingering death, not everyone wants that form of care. Today many terminally ill people take the marvellous benefits of home hospice programs and still accelerate the end when suffering becomes too much. A few hospice leaders claim that their care is so perfect that there is absolutely no need for anyone to consider euthanasia. While I have no wish to criticize them, they are wrong to claim perfection. Most, but not all, terminal pain can today be controlled with the sophisticated use of drugs, but the point these leaders miss is that personal quality of life is vital to some people. If one's body has been so destroyed by disease that it is not worth living, that is an intensely individual decision which should not be thwarted. In some cases of the final days in hospice care, when the pain is very serious, the patient is drugged into unconsciousness. If that way is acceptable to the patient, fine. But some people do not wish their final hours to be in that fashion. There should be no conflict between hospice and euthanasia -- both are valid options in a caring society. Both are appropriate to different people with differing values. RELIGION The other consideration is theological: does suffering end f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Expectancies As A Predictor Of Adolescent Alcohol Use.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Expectancies As A Predictor Of Adolescent Alcohol Use INTRODUCTION This paper examines the use of an idea referred to as expectancy as a predictor of teen alcohol use. Expectancies are concepts that a society reinforces which go on to influence a person's behavior. Current clinical and field studies show that alcohol expectancies are reasonably accurate tools in estimating future drinking patterns. This paper sets out to determine the practical applications of this knowledge in the real classroom. HISTORY Prior to the early 1960s, virtually no clinical studies were available on the topic of teen drinking, as literature mostly focused on negative social and moral implications of the activity (Maddox and McCall, 1964). Contrary to somewhat popular notion, however, adolescent drinking is not unique on to the last few decades. In fact, the best indicators show that "drinking among youth has been a longstanding phenomenon" that has shown no significant change over the course of the last 120 years (Barnes, 1982). In the sixties, the issue grew in prominence probably due to the rise of the counterculture and an increase in teen drinking and driving accidents. A number of pioneering social scientists set out to determine basic information about the commonalty and frequency of alcohol use in this age group. Though specific data varied from study to study due to methodology and demographics, a striking picture emerged that "alcohol use is very prevalent among teenagers and young adults." In fact, Barnes (1982) co n Once research findings established the basic foundations, further questions soon arose on the psychological reasons behind the increase in consumption. Though the answers are still not definitive by any means, a few commonly accepted theories arose. Teens almost consistently report one of three reasons for drinking: partying, self-expression, and anxiety (Maddox and McCall, 1964). None of this information, however, is of particular alarm. Regardless of the reason, most adolescent drinkers consume only occasionally and generally responsibly (Barnes, 1982; Finn, 1979). In fact, a few authors contend that teenage drinking can be a fairly normal step in the process of identity development (Finn, 1979). "Drinking," claims Maddox and McCall (1964), "is important for validating their self-conceptions as adults or their claims to adult status." A great deal of controversy exists on whether time spent with peers in reckless activities such as drinking is a positive aspect of the socialization process as well. E PROBLEM DRINKING In the late 1970s and into the 1980s researchers begun to realize that they had not designed their studies to examine this much more destructive phenomenon of problem drinking. Differing definitions of problem drinking exist, but virtually all contemporary authors agree that it involves drinking often, and to the point of extreme intoxication. A very complex web of answers began to unfold which included, peer pressure, parental permissiveness, boredom, parental substance abuse and emotional problems (Finn, 1979). Further, it became clear that psychological perceptions of drinking influenced these adolescents' behaviors as much as the physical effects of alcohol (Christiansen et al., 1989). EXPECTANCIES Researchers began a continuing effort piece together a single explanation for problem drinking. Given the vast set of variables involved, this goal proved to be a formidable task. They shifted focus to the emerging theory of expectancies as a method of prediction. Goldman et al. (1987) defined alcohol expectancy as referring, to the anticipation of a systematic relationship between events or objects in some upcoming situation. The relationship is understood to be of an if-then variety: If a certain event or object is registered then a certain event is expected to followÉ Expectation can be inferred to have causal status in that an individual with his/her own actions, may produce a certain consequence upon noting that an if condition is fulfilled. More simply stated, drinkers learn certain behavior about drinking from their society. When exposed to alcohol, or alcohol-related cues, they accept and act upon these understandings. Aas (1995) believes, "children learn what to expect of alcohol and those expectations are reinforced throughout our societies." These expectancies develop early in life, perhaps as early as the fourth grade (Miller et al., 1990). A number of surveys can detect expectancies. The one most commonly used for adolescents is the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire- Adolescent Form, (AEQ-A). Other significant surveys include both the Alcohol Effects Scale (AES), and the Effects of Drinking Alcohol (EDA). These questionnaires involve extensive self-reporting that target expectancy in normal populations of adolescents (Aas et al., 1995). The results of these surveys can detect both the transition from non-drinker to drinker and problem drinking when analyzed using two detection constructs, or models. Baker (1987) outlines the two basic constructs that psychologists know as the Conditioned Withdrawal Model (CWM), and the Conditioned Appetitive-Motivational Model (CAMM). The CWM can detect problem drinking based on the notion that certain expectancies are conditioned responses to avoid or escape signs of withdrawal (Baker et al., 1987). It uses craving and negative affect as indicators of an intention to drink. Users who fit into the CWM model often perceive alcohol as an "antidepressant and a euphoriant (Johnson and Fromme, 1994)." The CAMM, on the other hand, uses positive cues as its main indicator. It "proposes that positive mood states characterize the pursuit of alcohol (Johnson and Fromme, 1994)." This model associates exposure to alcohol or alcohol cues is with positive outcomes, eliciting a response to drink. "Positive alcohol outcome experiences are reliably associated with drinking practices, with heavy drinkers holding stronger expectancies than light drinkers (Johnson and Fromme, 1994). " However, several problems have developed in the process of using these constructs as predictive models both in clinical studies and in individual cases. A person develops expectancies in childhood and early adolescence, but they may not influence actual drinking until much later (Christiansen, et al., 1989). In other words, teenagers may have developed a set of expectancies long before, but having never been directly exposed to alcohol or alcohol-cues, they have yet to act upon them. Those unfamiliar with expectancies can think of this effect as a time bomb that the socialization process can trigger any given time. Studies have overcome this barrier by setting up a period between taking the batteries of expectancy surveys and self-reporting studies on actual use. Because of the 'time bomb' effect and study limitations, such long-term tracking can be difficult as an immediate predictor of alcohol use in the individual. Additionally, it has been difficult to find a point at which to discriminate the resp o CURRENT RESEARCH Current research on expectancies is focusing on combining personal and social statistics with current knowledge on the topic as a better indicator. For both expectancy models, high-risk youngsters clearly hold higher than average expectancies (Christiansen et al., 1989.) A number of studies in recent years have focused on differentially equating individual factors and alcohol expectancies to come up with a better model. In essence, these studies are focusing on integrating expectancy theory into the classic model of risk-detection. Initial studies on certain fronts have shown to provide marginally better constructs at predicting both frequency and quantity of alcohol use. However, "a major controversy exists in the literature concerning whether personal and social expectancies predict different types of outcomes (Reese, 1994)." DISCUSSION Though the literature and research to date have been very effective at showing the accuracy of adolescent alcohol expectancies, I feel it is quite inadequate as to its practical use in the classroom. A few authors make vague and general references to practical utility, but never discuss the topic. I believe, based on the research findings, however, that the potential for incorporating expectancy theory into prediction method in public school is still great. In no way, would it replace the classic model of risk detection, but would serve as a highly effective tool to enhance it. Furthermore, as new findings accumulate we may determine that classic risk detection and expectancies are not so different in their conclusions. If schools administered expectancy surveys over the span of an adolescent's academic career, then a much clearer picture of potential problem drinking would develop. Tracking over a long period would overcome the methodological problems encountered in some of the clinical research. If schools track expectancies, known drinkers who may be consuming responsibly and in moderation would be less likely to be mislabeled as problem drinkers. Similarly, the system could more clearly identify the child with the resources to effectively cover up his drinking problems. Since research has shown that most expectancies develop even before adolescence begins, perhaps if the child begins taking these surveys early in development, effective intervention into their perceptions of alcohol might be possible. A number of problems could also arise if schools were to adopt this theory. For example, surveys or constructs provide no definite answers. If the educational system relies to heavily on this theory alone, it dooms the idea to be no better than traditional detection methods. Additionally, the educational system would have to address the issue of confidentiality. Clinical research relies on a high degree of anonymity to elicit accurate responses (Christiansen, 1989). If children complete expectancy surveys, a guarantee does not exist that they will respond honestly. This effect, however, is likely minimal for two reasons. First, the student is less apt to lie, as expectancy surveys deal with attitudes and perceptions rather then reporting actual drinking behavior. Second, as with similar issues, counselors should maintain a high level of confidentially. The final complication of long term tracking would not be so simple to solve; few in the educational profession are likely to lack training in expectancy theory. It would be a costly effort to attempt to train counseling staffs to understand and interpret survey results within either the CWM or CAMM constructs, or any new highly specific models that are emerging. FURTHER STUDY Further study must begin to explore specifically the practical applications of expectancies in the educational system such as I discuss. Prior research studies have certainly laid the groundwork to show that expectancies can provide a reasonably accurate prediction and detection tool. Now, both the research and educational communities need to come together to make their use a reality. Additionally, current research on differentially equating specific personal and social factors with expectancy constructs must continue; the more accurate and precise that construct models become, the easier it becomes to use them. Finally, scientists must work to better understand "how children's backgrounds, through the socialization process, can influence their drinking patterns (Aas et al., 1995)." In other words, applying expectancy to the real world beckons a better understand of what events in an adolescent's socialization process are likely to set off the "time bomb" expectancies. CONCLUSIONS No research has been conducted on the practical applications of what we know about alcohol expectancies. This observation neither nor denies my thesis, but instead merits further investigation. On the basis of on the accumulated knowledge of 30 years of classic model prediction and nearly a decade devoted to expectancy research, I believe that expectancy models do have an appropriate place in today's school systems. Their use may be problematic but the long term benefits of saving the problem drinking adolescents far outweigh the potential negative consequences. More extensive professional investigation is definitely warranted. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Title: FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME - IS IT POSSIBLE OR NOT? Memory is the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experiences. A repressed memory is one that is retained in the sub conscious mind, where one is not aware of it but where it can still affect both conscious thoughts and behavior. When memory is distorted or confabulated, the result can be what has been called the False Memory Syndrome: a condition in which a person's identity and interpersonal relationships are entered around a memory of traumatic experience which is objectively false but in which the person strongly believes. Note that the syndrome is not characterized by false memories as such. We all have memories that are inaccurate. Rather, the syndrome may be diagnosed when the memory is so deeply ingrained that it orients the individual's entire personality and lifestyle, in turn disrupting all sorts of other adaptive behaviors. The analogy to personality disorder is intentional. False memory syndrome is especially destructive because the person assiduously avoids confrontation with any evidence that might challenge the memory. Thus it takes on a life of its own, encapsulated and resistant to correction. The person may become so focused on the memory that he or she may be effectively distracted from coping with real problems in his or her life. -- John F. Kihlstrom, Ph.D. There are many models which try to explain how memory works. Nevertheless, we do not know exactly how memory works. One of the most questionable models of memory is the one which assumes that every experience a person has had is 'recorded' in memory and that some of these memories are of traumatic events too terrible to want to remember. These terrible memories are locked away in the sub conscious mind, i.e. repressed, only to be remembered in adulthood when some triggering event opens the door to the unconscious. And, both before and after the repressed memory is remembered, it causes physical and mental disorders in a person. Some people have made an effort to explain their pain, even cancer, as coming from repressed memories of incest in the body. Scientists have studied related phenomenon such as people whose hands bleed in certain religious settings. Presumably such people, called stigmatics, "are not revealing unconscious memories of being crucified as young children, but rather are demonstrating a fascinating psychogenic anomaly that springs from their conscious fixation on the suffering of Christ. Similarly, it is possible that conscious fixation on the idea that one was sexually abused might increase the frequency of some physical symptoms, regardless of whether or not the abuse really occurred."(Lindsay & Read, 1994) This view of memory has two elements: (1) the accuracy element and (2) the causal element. The reason this model is questionable is not because people don't have unpleasant or painful experiences they would rather forget, nor is it claiming that children often experience both wonderful and brutal things for which they have no conceptual or linguistic framework and hence are incapable of understanding them, much less relating it to others. It is questionable because this model maintains that because (a) one is having problems of functioning as a healthy human being and (b) one remembers being abused as a child that therefore (A) one was abused as a child and (B) the childhood abuse is the cause of one's adulthood problems. There is no evidence that supports the claim that we remember everything that we experience. In fact, there is plenty of evidence to support the claim that it is impossible for us to even attend to all the perceptual elements of any given experience, much less to recall them all. There is no evidence to support the claim that all memories of experiences happened as they remembered to have happened or that they have even happened at all. And there is no evidence to support the claim that subjective certainty about the accuracy of memories or the vividness of memories significantly correlates with accuracy. Finally, the claim of a causal connection between abuse and health or behavior does not warrant concluding that ill health, mental or physical, is a 'sign' of having been abused. This model is the basis for a number of pseudoscientific works on child abuse by self-proclaimed experts such as Ellen Bass, E. Sue Blum, Laura Davis, Beverly Engel, Beverly Holman, Wendy Maltz and Mary Jane Williams. Through communal reinforcement many empirically unsupported notions, including the claim that about half of all women have been sexually abused, get treated as a 'fact' by many people. Psychologist Carol Tavris writes In what can only be called an incestuous arrangement, the authors of these books all rely on one another's work as supporting evidence for their own; they all recommend one another's books to their readers. If one of them comes up with a concocted statistic--such as "more than half of all women survivors of childhood sexual trauma "-- the numbers are traded like baseball cards, reprinted in every book and eventually enshrined as fact. Thus the cycle of misinformation, faulty statistics and unvalidated assertions maintains itself. (Tavris, 1993) The only difference between this group of experts and say, a group of physicists is that the child abuse experts have achieved their status as authorities not by scientific training but by either (a) experience [they were victims themselves or they have treated victims of abuse in their capacity as social workers] or (b) they wrote a book on child abuse. The child abuse experts are not trained in scientific research which is not a comment on their ability to write or to do therapy, but which does seem to be one reason for their scientific illiteracy. (Tavris, 1993) Here are a few of the unproved, unscientifically researched notions that are being bandied around by these child abuse experts: One, if you doubt that you were abused as a child or think that it might be your imagination, this is a sign of 'post-incest syndrome'. Two, if you can not remember any specific instances of being abused, but still have a feeling that something abusive happened to you, 'it probably did'. Three, when a person can not remember his or her childhood or have very fuzzy memories, 'incest must always be considered as a possibility'. And four, 'If you have any suspicion at all, if you have any memory, no matter how vague, it probably really happened. It is far more likely that you are blocking the memories, denying it happened'. There have been many symptoms suggested as indicators of past abuse. These symptoms range from headaches to irritable bowls. In fact, one psychologist compiled a list of over 900 different symptoms that had been presented as proof of a history of abuse. When he reviewed the professional literature, he found that not one of the symptoms could be shown to be an inclusive indication of a history of abuse. Given the lack of consistent scientific evidence, therapists must be careful in declaring that abuse has infact occurred. (London, 1995) Whole industries have been built up out of the hysteria that inevitably accompanies charges of the sexual abuse of children. Therapists who are supposed to help children recover from the trauma of the abuse are hired to interrogate the child, in order to find out if they have been abused. But all too often the therapist suggests the abuse to the child and the child has 'memories' of being abused, but no rational person should find a parent or caretaker guilty on the basis of such tainted testimony. [note 1] Increasingly throughout the continent, grown children under going therapeutic programs have come to believe that they suffer from "repressed memories" of incest and sexual abuse. While some reports of incest and sexual abuse are surely true, these decade delayed memories are too often the result of False Memory Syndrome caused by a disastrous "therapeutic" program. False Memory Syndrome has a devastating effect on the victim and typically produces a continuing dependency on the very program that creates the syndrome. False Memory Syndrome proceeds to destroy the psychological well being not only of the primary victim but through false accusations of incest and sexual abuse other members of the primary victim's family. The American Medical Association considers recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse to be of uncertain authenticity, which should be subject to external verification. The use of recovered memories is fraught with problems of potential misapplication.[note 2] The dangers of this model are apparent: not only are false memories treated as real memories, but real memories of real abuse may be treated as false memories and may provide real abusers with a believable defense. In the end, no one benefits from encouraging a belief in memory which is unfounded. Whatever the theory of memory one advocates, if it does not entail examining corroborating evidence and attempting to independently verify claims of recollected abuse, it is a theory which will cause more harm than good. Carl Jung, an early Freudian disciple and later heretic, extended this model of memory by adding another area of repressed memories to the unconscious mind, an area that was not based on individual past experiences at all: the "collective" unconscious. The collective unconscious is the repository for acts and mental patterns shared either by members of a culture or universally by all humans. Under certain conditions these manifest themselves as archetype: images, patterns and symbols, that are often seen in dreams or fantasies and that appear as themes in mythology, religion and fairy tales. The Archetype of the Archetype Model can be traced back to Plato's various beliefs about the eidos. (Forms of reality which were variously described by Plato but always were held up as 'more real' than the world of sense experience which, in some way, was always held up as inferior to and dependant on the eidos.) The Platonic Model avoids the problem of determining whether or not a memory is accurate by claiming that the memory is not of a personal experience at all. It also confuses several types of mental states. It completely blurs the distinction between dream states and conscious states by eliminating the difference between remembering a sense experience one actually had and remembering a sense experience one never actually had. This model gives validity to every fantasy and desire. If one is clever, though, one can destroy the first model with the second one. For example, a Jungian could claim that the repressed memories of all those who are now blaming their current troubles on forgotten and repressed memories of child abuse, are not memories of actual abuse but of an Archetype, the Abused Child Archetype. The story of Hansel and Gretel might be pulled in for "scientific" support of the idea. Unsupported assertions might be made regarding the unconscious desire of all children to be loved by their parents: as children, love could only be understood in terms of ego gratification, but as adults love is understood primarily in sexual terms. Because of the incest taboo, we can not bear the thought of wanting to be loved sexually by our parents, so this desire must be expressed in a perverse and inverse way: our parents love us sexually. But there is no evidence for this based upon our past or current relationship with our parents, so the mind creates the evidence by remembering being sexually abused as a child. Thus, the memory we have as adults of being sexually abused by our parents is actually the expression of the universal desire to be loved by our mother and father. It has nothing to do with any real experience; it has everything to do with a universal human desire. It also serves as a convenient excuse to absolve us of all responsibility for our failures and incompetence. The reason we are so screwed up is because our parents screwed us! How accurate and reliable is memory? We're often wrong in thinking we accurately remember things. Studies on memory have shown that we often construct our memories after the fact, that we are susceptible to suggestions from others that help us fill in the gaps in our memories of certain events. (Hyman, Jr., Husband & Billings, 1995) That is why, for example, a police officer investigating a crime should not show a picture of a single individual to a victim and ask if the victim recognizes the assailant. If the victim is then presented a line up and picks out the individual whose picture the victim had been shown, there is no way of knowing whether the victim is remembering the assailant or the picture. Another interesting fact about memory is that studies have shown that there is no significant correlation between the subjective feeling of certainty a person has about memory and that memory being accurate. Also, contrary to what many believe, hypnosis does not aid memory's accuracy because subjects are extremely suggestible while under hypnosis. (Loftus, 1980) It is possible to create false memories in people's minds by suggestion. The mind does not record every detail of an event, but only a few features; we fill in the rest on what "must have been." For an event to make it to long term storage, a person has to perceive it, encode it and rehearse it --tell about it-- or it decays. (This seems to be the major mechanism behind childhood amnesia, the fact that children do not develop long term memory until roughly age three.) Otherwise, research finds, even emotional experiences we are sure we will never forget --the Kennedy assassination, the Challenger explosion-- will fade from memory, and errors will creep into the account that remain.(Travis, 1993) Research articles and court testimony confirm the wide spread use of memory enhancement techniques, in the belief that these will help recover accurate "memories". These techniques include hypnosis, sodium amytal, dream interpretation, guided imagery, journaling, body massages, participation in survivor groups and reading of self help books. In the summer of 1993, the American Medical Association passed a resolution warning of the dangers of misapplication in the use of these techniques. In June of 1994 they issued a warning about all recovered memories. Both the AMA and the American Psychiatric Association have stated: ..there is no completely accurate way of determining the validity of reports in the absence of corroborating information.[note 3] The problem with the practices mentioned above is that when they are used they increase the risk of influence and suggestibility. Why would someone remember something so horrible if it really did not happen? This is a haunting question, but there are several possible explanations which might shed light on some of the false memories. A pseudomemory, for example, may be a kind of symbolic expression of troubled family relationships. There may be a cultural climate in our society in which the belief in the relationship between sexual abuse and individual pathology is nurtured. It may be that in such a climate people more readily believe things happened when they didn't. When people enter therapy, they do so to get better. They want to change. People also tend to look for some explanation for why they have a problem. Clients come to trust the person they have chosen to help them. Because they are trying to get better, clients tend to rely on the therapist's opinion. If the therapist believes that the reason that the client has a problem is because of some past trauma, and especially if the therapist believes that the patient will not get better unless he or she remembers the trauma, the patient will work to find what he or she thinks is a trauma memory in order to get better. Richard Ofshe, Ph.D. and Ethan Watters noted that, "No one -- not the patients, therapists, parents or critics of recovered memory therapy -- question that this therapy is an intensely difficult and painful experience. That the pain of therapy is real should not be accepted, however, as an argument that the memories uncovered are accurate. One's emotional reaction to a perceived memory need not correlate with the veracity of that event, but rather only to whether one believes that event to be true."[note 4] Therapists may believe that they are helping clients and improving a culture in which sex abuse is far too prevalent. A patient may find group acceptance in the cadre of survivors and find "the" reason for problems. Patients suffering from severe psychological symptoms are known to engage in what is called, "effort after meaning" (Bass & Davis, 1988), in that they seek some explanation, however remote, for suffering. So, should accounts of repressed memory be dismissed out of hand? Of course not! But there should be an attempt to corroborate such memories with independent evidence and testimony before drawing conclusions about actual abuses or crimes. Such accounts should be taken very seriously and should be critically examined, giving them all the attention and investigative analysis we would give to any allegation of crime. But we should not rush to judgement, either about the accuracy of the memories of about the causal connection between past experiences and present problems. We should neither automatically reject as false memories which have been repressed for years and are suddenly recollected, nor should we automatically accept such memories as true. In terms of verification of their accuracy, these memories should not be treated any differently than any other type of memory. NOTES 1. Yet, it has happened. In a modern version of the Salem witch hunts, the McMartin pre-school case exemplifies the very worst in institutionalized justice on the hunt for child molesters. See, Mason, M. (Sept. 1991). The McMartin case revisited: the conflict between social work and criminal justice, Social Work, v.36, no.5. 391-396. [on evaluating the credibility of children as witnesses in sexual abuse cases] , 2. See, Council on Scientific Affairs, (1994). American Medical Association, June 16. 3. See, Council on Scientific Affairs, (1994). American Medical Association, June 16. 4. See, Ofshe, R., & Watters, E., (1994). Making Monsters: False Memory, Psychotherapy and Sexual Hysteria. p.109. REFERENCES Bass, E. & Davis, L., (1988). The Courage To Heal, p.173. Council on Scientific Affairs, (1994). American Medical Association, June 16. Hyman, I.E. Jr., Husband, T.H. & Billings, F.J., (1995). Prompting false childhood memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 9, pp.181-197. Lindsay, S. & Read, D., (1994). Applied Cognitive Psychology, 8, p.302. London., (1995). Independent Practitioner, March 1, 64. Loftus, E., (1980). Memory, Surprising New Insights Into How We Remember and Why We Forget, Reading, Mass,: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Loftus, E., & Ketcham, K., (1987). Eye Witness Testimony: Civil and Criminal, New York, N.Y.: Kluwer Law Book Publishers. Loftus, E., (1980). Eye Witness Testimony, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Mason, M., (Sept. 1991). The McMartin case revisited: the conflict between social work and criminal justice," Social Work, 36, no. 5, pp.391-396. Ofshe, R., & Watters, E., (1994). Making Monsters: False Memory, Psychotherapy and Sexual Hysteria. p.109. Tavris, C., (1993). Hysteria and the Incest Survivor Machine, Sacramento Bee, Forum section, January 17, p.1. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Family Values.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Family Values When raising a child one is taught values by their families that they feel are important for their child to have. I believe that family values consist of certain actions and qualities that are important to a family to uphold. Values that are important in my family are honesty, trust and to have respect for others. Each of these values is equally important in my family. They played a big role into making me the person I am now. Growing up in my family taught me that honesty is the best policy. When I would get into trouble as a child I would often try to lie to my mom thinking that would save me from being punished. I soon learned that lying would only get me into more trouble than I was already. Honesty has given me the reputation of being a good friend. One can always rely on me to let them know what they are doing or how something looks on them. In return for my honesty I have received respect from my family and friends. Respect is an important value to be taught when growing up. Through the years I have learned that in order to learn anything you must have respect for others. I have learned many valuable lessons from listening to my grandmother. She has told me many of her experiences, which has made me a better person. Having respect for other people has allowed me to be more open-minded and see qualities in people that most would not. I have always listened to what my friends and family has to say. That doesn't always mean that I agree with them, but it is their opinion, so I respect it. In return I receive respect from them. As people begin to respect me more their trust in me also grows. Trust is a value that was very hard for me to learn. I was always afraid that someone was going to hurt me one way or another. My mother was always telling me that I should learn to trust others so that they could help me from time to time, but I never could do it. Eventually I finally learned to trust others a few years ago. I have realized that other people can do many things for you if you just trust in them. This helps me in the relationships I have with my friends. Trust doesn't happen overnight, it takes time. I have learned that trusting certain people is worth the risk, and helps the relationships I have with them. All values that families instill in their children are important. They are the deciding factors that help a person grow. Values also determine how one treats others and how they will be treated in return. Learning honesty, respect, and to have trust in others has made me a better person. I feel that I am growing to be someone that can be relied on for almost anything. These values will benefit me for many years to come. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Flattery Holds The Key.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Flattery Holds The Key It's a Saturday night and you want to go out for the evening. To do this you need the car, what do you do? Flattery is the way to go: " Mom, did you lose weight? You look amazing! Is that a new hair color? New outfit? " Your mom is so flattered that when you ask for the car she doesn't need to think twice before she hands you the keys. From that point on, you know that whenever you want something all you have to do is put on the charm, flash that big smile and tell a few white lies. After this your wish is their command. Why is this? Well, as you can see flattery will get you everywhere. Even Shakespeare knew the powers of flattery. He portrays in flattery in the play King Lear by the characters Regan and Goneril. It is clear that flattery makes every goal attainable whether it be wealth, power and even the most sacred emotion love. It is unimaginable that a father would divide his wealth among his children according to their skills in flattery. All parents are supposed to love their children at an equal level, no matter how much their child flatters them. Which parent would think to ask their children to outdo each other in a battle of words to win their money and material goods. This is the case in Shakespeare's King Lear. Even in the first scene Lear is asking his daughters which one of them loves him more. " Which of you shall we say doth love us most? That we our largest bounty may extend" (I,i, 52-53). With this demand of knowing who loves him more, Lear offers a reward, all his land. This reward is key to the show of emotion each daughter displays to please her father. His two older daughters jump at the opportunity to compliment and flatter their father, but their words are empty promises and lies. These two daughter are only kind to Lear when he has money: The wise fool tells Lear that only when there is a reward will he be treated kindly by his children. "Fathers that wear rags/ Do make their children blind;/ But fathers that bear bags/ Shall see their children kind" (II,iv,48-51). Regan and Goneril feed their father pretty words on a silver platter and Lear swallows every lie. Regan and Goneril tell the King that their love is so deep they cannot find words to express their emotions. The reason they do not find the words to express their love is because the have no TRUE love to show him. Cordelia on the other hand decided to tell the truth to Lear and not feed her father empty promises this got her nothing "Nothing will come of nothing." (I,i,93). Lear chooses not to give his favorite daughter anything all because unlike Regan and Goneril she chose not to flatter him. Regan and Goneril did not stop at Lears material goods they wanted the whole deal. Their flattery also put them in a position to take over all of Lears powers as King. Once Regan and Goneril received all of Lears money they continued to want more so they decided to go for his power and title as king. Flattery is also used for this in the real world. For example in the business industry if you want to get a promotion what do you do? There are two options, either you work very hard and eventually MAYBE you will be acknowledged for your effort, which is the honest way, or you can flatter and compliment your superior slowly becoming their acquaintance then friend and easing yourself into a position of higher authority. Flattery holds the key into making your life a better one and Regan and Goneril were skilled in this art form. Once Lear had no money left and his only possession was his title he still had some worth to the more greedy of his three daughters, Regan and Goneril. They would not stop at anything to get all that the king morally possessed. At first Goneril was kind to him letting him stay in her castle, but then once she saw that no one really considered Lear as King anymore she took away half his knights, the one thing that Lear could show the world that he was still King. The flattery had so affected Lear that he defended Regan when Kent says she has put him in the stocks: Lear: No, no, they would not! Kent: Yes, they have. Lear: By Jupiter, I swear no! Kent: By Juno, I swear ay! Lear: They durst (would not dare to) not do it; They could not, would not do it. 'Tis worse than murder ... (II,iv,19-23) Lear is in denial, he does not realize what his children have done to him and he believed it all. The words they fed him weren't as sweet as he had believed. Although in King Lear it is wealth and power that are more sought after. In the real world flattery is most often used in the case of love. "When I call you beautiful, it's cause I can. When you think I'm sucking up, I sort of am. The little lies that make you feel good I say more often that I should..." This verse of the song "Make You Mad" by the Odds describes perfectly how flattery is used in love. How do you start a relationship? You have to meet new people and the way to do that is to pick the person up (not in the literal sense of the word). What is a pick-up line? It is a compliment or flattery and if someone came up to you and said something like: "Your father must be a thief because he stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes" would you not feel flattered? Personally I would feel like queen of the world and probably end up leaving the party or whatever place I was at with that particular person. Even here the person might be telling you lies, but the thing is that you never know, perhaps this person is actually telling the truth. Flattery can help you in love because it is what lights the fire in a relationship, without flattery what could you tell your lover. Even the words I love you are flattery. These words are the strongest flattery ever. Goneril and Regan knew the power of these words and used them to their advantage. "Goneril: Sir, I love you more than word can yield the matter..." (I,i,56). "Regan: I find she names my very deed of love..." (I,i,73). Each sister uses the word LOVE to suck up to Lear and is successful in that way of getting their fathers so called love. This flattery not only got the sisters their fathers love it also got them everything else that they wanted. Since the day we were born we have been flattered with things like "what a pretty baby" "WOW! You must have grown another foot since I last saw you." . This way of being brought up brings us to believe flattery is the way to live your life. King Lears elder daughter also believed this and used flattery to their advantage to get their father's wealth, power and love. Although on occasion flattery is actually the truth, on the most part flattery is a lie. So if in reality we lie when we flatter others, aren't we at the same time lying to ourselves??? f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Flirting.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Flirting Flirting The New Flirting Game When it comes to flirting today, women are not waiting around for men to make the first move, as they would have. Monica Moore has spent more than 200 hours observing the way women flirt. Her findings are they give non-verbal cues that get a flirtation rolling fully two-thirds of the time. A man may think that he is making the first move because he is the one to literally go over and talk to the girl, but usually it is a look or an action the sets him off. By standard, the women who attract the most men are the ones with the best figure. That is not true the women who get the most response are the ones who send the most signals. Example a women who does 30 displays an hour will get more response from a person who does four displays an hour. Some of the non-verbal behaviors are glancing, glazing, smiling, nodding, lip licking, and pouting. When a women sees a target she looks at the person then glances at the person many tomes after. This is shy and indirect but it is a cue. If a man fails to notice the woman will walk by several times hips swaying, breasts pushed out, and head up high. Eyebrow flashing, the raising of eyebrows of both eyes, followed by a rapid lowering. The coy smile, tilting the head downward, with partial averting of the eyes and, at the end covering her mouth. Exposed neck, turning the head so that the head is faced away and the side of the neck is bared. These are all examples of nonverbal behavior that women do to attract men. It is also researched that a gay male will act as a girl sending out the same signals as a girl would. Also a gay girl will be passive and wait for the signals. This article relates to class because it shows how instinctively women naturally makes a pass at a man. In class we learned on how a girl or guy naturally act when put in a situation that they feel uncomfortable about. This was a very interesting article for the fact that the topic f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Forensic psychology outline.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hypnosis is used in both Clinical and Forensic psychology. Hypnosis has been approved as a valid clinical tool. It helps to open suppressed knowledge to be recalled. Often times this knowledge would not be available in the conscious mind. The hypnotist will place the patient/ client in a hypnotic state and then proceed to ask a series of questions that may trigger memory. There are few problems with hypnosis in clinical psychology, but poses some in forensic psychology. My paper will be asking the question, " Is hypnosis a valid tool in a court of law?" Forensic psychology uses hypnosis in eyewitness testimony. This can be a positive investigative tool if the hypnotists do an ethical job. There are problems that exist, such as, leading questions. This works similar to a leading question in a court case. In this setting the client is in a vulnerable state of mind, which makes it easier to give false testimony. Another problem that exists is debate in the ability of the conscious mind to be present during hypnosis. Some psychologists say an individual will not say things they don't want to hypnotize or not. Does hypnosis increase or increase the error rate of a testimony? This is another question raised in forensic psychology. I would also like to explore the judicial laws on hypnosis. The United States have 2/3 of the states legislatively against the use of hypnotism in a court of law. This still leads to conflict as far as individuals Constitutional Rights. As a whole in this paper I would like to discuss the role of hypnosis in forensic psychology. I would also like to explain the role it plays in clinical psychology, so that I can portray a better understanding of the technique is a relaxed content. I will incorporate person experience and insight to hypnosis. I will examine the use of hypnosis for eyewitness testimony; the positives and negatives. In conclusion I will discuss the judicial laws for and against hypnosis in a court of law. Carrie Czumak Outline- Writing Assignment Robert Delprino, Ph.D. Psychology 389 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Freud and Marx.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Freud and Marx Freud and Marx it can be argued were both, as individuals, dissatisfied with their societies. Marx more plainly than Freud, but Freud can also be seen as discontent in certain aspects such as his cynical view of human nature. Each were great thinkers and philosophers, but both seemed unhappy. Perhaps the social ills and trouble each perceived in the world about them were only the reflections of what each of the thinkers held within themselves. Each person observes the same world, but each of us interprets that information in a different way. They both saw the world as being injust or base. Each understood the disfunctions in society as being caused by some aspect of human greed or other similar instinct. They did however, disagree on what the vehicle for these instincts' corrupting influences are. Freud claimed that tension caused by the stuggle to repress anti-social instincts eventually was released and caused the social evils he observed. Marx also saw instincts at work but not the tensions and Id that Freud saw, Marx simply credited man's greed and the subsequent oppression of other men as the root to all that was wrong with civilization. It is interesting to note that both Freud and Marx saw conflict but each traced it back to sources each was respectively educated in. Freud was a Psychoanalyst and his understanding of the mind was very conflict oriented. He saw man as a kind of glorified animal who had the same desires and needs as any other animal. The only true difference between the human-animal and other animals was that the human-animal possessed an intellect. Freud divided man's psyche into three parts, the Id, Ego, and SuperEgo. What differed the human-animal from any other animal was the SuperEgo, which arose from man's intellect. The Super-Ego as Freud theorised it is the values of one's parents internalised. He went further to then explain that unhappiness in life is caused by the conflict between the Id and the SuperEgo. As stated, all of Frued's philosophy was very conflict oriented so it is not difficult to understand then how Freud applied this view macrocosmically to society as a whole. Freud addressed this in his essay, "Civilization and It's Discontents". In it, Freud claimed that civilizations are developed through the channeling of anti-social erotic and aggressive urges into constructive outlets. He went further and explained that social ills are caused by those members of society who are not satisfied with the substitutes supplied by the channelling of anti-social instincts into social creative energies. Such repression causes a certain tension which after awhile cannot be repressed and is released in socially unacceptable behaviour. As Freud explained it, "Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another". Freud saw humanity as being destined to stuggle as long as humanity exists. In his own words, "This struggle is what all life essentially consists of and the evolution of civilizations may therefore be simply describes as the struggle for the life of the human species". Although like Freud, he saw conflict within society, Karl Marx had radically different ideas and perceptions about humanity and civilization. Marx saw the same things as Freud, but chalked it up to inter-economic class conflict instead of conflict within one's psyche. This class conflict was caused by one class, the Bourgeois, which he characterized as having the great majority of wealth and power and having rule over the lower class, or Proletariots, which worked for the Bourgeois. This view of economic class strife was just one stage of Marx's idea that all of history was leading up to some finality and that at such a time all of man would be able to live in a Utopia. Marx also applied this idea in reverse and attempted to explain that the Proletariot class and Bourgeois class have existed in varying forms for all of mankind's history. He tried to illustrate using the example of slavery and feudalism that each time a form of oppression by a class of another class was destroyed a new form took it's place. Marx felt that it was a Communist's responsibility to awaken the mostly ignorant Proletariot to this and help to abolish the concept of private property, which he also believed was the primary means of the Bourgeois to oppress the Proletariot workers. Marx predicted that Capitalism and it's Bourgeois patrons would eventually become thin out due to competition and therefore the wealth would become increasingly more centralised in fewer people's pockets. The spread of wealth would eventually become so uneven and lop-sided that a revolution would occur and the Bourgeois would be overthrown. Marx believed that Capitalism was probably the last form of oppression and once overthrown, everyone would live as a single society where all men could live in peace without rule over one another, Utopia. Freud and Marx although similar in some ways, held very different views about the world around them. Aside from the obvious difference that Freud believed the cause of social evils was within man himself and Marx saw the problem as being an economic one as long as history itself, there are other more specific differences. Freud saw the conflict as being internal and therefore expressed within the society in which a man is part of, but Marx saw the conflict in a more black-and-white sense. To Marx, it was between two groups of people, the oppressed and the oppressors. Marx however was also generally more optimistic, especially when it came to predictions of the future. He saw the underdogs, the Proletariots eventually overcoming adversity and establishing Utopia. Freud is much less exciting for all he could divine was that humanity would continue to struggle. Freud seemed perhaps to believe that the meaning of life was struggling. Freud saw nothing of the occasional revolutions Marx did, it was all one long struggle to him. Freud and Marx theorised about and observed the world around them and interpreted it in the terms and ways they were most accomplished at and familiar with. The question remains unanswered though, did Freud and Marx simply observe the true reality of the world and state what they saw, or was the world about them in actually reflecting themselves. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Frued.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Frued 1. Freud defines three stages of sexuality, the oral, the anal and the oedipal stage. An infant in its oral stage learns that there is an external world through pleasure and pain. Human nature is governed by the pleasure principle. When the infant is being breast fed he/she feels pleasure and when pulled away from the breast the baby feels pain. The pleasure principle is a way of seeking pleasure in order to avoid pain. We can't be happy all the time because three things threaten us. First of all our own bodies can't handle too much pleasure at once, eventually our bodies get older and death is inevitable. Second, natural phenomenon's get in our way, and third our relationships with others. We are emotionally dependent on others and when we take their words into consideration we become unhappy. Since we can't be happy all the time we need to learn how to avoid pain. There are five ways we can avoid pain. We can become hedonistic and gain pleasure at all costs all the time. This way of avoiding pain isn't really possible due to the fact that we wouldn't be able to accomplish anything else in our lives. Second way of avoiding pain is by voluntary isolation. A person can take him/herself out of society and become a hermit. They do not deal with people on an emotional or personal level. The third way of avoiding pain is turning away from the world, the libidinal energy is turned inward and used up by them when they create art and literature. Forth is by working in groups and forming memberships. Groups are formed for protection against brute force and have allowed us to conquer nature. The fifth way is by influencing the organism. The individual wants to kill off all instincts and does this either by using drugs and alcohol, or using eastern techniques such as yoga. Freud said that another basic way to avoid pain is love. Sexual love is the most intense form of feeling pleasure. All forms of pleasure are related to sexual love. The sublimation of love can be between brother and sister and also can exist between friends. Along with love comes the appreciation of beauty and it is related to the sexual feeling that is part of our libido. Civilization can not do without beauty even though everyone has his or her own interpretation of what is considered beautiful. Freud describes the origin of civilization through four different time periods. First in Time A, which is the time of the primal male, the male is brutish, ape-like and is governed by the pleasure principle. The male needs to gain genital pleasure no matter the consequences so he begins to associate pleasure with one woman. The male wants to keep this woman close to him and therefore he also has to keep their children. The woman stays with him for the protection he provides for her and the children. Only the male can determine who will and will not receive pleasure. The reason why this family is formed is because the forceful male wants pleasure and he needs the children to do the work that he is not willing to do. The primal male becomes known as 'The Law' and since he takes this role he feels he should be receiving all the pleasure. The children must work for him and he is the source of their pain. In Time B, the brothers come together and form the 'brother band' and use their collective will to kill the father that has caused them so much pain. After his parricide the brothers will begin to fight one another to gain the power that their father once had possessed. Time C is the time of chaos, the brothers are fighting one another to gain power and the women have to take over. The women keep the order and inform the brothers that the chaos is a result of the death of 'The Law'. In Time D, the father (the Law) returns as a symbolic totem. The concept of 'taboo' is introduced and the brothers must renounce their instincts and have to sublimate their love. The incest taboo forces them to stop trying to dominate the economy of pleasure. Due to the renunciation of instincts, genital satisfaction is sublimated. The most intense form of pleasure, sexual pleasure, now becomes aim-inhibited love. This renunciation of instincts therefore changes sexual satisfaction to affection and respect for others around us and is aim-inhibited. This kind of love has its negative results. First is when a family is so libidinally bound that it can not function without any of its members. The family does not want to widen its circle and can not give up an individual. Second is when a woman becomes neurotic due to lack of attention. Since the work of civilization is considered to be the work of men, their libidinal energy is spent on the world. The result is that the woman becomes hostile due to not being satisfied. 2. The displacement of the libidinal energy develops as we try to avoid pain. This makes people fantasize and they receive pleasure through these fantasies. People obtain satisfaction without interfering with the real world. Happiness is a function that is the economics of the individual's libido. Libido is energy and there is a finite amount and it needs to be spent. One can expend it all at once or divide it up. There is a need for something based on a lack. We all have our own way of dealing with this lack. This economics of the libido are broken up into two parts, the general and the individual. The general is true for everyone, because everyone wants to be happy. The individual puts the economics of the libido at risk for unhappiness and disappointment. People use different ways to deal with the world and distributing libidinal energy. The erotic person is emotionally dependent on others especially when it comes to relationships. His/her energy is invested in others and becomes very easily attached. The narcissistic person turns inward and is self-sufficient. They use their energy to create things and derive pleasure from themselves. The third is the action man, he conquers nature by pushing forward. He/she wants to try out his strengths on the world and this is his source of pleasure. The neurotic person can't spend his libidinal energy, this energy works as a neurosis and the person might have a nervous tick. The last is the psychotic who creates a different world as a way to expend his energy. He is a hermit and completely withdraws from society and this causes him to turn inward and lose all connection with reality. Eros (love) is responsible for increasing the size of the community. From this a society values and accepts monogamous heterosexual relationships. Civilization narrows down pleasure by posing restrictions on us. These restrictions cause individuals to repress things and these repressed objects will come back in some form.. Nature does not restrict its instincts and is guided by the pleasure principle. Since these restrictions are not natural, people acquire a hostile attitude towards civilization. Human nature is polymorphously perverse which means that pleasure can come from any object. When 'the law' causes problems when it puts restrictions on the pursuit of pleasure. Anything linked to 'the law' is acceptable and anything else is perverse and criminal. The Ideal State of Affairs is a community based on pairs of lovers and they are libidinally satisfied and nothing in the external world matters. Things are not this way because civilization has certain aims and we can not always pursue the pleasure principle. An ideal demand is "love thy neighbor as you love yourself". If you do not follow this then your neighbor becomes an object of your aggression. This means that we have to control two instincts, the pleasure and the aggression. The only thing that stops aggression is the sense of guilt. Eros is controlled by the pleasure principle, which binds people together and the community grows. Thanatos is the death drive, this causes destruction and death. Freud also believes that these two are the same. For example when we are hungry we might eat an apple. Eating the apple is negation but we need to eat to live. Our entire behavior is a manifestation of the struggle between life and death. This is also defined as one word 'lifedeath'. Civilization is the reason for our misery but our aggression is a threat to civilization. Civilization forces us to internalize all of the aggressive instinct and send it back to the ego where it originated. This new area is referred to as the super-ego. The super-ego functions as guilt. This is societies way of controlling man's aggressive tendency. The super-ego is formed during the phallic stage when a boy realizes that he can not have the mother because of his father. The boy becomes incapable of doing anything because of the 'no' of the father. The super-ego beats up on the ego; this punishment is a way of threatening to destroy the ego. Sigmund Freud concluded that human nature is governed by the pleasure principle to avoid pain. Sexual love is the most intense form of pleasure. Eros (love) is responsible for increasing the size of the community. As we try to avoid pain our libidinal energy is displaced. Due to this we all need to find our own way of distributing this energy. 1587 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Gangs.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GANGS by Anh Phu psychology 202 Dr.Norwood 11:00-12:00 (MWF) Gangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in today's cities. What has made these groups come about? Why do kids feel that being in a gang is both an acceptable and prestigious way to live? The long range answer to these questions can only be speculated upon, but in the short term the answers are much easier to find. On the surface, gangs are a direct result of human beings' personal wants and peer pressure. To determine how to effectively end gang violence we must find the way that these morals are given to the individual. Unfortunately, these can only be hypothesized. However, by looking at the way humans are influenced in society, I believe there is good evidence to point the blame at several institutions. These include the forces of the media, the government, theatre, drugs and our economic system. On the surface, gangs are caused by peer pressure and greed. Many teens in gangs will pressure peers into becoming part of a gang by making it all sound glamorous. Money is also an crucial factor. A kid (a 6-10 year old, who is not yet a member) is shown that s/he could make $200 to $400 for small part time gang jobs. Although these are important factors they are not strong enough to make kids do things that are strongly against their morals. One of the ways that kids morals are bent so that gang violence becomes more acceptable is the influence of television and movies. The average child spends more time at a TV than she/he spends in a classroom. Since nobody can completely turn off their minds, kids must be learning something while watching the TV. Very few hours of television watched by children are educational, so other ideas are being absorbed during this period of time. Many shows on television today are extremely violent and are often shown this from a gang's perspective. A normal adult can see that this is showing how foully that gangs are living. However, to a child this portrays a violent gang existance as acceptable. 'The Ends Justifies the Means' mentality is also taught through many shows where the "goody guy" captures the "bad guy" through violence and is then being commended. A young child sees this a perfectly acceptable because he knows that the "bad guy" was wrong but has no idea of what acceptable apprehension techniques are. Gore in television also takes a big part in influencing young minds. Children see gory scenes and are fascinated by these things that they have not seen before. Older viewers see gore and are not concerned with the blood but rather with the pain the victim must feel. A younger mind doesn't make this connection. Thus a gore fascination is formed, and has been seen in several of my peers. Unfortunately kids raised with this sort of television end up growing up with a stronger propensity to becoming a violent gang member or 'violent- acceptant' person. "Gangs bring the delinquent norms of society into intimate contact with the individual."1, (Marshall B Clinard, 1963). So, as you can see if TV leads a child to believe that violence is the norm this will manifest itself in the actions of the child quite, often in a gang situation. This is especially the case when parents don't spend a lot of time with their kids at the TV explaining what is right and what is wrong. Quite often newer books and some types of music will enforce this type of thought and ideas. Once this mentality is installed in youngsters they become increasingly prone to being easily pushed into a gang situation by any problem at home or elsewhere. For instance, in poor families with many children or upper-middle class families where parents are always working, the children will often feel deprived of love. Parents can often feel that putting food on the table is enough love. Children of these families may often go to the gang firstly out of boredom and to belong somewhere. As time goes on, a form of love or kinship develops between the gang members and the child. It is then that the bond between the kid and the gang is completed because the gang has effectively taken the place of the family. The new anti social structure of cities also effects the ease in which a boy/girl can join a gang. " The formation of gangs in cities, and most recently in suburbs, is facilitated by the same lack of community among parents. The parents do not know what their children are doing for two reasons: First, much of the parents' lives is outside the local community, while the children's lives are lived almost totally within it. Second, in a fully developed community, the network of relations gives every parent, in a sense, a community of sentries who can keep him informed of his child's activities. In modern living-places (city or suburban), where such a network is attenuated, he no longer has such sentries."2, (Merton Nisbet, 1971). In male gangs problems occur as each is the members tries to be the most manly. This often leads to all members participating in "one-up-manship". Quite often this will then lead to each member trying to commit a bigger and more violent crime or simply more crimes than the others. With all members participating in this sort of activity it makes for a never ending unorganized violence spree (A sort of Clockwork Orange mentality). In gangs with more intellegent members these feelings end up making each member want to be the star when the groups commit a crime. This makes the gang much more organized and improves the morale of members which in turn makes them more dangerous and very hard for the police to deal with and catch (There is nothing harder to find and deal with than organized teens that are dedicated to the group). This sort of gang is usually common of middle or upper class people although it can happen in gangs in the projects and other low rent districts too. This "one-up-manship" is often the reason between rival gangs fighting. All gangs feel powerful and they want to be feared. To do this they try to establish themselves as the only gang in a certain neighborhood. After a few gang fights hatred forms and gang murders and drive-by's begin to take place. When two gangs are at war it makes life very dangerous for citizens in the area. Less that 40% of drive-by's kill their intended victim yet over 60% do kill someone. This gang application is one of the many reasons that sexual sterotypes and pressure to conform to the same must be stopped. Lastly one of the great factors in joining a gang is for protection. Although from an objective point of view, we can see joining a gang brings more danger than it saves you from, this is not always the way it is seen by kids. In slums such as the Bronx or the very worst case, Compton, children will no doubt be beaten and robbed if they do not join a gang. Of course they can probably get the same treatment from rivals when in a gang. The gang also provides some money for these children who quite often need to feed their families. The reason kids think that the gang will keep them safe is from propoganda from the gangs. Gang members will say that no one will get hurt and make a public show of revenge if a member is hurt or killed. People in low rent areas are most often being repressed due to poverty and most importantly, race. This often results in an attitude that motivates the person to base his/her life on doing what the system that oppresses them doesn't want. Although this accomplishes little it is a big factor in gang enrollment. So, as you have seen gangs are a product of the environment we have created for ourselves. Some of these factors include: oppression, the media, greed, violence and other gangs. There seems to be no way to end the problem of gangs without totally restructuring the modern economy and value system. Since the chance of this happening is minimal, we must learn to cope with gangs and try to keep their following to a minimum. Unfortunately there is no real organized force to help fight gangs. Of course the police are supposed to do this but this situation quite often deals with racial issues also and the police forces regularly display their increasing inability to deal fairly with these issues. What we need are more people to form organizations like the "Guardian Angels" a gang-like group that makes life very tough for street gangs that are breaking laws. THE END by Anh Phu Bibliography Margot Webb, Coping with Street Gangs. Rosen Publishing Group, New York, 1990. William Foote Whyte, Street Corner Society. University of Chicago, Chicago, 1955. Peter Carroll, South-Central. Hoyte and Williams, L. A., 1987. 1 Marshall B. Clinard, Sociology of Deviant Behavior. University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, 1963, Page 179. 2 Merton Nisbet, Contempory Social Problems. Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1971, Page 588. America On Line, search egines for Lycos , Web Crawler, Yahoo , for internet topics to sites Word Count: 1563 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Gender differences.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Gender differences The topic of my research has been differences in math learning and aptitude between boys and girls. This topic was suggested to me by my mentor, Mike Millo, as it is of particular interest to him. Mr. Millo is an Algebra teacher at Ball High. Much has been made of gender differences in math by the popular media and Mr. Millo felt that it would be interesting to examine this topic and explore the findings of educational researchers. I also found this topic personally intriguing as I am currently reading the book, Failing At Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls, by Myra and David Sadker (1994), which explores gender bias in all area of education. In researching this topic I found many related research articles and extensive articles where relevant variables had been measured. I tried to focus on highly relevant articles, which examined specifically the different abilities of males and females in math or sought explanations for those differences. With one exception, the studies I reviewed supported that there are differences in math related achievement between males and females. Two of thr articles I reviewed focus on the differences in teacher interaction with male and female students in math class rooms. The Structure of Abilities in Math-Precocious Young Children: Gender Similarities and Differences by: Nancy Orbinson, Robert D. Abbott, Virginia W. Berninger, and Julie Busse (1996), the following research questions were explored: 1. Can young children who are advanced in mathematical reasoning be located efficiently by soliciting parent nominations? 2. Do measures of these children's cognitive abilities in other domains also show advancement and, if so, to what degree? 3. How do measures in verbal and visual-spatial domains relate to mathematical skills for subgroups divided by grade and gender? 4. What, if any, cognitive gender differences emerge within this group of young precocious children? My interest was focused on the last question, which relates to gender differences. The study showed gender differences apparent in every analysis. However, the study does not propose reasons for these differences. One of the possible implications of this study, that gender related differences in math ability are apparent from such a young age conflicts with information presented some of the other papers I reviewed. In three studies, there is a great emphasis on gender related abilities in math which are related to adolescence. In Gender Roles in Marriage: What do They Mean for Girls' and Boys' School Achievement, by Kimberly A. Updegraff, Susan M. McHale and Ann C. Crouter (1996), the researchers evaluate differences in family dynamics to determine what implications these might have for gender related math ability. This article was very interesting, although the research question was biting off more than it could chew. What this article finds is that girls from families who have a more egalitarian family structure are less likely to suffer a decline in math ability at adolescence. This article also suggests that it is not the girls "hard wiring" which causes math ability differences. I interpret this article as implying that the root of the problem could be in gender role stereo types. In Single Sex Math Classes: What and For Whom? One School's Experiences, Richard Durost (1996) reports that when administrators talked to many of the girls in his school, the girls stated that they felt mentally intimidated by the boys. Teachers noted that boys asked questions, talked and competed, while girls tended to reflect, listen, and cooperate. In an attempt to deal with gender related performance issues, Mr. Durost's school implemented a all female section Algebra I. The females who participated in the pilot program did show an increase in their math scores. This paper suggests that the differences in math ability are not "hard wired". That it may not be a difference in a girl's ability to "do" math or learn math, but perhaps a difficulty in a girls ability to interact in a co-educational math related settings which determines her math success. In other words, there might not be a math problem in and of itself but perhaps math differences were one manifestation of differences in inter-gender communication and interaction styles. In Gender Based Education: Why it Works at the Middle School Level, William C, Perry (1996), the principal of a middle school cites studies from the American Association of University Women (1991, 1992), supporting the theory that gender related math ability differences don't become manifest until middle school. Mr. Perry was very concerned about reports he had read or heard presented showing that there is bias against girls in the classrooms. In response to the researchers concerns, a study was done in which participating students were assigned to same sex classes. The study reports increased grade point averages for both boys and girls participating in the study. I would have liked to see the standardized test scores for both groups of students. While grades are one indicator of performance, it seems that if there is bias in teaching styles, there could be bias in grading. Standardized scores could give a better vantage point for analyzing actual differences in math comprehension. This study ties in with the following two studies which point to an institutionalized problem In G. Leder's research, Teacher Student Interactions in the Mathematics Classroom: A Different Perspective, the researcher video tapes classes to determine types and frequency of interactions with students. this was correlated with test scores, perception reports from teachers as well as self reports of math perceived math ability of the students. In this study, males and females were relatively equal in ability n the lower grade levels, but males tended to do better in the 10th grade level. This becomes very intriguing when it is noted that self report and teacher reports of perceived ability consistently rated the males higher. The qualitative aspects of this study examined content and frequency of teacher comments. There was no significant difference between males and females. In J. Becker's research, Differential Treatment of Females and Males in Mathematics Classes, the researcher observed 10 classrooms for a total of 10 days. She collected both qualitative and quantitative data. The author concludes that there is very clearly differences in the interactions between teachers and students depending on the students gender. These differences consistently favor the males. This study also reveals that both the classrooms and teachers themselves reinforce gender stereotypes portraying math as a male realm. this researcher asserts that the failure of females to excel in math is attributable to self fulfilling prophecy: girls are not expected by themselves or their teachers to do well, therefore, ultimately, they do not. My last two articles examine gender differences at the university level. The first of these two does not examine math ability, but rather attention to numerical information in gender related contexts. The Numbers Game: Gender and Attention to Numerical Information, by Jackson, Fleury, Girvin and Gerard (1995), compared men's and women's abilities to recall numerical information when it was presented in a gender related context. Not surprisingly, men were better at recalling data in male settings than women were. However, of the three context categories (male, female, neutral) both men and women did best in the neutral categories and worst in the female categories. The author suggests that this could reflect the tendency of the culture to view female related activities as less important than male or gender-neutral activities. The final article I reviewed was Gender and Mathematics Achievement Parity: Evidence from Post-Secondary Education, by Amin M. Kianian (1995). This study seemed flawed in several ways. The study examines the grades of all of the students from one teacher's university level math classes over a period of three years and then compares them for gender differences. His findings are that there are no significant differences between men's and women's math grades at the university level. I believe this study could be better than it is, because it does not show whether or not the men and women actually had a demonstratedly equal math ability. Grades could be very subjective. Accepted at face value, however, it could be suggested that this might imply that the gender related issues so prominent in the eyes of some researchers when examining the adolescent population, have disappeared by the time students go to college. I realize that this would be stretching the relevance of the study to go this far, but there are implications along these lines. Overall, after reviewing the articles which were summarized, I find myself drawn to the information showing that the gender differences in math ability seem to be predominantly manifest during adolescence. As many of the studies suggest, this is likely to be associated with interpersonal and self esteem issues. Many issues come to mind for further research. 1.) Self esteem in adolescent girls and the correlation with math ability. 2.) Does participation in sports affect gender related math learning? 3.) What are the implications of single sex classrooms for later learning? Are single sex class rooms creating a false environment, thus setting females up for "gender shock" later in life or education? 4.) What are the implications of female math teachers in the classrooms for gender related differences in math abilities. 5.) A cohort study of x population tracking them over and extended period of time to see at what points math ability, self esteem, and other related variables fluctuate. Some of these topics would be very suitable for immediate research. Others, would be best left to highly funded groups or government agencies. For my further research, I would like to explore the relationship between assertiveness in adolescent girls and its relationship to their math success. More specifically, I would like to devise a study that examines whether or not assertiveness training in adolescent girls would impact their math success. References American Association of University Women. (1991). Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America. American Association of University Women: Washington, DC American Association of University Women. (1992). How Schools Shortchange Girls. American Association of University Women: Washington, DC Becker, J. (1981). differential treatment of females and males in mathematics classes. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. 12, 40-53. Durost, R. (1996). Single sex math classes: What and for whom? One school's experiences. Bulletin, 80, 27-31. Jackson, L., Fleury, R., Girvin, J., & Gerard. D. (1995). The numbers game: Gender and attention to numerical information. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. 33, 559-569. Kianian, A. (1995). Gender and mathematics achievement parity: Evidence from post-secondary education. Education, 116, 586-592. Leder, G. (1990). Teacher/student interactions in the mathematics classroom: A different perspective. From Fenema, E. & Leder, G. (Eds.). Mathematics and Gender: Influences on Teachers and Students. New York, Teachers College. Orbinson, N., Abbott, R., Berninger, V., & Busse, J. (1996). The structure of abilities in math precocious young children: Gender similarities and differences. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 341-352. Perry, W. (1996). Gender based education: Why it works at the middle school level. Bulletin, 80, 32-35. Sadker, M & Sadker, D. (1994). Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls. New York: Touchstone. Updergraff, K., McHale, S., & Crouter, A. (1996). Gender roles in marriage: What do they mean for boys' and girls' school achievement?. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 25, 73-89. Word Count: 1866 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\GHB.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GHB, or gamma-hydroxybutyrate, is a nutrient that is part of the metabolism process in mammalians. It can be found in every cell of the human body. The greatest quantities can be found in the kidney, heart, skeletal muscles, and brown fat tissues (Chin and Kreutzer, 1992). Chin and Kruetzer also believe it to be a neurotransmitter, however that has not yet been proven. GHB is known to be a metabolite and also a precursor of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). GHB and GABA have a close structural relationship, but GHB does not act on GABA receptor sites. GHB was first synthesized about thirty years ago. A french researcher, Dr. H. Laborit, was exploring the effects of GABA in the brain. Laborit had to synthesize GHB because very little or no GABA crosses the blood-brain barrier. The difference in the two allowed GHB to cross this barrier where some of it is metabolized into GABA (Vickers, 1969). What happened was GHB exhibited a range of effects beyond what was expected from GABA. In the years to follow, the effects of GHB have been extensively researched. It has come to be used in Europe as a general anesthetic, a treatment for narcolepsy, an aid in child birth, and also as a treatment for alcoholism and withdrawal syndrome. Then in the 80's, it was available over the counter in health food stores. It was used by body builders for its ability to stimulate growth hormone release which aided in fat reduction and muscle building. However, in the last few years it has become a popular recreational drug. It gives a pleasant, alcohol like, hangover free "high" with prosexual effects. For the thirty years prior to 1990, all research papers on GHB were unanimous in reporting numerous beneficial physiological effects and the absence of long term negative effects. Vickers called it "a truly nontoxic hypnotic" and emphasized its "lack of toxicity." Vickers also showed evidence that GHB demonstrates "no toxic effects on the liver and kidney." As recent as 1989, the consensus was unchanged. Gallimberti's study from that year on its uses in treating alcohol withdrawal in humans notes that "GHB's action...seems to be without serious side effects." Gallimberti's reference to the "safety of GHB" shows how well-established this property of the nutrient had become. Then, on November 8, 1990, the FDA banned the over the counter sale of GHB in the United States. In 1991, two scientists from the California Department of Health Services wrote a report on ten "poisonings" associated with GHB. Chin and Kreutzer had warned of GHB's potential for abuse. They observed that "all interviewed patients reported a pleasurable sensation or a 'high'. Several of them..continued taking [GHB] because it made them 'feel good'." If the ten "poisonings" are looked at more closely, four involved "unknown doses," four featured the "coingestion" of other drugs, (usually alcohol), one involved unmedicated epilepsy, and another a history of grand mal seizures. Since alcohol and other central nervous system depressants are not recommended with GHB, and because it is contraindicated for epileptics, such cases are not unexpected. One point of the of the poisonings needs to be addressed--the use of the terms "coma" and "seizures" are used in the description of these ten cases. If a high dose of GHB is consumed it can cause clonus, a rapid, rhythmic contraction and relaxation of muscles which would be better described as muscle spasm or uncontrollable twitching than a seizure. GHB has also been known to cause intense drowsiness, abrupt sedation, and deep sleep which is probably better described as unarrousability or deep sedation rather than coma. The authors of these ten reports confirmed that "there have not been any reported deaths" and that "if product use is discontinued, full recovery with no long term side effects is universal." Some of the concerns that are related with GHB are some of the side effects that are present when large doses are consumed. A dose twice the recommended for relaxation can put you to sleep in a very short amount of time after consumption. In this respect it is similar to alcohol: if you drink twice as much as you normally would, you probably wouldn't function very well. Most of the people that take it find that it gives a pleasant state of relaxation and tranquility. There can also be feelings of placidity, sensuality, mild euphoria, and can also give a tendency to talk. Worries tend to fade into feelings of emotional warmth, well being, and pleasant drowsiness. The morning after is unlike that of alcohol or other drugs that induce similar feelings. Most people claim to feel refreshed and even energized the next day. The effects can be felt in as quick as five minutes to as long as twenty minutes after ingestion. It lasts for anywhere from an hour to three hours. These feelings can be prolonged by more doses when it starts to wear off. Higher levels can be reached by just small doses after the initial dose. One may experience giddiness, silliness, trouble walking and speaking, and may become dizzy. Even higher doses can induce sleep in just a matter of minutes. GHB temporarily inhibits the release of dopamine in the brain. This leads to a build up of dopamine and later increased dopamine release when the GHB wears off (Chin and Kreutzer, 1992). This releasing of the dopamine may explain the middle-of- the-night wakings which are common with higher doses, and for the energized feeling the next day. GHB also stimulates pituitary growth hormone release. One rigorous Japanese study reported nine-fold and sixteen-fold increases in growth hormone 30 and 60 minutes respectively after an intravenous administration of 2.5 grams of GHB in six healthy men between the ages of twenty five and forty (Takahara, 1977). Growth hormone levels were still at seven-fold higher at two hours. GHB induces muscle relaxation and is growing in France and Italy as an aid to child birth. It causes "spectacular action on the dilation of the cervix," decreased anxiety, greater intensity and frequency of uterine contractions, increased sensitivity to oxytocic drugs, which are used to induce contractions, preservation of reflexes, a lack of respiratory depression in the fetus, and protection against fetal cardiac anoxia (Vickers, 1969; Laborit, 1964). GHB is completely metabolized onto carbon dioxide and water, leaving absolutely no residue of toxic metabolites (Vickers, 1969; Laborit, 1972). It is so efficient that it can no longer be detected in the urine four to five hours after injected (Laborit, 1964). It also activates a metabolic process known as the "pentose pathway" which plays an important role in the synthesis of protein within the body (Laborit, 1972). GHB also creates a "protein sparing" effect (Laborit, 1964) which reduces the rate at which the body breaks down its own proteins. It is because of this and its effect on the growth hormone, that it is used in muscle building and fat loss. At extremely large doses GHB is used as an anesthetic. The large doses are followed by a small increase in blood sugar levels, and a significant decrease in cholesterol. Respiration becomes slower and deeper. Blood pressure may rise or fall slightly, or remain stable, but a mild slowing of the heart is consistent (Vickers, 1969; Laborit, 1964). Smart Drugs II called GHB "almost an ideal sleep inducing substance." Due to the relaxation experienced from small doses it is easier to fall asleep naturally. Then from larger doses sleep will be induced within five to ten minutes (Laborit, 1964). Most other hypnotics interfere with the various stages of the sleep cycle and prevents the body from getting a complete rest. GHB induced sleep is characterized by increased levels of carbon dioxide in the arteries, as in normal sleep (Vickers, 1969). During normal and GHB sleep, the central nervous system continues to be responsive to pain and other stimuli, which limits GHB's use as an anesthetic (Vickers, 1969). It also facilitates REM sleep, and non-REM (slow-wave) sleep, the stage of sleep featuring increased release of growth hormone (Laborit, 1972). And unlike the unconsciousness produced by other anesthetics, that triggered by GHB does not feature a systemic decrease in oxygen consumption (Laborit, 1964). In laboratory rats that are addicted to alcohol, withdrawal symptoms closely resemble those that are exhibited by humans. These symptoms include: tremors, convulsions, and hypersensitivity to sound. All symptoms were blocked by large doses of GHB (Fadda, 1989). Administration of GHB has also been found to prevent alcohol consumption among rats that voluntarily ingest alcohol (Fadda, 1989; Gallimberti, 1989). In a rigorous, double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted of human alcoholics, "nearly all withdrawal symptoms disappeared within two to seven hours" after administration of GHB. On a severe-moderate-mild-or-none scale, withdrawal symptoms remained below moderate during the entire period. The only side effects observed was slight, occasional, and transient dizziness. The researchers concluded, "the results clearly indicated that GHB is effective for the suppression of withdrawal symptoms in alcoholics" (Gallimberti, 1989). GHB's efficacy for treating anxiety has been positively demonstrated in tests involving schizophrenic subjects (Laborit, 1964). Its sedative properties have earned it a role as a pyschotherapeutic adjunct (Vickers, 1969). It has also been used to assist the process of "abreaction," or the release, usually through verbalization, of repressed emotion (Vickers, 1969). Unlike other anti-anxiety drugs, it's effect is non-toxic. And it encourages verbalization, and the typical lack of fear during the GHB experience would seem to provide and ideal context for the verbal exploration of difficult emotions during therapy. GHB is growing in popularity and seems to be widely available in the underground "gray market." Since most of the GHB available through such means is of the "bootleg" variety, made by those other than professionals. So there are concerns about quality and purity. As has been emphasized, the overall safety of GHB is well established, and no deaths linked to GHB have been reported in over the thirty years that it has been in use (Vickers, 1969; Chin and Kreutzer, 1992). Actually, as of 1990, there had only been forty six adverse reactions that had been reported in the United States. All which were followed by a rapid and complete recovery (Chin and Kreutzer, 1992). Unlike a large number of other drugs, GHB has no toxic effects on the liver, kidney, or other organs (Vichers, 1969; Chin and Kreutzer, 1992). Vickers in 1969 even reports that doses as high as twenty to thirty grams per twenty four hour period have been used for several days without negative consequences. Canadien studies of narcolepsy there is a use of roughly 2.5 grams for several years which resulted in no reports of long term adverse effects, or problems with issues of addiction or dependence. And in France, sub-anesthetic oral doses were used by "a large number of patients for about six years" without unfavorable effect (Laborit, 1972). The most common side effects are dizziness, nausea, and sometimes vomiting. Also there may be muscle spasms, headache, moderate slowing of the heart rate, and small changes in blood pressure can occur. And at higher doses cardiac and respiratory depression can occur. Also at these higher doses sudden sedation and loss of consciousness are expected. Some of the more unusual adverse reactions may include: diarrhea, lack of bladder control, temporary amnesia, and sleep walking. Vickers reports that there are "remarkably few" contraindications. However, those who suffer from any of the following conditions should not use GHB: severe illness of any kind, epilepsy, convulsions, slowed heart rate due to conduction problems, Cushing's syndrome, severe cardiovascular disease, hyperprolactinemia, and severe hypertension (Gallimberti, 1989; Vickers,1969). GHB should not be used with benzodiazepines, phenothiazines, various painkillers (barbiturates and opiates), alcohol, anticonvulsants, and even many other over the counter allergy and sleep remedies. The amount required for a given level of effect will vary from person to person. Once the amount is found it will stay the same, in that a tolerance does not build up. Most people find that a dose in the range of .75-1.5 grams is suitable for the prosexual effects, and that a quantity around 2.5 grams will be sufficient to force sleep. So should GHB be used for uses such as a sleep aid for those with mild sleep disorders, those in therapy sessions, those with alcoholism, and possibly those with anxiety disorders. If a drug comes along that has so many good uses and is for the most part safe, why shouldn't it be used. There are many more drugs out there that are on the shelves in the pharmacy that can not do even half of what this drug can do and that are much more dangerous. This is not a plea to legalize the drug, but instead a plea just to look at the possibilities of the drug. With no toxicity and uses that range from anesthesia to child birth to weight loss to sleep aids, how can one just label it as a "date rape" drug and forget about it. It has too much to offer on the good side than it does on the bad. New studies are coming out all the time. Possibly more is truly known about the drug than what they are telling us. However, from the information that I have gathered it seems that this could be a renaissance drug of sorts. GHB was recently put on the control list as a schedule 1 drug. Possibly now some of its uses can be examined a little more closely, for possible use in the abnormal psychology as well as other areas of medicine. REFERENCES Chin MY, Kreutzer RA and Dyer JE. Acute poisoning from gamma-hydroxybutyrate in California. West J Med (United States). 156(4): 380-4, April 1992. Fadda F, Colombo G, Mosca E and Gessa GL. Suppression by gamma-hydroxybutyrate acid of ethanol withdrawal syndrome in rats. Alcohol and Alcoholism [Great Britain]. 24(5): 447-51, 1989. Gallimberti L, Gentile N, Cibin M, Fadda F, Canton G, Ferri M, Ferrara SD and Gessa GL. Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid for treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The Lancet, 787-9, 30 September 1989. Laborit H. Correlations between protein and serontin synthesis during various activities of the central nervous system (slow and desynchronized sleep, learning and memory, sexual activity, morphine tolerance, aggressiveness, and pharmacological action of sodium gamma-hydroxybutyrate). Research Communications in Chemical Pathology and Pharmacology 3(1): January 1972. Laborit H. Sodium 4-Hydroxybutyrate. Int J Neuropharmacology [Great Britain]. 3: 433-52, 1964. Takahara J, Yunoki S, Yakushiji W, Yamauchi J and Ofuji T. Stimulatory effects of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid on growth hormone and prolactin release in humans. J Clin Endocrinal Metab 44: 1014, 1977. Vickers MD. Gamma-hydroxybutyric Acid. Int Anaethesia Clinic 7:75-89, 1969. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Hamlet Analyzed in Terms of Aristotle.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hamlet Analyzed in Terms of Aristotle's Poetics Aristotle's Poetics is considered the guide to a well written tragedy; his methods have been used for centuries. In Aristotle's opinion, plot is the most important aspect of the tragedy, all other parts such as character, diction, and thought stem from the plot. Aristotle defines a tragedy as "...an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions"(p. 22). Shakespeare's Hamlet follows this definition for the most part, and even though it is not always in agreement with Aristotle's guidelines, it is still a great and effective tragedy. Aristotle states that tragedy is "an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude"(p. 22). Hamlet is an excellent example of this. The play centers around Hamlet's quest to avenge his father's death, this is a serious action. It is also complete in the sense that all the loose ends are tied together in a sensible, believable manner. Hamlet is able to avenge his father's death by killing his uncle. Shakespeare also follows Aristotle's idea of the tragedy being of a certain magnitude. The characters are supposed to be the most perfect people whom the audience can still relate to. Hamlet is a wealthy prince, however he deals with the same problems as the common man. He is confused, paranoid, and angered about the circumstances surrounding his father's death. He is also unsure of himself and how he should handle the situation. The audience can relate to this uncertain feeling and they are able to empathize with Hamlet. Aristotle believes that in order for a tragedy to be effective, it must convey pity and fear. He defines pity as a felling that is aroused by "unmerited misfortune" (p. 27). Hamlet undoubtedly suffers this unmerited misfortune. He has done nothing to bring about his father's death. To make the situation even more painful, his mother has married his uncle whom he suspects is responsible for the tragedy. These circumstances illicit pity from the audience. The fear of impending evil is also prevalent in the play. As the plot progresses, it becomes clear that the king is plotting to kill Hamlet and Hamlet is planning to kill the king. Hamlet's plot is what Aristotle considers complex. It is accompanied by Recognition, which is "a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune"(p. 26). The Recognition occurs when the play within the play is staged for the king. The play is a reenactment of what Hamlet believes happened to his father. His uncle is so upset and flustered by the play that he runs from the room. This action indicates to Hamlet that his suspicions were correct and his uncle is indeed responsible for King Hamlet's death. Hamlet later finds the king in a church praying and is tempted to kill him there, but decides against it because he will go to heaven since he is praying. From this, the audience is able to infer that Hamlet will attempt to kill his uncle later in the play. Aristotle stresses that diction is important to make the tragedy believable. Shakespeare utilizes diction perfectly and everything his characters say is appropriate for them to be saying. For instance, the king speaks like a king, he always dodges like a true politician. There is an obvious and necessary difference between the way he speaks and the way the gravediggers speak. The gravediggers are common men and therefor, speak as thought they are common men. There are some aspects of Poetics that Shakespeare does not follow. For instance, Aristotle states that in a great tragedy, there should be unity of time, place, and action. By this he means the action of the play should take place in the amount of time it takes to perform it, it should occur in one setting, and there should be one main plot or action. Shakespeare breaks all these rules. The play spans over a significant period of time. Also, the action occurs in various settings ranging from the palace to a plain in Denmark. Finally, there are several plots taking place simultaneously. For instance, as Hamlet is struggling with the death of his father, Ophelia is going insane because Hamlet is not returning her love or showing any interest in her. The audience feels pity for Ophelia throughout her ordeal as well. Aristotle would not approve of all the subplots that occur within this play. Shakespeare's Hamlet is a great and effective tragedy which follows most of the guidelines set by Aristotle in Poetics. There are some aspects of Poetics that Shakespeare does not include or follow, however the play still effects the audience in the desired manner. In reality, Hamlet would not have the same impact if it followed all the guidelines. For instance, the whole aspect of the subplot about Ophelia's insanity adds so much to the play. Shakespeare broke some of Aristotle's rules and still wrote an effective tragedy that has been appreciated by audiences for centuries. Saltzburg 5 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Happiness.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Happiness There is an ever-growing problem with our world; unhappiness. Unhappiness has plagued everyone at a time or two, sometimes even more. Because of this our world is suffering enormously: shootings, hate crimes, and wars are a few results of this widespread unhappiness. One might say there is no hope for our world, but there is. To end this unhappiness everyone should eat Skittles, own a goldfish, and get plenty of sunshine. One may ask, what can Skittles do? When the question should be what can not Skittles do? Not only can Skittles make you happy, they could end world hunger. But the focus right now is on ending unhappiness. Skittles, (by the author's own scientific research) can and will make anyone 79% happier. So the next time someone is stressed out at work, fighting with their spouse, have no house, or lost their favorite shirt, don't worry, just eat Skittles! Imagine how much happier the world would be, if instead of getting sad or upset, everyone ate Skittles and therefore made them happy. In the case of goldfish, here are some reasons why goldfish can end the world's unhappiness. Owning a pet will lengthen your life. People who have the responsibility of the care of an animal can have lower blood p-pressure and fewer diseases. Goldfish make excellent pets because they are easy to care for, interesting and friendly, and won't talk back. What more proof does one need? Imagine if everyone could have lower blood pressure, fewer diseases, and a friend who will keep every secret! Well, everyone can, if they buy goldfish. These animals, when cared for correctly, and with the frequent consumption of Skittles, can make the world happy again. Now, the last way to make everyone happy, is by making sure the world gets plenty of sunshine. Sunshine is vital in the life of human beings. It is recommended for everyone to get at least fifteen minutes of sunshine a day. Since sunshine is a required bodily function, there is no excuse for not getting any. Not only is it required, but sunshine is the best reason to be outside. One can go swimming, on a picnic, or eat Skittles in the sunshine. Sunshine lets people stay fit, healthy, and happy. So lets take advantage of this ever-renewable resource, and get happy! The world is a sad place, but it doesn't have to be. If everyone would just eat Skittles, own a goldfish, and have fun in the sun, this unhappiness could end. But until then it is still recommended to consume Skittles as often as desired. Another pathway to happiness the author neglected, but is also a major one, is to own a Harley Davidson, and drink Pepsi, everyday. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Health.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Health People who have low self image, and low self esteem, are unhappy with whom they are in life. Things that are done well are often taken for granted. Where as mistakes are heavily looked upon. One's position in life and previous experiences can also add to negative feelings. Constantly being told you're headed no where or that you're nothing but a failure can lead to a low self esteem and low self image. There are many things that can be done to raise self image, and self esteem. Responding to criticism positively is very important. If someone points out a flaw in something you've done, strive to fix it. They are not trying to belittle you. They are just helping. Be positive and confident in yourself, and listen to your own opinions. What you have to say is just as important as anything else anyone has to share. Hard work to improve the things you're not good at is another way that can help you feel better about yourself. Finally always remember your only human, you can't be perfect at everything you do. The process that I have created to help resolve mental and emotional issues consists of two steps. First it is very important to get your emotions out. Expressing your feelings through poetry or drawings are two ways to resolve mental and emotional issues. If you don't feel artistic, try to let your feelings out through other means. Let your anger out on a punching bag or even a basketball court, rather than repressing it. Sigmund Freud labeled repression as the number one bodily defense mechanism against fear. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said "you have nothing to fear but fear itself." Not letting your emotions out never allows you to be free of them, therefore hindering your happiness in life. The second aspect of our process is to be happy. Do things that make you happy. If you think about it, when you're happy nothing really matters. No matter how many times you have done something wrong or failed when you're happy these things don't bother you. The second process that I have created is intended to lead others and myself to mental and emotional satisfaction. I think if you view the world with an optimistic eye you can only receive satisfaction. Being happy with who you are as a person is very important. As phony as it may sound I strongly believe that it is true. If you are happy with who you are there is no need to rob, steel, or put others down. If everyone was happy with who they were, the world would be the ideal utopia, where everyone can achieve peace of mind. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\How childhood history and culture affects how we live as adults.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ How childhood history and culture affects how we live as adults Childhood history has a lot to do with how we live as adults because certain childhood events could trigger something that would last a life time. Take for example if a child fails at something and the parent does nothing to help the child, the child will grow up thinking that failing is alright and that he or she will have a hard time in life with their job or in school or life in general. Many events from a persons' life can stick with the person throughout their life like a thorn in the side. The event will every so often reappear in the persons mind when some event in the present triggers a familiarity with the past event and the person could go in to a state of worry or even worse shock. In this occurrence it could immobilize the person and result in a lackluster in the persons life and might not be able to carry on until the issue is resolved. Many events that have happened in a persons childhood could result in how they live for example: a child who lived a certain way might become a custom to that way and live like that for the rest of his or her life and may not ever come out of that comfort zone until he or she is addressed with the issue. They may not want to try new things or meet new people or anything for that matter. The childhood history also has an affect on the relationship with the persons' parents. Events that occurred in the past redevelop and the person might love their parent or hate their parent depending on their child hood. This is also true with relationships with a life partner. However they were brought up will affect their relationship with their partner. Many psychiatrists believe that child hood events could show want might be troubling people, and when they find out what happened they usually could solve the problem. The person's surroundings as a child is also a factor on how the person will live when they are adults. Usually when a person is surrounded by comfort the person will be a warm gentle person, but a person who is surrounded by violence and anger as a child will usually grow up to be and angry and violent person. In conclusion I believe that the child hood of a person or persons' will greatly decide what his or hers adult life. Their child hood memories will stick with them either in their mind which they always remember a certain event that changed their life, or a memory will stay with them subconsciously and at a certain time a event in their life might trigger that memory that was in their mind subconsciously and arise and cause some pain and might be hard for the person to deal with in their adult life. Thus we should try to life a good life and not let too many things trouble you as a child because we still have our adult life to let things trouble us. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Human Desire to Fit In.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Human Desire to Fit In Two common ways of handling a situation are either to do so according to one¹s own personal needs and desires with no specific regard to other people, or one can base a decision on how it will be viewed by others. The vast majority of people fall on the side of being worried about what others are saying and thinking. Both good and bad can come from living this way, but it has seemed to remain constant throughout history. People have a natural desire to belong, and to fit in with a certain group. No matter what group an individual chooses, that individual almost always is forced sacrifice a part of them self in order to seem more a part of things. People in this world seem to need companionship and are often too weak to stand alone. As a result, they stand together in what ever group they are best suited to. It is a point of interest to many of the people who have stopped to think about this fact. The idea that people live according to how others will perceive then has been established as the rule, not the exception. The real question now lies in the reasons for this way of life. It was hypothesized by C.S. Lewis that this desire to belong and to fit in is a natural human characteristic. He believed that people have an instinctive drive to belong, in the same sort of way species reproduce. It is possible that his theory of instinctive necessity is accurate, and humans are as a whole are week and scared when they are faced with solitude. The old adage ³there is safety in numbers² is appropriate in this topic. Often in this world terrible things happen because people group up and commit unspeakable acts, then take shelter in the numbers of those involved. The Annual Freaknik ³celebration² is the perfect example. Thousands of individuals crowd the streets of Atlanta and pillage the city for a weekend, all the while they show no respect for the laws or the residents of the city. This can be directly related to the issue of people doing things to be a part of the group. If these people were asked individually why they did these terrible things, for the most part they would respond by saying ³everyone else is doing it²². This could be translated to ³I am just trying to be a part of things². In this particular example those involved sacrifice any sense of morals or upbringing that they might have had. "Everybody is doing it". This sentence has ruined thousands of lives. It could could be the worst four word combination in the English language. People have been convinced to begin drug use, drunk driving, cliff jumping, and countless other unwise activities. The reason behind this is clear, the human necessity to fit in and to seem cool is often to strong to compete with. A person could have the world and all of its riches, but with out someone to share it with, that person would be totally alone. People need each other. This is a fact of the world, and it will never change. This need is a natural desire that is found every where in every person with very few exceptions. It is true that trouble can brew and awful things can happen because of these groups, but the advantages associated far out weigh the costs. These groups that people form between themselves often serve as shelter for the lonely, for this reason it is natural for people to go far out their way if necessary to belong a particular crowd. As a result the opinion of others is crucial part of life. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Hypnosis.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hypnosis The Encarta Encyclopedia defines hypnosis as,"altered state of consciousness and heightened responsiveness to suggestion; it may be induced by normal persons by a variety of methods and has been used occasionally in medical and psychiatric treatment. Most frequently brought about through actions of an operator, or "hypnotist", who engages the attention of a subject and assigns certain tasks to him or her while uttering monotonous, repetitive verbal commands; such tasks may include muscle relaxation, eye fixation, and arm leviation. Hypnosis also may be self-induced, by trained relaxation, concentration on one's own breathing, or by a variety of monotonous practices and rituals that are found in many mystical, philosophical, and religious systems. " Another generally reliable source Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines it as,"a sleep like condition psychically induced, usually by another person, in which the subject loses consciousness but responds, with certain limitations, to the suggest ions of the hypnotist." As I stated earlier, these two sources are very reputed and the general population believes that they are correct. Yet, however often they may be correct, in this case they are not, or at least not completely. Not according to the scientific community at least. My sources for this statement are The World Book Encyclopedia, The Wizard from Vienna: Franz Anton Mesmer, Applied Hypnosis: An Overview, American Medical Journal, and Hypnosis: Is It For You? Although they state it in different ways they all basically agree that nobody can give a very accurate definition or description of hypnosis, or hypnosis. Although some may get the definition partly correct, the chances of doing so completely are very, very low. So although I will probably not be able to give a totally accurate account of hypnosis and its workings, I will try. Although evidence suggests that hypnosis has been practiced in some form or another for several thousand years, such as in coal walking, the earliest recorded history of hypnosis begins in 1734. It begins with a man named Franz Anton Mesmer. Although he was eventually disavowed by the scientific community because of his unorthodox methods that made him seem more of a mysticist that a scientist, he is generally known as the father of hypnotism. Mesmer called his methods Mesmerism, thus the word mesmerize, but the name didn't stick, it later changed to hypnosis, its name being derived from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. He believed that hypnosis was reached by using a person's "animal magnetism". He used "mesmerism" to cure illness. In 1795 an English physician named James Braid, who was originally opposed to Mesmer's methods became interested. He believed that cures were not due to animal magnetism however, but the power of suggestion. This was the generally accepted opinion of the scientific community. Then in 1825 Jean Marie Charcot, a French neurologist, disagreed with "The Nancy School of Hypnotism", which followed the guidelines of James Braid's ideas. Charcot believed that hypnosis was simply a "manifestation of hysteria". He revived Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism and identified the three stages of the trance; lethargy, catalepsy, and somnambulism. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) was not a scientist who worked with hypnosis. Although he had nothing to do with the hypnotic development itself, his Stimulus Response Theory is a cornerstone linking and anchoring behaviors, particularly NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Emily Coue (1857-1926) a physician, formulated the Laws of Suggestion which are greatly used in the hypnotic community. Her first law is The Law of Concentrated Attention: "Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously tends to realize itself". The second law is- The Law of Reverse Action: "The harder one tries to do something, the less chance one has of success." Finally, the last law is The Law of Dominant Effect: "A stronger emotion tends to replace a weaker one. " Milton Erickson (1932-1974), a psychologist and psychiatrist pioneered the art of indirect suggestion in hypnosis. He is considered the father of modern hypnosis. His methods bypassed the conscious mind through the use of both verbal and nonverbal pacing techniques including metaphor, confusion, and many others. He was definitely a major influence in contemporary hypnotherapy's acceptance by the American Medical Association. There are many misconceptions about hypnosis that are totally without basis. Such as, "Hypnotized persons will tell secrets or will always tell the truth." The truth is, hypnosis will not cause a person to tell information the do not want to tell and a person under hypnosis can purposefully lie or remember in a distorted fashion. Another myth about hypnotism is, "Hypnosis won't work on highly intelligent people." In reality innate characteristics such as intelligence do not at all effect hypnotism. Any person however can resist being hypnotized either actively or passively, if they desire. I believe that hypnotism would be a more commonly used method in medicine if it were not for all the myths going around about hypnotism. They are probably the result of the very limited knowledge of exactly how hypnosis works. Hypnosis has been used to treat a variety of physiological and behavioral problems. It can alleviate back pain and pain that comes from burns or cancer. It is controversial as to whether this actually works or not, but it is believed that it can be used to insure normal and safe childbirth. Hypnosis sometimes is employed to treat physical problems with a psychological component, such as a circulatory disease known as Raynaud's Syndrome. It has also been used to initiate behavioral changes, for example cigarette smoking, overeating, insomnia, and the overcoming of phobia's. Although hypnotism has shown its uses as a fairly valuable medical tool, in this modern "technological age" there are very few physicians who use it. The major use of hypnotism in modern days, is entertainment. Performed as a sort of "Magic Show" it is used to cause some people to laugh, and some people to be amazed. Hypnotism has come a long way since 1734 and who knows what future developments will be made in this field? It may become a commonly used medical tool, or it may come to be thought of as a completely useless "magic trick". f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Impact Of Prematurity On Development.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Impact Of Prematurity On Development Impact of Premature Birth on Development Years ago, premature birth almost always meant death for the baby. Today, however, we have the technology to nurture these infants' development, and many of them survive to lead normal, healthy lives. Although, very premature infants (that is, those born before about the fifth month) are still not likely to survive, many born at five months and older will thrive. Some preterm babies, however, do have many obstacles to overcome. There are a variety of medical problems that affect some of them, they may have impaired mental or physical conditions, and they may be looked upon by others in their environment as slow, or they might be treated differently because they were premature. All of these factors, plus a few more that will be discussed, affect the development of preterm infants into their adolescent years, and sometimes beyond. Many preterm babies are born with medical problems because they simply were not ready to come into the world yet. They will not have very developed primitive reflexes, and they may look a little strange, with translucent skin, misshapen ears, and fine hair covering their entire bodies. One of the biggest problems for premature infants is a condition called Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS), in which the lungs do not produce enough surfactant, which is the substance that keeps the airsacs in the lungs from collapsing. If not treated in time, the infant's brain will become oxygen deprived, which would lead to death. It can cause some brain damage. Another condition that often affects premature babies is Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA). This happens when the ductus arteriosus, which connects the pulmonary artery to the aorta, doesn't close, leading to the infant's blood not being properly oxgenated. This can also lead to brain damage if not caught in time. Premature infants also may just stop breathing, which is called apnea. This is why they must be closely monitored, for without close supervision, they could die. Another medical condition common to premature infants which affects the brain is Intraventricular Hermorrage, where the blood vessels in the brain bleed. This affects most premature babies, but it is not very severe in most cases, and is easily treated. In more severe cases, it can be associated with cerebral palsy or mental retardation. Premature infants generally show a lower IQ than full term babies, but only by about 10 points. This still puts them in the same IQ range as their full term peers. They are more likely to need special education classes later in life, though, and more likely to have to repeat a grade in school. This is most likely because some premature infants have been shown to have some cognitive impairment when compared to full term infants of the same age. Their memories are not as good, and their information processing speed is significantly lower. There have been many studies performed that compare the cognitive performance of preterm infants with full term infants. One study in particular, performed by Susan A. Rose and Judith F. Feldman, tested the memory and the processing speed of preterm children versus full term children at the age of eleven. They used the Colorado Specific Abilities Test, which is a comparison of eight paper and pencil tasks the child must perform. This test showed the degree of these four abilities: memory, perceptual speed, spatial ability, and verbal ability. They also used the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) which is a detailed exam of memory and speed. This test shows us exactly what aspects of speed and memory it is that pre and full term children differ in, and how much this difference actually affects them. It is comprised of a set of basic cognitive tasks used to study the individual elements of cognitive processing. The results they came upon are detailed, but they are not very surprising. In the general memory section and learning (recall), full term children performed slightly better than preterms. The researchers proposed an interesting theory as to why preterms have poor memory. They said that it might be directly related to the presence, and in particular, the severity of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS), because the hypoxic-ishemic episodes that come with it damage the brain. In the section of the test, the Sternberg Memory Search, which tested the children's ability to recall pictures, the preterms made errors significantly more often than the full term children did over the 24 trials. The premature children took a significantly longer amount of time to complete all the tasks. When they were simple tasks, such as when there was only one choice, the premature children were very fast in choosing the answer, but when the amount of choices increased, so did the amount of time it took them to answer it. The premature children also performed poorly on the Tachistoscopic Threshold test, which showed the minimum amount of time required to determine whether two stimuli are the same or not, as compared to the full term group. On average, the preterms needed exposure to the stimulus one and a half times longer than the full terms did. This shows that most premature children are slower on the intake of information and on acting on the information they just obtained. This slower action does not have anything to do with a lack of motor skills, it is completely cognitive in nature. The researchers found in the last test that there is virtually no difference between motor speed in pre and full term children. Another study performed testing the differences between pre and full term infants was done by Jacob, Roach, Benedict, and Blackledge. They used the McCarthy Scale Index to measure differences in cognitive, perceptual, and personal-social development of premature preschoolers. The general cognitive index, perceptual-performance, quantitative, memory, and motor scales test all favor the full term preschoolers. There was no difference between the two groups in the measure of self-direction, playfulness, impulsivity, task persistence, and speech articulation (Perceptual and Motor Skills, v.58 p 559). The researchers had the parents' report on personal-social development, and there was no significant difference between the two groups. There was a large difference between pre and full term groups on the visual-perceptual tests, particularly having to do with drawing ability on the Draw-a-Design test. Kaufman and Kaufman propose that this is because premature children have less visual-motor coordination than full term children. The theory that premature children have impaired visual-motor coordination is consistent with the high amount of cases of cerbral palsy and associated motor impairments that are found among premature children. This all suggests that premature children will have more problems with arithmetic than reading when they get to school age (Perceptual and Motor Skills, v.58 p 560). A study was done in Israel by Rachel Levy-Shift and Gili Einat that measured the emotional and behavioral development of prematurely born children. They found that premature children had higher levels of anxiety, depression, and aggression than full term children, and that they had a lower self-concept. Premature children were found to have more disturbances at home and at school. One cause of this may be the mother-child relationship, and how stable it is. When the mother and child had a better relationship, the child showed fewer behavioral disturbances than when the mother/child relationship was bad (Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, v.23 p 328-9). Typically, the more negative the environment, the less well-adjusted the premature child was. Another factor in their emotional development is the income of the family. In higher SES environments, the children were typically more well-adjusted. Birth weight is also a factor in this. The smaller the birth weight, the less emotionally adjusted and more behaviorally disturbed the child will be. Levy-Shift and Gili Einat concluded that the reason why premature babies have these problems is that they are generally less intelligent than full terms. They had more trouble learning, which could lead to negative emotional reactions. They say that premature children sometimes have impaired neurological processes that underlie cognitive dysfunction which is detrimental to behavioral and emotional functioning (Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, v.23 p 329). Premature children are less responsive, less alert, and less active when they are babies, which can lead to a bad start to the mother-child relationship. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Influences on Normal Physical Growth.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Influences on Normal Physical Growth Physical growth in early childhood is partially easy to measure and gives an idea of how children normally develop during this period. The average child in North America is less than three feet tall at two years of age. Physical growth contains no discrete stages, plateaus, or qualitative changes. Large differences may develop between individual children and among groups of children. Sometimes these differences affect the psychological development of young children. These differences create a nice variety among children. Most dimensions of growth are influenced by the child's genetic background. Also, races and ethnic backgrounds around the world differ in growth patterns. Nutrition can affect growth, but it does not override genetic factors. One factor in the cause of slow growth is malnutrition. Malnutrition can start as early as pregnancy. Low birth weight babies have an increased risk of infection and death during the first few weeks of life. Food-deprived children carry a greater risk of neurological deficiencies that result in poor vision, impaired educational attainment, and cerebral problems. Such children are also more prone to diseases such as malaria, respiratory tract infections or pneumonia. The illnesses of malnourished children can cause more lasting damage than in a healthy child. The destructive conjunction between low food intake and disease is magnified at the level of the hungry child. There is evidence, according to The Journal of Nutrition, that an estimated 50 percent of disease-related mortality among infants could be avoided if infant malnutrition were eradicated. It has also been shown that low birth- weight is associated with increased prevalence of diseases such as stroke, heart disease and diabetes in adult life. Most damage during the first few years of life cannot easily be undone. There are many reasons why some children never reach normal height. Some causes of short stature are well understood and can be corrected, but most are subjects of ongoing research. Achondroplasia is the most common growth defect in which abnormal body proportions are present. Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder of bone growth. It affects about one in every 26,000 births. It occurs in all races and in both sexes. It is one of the oldest recorded birth defects found as far back as Egyptian art. A child with achondroplasia has a relatively normal torso but short arms and legs. People sometimes think the child is mentally retarded because they are slow to sit, stand, and walk alone. In most cases, however, a child with achondroplasia has normal intelligence. Children with achondroplasia occasionally die suddenly in infancy or early childhood. These deaths usually occur during sleep and are thought to result from compression of the upper end of the spinal cord, which can interfere with breathing. This disease is caused by an abnormal gene. The discovery of the gene allowed the development of highly accurate prenatal tests that can diagnose or rule out achondroplasia. There is currently no way to normalize skeletal development of children with achondroplasia, so there is no cure. Growth hormone treatments, which increase height in some forms of short stature, do not substantially increase the height of children with achondroplasia. There is no way to prevent the majority of cases of achondroplasia, since these births result from totally unexpected gene mutations in unaffected parents. One treatment available for children is known as growth hormone therapy. The policy governing the use of growth hormone (GH) therapy has shifted from treating only those children with classic growth hormone deficiency to treating short children to improve their psycho social functioning. This has caused quite a controversy. Parents have described shorter boys as less socially competent and having more behavioral problems than that of the normal sample. Shorter boys describe themselves as less socially active but not having more behavioral problems than that of the normal group. This is according to a study conducted by the Children's Hospital of Buffalo and the State University of New York at Buffalo. The researchers conclude growth hormone therapy should not be administered routinely to all short children for the purpose of improving their psychological health. They urge that physicians consider both a child's short stature and psycho social functioning before making a referral for growth hormone therapy. Another factor in the growth of children is their change of appetite. Young preschoolers may eat less than they did as a toddler. This is also when they will become more selective and choosy with the foods they eat. These changes are normal and result from the slowing down of growth after infancy. Preschool children simply do not need as many calories as they did after birth. Children's food preferences are influenced by the adult models around them. Preschoolers tend to like the same foods as their parents and other important adults in their lives. Variations in growth can result from cultural and psychological factors. Failure to thrive is defined in the class textbook as a condition in which an infant seems seriously delayed in physical growth and is noticeably apathetic in behavior. This condition may result from situations that interfere with normal positive relationships between parent and child, especially during infancy or the early preschool period. The result is a deprived relationship that may lead the child to eat poorly or be plagued by constant anxiety. The nervousness can interfere with sleep or the production of growth hormones. If failure to thrive has not persisted for too long, it usually can be reversed in the short run through special nutritional and medical intervention to help the child regain strength and begin growing normally again. There are many factors that can result in slow growth in children. Between the ages of two and five, growth slows down and children take on more adult bodily proportions. Usually growth is rather smooth during the preschool period. Genetic and ethnic backgrounds affect its overall rate, as do the quality of nutrition and children's experiences with illness. Children's appetites are often smaller in the preschool years than in infancy, and preschoolers become more selective about their food preferences. If children fall behind in growth because of poor nutrition or hormonal deficiencies, they often can achieve catch-up growth if slow growth has not been too severe or prolonged. A few children suffer from failure to thrive, a condition marked by reduced physical growth, possibly as a result of family stress and conflict. Bibliography Achondroplasia. Public Health Education Information Sheet. Http://www.noah.cuny.edu/pregnancy/march_of_dimes/birth_de fects/achondro.html. Byers, T. 1995. The Emergence of Chronic Diseases in Developing Countries. SCN News 13: 14-19; Golden, M. H. N. 1995. Specific deficiencies versus growth failure. SCN News 12:10-14. Growth Hormone: Not for All Short Children. Medical Sciences Bulletin, Pharmaceutical Information Associates, Ltd. Http://www.pharmingo.com/pubs/msb/grhorm.html. Mason, J. B. 1990. Malnutrition and Infection. SCN News. 5: 2o21; UN Administrative Committee on Coordination-Sub Committee on Nutrition (ACC/SCN). 1995. Maternal Nutrition and health: A Summary of Research on Birth weight. Maternal Nutrition and Health 14 (1/2): 14-17. Pelletier, D. 1995. The Effects of Malnutrition on Child Mortality in Developing Countries. Bulletin of the World Heath Organization 73 (4); Pelletier, D. 1994. The Relationship between Child Anthropometry and Mortality in Developing Countries. The Journal of Nutrition. Supplement 124 (1OS). Pollitt, E. 1995. Nutrition in Early Life and the Fulfilment of Intellectual Potential. The Journal of Nutrition. Supplement 125 (4S): 1111S- 1118S. Seifert, Kelvin L. and Robert J. Hoffnung. Child and Adolescent Development. 1997, Chapter 8, pages 236-244. Word Count: 1224 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Interventions In The Narcissistic Disorders.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Interventions In The Narcissistic Disorders Introduction Understanding the Narcissistic Phenomenon The so called 'narcissistic personality disorder' is a complex and often misunderstood disorder. The cardinal feature of the narcissistic personality is the grandiose sense of self importance, but paradoxically underneath this grandiosity the narcissist suffers from a chronically fragile low self esteem. The grandiosity of the narcissist, however, is often so pervasive that we tend to dehumanize him or her. The narcissist conjures in us images of the mythological character Narcissus who could only love himself, rebuffing anyone who attempted to touch him. Nevertheless, it is the underlying sense of inferiority which is the real problem of the narcissist, the grandiosity is just a facade used to cover the deep feelings of inadequacy. The Makeup of the Narcissistic Personality The narcissist's grandiose behavior is designed to reaffirm his or her sense of adequacy. Since the narcissist is incapable of asserting his or her own sense of adequacy, the narcissist seeks to be admired by others. However, the narcissist's extremely fragile sense of self worth does not allow him or her to risk any criticism. Therefore, meaningful emotional interactions with others are avoided. By simultaneously seeking the admiration of others and keeping them at a distance the narcissist is usually able to maintain the illusion of grandiosity no matter how people respond. Thus, when people praise the narcissist his or her grandiosity will increase, but when criticized the grandiosity will usually remain unaffected because the narcissist will devalue the criticizing person. Akhtar (1989) [as cited in Carson & Butcher, 1992; P. 271] discusses six areas of pathological functioning which characterize the narcissist. In particular, four of these narcissistic character traits best illustrate the pattern discussed above. " (1) a narcissistic individual has a basic sense of inferiority, which underlies a preoccupation with fantasies of outstanding achievement; (2) a narcissistic individual is unable to trust and rely on others and thus develops numerous, shallow relationships to extract tributes from others; (3) a narcissistic individual has a shifting morality-always ready to shift values to gain favor; and (4) a narcissistic person is unable to remain in love, showing an impaired capacity for a committed relationship". The Therapeutic Essence of Treating Narcissism The narcissist who enters therapy does not think that there is something wrong with him or her. Typically, the narcissist seeks therapy because he or she is unable to maintain the grandiosity which protects him or her from the feelings of despair. The narcissist views his or her situation arising not as a result of a personal maladjustment; rather it is some factor in the environment which is beyond the narcissist's control which has caused his or her present situation. Therefore, the narcissist expects the therapist not to 'cure' him or her from a problem which he or she does not perceive to exist, rather the narcissist expects the therapist to restore the protective feeling of grandiosity. It is therefore essential for the therapist to be alert to the narcissists attempts to steer therapy towards healing the injured grandiose part, rather than exploring the underlying feelings of inferiority and despair. Differential Psychological Views of Narcissism The use of the term narcissism in relation to psychological phenomena was first made by Ellis in 1898. Ellis described a special state of auto-erotism as Narcissus like, in which the sexual feelings become absorbed in self admiration (Goldberg, 1980). The term was later incorporated into Freud's psychoanalytic theory in 1914 in his essay 'On Narcissism'. Freud conceptualized narcissism as a as a sexual perversion involving a pathological sexual love to one's own body (Sandler & Person, 1991). Henceforth, several psychological theories have attempted to explain and treat the narcissistic phenomenon. Specifically, the most comprehensive psychological theories have been advanced by the psychodynamic perspective and to a lesser extent the Jungian (analytical) perspective. Essentially, both theories cite developmental problems in childhood as leading to the development of the narcissistic disorder. The existential school has also attempted to deal with the narcissistic problem, although the available literature is much smaller. Existentialists postulate that society as a whole can be the crucial factor in the development of narcissism. The final perspective to be discussed is the humanistic approach which although lacking a specific theory on narcissism, can nevertheless be applied to the narcissistic disorder. In many ways the humanistic approach to narcissism echoes the sentiments of the psychodynamic approach. The Psychodynamic Perspective of Narcissism The psychodynamic model of narcissism is dominated by two overlapping schools of thought, the self psychology school and the object relations school. The self psychology school, represented by Kohut, posits that narcissism is a component of everyone's psyche. We are all born as narcissists and gradually our infantile narcissism matures into a healthy adult narcissism. A narcissistic disorder results when this process is somehow disrupted. By contrast the object relations school, represented by Kernberg, argues that narcissism does not result from the arrest of the normal maturation of infantile narcissism, rather a narcissism represents a fixation in one of the developmental periods of childhood. Specifically, the narcissist is fixated at a developmental stage in which the differentiation between the self and others is blurred. Kohut's Theory of Narcissism Kohut believes that narcissism is a normal developmental milestone, and the healthy person learns to transform his or her infantile narcissism into adult narcissism. This transformation takes place through the process which Kohut terms transmuting internalizations. As the infant is transformed into an adult he or she will invariably encounter various challenges resulting in some frustration. If this frustration exceeds the coping abilities of the person only slightly the person experiences optimal frustration. Optimal frustration leads the person to develop a strong internal structure (i.e., a strong sense of the self) which is used to compensate for the lack of external structure (i.e., support from others). In the narcissist the process of transmuting internalizations is arrested because the person experiences a level of frustration which exceeds optimal frustration. The narcissist thus remains stuck at the infantile level, displaying many of the characteristics of the omnipotent and invulnerable child (Kohut, 1977). Kernberg's Theory of Narcissism Kernberg's views on narcissism are based on Mahler's theory of the separation- individuation process in infancy and early childhood. Mahler's model discusses how the developing child gains a stable self concept by successfully mastering the two forerunner phases (normal autism and normal symbiosis) and the four subphases (differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and consolidation) of separation-individuation. Kernberg argues that the narcissist is unable to successfully master the rapprochement subphase and is thus fixated at this level. It is essential, however, to understand the dynamics of the practicing subphase before proceeding to tackle the narcissist's fixation at the rapprochement subphase. The practicing subphase (age 10 to 14 months) marks the developmental stage at which the child learns to walk. The ability to walk gives the child a whole new perspective of the world around him. This new ability endows the child with a sense of grandiosity and omnipotence which closely resemble the narcissist's behavior. However, reality soon catches up with the child as the child enters the rapprochement subphase (age 14 to 24 months). At this stage the child discovers that he or she is not omnipotent, that there are limits to what he or she can do. According to Kernberg if the child is severely frustrated at this stage he or she can adapt by re-fusing or returning to the practicing subphase, which affords him the security of grandiosity and omnipotence (Kernberg, 1976). The Preferred Psychodynamic model The Psychodynamic literature in general tends to lean towards the object relations school because of the emphasis it places on a comprehensive developmental explanation (i.e. the use of Mahler's individuation-separation model). Nevertheless, the theory of Kohut has left a deep impression on Psychodynamic thinking as is evident by the utilization of many of his concepts in the literature (i.e. Johnson, 1987; Manfield, 1992; and Masterson, 1981). Therefore in the remainder of the Psychodynamic section a similar approach will be taken, by emphasizing object relations concepts with the utilization of the occasional Kohutian idea. The Emergence of the Narcissistic Personality According to Kernberg and the object relations school the crisis of the rapprochement subphase is critical to the development of the narcissistic personality. The individual who is unable to successfully master the challenges of this stage will sustain a narcissistic injury. In essence the narcissistic injury will occur whenever the environment (in particular significant others) needs the individual to be something which he or she is not. The narcissistically injured individual is thus told "Don't be who you are, be who I need you to be. Who you are disappoints me, threatens me angers me, overstimulates me. Be what I want and I will love you" (Johnson, 1987; P. 39). The narcissistic injury devastates the individual's emerging self. Unable to be what he or she truly is the narcissistically injured person adapts by splitting his personality into what Kohut terms the nuclear (real) self and the false self. The real self becomes fragmented and repressed, whereas the false self takes over the individual. The narcissist thus learns to reject himself or herself by hiding what has been rejected by others. Subsequently, the narcissist will attempt to compensate for his or her 'deficiencies' by trying to impress others through his or her grandiosity. The narcissist essentially decides that "There is something wrong with me as I am. Therefore, I must be special" (Johnson, 1987; P. 53). The Narcissist's View of Others Just as the individual becomes narcissistic because that is what the environment 'needed' him or her to be, so does the narcissist view others not as they are, but as what he or she needs them to be. Others are thus perceived to exist only in relation to the narcissist's needs. The term object relations thus takes on a special meaning with the narcissist. "We are objects to him, and to the extent that we are narcissistic, others are objects to us. He doesn't really see and hear and feel who we are and, to the extent that we are narcissistic, we do not really see and hear and feel the true presence of others. They, we, are objects... I am not real. You are not real. You are an object to me. I am an object to you" (Johnson, 1987; P. 48). It is apparent than that the narcissist maintains the infantile illusion of being merged to the object. At a psychological level he or she experiences difficulties in differentiating the self from others. It is the extent of this inability to distinguish personal boundaries which determines the severity of the narcissistic disorder (Johnson, 1987). Levels of Narcissism The most extreme form of narcissism involves the perception that no separation exists between the self and the object. The object is viewed as an extension of the self, in the sense that the narcissist considers others to be a merged part of him or her. Usually, the objects which the narcissist chooses to merge with represent that aspect of the narcissist's personality about which feelings of inferiority are perceived. For instance if a narcissist feels unattractive he or she will seek to merge with someone who is perceived by the narcissist to be attractive. At a slightly higher level exists the narcissist who acknowledges the separateness of the object, however, the narcissist views the object as similar to himself or herself in the sense that they share a similar psychological makeup. In effect the narcissist perceives the object as 'just like me'. The most evolved narcissistic personality perceives the object to be both separate and psychologically different, but is unable to appreciate the object as a unique and separate person. The object is thus perceived as useful only to the extent of its ability to aggrandize the false self (Manfield, 1992). Types of narcissism Pending the perceived needs of the environment a narcissist can develop in one of two directions. The individual whose environment supports his or her grandiosity, and demands that he or she be more than possible will develop to be an exhibitionistic narcissist. Such an individual is told 'you are superior to others', but at the same time his or her personal feelings are ignored. Thus, to restore his or her feelings of adequacy the growing individual will attempt to coerce the environment into supporting his or her grandiose claims of superiority and perfection. On the other hand, if the environment feels threatened by the individual's grandiosity it will attempt to suppress the individual from expressing this grandiosity. Such an individual learns to keep the grandiosity hidden from others, and will develop to be a closet narcissist. The closet narcissist will thus only reveal his or her feelings of grandiosity when he or she is convinced that such revelations will be safe (Manfield, 1992) Narcissistic Defense Mechanisms Narcissistic defenses are present to some degree in all people, but are especially pervasive in narcissists. These defenses are used to protect the narcissist from experiencing the feelings of the narcissistic injury. The most pervasive defense mechanism is the grandiose defense. Its function is to restore the narcissist's inflated perception of himself or herself. Typically the defense is utilized when someone punctures the narcissist's grandiosity by saying something which interferes with the narcissist's inflated view of himself or herself. The narcissist will then experience a narcissistic injury similar to that experienced in childhood and will respond by expanding his or her grandiosity, thus restoring his or her wounded self concept. Devaluation is another common defense which is used in similar situations. When injured or disappointed the narcissist can respond by devaluing the 'offending' person. Devaluation thus restores the wounded ego by providing the narcissist with a feeling of superiority over the offender. There are two other defense mechanisms which the narcissist uses. The self-sufficiency defense is used to keep the narcissist emotionally isolated from others. By keeping himself or herself emotionally isolated the narcissist's grandiosity can continue to exist unchallenged. Finally, the manic defense is utilized when feelings of worthlessness begin to surface. To avoid experiencing these feelings the narcissist will attempt to occupy himself or herself with various activities, so that he or she has no time left to feel the feelings (Manfield, 1992). Psychodynamic Treatment of the Narcissist The central theme in the Psychodynamic treatment of the narcissist revolves around the transference relationship which emerges during treatment. In order for the transference relationship to develop the therapist must be emphatic in understanding the patient's narcissistic needs. By echoing the narcissist the therapist remains 'silent' and 'invisible' to the narcissist. In essence the therapist becomes a mirror to the narcissist to the extent that the narcissist derives narcissistic pleasure from confronting his or her 'alter ego'. Grunberger's views are particularly helpful in clarifying this idea. According to him "The patient should enjoy complete narcissistic freedom in the sense that he should always be the only active party. The analyst has no real existence of his own in relation to the analysand. He doesn't have to be either good or bad-he doesn't even have to be... Analysis is thus not a dialogue at all; at best it is a monologue for two voices, one speaking and the other echoing, repeating, clarifying, interpreting correctly-a faithful and untarnished mirror" (Grunberger, 1979; P. 49). The Mirror Transference Once the therapeutic relationship is established two transference like phenomena, the mirror transference and the idealizing transference, collectively known as selfobject transference emerge. The mirror transference will occur when the therapist provides a strong sense of validation to the narcissist. Recall that the narcissistically injured child failed to receive validation for what he or she was. The child thus concluded that there is something wrong with his or her feelings, resulting in a severe damage to the child's self- esteem. By reflecting back to the narcissist his or her accomplishments and grandeur the narcissist's self esteem and internal cohesion are maintained (Manfield, 1992). There are three types of the mirror transference phenomenon, each corresponding to a different level of narcissism (as discussed previously). The merger transference will occur in those narcissists who are unable to distinguish between the object and the self. Such narcissists will perceive the therapist to be a virtual extension of themselves. The narcissist will expect the therapist to be perfectly resonant to him or her, as if the therapist is an actual part of him or her. If the therapist should even slightly vary from the narcissist's needs or opinions, the narcissist will experience a painful breach in the cohesive selfobject function provided by the therapist. Such patients will then likely feel betrayed by the therapist and will respond by withdrawing themselves from the therapist (Manfield, 1992). In the second type of mirror transference, the twinship or alter-ego transference, the narcissist perceives the therapist to be psychologically similar to himself or herself. Conceptually the narcissist perceives the therapist and himself or herself to be twins, separate but alike. In the twinship transference for the selfobject cohesion to be maintained, it is necessary for the narcissist to view the therapist as 'just like me' (Manfield, 1992). The third type of mirror transference is again termed the mirror transference. In this instance the narcissist is only interested in the therapist to the extent that the therapist can reflect his or her grandiosity. In this transference relationship the function of the therapist is to bolster the narcissist's insecure self (Manfield, 1992). The Idealizing Transference The second selfobject transference, the idealizing transference, involves the borrowing of strength from the object (the therapist) to maintain an internal sense of cohesion. By idealizing the therapist to whom the narcissist feels connected, the narcissist by association also uplifts himself or herself. It is helpful to conceptualize the 'idealizing' narcissist as an infant who draws strength from the omnipotence of the caregiver. Thus, in the idealizing transference the therapist symbolizes omnipotence and this in turn makes the narcissist feel secure. The idealization of the object can become so important to the narcissist that in many cases he or she will choose to fault himself or herself, rather than blame the therapist (Manfield, 1992). The idealizing transference is a more mature form of transference than the mirror transference because idealization requires a certain amount of internal structure (i.e., separateness from the therapist). Oftentimes, the narcissist will first develop a mirror transference, and only when his or her internal structure is sufficiently strong will the idealizing transference develop (Manfield, 1992). Utilizing the Transference Relationship in Therapy The selfobject transference relationships provide a stabilizing effect for the narcissist. The supportive therapist thus allows the narcissist to heal his or her current low self esteem and reinstate the damaged grandiosity. However, healing the current narcissistic injury does not address the underlying initial injury and in particular the issue of the false self. To address these issues the therapist must skillfully take advantage of the situations when the narcissist becomes uncharacteristically emotional; that is when the narcissist feels injured. It thus becomes crucial that within the context of the transference relationship, the therapist shift the narcissist's focus towards his or her inner feelings (Manfield, 1992). The prevailing opinion amongst Psychodynamic theorists is that the best way to address the narcissist's present experience, is to utilize a hands-off type of approach. This can be accomplished by letting the narcissist 'take control' of the sessions, processing the narcissist's injuries as they inevitably occur during the course of treatment. When a mirror transference develops injuries will occur when the therapist improperly understands and/or reflects the narcissist's experiences. Similarly, when an idealizing transference is formed injuries will take the form of some disappointment with the therapist which then interferes with the narcissist's idealization of the therapist. In either case, the narcissist is trying to cover up the injury so that the therapist will not notice it. It remains up to the therapist to recognize the particular defense mechanisms that the narcissist will use to defend against the pain of the injury, and work backwards from there to discover the cause of the injury (Manfield, 1992). Once the cause of the injury is discovered the therapist must carefully explore the issue with the narcissist, such that the patient does not feel threatened. The following case provides a good example of the patience and skill that the therapist must possess in dealing with a narcissistic patient. "...a female patient in her mid-thirties came into a session feeling elated about having gotten a new job. All she could talk about is how perfect this job was; there was no hint of introspection or of any dysphoric affect. The therapist could find no opening and made no intervention the entire session except to acknowledge the patient's obvious excitement about her new job. Then, as the patient was leaving, the therapist noticed that she had left her eyeglasses on the table. He said, "you forgot your glasses," to which she responded with an expression of surprise and embarrassment saying, "Oh, how clumsy of me." This response presented the therapist with a slight seem in the grandiose armor and offered the opportunity for him to intervene. He commented, "You are so excited about the things that are happening to you that this is all you have been able to think about; in the process you seem to have forgotten a part of yourself." The patient smiled with a mixture of amusement and recognition. In this example the patient is defending throughout the session and in a moment of surprise she is embarrassed and labels herself "clumsy", giving the therapist the opportunity to interpret the defense (her focus on the excitement of the external world) and how it takes her away from herself" (Manfield, 1992; PP. 168-169). The cure of the narcissist than does not come from the selfobject transference relationships per se. Rather, the selfobject transference function of the therapist is curative only to the extent that it provides an external source of support which enables the narcissist to maintain his or her internal cohesion. For the narcissist to be cured, it is necessary for him or her to create their own structure (the true self). The healing process is thus lengthy, and occurs in small increments whenever the structure supplied by the therapist is inadvertently interrupted. In this context it is useful to recall Kohut's concept of optimal frustration. "If the interruptions to the therapist's selfobject function are not so severe as to overwhelm the patient's deficient internal structure, they function as optimal frustrations, and lead to the patient's development of his own internal structure to make up for the interrupted selfobject function" (Manfield, 1992; P. 167). The Jungian (Analytical) Perspective of Narcissism Analytical psychology views narcissism as a disorder of Self-estrangement, which arises out of inadequate maternal care. However, prior to tackling narcissism it is useful to grasp the essence of analytical thought. The Ego and the Self in Analytical Psychology It is important to understand that the Self in analytical psychology takes on a different meaning than in psychodynamic thought (Self is thus capitalized in analytical writings to distinguish it from the psychodynamic concept of the self). In psychodynamic theory the self is always ego oriented, that is the self is taken to be a content of the ego. By contrast, in analytical psychology the Self is the totality of the psyche, it is the archetype of wholeness and the regulating center of personality. Moreover, the Self is also the image of God in the psyche, and as such it is experienced as a transpersonal power which transcends the ego. The Self therefore exists before the ego, and the ego subsequently emerges from the Self (Monte, 1991). Within the Self we perceive our collective unconscious, which is made up of primordial images, that have been common to all members of the human race from the beginning of life. These primordial images are termed archetypes, and play a significant role in the shaping of the ego. Therefore, "When the ego looks into the mirror of the Self, what it sees is always 'unrealistic' because it sees its archetypal image which can never be fit into the ego" (Schwartz-Salant, 1982; P. 19). Narcissism as an Expression of Self-Estrangement In the case of the narcissist, it is the shattering of the archetypal image of the mother which leads to the narcissistic manifestation. The primordial image of the mother symbolizes paradise, to the extent that the environment of the child is perfectly designed to meet his or her needs. No mother, however, can realistically fulfill the child's archetypal expectations. Nevertheless, so long as the mother reasonably fulfills the child's needs he or she will develop 'normally'. It is only when the mother fails to be a 'good enough mother', that the narcissistic condition will occur (Asper, 1993). When the mother-child relationship is damaged the child's ego does not develop in an optimal way. Rather than form a secure 'ego-Self axis' bond, the child's ego experiences estrangement from the Self. This Self-estrangement negatively affects the child's ego, and thus the narcissist is said to have a 'negativized ego'. The negativized ego than proceeds to compensate for the Self-estrangement by suppressing the personal needs which are inherent in the Self; thus "the negativized ego of the narcissistically disturbed person is characterized by strong defense mechanisms and ego rigidity. A person with this disturbance has distanced himself from the painful emotions of negative experiences and has become egoistic, egocentric, and narcissistic" (Asper, 1993; P. 82). Analytical Treatment of Narcissism Since the narcissistic condition is a manifestation of Self-estrangement, the analytical therapist attempts to heal the rupture in the ego-Self axis bond, which was created by the lack of good enough mothering. To heal this rupture the therapist must convey to the narcissist through emphatic means that others do care about him or her; that is the therapist must repair the archetype of the good mother through a maternally caring approach (Asper, 1993). A maternal approach involves being attentive to the narcissist's needs. Just as a mother can intuitively sense her baby's needs so must the therapist feel and observe what is not verbally expressed by the narcissist. Such a maternal approach allows the narcissist to experience more sympathy towards his or her true feelings and thus gradually the need to withdraw into the narcissistic defense disappears (Asper, 1993). The Existential Perspective of Narcissism Existentialists perceive narcissism to be a byproduct of an alienating society. It is difficult for the individual to truly be himself or herself because society offers many rewards for the individual who conforms to its rules. Such an individual becomes alienated because he or she feels that society's rituals and demands grant him or her little significance and options in the control of his or her own destiny. To compensate such an individual takes pleasure in his or her own uniqueness (grandiosity), he or she enjoys what others cannot see and control. Thus, the alienated person "sees himself as a puppet cued by social circumstances which exact ritualized performances from him. His irritation about the inevitability of this is counterbalanced by one major consolation. This consists of his narcissistic affection for his own machinery-that is, his own processes and parts" (Johnson, 1977; P. 141). Existential Treatment of Narcissism The existential treatment of the narcissist is based on the existential tenant that "all existing persons have the need and possibility of going out from their centeredness to participate in other beings" (Monte, 1991; P. 492). The severely alienated narcissistic individual, however, does not believe in the validity of experience outside of the self. Unlike others, the narcissist does not believe that a constructive relationship with others is possible. Existentialists therefore believe that the therapist, through emphatic understanding, must create a strong bond with the narcissist, so that he or she can see that others have feelings too (Johnson, 1977). The Humanistic (Client-Centered) Perspective of Narcissism Thus far, no specific formulations have been advanced by humanistic theorists about the etiology of the narcissistic condition. Nevertheless, by utilizing general humanistic principles it is possible to explain narcissism. Essentially, much like the psychodynamic explanation, humanistic psychology would argue that narcissism results when individuals are not 'allowed' to truly be who they are. According to humanistic theory, humans have an innate need for self actualization. We want to be the best person that we could possibly be. This is accomplished by internalizing the behaviors that fit with the individual's personal self concept (that which the individual finds to be appealing). However the self is also subject to pressure from significant others. Significant others place upon the individual, conditions of worth, upon which their love and approval is dependent. These conditions may or may not be congruent with the individual's personal self. If they contrast sharply with the personal self, and the individual does not want to risk loosing the approval or love of significant others, then that individual will behave in ways maladaptive to his or her self actualization needs. Although humanistic theory does not elaborate on the specificity of these maladaptive behaviors, it is possible to speculate that narcissism is one possible outcome. Specifically, the narcissistic individual chooses to mask his or her damaged personal self by the display of a perfect grandiose front to the world. Humanistic Treatment of Narcissism The humanistic treatment of the narcissist, is in general no different from the humanistic treatment of any other client. The humanistic therapist wants the narcissist to rediscover his or her individuality, which was suppressed by the conditions of worth imposed by significant others. In order to accomplish this, the proper environment must be set in therapy, free of any conditions of worth. The narcissist must feel that whatever he or she does is all right with the therapist. The therapist therefore gives the narcissist unconditional positive regard. There is no judgment of the narcissist, instead the therapist honestly and caringly tries to see things through the eyes of the narcissist. When the narcissist comes to accept his or her true needs he or she will be congruent with the personal self and the narcissistic front will no longer be needed. Comparative Analysis Each of the psychological approaches discussed above contains both strengths and weaknesses, in attempting to solve the narcissistic puzzle. Nevertheless, the psychodynamic model possesses a big advantage over the other approaches in its ability to offer both a comprehensive theory of etiology and a detailed description of treatment. With respect to etiology the other approaches suffer from: a lack of concrete observational validity (the analytical approach), lack of clarity in capturing the essence of narcissism (the existential approach), and lack of continuity in predicting narcissism (the humanistic approach). The analytical model of narcissism depends on too many hypothetical concepts, such as the collective unconscious, which are not supported by any concrete evidence. True the psychodynamic model introduces some hypothetical concepts of its own but these concepts are backed by Mahler's comprehensive developmental theory. The existential model seems to confuse narcissism with the schizoid condition. By emphasizing the narcissist's tendency to withdraw into the pleasures of the self, existentialists overlook the immense suffering which so characterizes the narcissist. The humanistic model shares much in common with the psychodynamic model about the etiology of narcissism. However, unlike the psychodynamic model it is rather vague about why this etiology leads to the emergence of narcissism. With respect to treatment the major advantage of the psychodynamic approach is that it goes beyond the exclusive use of emphatic means to treat the narcissist. By limiting treatment to emphatic understanding the other approaches fail to address the underlying issues inherent in narcissism. Therefore, the other approaches might shore up the narcissist's damaged self esteem in the short run, but it is doubtful if they will be able to transform the narcissist. Possibly the only weakness of the psychodynamic approach lies in the length that it takes to treat narcissism. Recall that a successful psychodynamic treatment requires the therapist to be very careful about maintaining the narcissist's delicate self perception. Only gradually can the psychodynamic therapist direct the narcissist's attention towards the real underlying emotional feelings. Conclusion No matter which approach is utilized in the explanation and treatment of narcissism it is important to recognize that the narcissistic individual is a complex and multifaceted human being. Deep inside narcissistic individuals experience tremendous pain and suffering, for which they attempt to compensate for by the projection of the grandiose front. These people are not character disordered. They are people tortured by narcissistic injury and crippled by developmental arrests in functioning which rob them of the richness of life they deserve. They are good people, who are hurting. They are living and suffering the narcissistic style. References Asper, Kathrin. (1993). The abandoned child within. New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation. Carson, Robert C & Butcher, James N. (1992). Abnormal psychology and modern life. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Goldberg, Carl. (1980). In defense of narcissism. New York: Gardner Press. Grunberger, Bela. (1979). Narcissism. New York: International Universities Press Inc. Johnson, Frank A. (1977). The existential psychotherapy of alienated persons. In Marie Coleman Nelson (Ed.), The narcissistic condition. New York: Human Sciences Press Johnson, Stephan M. (1987). Humanizing the narcissistic style. New York: Norton & Company. Kernberg, Otto F. (1976). Object-Relations theory and clinical psychoanalysis. New York: Jason Aronson Inc. Kohut, Heinz. (1977). The analysis of the self. New York: International University Press. Manfield, Philip. (1992). Split self/split object Understanding and treating borderline, narcissistic and schizoid disorders. New York: Jason Aronson Inc. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Introduction.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Introduction Memory is involved in all aspects of our lives and can be thought of as the to retain information and demonstrate retention through behaviour. We have vast amounts of knowledge stored in our memory system which we are able to access quickly and effortlessly, thus implying that stored knowledge must be highly organised to allow us to retrieve the appropriate information for a given situation. This organisation will be determined by the way that information is encoded into memory, and the way knowledge is organised will determine the type of process required to access that information on a future occasion. Craick and Lockhart(1972) argued that any item entering the memory system is analysed in stages. The early stages analyse perceptual properties of the item, such as visual or acoustic properties. Later stages analyse its meaning, including the categories it fits into and its connections to other items in memory. Each level of processing leaves a trace in memory. The deeper the level of processing, the stronger the trace and the more durable the memory. Conversely, the shallower the level of processing, the more transitory will be the memory. Rowe(1974) showed that semantic encoding leads to more effective learning than phonemic encoding, which in turn is more effective than visual encoding. The assumption is that semantic processing is somehow a deeper sort of encoding. Hyde and Jenkins(1973) used five different orienting tasks. Participants were presented with lists of words for three seconds and had to complete one of the following tasks: 1. Rate the word for pleasantness. 2. Estimate the frequency of use of the word. 3. Detect the presence of particular letters in the word. 4. Decide the appropriate part of speech of the word. 5. Make decisions as to weather or not the fits into sentence frames. Hyde and Jenkins argued that conditions 1 & 2 required semantic processing whereas the others did not. Craick and Lockhart(1972) devised an incidental learning procedure in which subjects were deliberately not asked to remember items, so that it prevented them from processing everything in the best possible way in order to remember them. According to Craick and Lockhart's theory, the difference between each level of processing is the amount of cognitive effort we expend on memorising something. This cognitive effort is essentially the effort made in relating new information to old. The better we can organise new material i.e. relate it to existing knowledge, the better it will be retained. The aim of the present study is to verify (or otherwise) the findings of Craick and Lockhart and also to update and partially replicate their findings about levels of processing. The present study will therefore test the hypothesis that if words are processed acoustically or visually then they will be less likely to be recalled than if they are processed by meaning. Alternate hypothesis: There will be a significant association between words which are processed acoustically or visually and whether they will be less likely to be recalled than if they are processes by meaning. Null hypothesis: There will be no significant association between words which are processed acoustically or visually and whether they will be less likely to be recalled than if they are processed by meaning. These are one-tailed hypotheses. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Is Psychology a Science.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Is Psychology a Science? In order to answer this question it is important to understand the definitions of both psychology and science. The word 'psychology' comes from the Greek 'psyche' (or soul) and 'logos' (or study), which came to be known as the 'study of the soul'. The American Heritage Dictionary defines psychology as: 1. the science dealing with the mind and with mental and emotional processes 2. the science of human and animal behavior. In its pure definition the dictionary has provided us with a clue to the answer, it describes science as: 1. systematized knowledge derived from observation, study, etc. 2. a branch of knowledge, esp. one that systematizes facts, principles, and methods 3. skill or technique In order to prove this claim we have to look at whether or not psychology can fill this definition above. Scientific study is a valid way of coming to an understanding of life, and can be very useful in every area of life. Science develops theories based on what is observed. It examines each theory with rigorous and scrupulous tests to see if it describes reality. The scientific method works well in observing and recording physical data and in reaching conclusions which either confirm or nullify a theory. During the mid-19th century, scholars (although at that time probably termed philosophers) wanted to study human nature with the aim of applying the scientific method to observe, record, and treat human behavior that was deemed as unnatural. They believed that if people could be studied in a scientific manner, there would be a greater accuracy in understanding present behavior, in predicting future behavior, and, most controversially, in altering behavior through scientific intervention. There are many areas of psychology, each attempting to explain behavior from slightly different perspectives; Social psychology is concerned with the effects of social situations on human behavior. Personality theorists study individual behavior. Comparative psychologists study animal behaviors across the range of species Physiological psychologists are concerned with the biological basis of behavior. Developmental psychologists study principles and processes responsible for change throughout life. Cognitive psychologists investigate memory, thought, problem solving, and the psychological aspects of learning. Analysis of behavior studies the conditions under which a behavior can be learned and the situations that cause that behavior to occur. Learning is an area of psychology exploring how new behaviors are learned and maintained. Clinical psychologists study ways to help individuals and groups of individuals change their behavior. Industrial and organizational psychologists are concerned with the physical and social aspects of people's work environments as they affect work output. Community psychologists use scientific methods to study and solve social problems. As Western describes, the psychological paradigm is a collection of assumptions used to make sense of a subject area or experience, this can be applied to psychology itself. Psychology lacks one unified paradigm but has four perspectives that search for its understanding; The pyschodynamic perspective believes that behavior is a result of unconscious processes, personal motivation and early childhood experiences. It's most famous advocate was Sigmund Freud. Its method of data collection rely heavily on interpreting discussion, dreams and fantasies, actions, case studies and a limited amount of experimentation. The behaviorist perspective believes that behavior is learned and selected by environmental consequences. Its method of data collection relies heavily on experimentation conducted in the scientific laboratory where the factors studied can be controlled; or it may take place in a real life setting where more natural behavior is studied and far more variables exist. The cognitive perspective believes that behavior is a result of information processing, storage in the brain, transformation and the retrieval of information. The methods of data collection used are again experimentation but with much use of computer modeling. The evolutionary perspective believes that psychological processes echo the evolutionary processes of natural selection. Its method of data collection includes the deduction of explanations for behavior, and comparisons between species and cultures. It also involves a limited amount of experimentation. Of these four perspectives all lend common similarities to the traditional sciences. All have elements of controlled experimentation, as does physics or chemistry. Cognitive perspectives use computer modeling, as does mathematics. There are similarities, but there are also differences to any other sciences, such as the study of dreams and fantasies. The methods of experimentation and research in psychology is completed on a scientific basis. Psychological experimental research would involve the manipulation of a situation to examine the way in which the subjects of an experiment react, in order to observe cause and effect. The experimenter manipulates independent variables and the subjects responses would prove the dependant variables. By measuring the subjects responses, the experimenter can tell if the manipulation has had an effect. Psychological hypotheses are sought to operationalise - to turn an abstract concept into a concrete argument. This process is scientific in its element. The hypothesis is framed, variables are operationalised separately, a standard procedure is developed that is maintained throughout the experiment, subjects are scientifically selected, results are tested and conclusions drawn. Control groups are often used, similar in essence to control chemicals used in chemistry. These control groups are not exposed to the manipulation but instead to neutral conditions, providing a standards to compare results. In some cases researchers carry out blind studies where subjects are kept unaware of the aspects of the study. Double blind studies have been used in the past where the researchers are kept blind too. A scientific subject knows its own limitations. Psychology attempts to study complex phenomena in laboratory and field situations where validity is called into question. Results contrast with differing personal understandings of researchers which will always differ to some extent. In a physical science a variance of error may be intolerable above 2%, in psychology 50% may be an acceptable level. Every psychological experiment and theory is evaluated with the same level of criticality as that of the traditional sciences. Questions are asked over the theoretical framework, the results validity and its relationship with the hypothesis, the quality and range of sample and if it is representative, the conclusions that can be drawn form the data and broader conclusions that may be apparent. Finally the studies are questioned on their meanings and ethics to operationalise the original hypothesis. Psychology has adopted the scientific mode. However, from a strictly scientific point of view, it has not been able to meet the requirements of true science. In attempting to evaluate the status of psychology as a scientific study, the American Psychological Association appointed Sigmund Koch to conduct a study, employing over eighty noted scholars in assessing the facts, hypotheses, and methods of psychology. In 1983, the results were published in a series entitled 'Psychology: A Study of Science'. Koch describes what he believes to be the delusion in thinking of psychology as a science: The truth is that psychological statements which describe human behavior or which report results from tested research can be scientific. However, when there is a move from describing human behavior to explaining it there is also a move from science to opinion. Here it is important to make the distinction between psychology and psychiatry. Academic psychology is a scientific project, initiated by Wilhelm Wundt at the University of Leipzig at around 1885. His work was the study of the average adult human mind, and the scientific method used was introspection. His approaches have long since been abandoned, as have many of his ideals, but not the basic idea of understanding and describing human functioning within a scientific context. Psychotherapy, on the other hand, is no more a science than that of civil engineering. Ideally, scientifically investigated therapeutic techniques and methods are used together with ethical and philosophical principles in order to achieve a desired outcome. Psychotherapy, then, is a mixture of a craft and an art and may not be called a science. Psychology breeds many conflicting explanations of man and his behavior. Psychologist Roger Mills, in his 1980 article, "Psychology Goes Insane, Botches Role as Science," says: "The field of psychiatry today is literally a mess. There are as many techniques, methods and theories around as there are researchers and therapists. I have personally seen therapists convince their clients that all of their problems come from their mothers, the stars, their biochemical make-up, their diet, their lifestyle and even the "karma" from their past lives." These opinions are describing psychotherapy and not psychology in its core. Remembering that psychology is the scientific study of the behavior of humans and animals, we should look at their methods of study. As we have seen, psychologists use scientific methods in an attempt to understand and predict behavior, to develop procedures for changing behavior, and to evaluate treatment strategies. Mitchell and Jolley discuss the question of whether psychology is a science in the first chapter of their text 'Research Design Explained' (3rd Edition). Their conclusions support the claim that psychology is a science. They discuss the facts that psychology produces objective evidence that can be replicated (replicated with the same success as physics and chemistry experiments). That it unearths observable, objective evidence that either supports or refutes existing beliefs and creates new knowledge. And that psychology is open- minded about claims, even those that go against common sense and sceptical about ideas that, even though they make sense, have not been supported by any research evidence. If we can define a science using subjective methods then Psychology is definitely a science. Psychology represents an empirical science, its methods demanding empirical testing of hypotheses. Many empirical results of psychology are subject to personal interpretation and intense dispute. This can be seen as a function of the phenomena that is psychology. But the key to resolving these disputes is to turn back to the empirical methods and pit alternative interpretations against each other. References The American Heritage Dictionary, 1996 Western, Psychology - Mind, Brain and Culture, 1997 Sigmund Koch, 'Psychology: A Study of Science', 1983 article Roger Mills, 'Psychology Goes Insane, Botches Role as Science', 1980 article Mitchell and Jolley, 'Research Design Explained' (3rd Edition), 1995 Word Count: 1572 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Jeffery Dahmer.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jeffery Dahmer The serial killer that I chose to profile is Jeffery Dahmer. Dahmer brings both horrifying, yet amazing qualities to the table in the respect that he terrorized people, not only those that were his victims, but also people that lived both near and those around the country. Section I: Overview - Jeffery Dahmer - Born on May 21, 1960, at Evangelical Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Jeffery Dahmer was found beaten by fellow inmates on the morning of November 28, 1994, as was pronounced dead at 9:11 a.m. - Was given life imprisonment on 15 counts of murder committed in Wisconsin and one committed in Ohio, for which he was tried separately. He was sentenced to fifteen consecutive life terms for a total of 957 years in prison. - Jeffery Dahmer was always seen as very shy and isolated at an early age. Dahmer had fantasies about killing men and having sex with the corpses. Despite the early tendencies of his childhood, Dahmer didn't act on any of these sexual fantasies until after he had graduated from highschool in June of 1978. Dahmer picked up a hitchhiker by the name of Steven Hicks, and eventually Hicks would be the first victim of Dahmer. Dahmer then enrolled at Ohio State University, only to flunk out within one semester. Next, Dahmer joined the army at the end of 1978, but was discharged for alcoholism and went to live in Florida before returning to Ohio. Dahmer was then arrested in October of 1981 for drunken and disorderly conduct, so his father sent him to live with his grandmother in West Allis, Wisconsin. Dahmer had a couple of sexual legal incidents, then kept cool for about four years. In 1987, Dahmer killed his second victim, Steven Toumi, and would go on a ravenous murder spree after that. - Victims were mainly homosexual men, mostly African-American - Dahmer was active from June 1978 to July 22, 1991 Section II: Childhood Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960, to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. Dahmer was wanted and loved despite Joyce's problems in pregnancy. Dahmer was a normal, healthy child that showed no signs of mental problems. When Dahmer was four, Lionel was sweeping under the house for small animals that had been killed by civets. As Lionel gathered the bones Dahmer was fascinated with the bones of the dead animals. When Dahmer was six, he suffered from a double hernia and needed surgery to correct the problem. After the surgery, Dahmer seemed to be emotionally scarred by it. It seemed as if he had been exposed by this surgery and couldn't recover from it. By the time that Dahmer was in first grade, Lionel started to notice a change in the personality of the young boy. Dahmer had become very shy and showed a general lack of self-confidence. Jeff had become distant, whereas he use to be a very outgoing and friendly boy. By the age of fifteen, Jeff would ride around with plastic bags and collect the remains of animals for his own personal cemetery. He would strip the flesh from the bodies of dead animals that he had found. There is argument that he loved to torture animals, but that is unlikely because of the love of his own pets. The stripping of the dead animal's flesh, but not any sort of harming his own animals showed Dahmer's fascination with dead creatures. Dahmer became more introverted and isolated himself from the outside world. He was overcome with fantasies that would result in the emphasis of dead people and creatures as his main sexual desire. Dahmer's parents always had trouble in their marriage, stemming mainly from Dahmer's mother's various physical ailments and her ability to be high strung, which were likely to come from a background in which her father's alcoholism affected her greatly. Finally, these troubles in the marriage ended with divorce when Dahmer was eighteen. Section III: The Crimes and the Victims In my opinion, Dahmer was a disorganized killer because he was guilty of having most of the distinguishing qualities of that particular killer, rather than that of an organized serial killer. Dahmer was below average intelligence, low or average birth status, socially immature, and he seldom dated. The victims were usually chosen because of their sexuality. Dahmer would hang out in gay bars and just pick up on the homosexuals that would inhabit them. It seems that Dahmer was particular to the African-American race, but that did not hold true for all the cases. At the crime scene, there were parts of bodies that were dismembered. Dahmer would lead the victims back to his house, drug them, sexually assault the victims, and then dismember them. Dahmer would use acid to take away the skin from the skulls of the victims and then keep these skulls as trophies for his fantasies. Dahmer would also dismember the bodies of the victims and keep them in his apartment for safekeeping. When the police discovered Dahmer's apartment, they found, not only skulls kept as trophies, but also an entire industrial size bin full of human bodies. They also found a human head in the refrigerator of his apartment. When the police arrived at the scene of the crime they smelled a very foul smell, which would be later learned to be the stench of the dead bodies that had been decaying in his apartment. Dahmer had built a shrine to himself to remind him of all the victims that he had killed. Section IV: The Killer Jeffery Dahmer was a local killer because all the murders that he committed were in Milwaukee, and just one fell in the state of Ohio. As far as being place-specific though, Dahmer seemed to feed on nightclubs, especially the homosexual ones. Dahmer was a below average college student, failing out his first semester as Ohio State University, and was also incompetent in his military duties, being discharged for alcoholism. Dahmer had a very distinct way of killing his victims as far as the overall setup goes. Dahmer would usually go out to the night clubs in Milwaukee, bring a young man home with him, and drug the man up so that he didn't know what was going on. Next, Dahmer would sexually assault the victim and dismember the victim to either keep in a barrel, or acitize and put up on a shelf as a trophy. It is rumored that Dahmer used a chainsaw to dismember his victims, but more valid arguments claim that he used a knife in his bathtub. Section V: Apprehension and Disposition A couple of months after Dahmer had killed the fourteen year-old boy, Konerak, two Milwaukee police officers were patrolling a very high crime scene near Marquette University and they would be blown away at their findings. At about midnight, the two officers sat in their squad car and observed an African-American male with handcuffs on one of his wrists. The two police officers, thinking that this man had more than likely escaped from another police officer, approached the man for questioning. The man questioned, Tracy Edwards, told of a "weird" man who had put cuffs on him and acted in a very bizarre manner. The two police officers hesitated, wanting to stay away from this homosexual affair, but proceeded to check out the situation. Edwards led the officers to the Oxford apartments where a very calm and rational Dahmer would answer the door. The officers questioned Dahmer about the handcuffs, and he gladly went towards the bedroom to retrieve the key. Edwards, remembering the knife in the bedroom that Dahmer had threatened him with, alerted the officers and they proceeded into the bedroom before Dahmer. The officers were shocked when they found not only photographs of dead men, but also dismembered bodies, skulls, and a human head in the refrigerator. Dahmer suddenly turned on one of the officers, but was taken down by the other. Dahmer went to court and entered a plea of insanity which was prompted by his lawyer, but the court was not in favor of this plea. Rather, Dahmer was convicted and was sentenced to fifteen consecutive life terms for a total of 957 years in prison. Dahmer was paired up with two highly dangerous men on a work detail and on the morning of November 28, 1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by these two men, when left alone to do their work. Section VI: Assessment and Discussion I think that Jeffery Dahmer best fits under the labeling theory. His actions were warranted under the pretense that he committed the killings because of a preexisting fault that he had committed. Dahmer was attracted to the bones of dead animals at a very early age, and acted upon these feelings in the violent fantasies that he committed. Dahmer was affected by the divorce of his parents, his moving around, and the operation that he received at an early age. Dahmer graduated from being fascinated by the decaying bones of animals to the sexual, as well as violent fantasies, that led to the spree of killings that he committed. I think that Dahmer had a very big problem with the isolation that he faced at an early age in life. Dahmer saw that his parents were never happy, and maybe that's why he had homosexual tendencies. Dahmer was continuously consumed with necrophilia, which is the fetish with the dead. He not only collected the bodies of dead animals at an early age, but also he had fantasies about killing people and then having sex with the corpses. I think that you have to put Jeffery Dahmer in a class all his own, because of the fascination that he had with the corpses, and the power that they gave him once he had killed them. A lot of serial killers were more worried about what would happen to them, and they would get rid of the bodies of the people that they had just killed. Dahmer used his own body as a temple to take control of the lives of the victims that he had. Dahmer was very remorseful for the crimes that he had committed, and was very cooperative with the authorities and with the families of his victims. This is not usually seen as a common attribute among serial killers today. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Kicking The Habit Through Negative Reinforcement.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Kicking The Habit Through Negative Reinforcement My addiction to nicotine progressed from casual social smoking to consuming two packs a week. Although I've only been smoking for about one year, I had to quit before my addiction became much stronger. Like most smokers, I've tried to quit cold turkey on many occasions, but the mood and the will power lasts only until my synapses (nerve endings) start screaming, crying, and pleading with my conscious for a cigarette. The intendment of my quest was to discern the influences on my smoking habit and to curb the physical and psychological addiction through the implementation of specific reinforced behaviors. Positive reinforcers make me smoke, and negative reinforcers prevent me from smoking. By identifying positive reinforcements, I learned to quit smoking. Before beginning my analysis of my smoking habits, I recorded the number of cigarettes smoked on a daily basis. On an average day I smoked 4-5 cigarettes. By establishing my baseline performance on a typical week, I set out to find the positive reinforcements, which coerced me into smoking. The days that were most prolific in smoking were Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The primary reason for the increase in smoking was due to the social events of that particular evening, which included the occasional alcohol consumption, and companionship of fellow smokers/friends. "Partying" dramatically affected my smoking habit. Undoubtedly my gregarious antics affected my smoking, but the post-sex cigarette also added to the count. By pinpointing these factors, I was able to invent a fixed negative reinforcement schedule to lead me away from smoking and steer me towards a healthier lifestyle. In order to develop a fixed negative reinforcement schedule, I divided my cigarettes into groups allowing myself only three cigarettes a day. I placed my daily ration of cigarettes into envelopes and labeled them for each day of the week. I smoked one cigarette after lunch, one after dinner, and one later at night. I would reward myself with a cigarette after attending classes and eating lunch. I would then reward myself with another cigarette after homework and dinner. Through the course of my week, I violated my regimen only twice. On Wednesday and Friday, I "bummed' a cigarette from one of my friends. After feeling guilty about violating my regimen, I repented for hours, and swore to myself that I was going to beat my addiction. Primary negative reinforcers also helped me stick with the plan such as improved stamina during physical exercise and more money in my pocket. A secondary reinforcer achieved through my analysis was the reduction of the putrid smell of smoke from my clothing. The only way my quest was successful was because I kept an optimistic attitude by looking at all the gains I was getting from quitting smoking. The most powerful reinforcer was curbing the health risks associated with smoking. I learned how to smoke, and the only way to rid myself of this detrimental habit is by learning what influences my behavior. The only way I can quit smoking is by "un-learning" the habit. By abolishing the positive reinforcers, which promote smoking and surrounding my environment with negative reinforcers to reduce the habit, I have quit. My fixed reinforcement schedule in essence was used to cause extinction of my need to smoke. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Lesbian and Gay Parenting.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Lesbian and Gay Parenting I. SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS Like families headed by heterosexual parents, lesbian and gay parents and their children are a diverse group (Martin, 1993). Unlike heterosexual parents and their children, however, lesbian and gay parents and their children are often subject to prejudice because of sexual orientation that turns judges, legislators, professionals, and the public against them, frequently resulting in negative outcomes such as loss of physical custody, restrictions on visitation, and prohibitions against adoption (Falk, 1989; Editors of the Harvard Law Review, 1990). As with all socially stigmatized groups, the beliefs held generally in society about lesbians and gay men are often not based in personal experience, but are instead culturally transmitted (Herek, 1991). The purpose of this summary of research findings on lesbian and gay parents and their children is to assist psychologists and other professionals to evaluate widespread beliefs in the light of empirical data and in this way ameliorate the negative effects of unwarranted prejudice. Because many beliefs about lesbian and gay parents and their children are open to empirical test, psychological research can evaluate their accuracy. Systematic research comparing lesbian and gay adults to heterosexual adults only began in the late 1950s, and research comparing children of gay and lesbian parents with those of heterosexual parents is of a more recent vintage. Research on lesbian and gay adults began with Evelyn Hooker's landmark study (1957) and culminated with the declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973 (Gonsiorek, 1991). Case reports on children of gay and lesbian parents began to appear in the psychiatric literature in the early 1970s (e.g., Osman, 1972; Weeks, Derdeyn, & Langman, 1975) and have continued to appear (e.g., Agbayewa, 1984). Beginning with the pioneering work of Martin and Lyon (1972), first person and fictionalized descriptions of life in lesbian mother families have also become available (e.g., Alpert, 1988; Clausen, 1985; Jullion, 1985; Mager, 1975; Perreault, 1975; Pollock & Vaughn, 1987; Rafkin, 1990). Systematic research on the children of lesbian and gay parents did not, however, begin to appear in major professional journals until 1978, and most of the available research has been published more recently. As this summary will show, the results of existing research comparing gay and lesbian parents to heterosexual parents and children of gay or lesbian parents to children of heterosexual parents are quite uniform: common sterotypes are not supported by the data. Without denying the clarity of results to date, it is important also for psychologists and other professionals to be aware that research in this area has presented a variety of methodological challenges, not all of which have been surmounted in every study. As is true in any area of research, questions have been raised with regard to sampling issues, statistical power, and other technical matters (e.g., Belcastro, Gramlich, Nicholson, Price, & Wilson, 1993); no individual study is entirely invincible to such criticism. One criticism of this body of research (Belcastro et al., 1993) has been that the research lacks external validity because it may not be representative of the larger population of lesbian and gay parents. This criticism is not justified, because nobody knows the actual composition of the entire population of lesbian mothers, gay fathers, or their children (many of whom choose to remain hidden) and hence researchers cannot possible evaluate the degree to which particular samples do or do not represent the population. In the long run, it is not the results obtained from any one specific sample, but the accumulation of findings from many different samples that will be most meaningful. Research in this area has also been criticized for using poorly matched or no control groups in designs that call for such controls. Particularly notable in this category has been the tendency in some studies to compare development among children of a group of divorced lesbian mothers, many of whom are living with lesbian partners, to that among children of a group of divorced heterosexual mothers who are not currently living with heterosexual partners. It will be important for future research to disentangle maternal sexual orientation from maternal status as partnered or unpartnered. Other criticisms have been that most studies have involved relatively small samples, that there have been inadequacies in assessment procedures employed in some studies, and that the classification of parents as lesbian, gay, or heterosexual has sometimes been problematic (e.g., some women classified by researchers as lesbian might be regarded as bisexual by other observers). It is significant, however, that even with all the questions and/or limitations that may characterize research in the area, none of the published research suggests conclusions different from those that will be summarized below. This summary consists of four sections. In the first, results of research on lesbian and gay adults (and parents) are summarized. In the second section, a summary of results from research comparing children of lesbian and gay parents with those of heterosexual parents or with established norms is presented. The third section summarizes research on heterogeneity among lesbian and gay families with children. The fourth section provides a brief conclusion. A. Lesbian and Gay Parents One belief that often underlies both judicial decision-making in custody litigation and public policies governing foster care and adoption has been the belief that lesbians and gay men are not fit to be parents. In particular, courts have sometimes assumed that gay men and lesbians are mentally ill, that lesbians are less maternal than heterosexual women, and that lesbians' and gay men's relationships with sexual partners leave little time for ongoing parent-child interactions (Editors of the Harvard Law Review, 1990). Results of research to date have failed to confirm any of these beliefs (Falk, 1989, 1994; Patterson, 1994b, 1995b, 1996). Mental Health of Lesbians and Gay Men The psychiatric, psychological, and social-work professions do not consider homosexual orientation to be a mental disorder. More than 20 years ago, the American Psychiatric Association removed "homosexuality" from its list of mental disorders, stating that "homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability, or general social or vocational capabilities" (American Psychiatric Association, 1980). In 1975, the American Psychological Association took the same position and urged all mental health professionals to help dispel the stigma of mental illness that had long been associated with homosexual orientation (American Psychological Association, 1975). The National Association of Social Workers has a similar policy (National Association of Social Workers, 1994). The decision to remove homosexual orientation from the list of mental disorders reflects the results of extensive research, conducted over three decades, showing that homosexual orientation is not a psychological maladjustment (Gonsiorek, 1991; Reiss, 1980; Hart, Roback, Tittler, Weitz, Walston, & McKee, 1978). The social and other circumstances in which lesbians and gay men live, including exposure to widespread prejudice and discrimination, often cause acute distress; but there is no reliable evidence that homosexual orientation per se impairs psychological functioning (Freedman, 1971; Gonsiorek, 1991; Hart et al., 1978; Hooker, 1957; Reiss, 1980). Fitness of Lesbians and Gay Men as Parents Beliefs that gay and lesbian adults are not fit parents likewise have no empirical foundation (Cramer, 1986; Falk, 1989; Gibbs, 1988; Patterson, 1996). Lesbian and heterosexual women have not been found to differ markedly either in their overall mental health or in their approaches to child rearing (Kweskin & Cook, 1982; Lyons, 1983; Miller, Jacobsen, & Bigner, 1981; Mucklow & Phelan, 1979; Pagelow, 1980; Rand, Graham, & Rawlings, 1982; Thompson, McCandless, & Strickland, 1971), nor have lesbians' romantic and sexual relationships with other women been found to detract from their ability to care for their children (Pagelow, 1980). Recent evidence suggests that lesbian couples who are parenting together tend to divide household and family labor relatively evenly (Hand, 1991; Patterson, 1995a) and to report satisfaction with their couple relationships (Koepke, Hare, & Moran, 1992; Patterson, 1995a). Research on gay fathers has similarly found no reason to believe them unfit as parents (Barret & Robinson, 1990; Bigner and Bozett, 1990; Bozett, 1980, 1989). B. Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents In addition to judicial concerns about gay and lesbian parents themselves, courts have voiced three major kinds of fears about effects of lesbian or gay parents on children. The first general concern is that development of sexual identity will be impaired among children of lesbian or gay parents-for instance, that children brought up by gay fathers or lesbian mothers will show disturbances in gender identity and/or in gender role behavior (Falk, 1989; Hitchens & Kirkpatrick, 1985; Kleber, Howell, & Tibbits-Kleber, 1986). It has also been suggested that children brought up by lesbian mothers or gay fathers will themselves become gay or lesbian (Falk, 1989; Kleber et al., 1986). A second category of concerns involves aspects of children's personal development other than sexual identity (Falk, 1989; Editors of the Harvard Law Review, 1990; Kleber et al., 1986). For example, courts have expressed fears that children in the custody of gay or lesbian parents will be more vulnerable to mental breakdown, will exhibit more adjustment difficulties and behavior problems, and will be less psychologically healthy than children growing up in homes with heterosexual parents. A third category of specific fears expressed by the courts is that children of lesbian and gay parents may experience difficulties in social relationships (Editors of the Harvard Law Review, 1990; Falk, 1989; Hitchens & Kirkpatrick, 1985). For example, judges have repeatedly expressed concern that children living with lesbian mothers may be stigmatized, teased, or otherwise traumatized by peers. Another common fear is that children living with gay or lesbian parents may be more likely to be sexually abused by the parent or by the parent's friends or acquaintances. Sexual Identity Three aspects of sexual identity are considered in the research: gender identity concerns a person's self-identification as male or female; gender-role behavior concerns the extent to which a person's activities, occupations, and the like are regarded by the culture as masculine, feminine, or both; sexual orientation refers to a person's choice of sexual partners--i.e., heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual (Money & Earhardt, 1972; Stein, 1993). To examine the possibility that children in the custody of lesbian mothers or gay fathers experience disruptions of sexual identity, research relevant to each of these three major areas of concern is summarized below. Gender identity. In studies of children ranging in age from 5 to 14, results of projective testing and related interview procedures have revealed normal development of gender identity among children of lesbian mothers (Green, 1978; Green, Mandel, Hotvedt, Gray, & Smith, 1986; Kirkpatrick, Smith, & Roy, 1981). More direct assessment techniques to assess gender identity have been used by Golombok, Spencer, and Rutter (1983) with the same result; all children in this study reported that they were happy with their gender, and that they had no wish to be a member of the opposite sex. There was no evidence in any of the studies of gender identity difficulties among children of lesbian mothers. No data have been reported in this area for children of gay fathers. Gender-Role Behavior. A number of studies have examined gender-role behavior among the offspring of lesbian mothers (Golombok et al., 1983; Gottman, 1990; Green, 1978; Hoeffer, 1981; Kirkpatrick et al., 1981; Patterson, 1994a). These studies reported that such behavior among children of lesbian mothers fell within typical limits for conventional sex roles. For instance, Kirkpatrick and her colleagues (1981) found no differences between children of lesbian versus heterosexual mothers in toy preferences, activities, interests, or occupational choices. Rees (1979) administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to 24 adolescents, half of whom had divorced lesbian and half of whom had divorced heterosexual mothers. The BSRI yields scores on masculinity and femininity as independent factors and an androgyny score from the ratio of masculinity to femininity. Children of lesbian and heterosexual mothers did not differ on masculinity or on androgyny, but children of lesbian mothers reported greater psychological femininity than did those of heterosexual mothers. This result would seem to run counter to expectations based on stereotypes of lesbians as lacking in femininity, both in their own demeanor and in their likely influences on children. Sex role behavior of children was also assessed by Green and his colleagues (1986). In interviews with the children, no differences between 56 children of lesbian and 48 children of heterosexual mothers were found with respect to favorite television programs, favorite television characters, or favorite games or toys. There was some indication in interviews with children themselves that the offspring of lesbian mothers had less sex-typed preferences for activities at school and in their neighborhoods than did children of heterosexual mothers. Consistent with this result, lesbian mothers were also more likely than heterosexual mothers to report that their daughters often participated in rough-and-tumble play or occasionally played with "masculine" toys such as trucks or guns; however, they reported no differences in these areas for sons. Lesbian mothers were no more or less likely than heterosexual mothers to report that their children often played with "feminine" toys such as dolls. In both family types, however, children's sex-role behavior was seen as falling within normal limits. In summary, the research suggests that children of lesbian mothers develop patterns of gender-role behavior that are much like those of other children. No data are available as yet in this area for children of gay fathers. Sexual Orientation. A number of investigators have also studied a third component of sexual identity: sexual orientation (Bailey, Bobrow, Wolfe, & Mikach, 1995; Bozett, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1989; Gottman, 1990; Golombok et al., 1983; Green, 1978; Huggins, 1989; Miller, 1979; Paul, 1986; Rees, 1979). In all studies, the great majority of offspring of both gay fathers and lesbian mothers described themselves as heterosexual. Taken together, the data do not suggest elevated rates of homosexuality among the offspring of lesbian or gay parents. For instance, Huggins (1989) interviewed 36 teenagers, half of whom were offspring of lesbian mothers and half of heterosexual mothers. No children of lesbian mothers identified themselves as lesbian or gay, but one child of a heterosexual mother did; this difference was not statistically significant. In a recent study, Bailey and his colleagues (1995) studied adult sons of gay fathers and found more than 90% of the sons to be heterosexual. Because the heterosexual and nonheterosexual sons did not differ in the length of time they had resided with their fathers, the effects of the exposure to the fathers' sexual orientation on the sons' sexual orientation must have been either very small or nonexistent. Other Aspects of Personal Development Studies of other aspects of personal development among children of gay and lesbian parents have assessed a broad array of characteristics. Among these have been separation-individuation (Steckel, 1985, 1987), psychiatric evaluations (Golombok et al., 1983; Kirkpatrick et al., 1981), assessments of behavior problems (Flaks, Ficher, Masterpasqua and Joseph, 1995; Golombok et al., 1983; Patterson, 1994a), personality (Gottman, 1990), self-concept (Gottman, 1990; Huggins, 1989; Patterson, 1994a; Puryear, 1983), locus of control (Puryear, 1983; Rees, 1979), moral judgment (Rees, 1979), and intelligence (Green et al., 1986). Research has shown that concerns about difficulties in personal development in these areas among children of lesbian mothers are unwarranted. As was the case for sexual identity, studies of these other aspects of personal development have revealed no major differences between children of lesbian versus heterosexual mothers. One statistically significant difference in self-concept emerged in Patterson's (1994a) study: children of lesbian mothers reported greater symptoms of stress but also a greater overall sense of well-being than did children in a comparison group of heterosexual families. The responses of both groups were, however, within a normal range (Patterson, 1994a). Overall, the belief that children of gay and lesbian parents suffer deficits in personal development has no empirical foundation. Social Relationships Studies assessing potential differences between children of gay and lesbian versus heterosexual parents have sometimes included assessments of children's social relationships. The most common focus of attention has been on peer relations, but some information on children's relationships with adults has also been collected. Research findings that address the likelihood of sexual abuse are also summarized in this section. Research on peer relations among children of lesbian mothers has been reported by Golombok and her colleagues (1983), Green (1978), and by Green and his colleagues (1986). Reports by both parents and children suggest normal development of peer relationships. For example, as would be expected, most school-aged children reported same-sex best friends and predominantly same-sex peer groups (Golombok et al., 1983; Green, 1978). The quality of children's peer relations was described, on average, in positive terms by researchers (Golombok et al., 1983) as well as by lesbian mothers and their children (Green et al., 1986). No data on the children of gay fathers have been reported in this area. Studies of relationships with adults among the offspring of lesbian and gay parents have also yielded a generally positive picture (Golombok et al., 1983; Harris & Turner, 1985/86; Kirkpatrick et al., 1981). For example, Golombok and her colleagues (1983) found that children of divorced lesbian mothers were more likely to have had recent contact with their fathers than were children of divorced heterosexual mothers. Another study, however, found no differences in this regard (Kirkpatrick et al., 1981). Harris and Turner (1985/86) studied the offspring of gay fathers as well as those of lesbian mothers; parent-child relationships were described in positive terms by parents in their sample. One significant difference between lesbian and gay parents, on the one hand, and heterosexual parents, on the other, was that heterosexual parents were more likely to say that their children's visits with the other parent presented problems for them (Harris & Turner, 1985/86). In the Golombok et al. (1983) study, children's contacts with adult friends of their lesbian mothers were also assessed. All of the children were reported to have contact with adult friends of their mothers, and the majority of lesbian mothers reported that their adult friends were a mixture of homosexual and heterosexual adults. Concerns that children of gay or lesbian parents are more likely than children of heterosexual parents to be sexually abused have also been addressed. Results of work in this area reveal that the great majority of adults who perpetrate sexual abuse are male; sexual abuse of children by adult women is extremely rare (Finkelhor & Russell, 1984; Jones & MacFarlane, 1980; Sarafino, 1979). Moreover, the overwhelming majority of child sexual abuse cases involve an adult male abusing a young female (Jenny, Roesler, & Poyer, 1994; Jones & MacFarlane, 1980). Available evidence reveals that gay men are no more likely than heterosexual men to perpetrate child sexual abuse (Groth & Birnbaum, 1978; Jenny et al., 1994; Sarafino, 1979). Fears that children in custody of gay or lesbian parents might be at heightened risk for sexual abuse are thus without basis in the research literature. Summary Overall, then, results of research to date suggest that children of lesbian and gay parents have normal relationships with peers and that their relationships with adults of both sexes are also satisfactory. The picture of lesbian mothers' children that emerges from results of existing research is thus one of general engagement in social life with peers, with fathers, and with mothers' adult friends--both male and female, both heterosexual and homosexual. Studies in this area to date are few, and the data emerging from them are sketchy. On the basis of existing research findings, however, fears about children of lesbians and gay men being sexually abused by adults, ostracized by peers, or isolated in single-sex lesbian or gay communities are unfounded. C. Diversity Among Gay and Lesbian Families Despite the tremendous diversity evident within gay and lesbian communities, research on differences among lesbian and gay families with children is as yet quite sparse. One particularly important kind of heterogeneity involves the circumstances of children's birth or adoption. Some men and women have had children in the context of heterosexual relationships that split up after one or both parents assumed lesbian or gay identities. Much of the existing research on lesbian mothers, gay fathers, and their children was initiated to address concerns that arose for such families in the context of child custody disputes, and it was often designed at least in part to examine the veracity of common stereotypes that have been voiced in legal proceedings. A growing number of men and women have also had children after assuming lesbian or gay identities. Recently, a small body of research (e.g., Flaks, et al., 1995; McCandlish, 1987; Patterson, 1994a, 1995a; Steckel, 1987) has begun to address issues relevant to families of this type. Parents and children in these two kinds of families are likely to have experiences that differ from one another in many respects. Many issues (for example, residential versus nonresidential parenting)have yet to be addressed directly by research. In this section, research findings on the impact of parental psychological and relationship status and on the influence of other stresses and supports are described. One dimension of difference among gay and lesbian families concerns whether or not the custodial parent is involved in a couple relationship, and if so what implications this may have for children. Pagelow (1980), Kirkpatrick et al. (1981), and Golombok et al. (1983) all reported that, in their samples, divorced lesbian mothers were more likely than divorced heterosexual mothers to be living with a romantic partner; however, none of these investigators examined connections between this variable and children's adjustment or development in lesbian mother families. Huggins (1989) reported that self-esteem among daughters of lesbian mothers whose lesbian partners lived with them was higher than that among daughters of lesbian mothers who did not live with a partner. Because of the small sample size and absence of statistical tests, this finding should be seen as suggestive rather than conclusive. On the basis of impressions from her own work, Kirkpatrick has also stated her view that "contrary to the fears expressed in court, children in households that included the mother's lesbian lover had a richer, more open and stable family life" than did those in single parent lesbian mother households (Kirkpatrick, 1987, p. 204). Issues related to division of family and household labor have also been studied. In families headed by lesbian couples, Patterson (1995a) found that, although mothers did not differ in their reported involvement in household and family decision-making tasks, biological mothers reported more time spent in child care and nonbiological mothers reported more time spent in paid employment. In families where mothers reported sharing child care duties relatively evenly between themselves, parents were more satisfied and children were better adjusted. Thus, equal sharing of child care duties was associated with more advantageous outcomes both for parents and for children in this study. Another aspect of diversity among gay and lesbian families relates to the psychological status and well-being of the parent. Research on parent-child relations in heterosexual families has consistently revealed that children's adjustment is often related to indices of maternal mental health. One might therefore expect factors that enhance mental health among lesbian mothers or gay fathers also to benefit their children. Lott-Whitehead and Tully (1993) reported considerable variability in the amounts of stress described by lesbian mothers, but did not describe sources of stress nor their relations to child adjustment. Rand, Graham, and Rawlings (1982) found that lesbian mothers' sense of psychological well-being was associated with their degree of openness about their lesbian identity with employers, ex-husbands, and children; mothers who felt more able to disclose their lesbian identity were more likely to express a positive sense of well-being. Unfortunately, no information about the relations of these findings to adjustment or development among children of these women has been reported to date. Another area of great diversity among families with a gay or lesbian parent concerns the degree to which a parent's gay or lesbian identity is accepted by other significant people in a child's life. Huggins (1989) found a tendency for children whose fathers were rejecting of maternal lesbian identities to report lower self-esteem than those whose fathers were neutral or positive. Due to small sample size and absence of significance tests, this finding should be regarded as preliminary and suggestive rather than definitive. Huggins' (1989) finding does, however, raise questions about the extent to which reactions of important adults in a child's environment can influence responses to discovery of a parent's gay or lesbian identity. Effects of the age at which children learn of parental homosexuality have also been a topic of study. Paul (1986) found that offspring who were told of parental gay, lesbian, or bisexual identity either in childhood or in late adolescence found the news easier to cope with than those who first learned of it during early to middle adolescence. Huggins (1989) also reported that those who learned of maternal lesbianism in childhood had higher self-esteem than did those who were not informed of it until they were adolescents. From a clinical perspective, it is widely agreed that early adolescence is a particularly difficult time for children to learn that a father is gay or that a mother is lesbian (Bozett, 1980; Pennington, 1987; Schulenberg, 1985). Some investigators have also raised questions about the potential role of peer support in helping children to deal with issues raised by having a gay or lesbian parent. Lewis (1980) was the first to suggest that children's silence on the topic of parental sexual orientation with peers and siblings might add to their feelings of isolation from other children. All of the 11 adolescents studied by O'Connell (1993) reported exercising selectivity about when they disclosed information about their mothers' lesbian identities. Paul (1986) found that 29% of his young adult respondents had never known anyone else with a gay, lesbian, or bisexual parent, suggesting that the possibility of isolation is very real for some young people. Potentially negative effects of any such isolation have not, however, been uncovered in research to date. Lewis (1980) suggested that children would benefit from support groups consisting of other children of gay or lesbian parents, and young people interviewed by O'Connell (1993) agreed, but systematic evaluations of such groups have not been reported. In summary, research on diversity among families with gay and lesbian parents and on the potential effects of such diversity on children is only beginning (Martin 1989; Patterson, 1992, 1995b) Existing data on children of lesbian mothers suggest that children may fare better when mothers are in good psychological health and living with a lesbian partner with whom they share child care. Children may find it easier to deal with issues raised by having lesbian or gay parents if they learn of parental sexual orientation during childhood rather than during adolescence. Existing data also suggest the value of a supportive milieu, in which parental sexual orientation is accepted by other significant adults and in which children have contact with peers in similar circumstances. The existing data are, however, still very sparse, and any conclusions must be seen as tentative. It is clear, however, that existing research provides no basis for believing that children's best interests are served by family conflict or secrecy about a parent's gay or lesbian identity, or by requirements that a lesbian or gay parent maintain a household separate from that of a same-sex partner. D. Conclusion In summary, there is no evidence to suggest that lesbians and gay men are unfit to be parents or that psychosocial development among children of gay men or lesbians is compromised in any respect relative to that among offspring of heterosexual parents. Not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children's psychosocial growth. It should be acknowledged that research on lesbian and gay parents and their children is still very new and relatively scarce. Less is known about children of gay fathers than about children of lesbian mothers. Little is known about development of the offspring of gay or lesbian parents during adolescence or adulthood. Sources of heterogeneity have yet to be systematically investigated. Longitudinal studies that follow lesbian and gay families over time are badly needed. Acknowledgements I wish to thank Clinton Anderson, Natalie Eldridge, Patricia Falk, Mary Henning-Stout, Larry Kurdek, April Martin, Bianca Cody Murphy, Vera Paster, and Roy Scrivner for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. II. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY The citations in this annotated bibliography come from a number of sources: from the original APA publication Lesbian Parents and Their Children, from a PsycLit search on gay and lesbian parenting from the years 1987-1993, and from recommendations made by our expert reviewers. We recognize that this bibliography is not all inclusive. The literature on lesbian and gay parenting is rapidly expanding, and we may have missed some resources. Furthermore, there are a number of doctoral dissertations on gay and lesbian parenting. We have not included dissertations or some of the material that is written directly for lesbian and gay parents themselves. While primarily drawing upon psychology, we did include some citations from law, psychiatry, and social work publications. The annotated bibliography is divided into four sections. The first section focuses on empirical psychological studies. The second section contains book chapters and articles from the periodical literature. The third section contains books. And the bibliography concludes with a section that lists additional resources and organizations. This bibliography was compiled by Bianca Cody Murphy and Lourdes Rodríguez-Nogués with the assistance of Mary Ballou, Edward J. Dunne, Susan Iasenza, Steven James, Linda Jones, Ena Vazquez Nuttall, Gary Ross Reynolds, and William Sanchez. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Lifetime Parental Support.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Lifetime Parental Support Love for Life [Another WR122 paper]-RJ Love for life Raised with strict family values, I cringe to phrases like, "I can't wait to get my children out of the house," or "As soon as my children reach 18, they are on their own." I become shocked to discover that age defines the release date in which children are no longer supported by parents. Children are the offspring to which parents give birth to in life. Regardless of the age, an individual will always be a child to one's mother or father and should receive support until, and beyond, the age of being released into the world. Support is the assistance provided on earth. In order to live happily in this world, one must be supported or support themselves with food, a house, finance, security, approval, acceptance, and love. These, all of which are determined by Abraham H. Maslow, a well- respected psychologist, are the "hierarchy of needs." These are needs that everyone should have the ability to acquire. Unfortunately, the much needed support from many parents are being cut off too early. As a college student entering adulthood, I witness many peers facing very stressful times of their lives. At this time of their lives, a number of peers have been "released" from parental support, hoped to have been given to them until individual security was found. Instead, many peers have found themselves desperately "on their own." This early release from parental support comes at a crucial time to many, because it disrupts the need to prepare themselves completely for society. To too many of my fellow students, education and support is replaced by financial and emotional burdens. The weight of the many hardships that arrive, restricts a clear thinking mind, necessary for education and personal development. A child must have full support from the parents to gain knowledge and security in the world. Immature detachment of parental support, will result in the disturbance to acquire personal potential. Parents should think about the needs of the children and continue to support them through the many lengths and levels throughout life. We live in a complex society where love, care, advice, and assistance are of priceless value. Because living is about learning, parents should be available to their children for understanding life's dynamic possibilities. Parents helping their children learn from their past experiences will aid them to become more knowledgeable of the world and what to expect from it. The less parents teach children of past encounters, the more their children tend to repeat life's mistakes. Support should vary according to how much the child needs in order to support him or herself. Though food, house, finance, and security needs are met by the child, a parent should continue to be open with love and acceptance. Should in one day all material items disappear, the most important necessity needed to remain secure, is love and acceptance. Parenting is giving love and support without an expiration date. The parent-child relationship is a significant element of human nature. The relationship is devotion that a child receives from the parent and gives back to his or her own mother or father. If a child receives plenty of affection from the parents, the child will tend to give this love back, later down the road of life. From being nurtured as an infant to support of a parent of old age, if a child was brought up lovingly and supportively, it is likely that when the parents reach an elderly stage, they will also be taken care of, lovingly and supportively. Like the saying, "What comes around, goes around," life tends to perform karma in many ways throughout life. Unconditional love and support will take away the worries that many face. Unconditional love and support replaces the need for extreme individual responsibility. Responsibility is what many parents think about when making the mistake of releasing children too early into society. What parents believe as laying responsibility upon their child, actually turns into uncertainty, insecurity, lack of confidence, and sense of rejection. These experiences impair concentration required to focus on education and personal growth. In some case these experiences of uncertainty, insecurity, etc., develop into depression, which places major stress upon the body. Young adults should not be dropped into society by their parents, but supported as child becomes more secure, emotionally and financially. An emotionally and financially developed adult will learn to gain responsibility through knowledge and growth. Education prepares an individual by allowing time and instruction from school to naturally make one become a stable individual. Responsibility cannot be forced upon a person at such an immature age, because young adults are faced with hardships that turn education away. This is knowledge that would assist in coping with life's many situations, including struggle. The difficulties that students' face makes them rethink the thought of formal education, and therefore places their personal growth at risk. Without time and education, students lose confidence in themselves and in society that also makes one incompetent. Without parental emotional support, many young adults turn to alcohol, drugs, and unhealthy relationships due to the lack of self-confidence and proper guidance. Many young adults look to outlets to relieve the stress that they face. The use of alcohol and drugs can produce short-term and long-term effects that are hazardous to an individual. Formations of unhealthy relationships are also common due to the shortage of self-esteem and social skills. These situations are some of those that can become avoided through love, care, and support of children. Everyone should be given the opportunity to live to his or her full potential. The ability to arrive at goals that, at one time, a person only dreamed about having. To achieve a high level of human promise that one never knew could be attained. To reach these levels of human potential; concentration, education, and support are of priceless value. From birth to adulthood, every child deserves knowledge to become competent in this world. Concentration is also essential and is achieved with the help of parents providing basic necessities to keep a child or young adult focused. The responsibility, as a parent, is to prepare his or her child with skills that will become useful in this world. An uneducated and unemotionally stable individual may experience much hardship and struggle. Timeless support from parents is all that one needs to find the development of our potentials and full understanding of the world. Through parents we learn to love, to care, to find acceptance, and to protect ourselves from the physical and social environment. We learn from what is right and wrong as a child, to understanding confusing situations to life as adults. While seeking love and support as infants, adolescents, and adults, we return to our love back to our parents as they reach old age and are of need to our care and acceptance. Through timeless love and support we are brought up as responsible, caring, and competent people to society because of our well developed and mature knowledge. Only when, as a young adult, I see well-established love and support from parents to my peers, do I really see the love and appreciation felt from my peers towards the mother and/or father. This unconditional, untimed love and support are all that is necessary to breed happiness in both parent and child. Put your paper here. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Love For Life.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Love For Life Raised with strict family values, I cringe to phrases like, "I can't wait to get my children out of the house," or "As soon as my children reach 18, they are on their own." I become shocked to discover that age defines the release date in which children are no longer supported by parents. Children are the offspring to which parents give birth to in life. Regardless of the age, an individual will always be a child to one's mother or father and should receive support until, and beyond, the age of being released into the world. Support is the assistance provided on earth. In order to live happily in this world, one must be supported or support themselves with food, a house, finance, security, approval, acceptance, and love. These, all of which are determined by Abraham H. Maslow, a well- respected psychologist, are the "hierarchy of needs." These are needs that everyone should have the ability to acquire. Unfortunately, the much needed support from many parents are being cut off too early. As a college student entering adulthood, I witness many peers facing very stressful times of their lives. At this time of their lives, a number of peers have been "released" from parental support, hoped to have been given to them until individual security was found. Instead, many peers have found themselves desperately "on their own." This early release from parental support comes at a crucial time to many, because it disrupts the need to prepare themselves completely for society. To too many of my fellow students, education and support is replaced by financial and emotional burdens. The weight of the many hardships that arrive, restricts a clear thinking mind, necessary for education and personal development. A child must have full support from the parents to gain knowledge and security in the world. Immature detachment of parental support, will result in the disturbance to acquire personal potential. Parents should think about the needs of the children and continue to support them through the many lengths and levels throughout life. We live in a complex society where love, care, advice, and assistance are of priceless value. Because living is about learning, parents should be available to their children for understanding life's dynamic possibilities. Parents helping their children learn from their past experiences will aid them to become more knowledgeable of the world and what to expect from it. The less parents teach children of past encounters, the more their children tend to repeat life's mistakes. Support should vary according to how much the child needs in order to support him or herself. Though food, house, finance, and security needs are met by the child, a parent should continue to be open with love and acceptance. Should in one day all material items disappear, the most important necessity needed to remain secure, is love and acceptance. Parenting is giving love and support without an expiration date. The parent-child relationship is a significant element of human nature. The relationship is devotion that a child receives from the parent and gives back to his or her own mother or father. If a child receives plenty of affection from the parents, the child will tend to give this love back, later down the road of life. From being nurtured as an infant to support of a parent of old age, if a child was brought up lovingly and supportively, it is likely that when the parents reach an elderly stage, they will also be taken care of, lovingly and supportively. Like the saying, "What comes around, goes around," life tends to perform karma in many ways throughout life. Unconditional love and support will take away the worries that many face. Unconditional love and support replaces the need for extreme individual responsibility. Responsibility is what many parents think about when making the mistake of releasing children too early into society. What parents believe as laying responsibility upon their child, actually turns into uncertainty, insecurity, lack of confidence, and sense of rejection. These experiences impair concentration required to focus on education and personal growth. In some case these experiences of uncertainty, insecurity, etc., develop into depression, which places major stress upon the body. Young adults should not be dropped into society by their parents, but supported as child becomes more secure, emotionally and financially. An emotionally and financially developed adult will learn to gain responsibility through knowledge and growth. Education prepares an individual by allowing time and instruction from school to naturally make one become a stable individual. Responsibility cannot be forced upon a person at such an immature age, because young adults are faced with hardships that turn education away. This is knowledge that would assist in coping with life's many situations, including struggle. The difficulties that students' face makes them rethink the thought of formal education, and therefore places their personal growth at risk. Without time and education, students lose confidence in themselves and in society that also makes one incompetent. Without parental emotional support, many young adults turn to alcohol, drugs, and unhealthy relationships due to the lack of self-confidence and proper guidance. Many young adults look to outlets to relieve the stress that they face. The use of alcohol and drugs can produce short-term and long-term effects that are hazardous to an individual. Formations of unhealthy relationships are also common due to the shortage of self-esteem and social skills. These situations are some of those that can become avoided through love, care, and support of children. Everyone should be given the opportunity to live to his or her full potential. The ability to arrive at goals that, at one time, a person only dreamed about having. To achieve a high level of human promise that one never knew could be attained. To reach these levels of human potential; concentration, education, and support are of priceless value. From birth to adulthood, every child deserves knowledge to become competent in this world. Concentration is also essential and is achieved with the help of parents providing basic necessities to keep a child or young adult focused. The responsibility, as a parent, is to prepare his or her child with skills that will become useful in this world. An uneducated and unemotionally stable individual may experience much hardship and struggle. Timeless support from parents is all that one needs to find the development of our potentials and full understanding of the world. Through parents we learn to love, to care, to find acceptance, and to protect ourselves from the physical and social environment. We learn from what is right and wrong as a child, to understanding confusing situations to life as adults. While seeking love and support as infants, adolescents, and adults, we return to our love back to our parents as they reach old age and are of need to our care and acceptance. Through timeless love and support we are brought up as responsible, caring, and competent people to society because of our well developed and mature knowledge. Only when, as a young adult, I see well-established love and support from parents to my peers, do I really see the love and appreciation felt from my peers towards the mother and/or father. This unconditional, untimed love and support are all that is necessary to breed happiness in both parent and child. Put your paper here. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Love In Scott Peck.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Love In Scott Peck's Book The Road Less Traveled "What's Love Got to do With It? " That was Tina Turner's view of love in the late nineteen-eighties. Apparently Scott Peck, the author of The Road Less Traveled, felt the same way. Peck's view of love was a correction to what he thought everyone else thought love was. This paper will be an explanation of Peck's beliefs about love, a contrasting view on love, and my personal knowledge of Peck's beliefs. Peck had a very pessimistic and, at times, a contradicting view of what is believed to be "love" and introduced that in his section on the definition of love. Peck (1978) believed "Love is too large, too deep ever to be truly understood or measured or limited within the framework of words"(page 81). Later on in that same page Peck offers a definition of love as being "The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's personal growth"(page 81). He also breaks down his definition into five comments: First- The definition has a goal or a purpose, Second- The definition given is a circular process, Third- The definition includes self-love as love for the other, Fourth- The definition implies effort, and Fifth- The definition implies a "will" to do something rather than just a desire. Peck believes that lots of suffering can be avoided if a person would take the time out to do away with the common misconceptions of love and came to a more precise meaning of love. Peck's section called "The Myth of Romantic Love" delves deeper into why he believes that people do not fully understand the meaning of true love. Peck says, "...the experience of falling in love probably must have as one of its characteristics the illusion that the experience will last forever"(page 91). He blames our mentality of this "fairy tale" love on society. In this section Peck also discusses the myth that there is one man for every one woman and vice versa. When a couple falls out of love, "...then it is clear that a dreadful mistake was made, we misread the stars, we did not hook up with our one and only perfect match, what we thought was love was not real or "true" love, and nothing can be done about the situation except to live unhappily ever after or get divorced" (page 91). Peck believes that couples that live by this type of mentality prize togetherness and see it as a sign of a healthy marriage but in actuality it is not. Mythical love, as Peck calls it, may be a trick in order for the continuation of the human race. This type of "love" is often known as dependent. Dependency, Peck believes, is what people mistake for love. Examples of dependency are when a person: says, "I can't live without this person because I love them so much," or, when a person contemplates suicide because of the loss of a love. Peck defines dependency as, "...the inability to experience wholeness or to function adequately without the certainty that one is being actively cared for by another"(page 98). Peck compares dependency to the feeling that all humans have to be babied. Peck believes: "All of us have the desire to be babied, to be nurtured without effort on our parts..."(page 99). Dependency can even be linked to the most common disorder called "passive dependent personality disorder". This disorder is common in people always searching for love. These types of people never feel quite whole and don't tolerate loneliness well. When they finally do fall in love, they become so dependent upon that other person that they can not even imagine living them. A woman will even "unlearn" driving in order to become more dependent upon her husband as a means of transportation. A passive dependent marriage can never be considered genuine love or even healthy, but to a passive dependent, it is considered healthy and secure. Dependency can be blamed on the role, or rather absence of, the parent. This brings about years of searching for "...happiness and full-fillment"(page 105). Although Peck makes valid points that love is not the only thing to live for, First Corinthians disagrees. The Bible verse says, " If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all about what is going to happen in the future, knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would it do?"(First Corinthians 13:2-4) The verses go on from there each, at the end, stating nothing would be valuable without love occurring in your life first. Peck, however, has a less romantic view on how important love really is in life. Peck believes love is important but too much love can lead to dependency. Peck is actually the opposite of what the Bible is stating. He believes that a person should first love himself or herself before they can love anyone else. Dependent people are not ready for the "grown up aspects" of love: the hurt, the suffering, or the unhappiness. "The only true end of love is spiritual growth or human evolution"(page 106). The Bible believes that love is the one reliable thing in life. A person is to forsake all other things in the name of love. First Corinthians 13:8 states, "All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever." Peck disagrees with this type of lifestyle. This leads back to the "fairy-tale" mentality that if love is there, then everything else will fall into place. This "Myth of Romantic Love" is often what lead people to heartache and despair later on in life. These fairy-tale followers often try to conform their lives to the myth of the fairy-tale. "...they still cling to the myth and attempt to conform their lives to it"(page 93). If one goes through life thinking that love is the end all be all, then nothing else will matter to them, which would finally bring everything to a crashing halt once love walks into the picture. Peck thinks a person could truthfully ruin their life by putting everything on hold for love. M. Scott Peck's rendition of what love is or is not was a thorough look into the society's mentality on what is believed to be "love". He has several opinions on what the misconceptions of love are and he tries to address them all. A topic Peck stressed was that love is also a job. True love does not come easy and has to be worked on in order for it to be successful. Peck often sates that love will not last forever without it being worked upon. I believe that this statement is true in certain cases. One such case might be a long-distance relationship. If two people claim to love each other they try to work out their relationship even though they are not close to each other physically. Also Peck believes people are set in the fairy-tale love mentality. Peck thinks society is far off in its "definition" of love because many still believe in the fairy-tale of the man or woman riding in on the white horse. This type of loving is known as dependent and is not healthy. It is most commonly found in people searching for love. I agree with Peck's view on what society believes because many still think there is that one person out there for them. Another point Peck makes is that love will not last forever and it is not a feeling. However, I disagree because I feel love is the strongest feeling that a person can feel and if it is true love then it can last forever. I think love is a feeling because when you love someone, you get feelings in your body and mind. Thinking about a person can bring on a wave of softness that is often described with love. Or the ever-common butterfly's people often call love. These are all feelings and are often experienced in conjunction with love. Finally, Scott Peck's book The Road Less Traveled is the only book that combats the general feeling that love is forever, and that love does conquer all, and that real love is a sudden thing. Peck offers these as only misconceptions and untruths in the eyes of the definition of real love. Reference page 1) Peck, M. Scott(1978) The Road Less Traveled New York: Simon and Schuster 2) James, King(1976) The BIBLE: King James Version John Schultz Publishers f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Macbeth.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Macbeth-fair is foul Clinton Sands World Literature Macbeth Discuss the theme of equivocation and "fair is foul and foul is fair" in the play? Shakespeare uses equivocation not to confuse but to either get across multiple meanings or to leave dialogue and events in the play open ended. Equivocation can be seen with the witches and whenever they talk. The witches are themselves a vague set of characters who talk in a puzzling riddle-like manner. For instance when Macbeth goes to see them for the second time they are very vague about predicting his future, intentionally confusing him and making him overly confident. An example of this riddled dialogue goes like this: All (three witches): Listen, but speak not to't. Apparition: Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are: Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until; Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him. Macbeth: That will never be: Who can impress the forest, bid the tree ... That excerpt shows how the witches twist and play with Macbeth's mind and feelings. By the end of the Apparition's lines, Macbeth is convinced he can not be killed by anyone, and so grows in confidence till seething and almost rupturing with it. It also shows Shakespeare's use of equivocation and how, unless certain lines are studied, their true, if vague, meaning cannot be seen or understood. The quoted phrase, "fair is foul and foul is fair" is used frequently, the phrase itself is an oxymoron. Early in the play the reader sees Macbeth as the hero because he has saved all of Scotland from the Norwegians. Duncan, honoring Macbeth, says, "More is thy due than more than all can pay." (Act 1, Scene ) Towards the middle of the play the reader suddenly begins to pity Macbeth, slowly realizing his encroaching insanity for what it is, a downward spiral of death and increased mistakes. Finally, at the end of the play, the reader's opinion of Macbeth moves more towards hate and a feeling that Macbeth is unmistakably evil. As the second witch said: By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes: (-Act 4, Scene 1) Such is Macbeth's fair to foul story in a flash. There is also Lady Macbeth, Macduff, Malcolm, and Donalbain, and perhaps even Banquo. Each of these character's development follows the "fair is foul and foul is fair" format. In the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shows a beautiful face, yet what she says in private is evil. In fact in Act 1, Scene 5, she says: "Art not without ambition; but without The illness that should attend it; what thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou'dst have, great Glamis... She is saying that Macbeth is ambitious but lacks the brutality of character (the illness) to carryout any evil deeds through. After this Lady Macbeth continues on, trying to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan and eventually succeeds. From the end of the first Act through the 2nd, Lady Macbeth has shown her "innocent-self" perfectly capable of committing heinous deeds. Yet eventually the "illness" gets the better of her, as it did Macbeth, and she kills herself unable to stand living with her burdens. On the other side of the "fair is foul and foul is fair" phrase there is Malcolm and his loyal followers. Malcolm and Donalbain were seen as traitorous murders as they fled their fathers' murder. Because of Lord and Lady Macbeth's craftiness, there were seen as traitors along with the grooms. For the people at Macbeth's Inverness castle their fleeing only confirmed suspicions. In Act 2, Scene 4, Macduff says, "... Malcolm, and Donalbain, the king's two sons, are stol'n away and fled, which puts upon them suspicion of the deed." In the end Malcolm comes back with an army in tow to avenge the wrong done against him and his country men. As Macduff stated: Hail, king! For so thou art: behold, where stands The usurper's cursed head: the time is free: I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl, That speak my salutation in their minds; Whose voices I desire aloud with mine: Hail, king of Scotland! As for Macduff himself, he was also thought a traitor half way through the play. Being distrustful and disgruntled with Macbeth he runs to England to join Malcolm. Later though, after being tested by Malcolm to find out where his loyalties lie, Macduff finds out that Macbeth has slain his family. Wrapped in a shroud of vengeance he returns with Malcolm to take Scotland back. Like Malcolm and Donalbain, Macduff goes from "foul to fair." Fair is foul, and foul is fair Hover through the fog and filthy air. - (Act 1, Scene 1) "Fair is foul and foul is fair" is necessary for the development of certain characters in Macbeth, such as Macbeth. The statement itself is vague enough so that the audience will never know what the change from fair to foul will. The quote also suggests that the audience and the characters in the play shouldn't trust anyone because the characters may not be what they seem to be. This famous quote is the epitome of the play's subtleties and double meanings. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Maddness.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Maddness In order for one to fully understand the term "madness", we first need to show what the word really means. After looking through numerous definitions and asking others on their views, the definition from the oxford dictionary seemed to sum up the general thoughts of my family and friends. "...a departure from what is normal or accepted, a moral or mental lapse." These views might differ from person to person as morals and ideas change and societies accept different behaviors. Thus I believe "madness" generally changes it's true meaning according to different societies perceptions. Personally my belief is that "madness" comes in different "packages" such as mental illnesses like eating disorders, manic depression, schizophrenia and grief etc. I only have personal experience with manic depression but for the purpose of the assignment I will also discuss others experiences with madness and will address how society in South Africa understands "madness". My first experience with madness was a highly traumatic event, when my older cousin of a few years attempted to kill himself. My cousin was diagnosed as having a chemical imbalance in his brain and suffering from manic depression. In order to help him the doctors advised him to stay in Tara, a psychiatric clinic, for a few months with therapy and medication providing him with the help he needed. All my family has been able to do is provide the much needed support, love and encouragement as the nature of my cousins "madness" are feelings of worthlessness, hopefulness and helplessness as well as a destroyed self-esteem. This was my first experience with a so- called "madness". 2. It is believed that "madness" often occurs at adolescence because of developmental demands and a variety of biological and social changes. I can see through my experience with my cousin that the demands set by himself, his family and society as well as the chemical dysfunction led him to this so-called "madness". In discussing my ideas of "madness" I came across others, which had experienced different types of madnesses such as eating disorders. One experience that someone had was with as sister that was diagnosed as having Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is a disorder characterized by deliberate weight loss, sustained by the patient. The disorder occurs most commonly in adolescent girls and young women, but adolescent boys and young men may also be affected. The experiences that I heard about, showed the characteristics of this disease to be a very depressed, anxious, fearful person. This disease seems like madness to a normal healthy person, and it is difficult to try and understand one wanting to starve oneself. It is however our society that deems a thin girl to be the epitome of beauty and popularity etc. Society plays a large role in the causes of this disease, this is relevant to South African societies as well where thinness and academic achievement are highly valued. Development of this disease serves as an attempt to cope with cultural and identity conflict. However in a case study done on anorexia nervosa, a population of patients with Anorexia were studied and it was found that less than 5% of the anorexic patients were black. This shows again that society influences the degree of "madness" by deeming was is socially to be accepted .We can see that the way that South African society understands the degree of madness is different to the way in which American society might see it. 3. In conclusion I believe that "madness" is very difficult to define as many different people and societies will argue about the degrees of madness, what madness entails etc. Therefore my understanding of what madness really is, comes only from what I have heard from others and what I have personally experienced in my life. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Meditation.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Meditation Webster's dictionary defines meditation as "to reflect on; ponder, to engage in contemplation," which it really is, although, many people believe that meditation is a means of developing a more spiritual or religious life. Meditation does not necessarily have to be religious. Many people just meditate to relax or organize their thoughts. Meditation is a very broad subject since there are many ways in which to perform meditation. Not only are there many ways but, there are also many different religions associated with meditation. Not only is meditation good for the soul but, it is also good for the mind. I myself have experimented with meditation and have found it to be very relaxing and at the same time stimulating. One way to perform meditation is to first find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Then you must have a precise, intense focus on one object. Follow and control your breath and note all of your body sensations or track the sequence of your thoughts. Second, be allowing to any thoughts that may enter your head. Be spacious and open- hearted. This is excellent for the mind. Another form that is good for the body is body relaxation. First lie on your back on the floor, a supportive bed or a couch. Close your eyes and rest for a moment. Wait for a feeling of readiness. When you are ready to begin, tighten all the muscles that you can, but never tighten them to the point of discomfort. Hold this for thirty seconds. Next pay close attention to the sensation you feel and remember it. Then let all your muscles go and allow them to relax. Compare the feeling that you are feeling to the one that you had just felt minutes ago. After a few minutes repeat this but, allow your muscles to relax for a longer amount of time. Yoga, another form of meditation, teaches an eightfold path beginning with the acquisition of pure moral attitudes, proceeding through practices of breath control and postures designed to allow a person to concentrate without having his or her mind distracted by outside forces. By concentrating on progressively more abstract concepts the person achieves higher and higher meditative states, culminating in a contentless trance that constitutes liberation. Yogis, people that perform yoga, in more advanced stages of this process are said to be gifted with remarkable powers , such as special capacities for sight, an ability to levitate and to project their minds into other bodies, and so on. Religion is a major factor in meditation. Many people meditate to grow more in tune with their spiritual life. The religion of Taoism uses meditation as a way to find the way of harmony in life. Zen Buddhism uses meditation to see into your true nature and realize enlightenment. Buddhism is another form of religion that is based on meditation that is similar to Zen Buddhism. Buddhists use meditation as a way to release their inner illusion. Meditation is not used for religious purposes only. It may also be used to relax or dig deep into a persons soul. Meditation brings out the union of opposites. Due to this the yin-yang symbol is associated with meditation. Within the white there is black and within the black there is white. Both intervene. Some radical doctors will know prescribe meditation instead of pain kills or drugs to relax a person. They do this because meditation has no harmful side effects and can be done by anyone. The only thing meditation can do is to help an individual calm themselves and have clearer thoughts. Meditation has been found to improve mental health by reducing biochemical indicators of stress, decreasing anxiety, and enhancing psychological development. In Sweden the National Health Board conducted a nationwide epidemiological study that found that hospital admissions for psychiatric care for people that meditated was 150-200 times less common to people that did not meditate. Increased intelligence is another benefit of meditation. It has been found that college students that practice meditation over a two year period have a higher nonverbal IQ. All in all meditation is a healthy practice to do. You should be aware of the many types of ways to do it and also be aware of the religions associated with meditation. For it can only help your mind and also your body. Always remember to be steadfast and accept imperfection in your practice. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Men And Women.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Men And Women What influences a person's identity? Is it their homes, parents, religion, or maybe where they live? When do they get one? Do they get it when they understand right from wrong, or when they can read, or are they born with it? Everyone has one and nobody has the same, is there a point in everyone's life when they get one? A person's identity is his own, nobody put it there and nobody can take it out. Everyone in this world has a different identity because they all make their own over the course of their life. A person's identity also causes a person to have masculine and feminine traits. There is no one thing that gives a person their identity, there are however many different factors that contribute to one's identity. What is someone's identity? Is it the way they look, the way they dress, or it could be many things all put together, or is it none of the above? To me someone's identity is a part of their being. Nobody will ever hold it, touch it, or even see it, but it is there. Everybody has one, it guilds your decision making, your thoughts, ideas, and dreams. You may think something is terrible while someone else does not even care and yet another person may laugh, why? The answer is simple, everyone has his own identity and personality. Everyone feels, acts, thinks, and dreams differently. People may have some of these things in common with one another, but they will not be totally the same, it is like a fingerprint, unique. There are many origins to a person's identity, their family, friends, home life, religion, environment and others. But how does it get there, you do not go into a store and pick on off the shelf. A person's identity is developed over many years and put together by the person themselves. It comes from the individuals ability to think, reason and form an opinion. Nobody has the same mind, or the same or the same conscious, so how could anyone have the same identity as another. A person's identity is developed over many years from the time they become aware of their surroundings, to the time they decide if they are going to college, and even as they grow old there identity will change with them. As people's dreams are dreamed and goals are accomplished their identities will change with the individual. Their aspirations and values will change, causing their identities to change with it. It may be a slight alteration or a major overhaul but there identity will adjust to the person. One of the factors of forming an identity will obviously be your family. One's family if invaluable to them. Your family may not be your biological parents or ever a blood relative at all, but nobody in this world can live from birth without some one. But no matter who it is, they will be the people who take care of you when you are sick or aid you when you need help. These people will be there with you for a long time and yes they will have a major impact on what you turn out to be it the future. A lot off people are fortunate enough to live with a mother and a father, they may ever have some brothers and sisters to play with as they grow up. But ever with the same family influences, brothers and sisters still do not have the same identities Some may even say having a "traditional" family would be bad for the development of an identity. For example, what kind identity would a young girl develop if see repeatedly saw her father beat on her mother. She would probably not feel the same as another girl whose father always showed love and caring for her mother. What about a teenager who used drugs as often as he changed his underwear. Would his younger brother, in looking up to him, feel the same as another boy who grew up never seeing an illegal drug before. If family members have no regard for keeping the other members of the family on the right path to being a good person, then what will they become. A large part of how someone turns out is due to the family. A good , solid, caring family may give rise to a kinder, gentler person than a family that does not care whether the children get into trouble. Kids grow up seeing their parents and how they act, or not seeing their parents at all. Proper parenting will lead to better identities in there children. Gender is a major cause for a person's identity. A person might act a certain way because of the gender that is given to them. It is often referred that a person might act a certain way because it is in their nature. A person's nature is a major reason that causes a persons identity. A person might be mentally sick and just go crazy on people. This is part of the person's nature, he is going to do what his nature compels him to. A person's nature might also influence a person to act like a man or a woman. A man might be a man but have feminine traits. This is the nature of his mind. Nature and identity also characterize how the person acts. The nature of someone might make someone act stronger in their own sex. Identity can be seen in even the youngest of children as soon a a child is ready to make their own decision, no matter how trivial the decision might be, the child is starting to create his or her own identity and define their own nature. This nature can be seen in children too. One child's nature might make a little girl act like a boy, also called a tomboy. This means that the girl just like to play with boys and do 'boy' things. While another girl, with a different mentality, might play with Barbie dolls and dress in a pink dress. Nature and identity might make a woman act the way that she does. In the stories The Astronomers Wife by Kate Boyle and A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin the woman are defiantly feminine. Maybe they are too feminine for their husbands who seemingly cannot satisfy their women fully. If the husbands were doing their 'job' in the women would not be cheating on them. The husbands seemingly cannot satisfy their women fully or they wouldn't be interested in others. Either the women needs mental satisfaction or physical satisfaction. Another reason a woman would cheat on her husband is it might be part of her identity, a part of who she is. In this case there probably is no chance that she will not cheat on her husband. A person's nature might cause a person to want and need things that they already have. Why else would a man, who has a faithful wife for years, cheat on her wife someone whom he probably barely knows. Siblings grow up together, they play together, and they have fun together. But eventually they will get there own friends and make there own decisions, this also leads to a person's identity. Not all people like all the same things or people. Joe may be friends with Larry, and Larry may like Bob, but Joe may not like Bob. There is no reason to hate each other, they just do not mix. Friends also play a part in a person's developing an identity, they are also a good indicator of one's identity. Whether you hang around wall street all day or you work on your farm all day, may tell a little about your identity. Neither is better than the other but they probably have different interests and likes. That does not mean they can not be friends and get along, they will just be different. A person's religion can also play a big role in one's identity. People who grow up belonging to a religion would be a lot more likely to continue on with it when they grow older than someone who never believed in one, to start. Religion can have a rather large effect on a person forming an identity. If a person learns to treat others with respect and kindness as they were young, they may keep it with them as they turn into adults. On the other hand a religion could have negative effects on a person's identity. For instance, belonging to a cult that believes in sacrificing animals or even humans would not give a person a very nice identity. Especially when compared to a person who grew up as a practicing Roman Catholic. A person's beliefs can easily lead a person into making a decision, especially regarding ethics or kindness. The person growing up not caring about anything but themselves could easily make a different choice than a person that was taught to be respectful to other people. However this is not always the case, religion can only work if the person decides to follow it and adhere to it. A person who goes to church every Sunday with their parents and does not care about it will probably not have a large religious effect on their identity, it may even cause the person to think "who needs religion, it is useless." A person's identity is his own, they make it and develop it however they choose to. Religion may play a part, or not, it may be bad or good, but the individual has the final say. Your environment does not just mean your outside surroundings, this also refers to your home. People live en all kinds of homes and I do not mean a ranch or a cabin. Your home life is also your environment. Is it clean and neat or is it bug infested and dirty. Kids growing up in all kinds of homes will form different identities. Will they be "neat freaks" or will they not care how they live in their houses. It is a shame to see people living in filthy, run down places. The kids who come out of neat, clean homes would probably be different in how they look at dirt and grime. Do they care or not? Men and women are different because of society has set them up with. It is observed for men to be strong and women to be weak. Also it is in the mentality of the person who is making the comparison to choose how a woman or man is supposed to think. For example one man might think women should be in the house all day making food, cleaning, and making babies. On the other hand another man might like to stay home and take care of the kids and the house while the wife works. In today's society they are both acceptable but the second choice is becoming an ever more popular choice. Another mentality that a man might have is that all women are 'sluts' and 'bitches'. If this mode of thought is used then the person probably has very little respect for a woman. Many rap stars have this mentality about woman. "Bitches ain't sh*t but hoes and tricks..." (Dr. Dre). This is a line from Dr. Dre's album The Chronic. The is the type of thinking that might lead someone to think that all women cheat on their husbands. In the story The Astronomer's Wife by Kate Boyle, the husband was asleep probably had no idea that his wife was about to cheat on him with the plumber it probably never even crossed his mind. Also in A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin, the wife tries to be honest and true but she has a lot of feeling for a man whom she does not really know. The husband trusts his wife greatly he wants her to be friends with his friend, but the wife has something different in mind. She wants the man sexually. The husband has no idea of her intentions. There are many reasons that make men and women act the way they do. It could be a number of possibilities but mostly is the way they were raised. However with all these factors related to forming an identity the most important and most influential is the person themselves. We see people every day, some whom we want to be like and some we hope we never turn out like. With all the other outside factors to guide and help or push and hamper, the individual has the last say. You are the only on who says what you want to be like over the course of your life. Nobody will ever get inside your mind and do the thinking for you. Nobody can influence you, you may feel as if you are being forced to do something but you do not have to do anything. You make the final decision. However you act, think, and speak is totally up to you. People grow up all coming from all different kinds of places, backgrounds and families. They will all have different identities. Gender affects the decisions made by people. Their identity and the 'nature' of the person makes them act the way they do. Nobody is the same and nobody will ever be. All the outside influences will have an effect on their identities but the individual has the last word on it. Nobody is the same because each person will form his own identity to what ever they want to be like. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Mental Rotation Of Images.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mental Rotation Of Images Abstract The idea of mental imagery has always been a controversial subject in the field of psychology. Many psychologists have argued that such a concept is impossible to measure because it can not be directly observed. Though they are right about this, it is not impossible to measure how quickly mental rotations of images are processed in our brains. Subjects in this experiment were presented two shapes simultaneously, via computer screen, and asked to make judgement, as quickly as possible, as to whether the two shapes presented were the same or mirror images. Two different shapes were used in this experiment, each given as often as the other. During each trial one shape remained stationary and the other was rotated with varying amounts of 0, 60, 120, and 180 degrees. As the angle of rotation increased reaction times were calculated to see if this had any baring on the speed of the reaction. As predicted, reaction times increased along with angular disparity. Rotation of Mental Images: Measured by Reaction Times There are a limited number of ways to discover and understand how the human mind works and reacts to things. One can not sit and directly observe the brain and eye working together (James, Schneider & Rodgers, 1994). The concept behind mental rotation of images tries to do this by measuring reaction times as the angular disparity of an object increases. Thus, demonstrating the time it takes for the eye and brain to make a connection when presented with a stimulus. Though our experiment was solely limited to calculating reaction times to mental rotations of images, Wohlschlager and Wohlschlager (1998) took this concept one step further to see if mental object rotation and manual object rotation shared a common thought process in our brain. Wohlschlager & Wohlschlager (1998) based their ideas for this study on a theory, most impressively demonstrated by Cooper (1976), stating that the resemblance of mental rotation to external physical rotation, calls for a mental process that mimics external physical rotation. However, it is pointed out that there is a principal difference between motion perception and mental rotation. Whereas motion perception is a rather automatic process, mental rotation is strategic and shares some characteristics with voluntary actions (Wohlschlager & Wohlschlager, 1998). In conducting their experiment Wohlschlager & Wohlschlager (1998) used 66 right-handed psychology students who took part in this experiment to fulfill their course requirement. Of the 66 students 30 took part in the mental rotation condition and 30 in the manual rotation condition. As expected, findings showed that there was in fact a strong relationship between the reaction times of the mental and manual rotations. As the angular disparity of both the mental and manual rotations increased so did reaction times. In almost all cases manual and mental reaction times matched each other. It was also observed by Wohlschlager & Wohlschlager (1998), that manual object rotation did not always follow the shortest path. Findings showed that in some trials students rotated images the longer way around. Thus, it was concluded that mental processes also rotate things the long way around, since reaction times did not differ much between the two groups, ultimately supporting their original hypothesis. Desrocher, Smith & Taylor (1995) conducted a similar experiment with intentions of measuring reaction times. Only in this experiment the independent variable was not mental vs. manual rotation, but gender. They were interested in seeing if gender differences played a role in regard to reaction times, when presented with either a letter stimuli or picture stimuli. It has been noted that up to the present time, there have been no major findings that show any significant difference in the way men and woman process letter images. In tests, both men and woman performed equally well (Desrocher, smith & Taylor, 1995). However, in several experiments conducted measuring reaction times when presented with a picture stimulus, men have been said to out perform woman in almost all cases. Overall, when comparing the reaction times of pictures to letters, picture reaction times are said to be generally greater. In conducting this experiment 20 right-handed subjects were used, 10 male and 10 female. Subjects participated in this study either to earn course credit, or for payment of ten dollars per hour. Three things were concluded from this experiment. First, picture rotations took longer to perform than letter rotations. Second, there were no sex differences in reaction times for either stimulus presented, and third, there was a linear increase in reaction times as angular disparity of both stimuli sets increased (Desrocher, smith & Taylor, 1995). As predicted this study did replicate some previous findings. However, based on the data from this experiment sex differences did not yield a significant difference in reaction times when presented with the different stimuli. Concurrent with our data, both of the previously mentioned experiments concluded the same thing; reaction times increased as angular disparity increased. Although the objectives in each experiment were somewhat different, there has been a sufficient amount of evidence to support the hypothesis, that reaction times will increase as the angular disparity of objects increase. Method Participants Ten St. Johns University undergraduate students participated in this experiment to fulfill their Research Method Lab Requirement. Materials Ten IBM computers with color monitors were used in this experiment. To conduct the experiment, students used custom made Mel Lab Software, designed for experiments in perception, cognition, social psychology and human factors. Procedure The experiment consisted of 10 practice trials and 128 actual trials. In order to move on to the actual test students had to get 8 out of the 10 practice trials correct. Once an 80% accuracy rate was obtained in the practice trial, students were then permitted to move on to the actual test. This experiment used two different images, each appearing randomly, and as often as the next. During each trial an image was presented on the computer screen along side another. The images were always similar; the two different images were never mixed. As each image appeared students had to decide as quickly as possible if the two images were the same or mirror images. Answers were recorded by either hitting the (1) key, if the images were the same, or hitting the (2) key, if they were mirror images. On each trial one image was rotated in respect to the other in varring degrees of 0, 60, 120, and 180, each rotation occurring randomly and as often as the rest. Results A One Way ANOVA was conducted to look into the findings presented from this experiment. An F(3,36)=9.392 p < .001 was obtained, indicating a statistical significant difference in the data collected. Discussion This study was conducted to see how quickly mental images are processed in our minds by measuring reaction times. Our finding, as well as the findings in the two experiments discussed support the hypothesis that reaction times will increase as the angle of rotation increases. However, when comparing the reaction times between the four groups of 0, 60, 120, and 180 degrees we see that the statistically significant difference we arrived at did not come from all of the groups. In examining the numbers, we see a strong statistical significance between groups 1 & 2, 1 & 3, and 1 & 4. This would be because of the large difference in the number of degrees rotated. When looking at the difference between groups 2 & 3, 2 & 4, and 3 & 4, we see no statistical significance at all. The difference in rotational degrees was not as large between these groups. Another aspect of the results that I would like to point out is that our experiment only used 10 subjects, who were not randomly picked. Only 20 subjects were used in the experiment conducted by Desrocher, smith & Taylor (1995). I don't feel that these numbers of subjects (20 and 10) are enough to have conclusive results. In order to get an accurate sample of the population more participants should have been used in both experiments. This one fact may have been the reason why part of the results of Desrocher, smith & Taylor (1995) were not concurrent with other findings. Although the objectives of the two experiments I discussed were different, result were the same regardless as to what the differences might have been. In all experiment including the one I did, results were concurrent. Findings supported the hypothesis that was set forth: As angular rotation increased, reaction time will also increase. Thus, showing reaction times do serve as an appropriate method for analyzing how quickly the brain reacts to mental rotations of images. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Mind And Machine.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mind And Machine Mind and Machine: The Essay Technology has traditionally evolved as the result of human needs. Invention, when prized and rewarded, will invariably rise-up to meet the free market demands of society. It is in this realm that Artificial Intelligence research and the resultant expert systems have been forged. Much of the material that relates to the field of Artificial Intelligence deals with human psychology and the nature of consciousness. Exhaustive debate on consciousness and the possibilities of consciousnessness in machines has adequately, in my opinion, revealed that it is most unlikely that we will ever converse or interract with a machine of artificial consciousness. In John Searle's collection of lectures, Minds, Brains and Science, arguments centering around the mind-body problem alone is sufficient to convince a reasonable person that there is no way science will ever unravel the mysteries of consciousness. Key to Searle's analysis of consciousness in the context of Artificial Intelligence machines are refutations of strong and weak AI theses. Strong AI Theorists (SATs) believe that in the future, mankind will forge machines that will think as well as, if not better than humans. To them, pesent technology constrains this achievement. The Weak AI Theorists (WATs), almost converse to the SATs, believe that if a machine performs functions that resemble a human's, then there must be a correlation between it and consciousness. To them, there is no technological impediment to thinking machines, because our most advanced machines already think. It is important to review Searle's refutations of these respective theorists' proposition to establish a foundation (for the purpose of this essay) for discussing the applications of Artificial Intelligence, both now and in the future. Strong AI Thesis Strong AI Thesis, according to Searle, can be described in four basic propositions. Proposition one categorizes human thought as the result of computational processes. Given enough computational power, memory, inputs, etc., machines will be able to think, if you believe this proposition. Proposition two, in essence, relegates the human mind to the software bin. Proponents of this proposition believe that humans just happen to have biological computers that run "wetware" as opposed to software. Proposition three, the Turing proposition, holds that if a conscious being can be convinced that, through context-input manipulation, a machine is intelligent, then it is. Proposition four is where the ends will meet the means. It purports that when we are able to finally understand the brain, we will be able to duplicate its functions. Thus, if we replicate the computational power of the mind, we will then understand it. Through argument and experimentation, Searle is able to refute or severely diminish these propositions. Searle argues that machines may well be able to "understand" syntax, but not the semantics, or meaning communicated thereby. Esentially, he makes his point by citing the famous "Chinese Room Thought Experiment." It is here he demonstrates that a "computer" (a non-chinese speaker, a book of rules and the chinese symbols) can fool a native speaker, but have no idea what he is saying. By proving that entities don't have to understand what they are processing to appear as understanding refutes proposition one. Proposition two is refuted by the simple fact that there are no artificial minds or mind-like devices. Proposition two is thus a matter of science fiction rather than a plausible theory A good chess program, like my (as yet undefeated) Chessmaster 4000 Trubo refutes proposition three by passing a Turing test. It appears to be intelligent, but I know it beats me through number crunching and symbol manipulation. The Chessmaster 4000 example is also an adequate refutation of Professor Simon's fourth proposition: "you can understand a process if you can reproduce it." Because the Software Toolworks company created a program for my computer that simulates the behavior of a grandmaster in the game, doesn't mean that the computer is indeed intelligent. Weak AI Thesis There are five basic propositions that fall in the Weak AI Thesis (WAT) camp. The first of these states that the brain, due to its complexity of operation, must function something like a computer, the most sophisticated of human invention. The second WAT proposition states that if a machine's output, if it were compared to that of a human counterpart appeared to be the result of intelligence, then the machine must be so. Proposition three concerns itself with the similarity between how humans solve problems and how computers do so. By solving problems based on information gathered from their respective surroundings and memory and by obeying rules of logic, it is proven that machines can indeed think. The fourth WAT proposition deals with the fact that brains are known to have computational abilities and that a program therein can be inferred. Therefore, the mind is just a big program ("wetware"). The fifth and final WAT proposition states that, since the mind appears to be "wetware", dualism is valid. Proposition one of the Weak AI Thesis is refuted by gazing into the past. People have historically associated the state of the art technology of the time to have elements of intelligence and consciousness. An example of this is shown in the telegraph system of the latter part of the last century. People at the time saw correlations between the brain and the telegraph network itself. Proposition two is readily refuted by the fact that semantical meaning is not addressed by this argument. The fact that a clock can compute and display time doesn't mean that it has any concept of coounting or the meaning of time. Defining the nature of rule-following is the where the weakness lies with the fourth proposition. Proposition four fails to again account for the semantical nature of symbol manipulation. Referring to the Chinese Room Thought Experiment best refutes this argument. By examining the nature by which humans make conscious decisions, it becomes clear that the fifth proposition is an item of fancy. Humans follow a virtually infinite set of rules that rarely follow highly ordered patterns. A computer may be programmed to react to syntactical information with seeminly semantical output, but again, is it really cognizant? We, through Searle's arguments, have amply established that the future of AI lies not in the semantic cognition of data by machines, but in expert systems designed to perform ordered tasks. Technologically, there is hope for some of the proponents of Strong AI Thesis. This hope lies in the advent of neural networks and the application of fuzzy logic engines. Fuzzy logic was created as a subset of boolean logic that was designed to handle data that is neither completely true, nor completely false. Intoduced by Dr. Lotfi Zadeh in 1964, fuzzy logic enabled the modelling of uncertainties of natural language. Dr. Zadeh regards fuzzy theory not as a single theory, but as "fuzzification", or the generalization of specific theories from discrete forms to continuous (fuzzy) forms. The meat and potatos of fuzzy logic is in the extrapolation of data from seta of variables. A fairly apt example of this is the variable lamp. Conventional boolean logical processes deal well with the binary nature of lights. They are either on, or off. But introduce the variable lamp, which can range in intensity from logically on to logically off, and this is where applications demanding the application of fuzzy logic come in. Using fuzzy algorithms on sets of data, such as differing intensities of illumination over time, we can infer a comfortable lighting level based upon an analysis of the data. Taking fuzzy logic one step further, we can incorporate them into fuzzy expert systems. This systems takes collections of data in fuzzy rule format. According to Dr. Lotfi, the rules in a fuzzy logic expert system will usually follow the following simple rule: "if x is low and y is high, then z is medium". Under this rule, x is the low value of a set of data (the light is off) and y is the high value of the same set of data (the light is fully on). z is the output of the inference based upon the degree of fuzzy logic application desired. It is logical to determine that based upon the inputs, more than one output (z) may be ascertained. The rules in a fuzzy logic expert system is described as the rulebase. The fuzzy logic inference process follows three firm steps and sometimes an optional fourth. They are: 1. Fuzzification is the process by which the membership functions determined for the input variables are applied to their true values so that truthfulness of rules may be established. 2. Under inference, truth values for each rule's premise are calculated and then applied to the output portion of each rule. 3. Composition is where all of the fuzzy subsets of a particular problem are combined into a single fuzzy variable for a particular outcome. 4. Defuzzification is the optional process by which fuzzy data is converted to a crisp variable. In the lighting example, a level of illumination can be determined (such as potentiometer or lux values). A new form of information theory is the Possibility Theory. This theory is similar to, but independent of fuzzy theory. By evaluating sets of data (either fuzzy or discrete), rules regarding relative distribution can be determined and possibilities can be assigned. It is logical to assert that the more data that's availible, the better possibilities can be determined. The application of fuzzy logic on neural networks (properly known as artificial neural networks) will revolutionalize many industries in the future. Though we have determined that conscious machines may never come to fruition, expert systems will certainly gain "intelligence" as the wheels of technological innovation turn. A neural network is loosely based upon the design of the brain itself. Though the brain is an impossibly intricate and complex, it has a reasonably understood feature in its networking of neurons. The neuron is the foundation of the brain itself; each one manifests up to 50,000 connections to other neurons. Multiply that by 100 billion, and one begins to grasp the magnitude of the brain's computational ability. A neural network is a network of a multitude of simple processors, each of which with a small amount of memory. These processors are connected by uniderectional data busses and process only information addressed to them. A centralized processor acts as a traffic cop for data, which is parcelled-out to the neural network and retrieved in its digested form. Logically, the more processors connected in the neural net, the more powerful the system. Like the human brain, neural networks are designed to acquire data through experience, or learning. By providing examples to a neural network expert system, generalizations are made much as they are for your children learning about items (such as chairs, dogs, etc.). Modern neural network system properties include a greatly enhanced computational ability due to the parallelism of their circuitry. They have also proven themselves in fields such as mapping, where minor errors are tolerable, there is alot of example-data, and where rules are generally hard to nail-down. Educating neural networks begins by programming a "backpropigation of error", which is the foundational operating systems that defines the inputs and outputs of the system. The best example I can cite is the Windows operating system from Microsoft. Of-course, personal computers don't learn by example, but Windows-based software will not run outside (or in the absence) of Windows. One negative feature of educating neural networks by "backpropigation of error" is a phenomena known as, "overfitting". "Overfitting" errors occur when conflicting information is memorized, so the neural network exhibits a degraded state of function as a result. At the worst, the expert system may lock-up, but it is more common to see an impeded state of operation. By running programs in the operating shell that review data against a data base, these problems have been minimalized. In the real world, we are seeing an increasing prevalence of neural networks. To fully realize the potential benefits of neural networks our lives, research must be intense and global in nature. In the course of my research on this essay, I was privy to several institutions and organizations dedicated to the collaborative development of neural network expert systems. To be a success, research and development of neural networking must address societal problems of high interest and intrigue. Motivating the talents of the computing industry will be the only way we will fully realize the benefits and potential power of neural networks. There would be no support, naturally, if there was no short-term progress. Research and development of neural networks must be intensive enough to show results before interest wanes. New technology must be developed through basic research to enhance the capabilities of neural net expert systems. It is generally acknowledged that the future of neural networks depends on overcoming many technological challenges, such as data cross-talk (caused by radio frequency generation of rapid data transfer) and limited data bandwidth. Real-world applications of these "intelligent" neural network expert systems include, according to the Artificial Intelligence Center, Knowbots/Infobots and intelligent Help desks. These are primarily easily accessible entities that will host a wealth of data and advice for prospective users. Autonomous vehicles are another future application of intelligent neural networks. There may come a time in the future where planes will fly themselves and taxis will deliver passengers without human intervention. Translation is a wonderful possibility of these expert systems. Imagine the ability to have a device translate your English spoken words into Mandarin Chinese! This goes beyond simple languages and syntactical manipulation. Cultural gulfs in language would also be the focus of such devices. Through the course of Mind and Machine, we have established that artificial intelligence's function will not be to replicate the conscious state of man, but to act as an auxiliary to him. Proponents of Strong AI Thesis and Weak AI Thesis may hold out, but the inevitable will manifest itself in the end. It may be easy to ridicule those proponents, but I submit that in their research into making conscious machines, they are doing the field a favor in the innovations and discoveries they make. In conclusion, technology will prevail in the field of expert systems only if the philosophy behind them is clear and strong. We should not strive to make machines that may supplant our causal powers, but rather ones that complement them. To me, these expert systems will not replace man - they shouldn't. We will see a future where we shall increasingly find ourselves working beside intelligent systems. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Multiple Personality Disorder.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Multiple Personality Disorder Multiple Personality Disorder More than two million cases can be found altogether in psychological and psychiatric records of multiple personality disorder also called dissociative identity disorder. It is often thought that multiple personality disorder is a trick, a bizarre form of "play-acting" that is committed by manipulative, attention-seeking individuals. It is not. Multiple personality disorder is a "disorder of hiding" wherein 80-90% of multiple personality disorder patients do not have a clue that they have the disorder. Most know that there is something wrong with them; many fear that they are crazy, but few know that they have a disorder. What is Multiple Personality Disorder? Multiple personalities is a dissociate reaction to stress in which the patient develops two or more personalities. Each personality has a distinct, well-developed emotional and thought process and represents a unique and relatively stable personality. The individual may change from one personality to another at periods varying from a few minutes to several years. The personalities are usually very different and have different attitudes; one may be happy, carefree and fun loving, and another quiet, studious, and serious. People can have up to fifty personalities or more. All personalities usually will have their own name and their own role. For example one personality can be the keeper of pain, his role is to take and feel all the pain that the other personalities come in contact with. The personality also can have their own appearance, but this does not mean the person changes its outer image it is just the way he/she sees inside his/her head. The personalities will also have different ages, talents, and likes and dislikes. For example: In the novel, The Minds of Billy Miligin, there was a man who had twenty-four personalities. All of his twenty-four personalities were different. They had different ages, their own appearance, and some were of the opposite sex. The personalities all had their own role and their own talents. There was one personality that was right handed all others were left handed, only one smoked, one had a British accent another Slavic. Many used their own talents some liked to paint, one was an escape artist, one was a karate expert and another a sculptor. Various types of relationships may exist between the different personalities. Usually the individual alternates from one personality to the other, and can not remember in one, what happened in the other. Occasionally however while one personality is dominant and functions consciously, the other continues to function sub-consciously and is referred to the co conscious personality. Relationships may become highly complicated when there is more than two personalities. In many cases of multiple personalities the personalities will talk of a spotlight. The spotlight is how they come into the conscious world. All the personalities live around the spotlight whoever stands on it finds himself or herself in the conscious world leaving the other personalities unaware of the personality's actions. This leaves the next personality that comes into consciousness in total amnesia. Causes of Multiple Personality Disorder Multiple personality disorder often forms with a person who has been deprived of love and friendship and with a person who has been abused. These people make up friends for themselves, but not just and imaginary friends these friends form there own personalities. These people may also make up other people who are not scared or people, who can not feel pain to turn deal with abuse, which also turn into separate personalities. These people usually deny what is happening and may live their lives without anyone finding out about their disorder. The degree of vulnerability of the child has a great impact on the amount of personalities the person will have. The typical female multiple has about 19 personalities; male multiples tend to have less that half of that. For example a male multiple from ages 7 to 10 who was sexually abused a half-dozen times by a distant relative is going to have far fewer personalities than a female multiple who was severely physically, sexually, and emotionally abused by both parents from infancy to age 16. The female could easily develop 30 to 50 (+) personalities, even in the hundreds. Although its important to remember that every person is different so there may be some people with many personalities and not that much abuse. Or allot of abuse and not that many personalities. Some signs that a person has multiple personality disorder are: 1. History of depression or suicidal behavior. 2. Childhood history of physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological abuse... reports one parent was very cold and critical reports of "wonderful" parents by a person who is clearly emotionally troubled. 3. Abusive relationships in adulthood 4. Strong attacks of shame; sees self as bad or undeserving sacrifices self for others feels does not deserve help; is a burden, reluctant to ask for help is sure you do not want to be troubled with seeing him or her 5. Reports being able to turn off pain or "put it out of my mind." 6. Self-mutilation or self-injuring behavior. 7. Hears voices. 8. Flashbacks (visual, auditory, somatic, affective, or behavioral) 9. History of unsuccessful therapy. 10. Multiple past diagnoses (e.g.: major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and substance abuse). 11. History of shifting symptom picture. 12. Reports of odd changes or variations in physical skills or interests. 13. Described by significant other as having 2 personalities or being a "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde." 14. Family history of dissociation. 15. Phobia or panic attacks. 16. Substance abuse. 17. Daytime enuresis or encopresis. 18. History of psychophysiological symptoms. 19. Seizure-like episodes. 20. History of nightmare and sleep disorders. 21. History of sleepwalking. 22. School problems. 23. Reports psychic experiences. 24. Anorexia or Bulimia. 25. Sexual difficulties. Cures of Multiple Personality Disorder There is treatment for multiple personality disorder, but the disorder usually can not be cured completely. The personalities can be combined to form one core personality the "original" person. This process of integrating all the personalities into one is complicated and does not work in several cases. The personalities will fuse together for awhile, but than break apart when put in a stressful or unsafe situation. Recovery from multiple personality disorder and childhood trauma takes of five years or more. It is a long and difficult process of mourning. The important thing to remember is that recovery does and can happen. Conclusion For many observers, multiple personality disorders are a fascinating, exotic, and weird phenomenon. For the patient, it is confusing, unpleasant, sometimes terrifying, and always a source of the unexpected. The treatment of multiple personality disorder is excruciatingly uncomfortable for the patient. Their childhood traumas and memories must be faced, experienced, digested, and integrated into the patient's view of him/herself. Similarly, the nature of one's parents, one's life, and the day-to-day world must be re-thought. As each issue or trauma is dealt with the alter personality that deals with it can disappear. The personality is no longer needed to contain undigested trauma. In a sense we are all multiple personalities in that we have many conflicting tendencies and frequently do things that surprise both others and ourselves. This is illustrated by common sayings such as, "I don't know why I did it" or "I didn't think he had it in him." But most of us do not develop distinct separate personalities. Bibliography "Specific Neurotic Patterns", pg. 245 - 247 "The Minds of Billy Miligan", Keyes, Daniel "Mental Disorders", Martin, Ruth, Crowell Co. 1992, pg. 23 - 25 "The Voices Within" Movie http://www.dhearts.org http://www.aniota.com/~anita/desire.html "FIRST PERSON PLURAL": My Life as a Multiple Cameron West, Ph.D "Silencing the Voices" Jean Darby Cline, Berkley June 1997 http://www.asarian.org/~astraea/household/manifest.html "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" Movie f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Nadia A Shash Earlywine.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nadia A Shash Earlywine/ Todd Haskell Can there be a Relationship between Ecstasy and Memory in the Human Body? Target Article: Parrott, A.C & Lasky, J. (1998) Ecstasy (MDMA) effects upon mood and cognition: before, during and after a Saturday night dance. Psychopharmacology, 139, 261-268. Additional Article: Parrot, A.C., Lees, A., Garnham, N.J., Jones, M., & Wesnes, K. (1998). Cognitive performance in recreational users of MDMA of 'ecstasy': evidence for memory deficits. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 12, 79-83. Rationale and Variables: The Experiment that was conducted in class determined the affects of 'ecstasy' or MDMA on the participants' memory. In addition to testing for their ability to recall information it also looked at the number of false memory that were related to the actual word "slow" in the class study. In the experiment Dr. Earleywine used a list of words that were to be memorized, and recall in a given time. This study is related to another experiment conducted by A.C Parrott and J. Lasky. In their study they looked at the effects of "ecstasy" or MDMA on mood and cognition. They tested three groups: non- MDMA, novice-MDMA users, and regular MDMA users. They used different methods to test the three groups, included in the methods was word recall, which was also used in the class study by Dr. Earleywine. The result from that experiment showed that "ecstasy" or MDMA users did have memory problems. Another study was also conducted by A.C. Parrott, A. Leess, N.J Garnham M. Jones, and K. Wesnes, which was relate also to the other experiments. This experiment was conducted using three groups: non-MDMA, novice-MDMA and regular MDMA users. They used series of methods to conduct their study, and found their results similar to the earlier study. Analyzing the finding of the two studies, Dr. Earleywine decided to do a study with the mind set of making a connection between the rates of intrusions that participants who have used MDMA, compared with the rate of intrusions with participants, who did not use MDMA. The independent variables were the two groups MDMA users and non-MDMA users, and the dependent variables are the intrusions, and words recalled. Methods: The data for the experiment was collected form students that were taking psychology at University of Southern California. The participants included 145 women and 92 men. The ethnicity background included Caucasian, African/Caribbean, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American, and others, which were not specified. The age of the participants averaged 19.578 years. The procedure of experiment started when Dr. Earleywine distributed the surveys to the participants. In the survey, questions regarding ecstasy and other drugs were asked. The participants were asked to put a check next to statements that were true to them. In the statement the participants were asked if they used MDMA in there life time or if they have never used it. They were also asked their race, age, sex and year in school. When the participants completed the questioner, Dr. Earleywine read a list of 16 words, pausing a few seconds between each word. When he was done reading the list, there was a 30-seconds period of silence in the lecture room. After the 30-secondes, the participants were asked to recall words that they believed were read and to write them on the back of one of the surveys. Results: The study that was conducted produced results that were not very significant to our predicament. We predicted that the data we would receive would back up the two studies that were conducted, and would also be strong enough to make a statement of it's own. But our prediction was far form backing up the two articles that we read. It was stated that 63.7% never used MDMA and 36.3% used MDMA in their lifetime. When the data was analyzed between the two groups, for intrusions and target intrusions they were identical for the most part. The MDMA users in our study were not more likely to make target intrusions. In the recall area of the study, the non-MDMA users recalled an average of 8.8600 words out of 16, and MDMA users averaged 8.1125 words. For the intrusion part of the study the non-MDMA users made 1.0200 intrusions on average and the MDMA users averaged 1.0000 intrusions. This result for the intrusion was so similar it would not be considered significant to make any conclusion in the study. Discussion: the result in the study showed that there was less than 1 word difference between two groups regarding the number of words recalled out of 16. The result that was collected in the study for the most part makes little connection between MDMA and memory. The data that was received could not be analyzed, because the differences between the two are very small to make any conclusion. The result that we received compared to the two articles is very different. This could be due to the way the experiment was conducted in the psychology class. The study was conducted similarly to that of Parrott and Lasky, the results could have been different. In their study, the subject groups: non-MDMA, novice MDMA, and regular MDMA users, were determined after a screening process. There was a set standard to define the three different groups. Also, the study could have been different if they followed the procedure of the Parrott, Lees, Garnham, Jones and Wesnes study. In their study, the participants for the three groups were defined and tested to line up with the participant's answers of classification. In the study that was conducted in class the subject were not classified clearly, and our result turned out differently than the two experiments. There was also another limitation that affected our result, 7 of the 237 people did not participant in the recall part of the study. It should be noted that six out of seven participants had used MDMA in their lifetime. This fact compared to the number of students that participated, can limit the accuracy of the results collected. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Narcissism 2.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Narcissism On Narcissism: Psychological Theories and Therapeutic Interventions in the Narcissistic Disorders Introduction Understanding the Narcissistic Phenomenon The so called 'narcissistic personality disorder' is a complex and often misunderstood disorder. The cardinal feature of the narcissistic personality is the grandiose sense of self importance, but paradoxically underneath this grandiosity the narcissist suffers from a chronically fragile low self esteem. The grandiosity of the narcissist, however, is often so pervasive that we tend to dehumanize him or her. The narcissist conjures in us images of the mythological character Narcissus who could only love himself, rebuffing anyone who attempted to touch him. Nevertheless, it is the underlying sense of inferiority which is the real problem of the narcissist, the grandiosity is just a facade used to cover the deep feelings of inadequacy. The Makeup of the Narcissistic Personality The narcissist's grandiose behavior is designed to reaffirm his or her sense of adequacy. Since the narcissist is incapable of asserting his or her own sense of adequacy, the narcissist seeks to be admired by others. However, the narcissist's extremely fragile sense of self worth does not allow him or her to risk any criticism. Therefore, meaningful emotional interactions with others are avoided. By simultaneously seeking the admiration of others and keeping them at a distance the narcissist is usually able to maintain the illusion of grandiosity no matter how people respond. Thus, when people praise the narcissist his or her grandiosity will increase, but when criticized the grandiosity will usually remain unaffected because the narcissist will devalue the criticizing person. Akhtar (1989) [as cited in Carson & Butcher, 1992; P. 271] discusses six areas of pathological functioning which characterize the narcissist. In particular, four of these narcissistic character traits best illustrate the pattern discussed above. " (1) a narcissistic individual has a basic sense of inferiority, which underlies a preoccupation with fantasies of outstanding achievement; (2) a narcissistic individual is unable to trust and rely on others and thus develops numerous, shallow relationships to extract tributes from others;(3) a narcissistic individual has a shifting morality-always ready to shift values to gain favor; and (4) a narcissistic person is unable to remain in love, showing an impaired capacity for a committed relationship". The Therapeutic Essence of Treating Narcissism The narcissist who enters therapy does not think that there is something wrong with him or her. Typically, the narcissist seeks therapy because he or she is unable to maintain the grandiosity which protects him or her from the feelings of despair. The narcissist views his or her situation arising not as a result of a personal maladjustment; rather it is some factor in the environment which is beyond the narcissist's control which has caused his or her present situation. Therefore, the narcissist expects the therapist not to 'cure' him or her from a problem which he or she does not perceive to exist, rather the narcissist expects the therapist to restore the protective feeling of grandiosity. It is therefore essential for the therapist to be alert to the narcissists attempts to steer therapy towards healing the injured grandiose part, rather than exploring the underlying feelings of inferiority and despair. Differential Psychological Views of Narcissism The use of the term narcissism in relation to psychological phenomena was first made by Ellis in 1898. Ellis described a special state of auto-erotism as Narcissus like, in which the sexual feelings become absorbed in self admiration (Goldberg, 1980). The term was later incorporated into Freud's psychoanalytic theory in 1914 in his essay 'On Narcissism'. Freud conceptualized narcissism as a as a sexual perversion involving a pathological sexual love to one's own body (Sandler & Person, 1991). Henceforth, several psychological theories have attempted to explain and treat the narcissistic phenomenon. Specifically, the most comprehensive psychological theories have been advanced by the psychodynamic perspective and to a lesser extent the Jungian (analytical) perspective. Essentially, both theories cite developmental problems in childhood as leading to the development of the narcissistic disorder. The existential school has also attempted to deal with the narcissistic problem, although the available literature is much smaller. Existentialists postulate that society as a whole can be the crucial factor in the development of narcissism. The final perspective to be discussed is the humanistic approach which although lacking a specific theory on narcissism, can nevertheless be applied to the narcissistic disorder. In many ways the humanistic approach to narcissism echoes the sentiments of the psychodynamic approach. The Psychodynamic Perspective of Narcissism The psychodynamic model of narcissism is dominated by two overlapping schools of thought, the self psychology school and the object relations school. The self psychology school, represented by Kohut, posits that narcissism is a component of everyone's psyche. We are all born as narcissists and gradually our infantile narcissism matures into a healthy adult narcissism. A narcissistic disorder results when this process is somehow disrupted. By contrast the object relations school, represented by Kernberg, argues that narcissism does not result from the arrest of the normal maturation of infantile narcissism, rather a narcissism represents a fixation in one of the developmental periods of childhood. Specifically, the narcissist is fixated at a developmental stage in which the differentiation between the self and others is blurred. Kohut's Theory of Narcissism Kohut believes that narcissism is a normal developmental milestone, and the healthy person learns to transform his or her infantile narcissism into adult narcissism. This transformation takes place through the process which Kohut terms transmuting internalizations. As the infant is transformed into an adult he or she will invariably encounter various challenges resulting in some frustration. If this frustration exceeds the coping abilities of the person only slightly the person experiences optimal frustration. Optimal frustration leads the person to develop a strong internal structure (i.e., a strong sense of the self) which is used to compensate for the lack of external structure (i.e., support from others). In the narcissist the process of transmuting internalizations is arrested because the person experiences a level of frustration which exceeds optimal frustration. The narcissist thus remains stuck at the infantile level, displaying many of the characteristics of the omnipotent and invulnerable child (Kohut, 1977). Kernberg's Theory of Narcissism Kernberg's views on narcissism are based on Mahler's theory of the separation-individuation process in infancy and early childhood. Mahler's model discusses how the developing child gains a stable self concept by successfully mastering the two forerunner phases (normal autism and normal symbiosis) and the four subphases (differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and consolidation) of separation-individuation. Kernberg argues that the narcissist is unable to successfully master the rapprochement subphase and is thus fixated at this level. It is essential, however, to understand the dynamics of the practicing subphase before proceeding to tackle the narcissist's fixation at the rapprochement subphase. The practicing subphase (age 10 to 14 months) marks the developmental stage at which the child learns to walk. The ability to walk gives the child a whole new perspective of the world around him. This new ability endows the child with a sense of grandiosity and omnipotence which closely resemble the narcissist's behavior. However, reality soon catches up with the child as the child enters the rapprochement subphase (age 14 to 24 months). At this stage the child discovers that he or she is not omnipotent, that there are limits to what he or she can do. According to Kernberg if the child is severely frustrated at this stage he or she can adapt by re-fusing or returning to the practicing subphase, which affords him the security of grandiosity and omnipotence (Kernberg, 1976). The Preferred Psychodynamic model The Psychodynamic literature in general tends to lean towards the object relations school because of the emphasis it places on a comprehensive developmental explanation (i.e. the use of Mahler's individuation-separation model). Nevertheless, the theory of Kohut has left a deep impression on Psychodynamic thinking as is evident by the utilization of many of his concepts in the literature (i.e. Johnson, 1987; Manfield, 1992; and Masterson, 1981). Therefore in the remainder of the Psychodynamic section a similar approach will be taken, by emphasizing object relations concepts with the utilization of the occasional Kohutian idea. The Emergence of the Narcissistic Personality According to Kernberg and the object relations school the crisis of the rapprochement subphase is critical to the development of the narcissistic personality. The individual who is unable to successfully master the challenges of this stage will sustain a narcissistic injury. In essence the narcissistic injury will occur whenever the environment (in particular significant others) needs the individual to be something which he or she is not. The narcissistically injured individual is thus told "Don't be who you are, be who I need you to be. Who you are disappoints me, threatens me angers me, overstimulates me. Be what I want and I will love you" (Johnson, 1987; P. 39). The narcissistic injury devastates the individual's emerging self. Unable to be what he or she truly is the narcissistically injured person adapts by splitting his personality into what Kohut terms the nuclear (real) self and the false self. The real self becomes fragmented and repressed, whereas the false self takes over the individual. The narcissist thus learns to reject himself or herself by hiding what has been rejected by others. Subsequently, the narcissist will attempt to compensate for his or her 'deficiencies' by trying to impress others through his or her grandiosity. The narcissist essentially decides that "There is something wrong with me as I am. Therefore, I must be special" (Johnson, 1987; P. 53). The Narcissist's View of Others Just as the individual becomes narcissistic because that is what the environment 'needed' him or her to be, so does the narcissist view others not as they are, but as what he or she needs them to be. Others are thus perceived to exist only in relation to the narcissist's needs. The term object relations thus takes on a special meaning with the narcissist. "We are objects to him, and to the extent that we are narcissistic, others are objects to us. He doesn't really see and hear and feel who we are and, to the extent that we are narcissistic, we do not really see and hear and feel the true presence of others. They, we, are objects... I am not real. You are not real. You are an object to me. I am an object to you" (Johnson, 1987; P. 48). It is apparent than that the narcissist maintains the infantile illusion of being merged to the object. At a psychological level he or she experiences difficulties in differentiating the self from others. It is the extent of this inability to distinguish personal boundaries which determines the severity of the narcissistic disorder (Johnson, 1987). Levels of Narcissism The most extreme form of narcissism involves the perception that no separation exists between the self and the object. The object is viewed as an extension of the self, in the sense that the narcissist considers others to be a merged part of him or her. Usually, the objects which the narcissist chooses to merge with represent that aspect of the narcissist's personality about which feelings of inferiority are perceived. For instance if a narcissist feels unattractive he or she will seek to merge with someone who is perceived by the narcissist to be attractive. At a slightly higher level exists the narcissist who acknowledges the separateness of the object, however, the narcissist views the object as similar to himself or herself in the sense that they share a similar psychological makeup. In effect the narcissist perceives the object as 'just like me'. The most evolved narcissistic personality perceives the object to be both separate and psychologically different, but is unable to appreciate the object as a unique and separate person. The object is thus perceived as useful only to the extent of its ability to aggrandize the false self (Manfield, 1992). Types of narcissism Pending the perceived needs of the environment a narcissist can develop in one of two directions. The individual whose environment supports his or her grandiosity, and demands that he or she be more than possible will develop to be an exhibitionistic narcissist. Such an individual is told 'you are superior to others', but at the same time his or her personal feelings are ignored. Thus, to restore his or her feelings of adequacy the growing individual will attempt to coerce the environment into supporting his or her grandiose claims of superiority and perfection. On the other hand, if the environment feels threatened by the individual's grandiosity it will attempt to suppress the individual from expressing this grandiosity. Such an individual learns to keep the grandiosity hidden from others, and will develop to be a closet narcissist. The closet narcissist will thus only reveal his or her feelings of grandiosity when he or she is convinced that such revelations will be safe (Manfield, 1992) Narcissistic Defense Mechanisms Narcissistic defenses are present to some degree in all people, but are especially pervasive in narcissists. These defenses are used to protect the narcissist from experiencing the feelings of the narcissistic injury. The most pervasive defense mechanism is the grandiose defense. Its function is to restore the narcissist's inflated perception of himself or herself. Typically the defense is utilized when someone punctures the narcissist's grandiosity by saying something which interferes with the narcissist's inflated view of himself or herself. The narcissist will then experience a narcissistic injury similar to that experienced in childhood and will respond by expanding his or her grandiosity, thus restoring his or her wounded self concept. Devaluation is another common defense which is used in similar situations. When injured or disappointed the narcissist can respond by devaluing the 'offending' person. Devaluation thus restores the wounded ego by providing the narcissist with a feeling of superiority over the offender. There are two other defense mechanisms which the narcissist uses. The self-sufficiency defense is used to keep the narcissist emotionally isolated from others. By keeping himself or herself emotionally isolated the narcissist's grandiosity can continue to exist unchallenged. Finally, the manic defense is utilized when feelings of worthlessness begin to surface. To avoid experiencing these feelings the narcissist will attempt to occupy himself or herself with various activities, so that he or she has no time left to feel the feelings (Manfield, 1992). Psychodynamic Treatment of the Narcissist The central theme in the Psychodynamic treatment of the narcissist revolves around the transference relationship which emerges during treatment. In order for the transference relationship to develop the therapist must be emphatic in understanding the patient's narcissistic needs. By echoing the narcissist the therapist remains 'silent' and 'invisible' to the narcissist. In essence the therapist becomes a mirror to the narcissist to the extent that the narcissist derives narcissistic pleasure from confronting his or her 'alter ego'. Grunberger's views are particularly helpful in clarifying this idea. According to him "The patient should enjoy complete narcissistic freedom in the sense that he should always be the only active party. The analyst has no real existence of his own in relation to the analysand. He doesn't have to be either good or bad-he doesn't even have to be... Analysis is thus not a dialogue at all; at best it is a monologue for two voices, one speaking and the other echoing, repeating, clarifying, interpreting correctly-a faithful and untarnished mirror" (Grunberger, 1979; P. 49). The Mirror Transference Once the therapeutic relationship is established two transference like phenomena, the mirror transference and the idealizing transference, collectively known as selfobject transference emerge. The mirror transference will occur when the therapist provides a strong sense of validation to the narcissist. Recall that the narcissistically injured child failed to receive validation for what he or she was. The child thus concluded that there is something wrong with his or her feelings, resulting in a severe damage to the child's self-esteem. By reflecting back to the narcissist his or her accomplishments and grandeur the narcissist's self esteem and internal cohesion are maintained (Manfield, 1992). There are three types of the mirror transference phenomenon, each corresponding to a different level of narcissism (as discussed previously). The merger transference will occur in those narcissists who are unable to distinguish between the object and the self. Such narcissists will perceive the therapist to be a virtual extension of themselves. The narcissist will expect the therapist to be perfectly resonant to him or her, as if the therapist is an actual part of him or her. If the therapist should even slightly vary from the narcissist's needs or opinions, the narcissist will experience a painful breach in the cohesive selfobject function provided by the therapist. Such patients will then likely feel betrayed by the therapist and will respond by withdrawing themselves from the therapist (Manfield, 1992). In the second type of mirror transference, the twinship or alter-ego transference, the narcissist perceives the therapist to be psychologically similar to himself or herself. Conceptually the narcissist perceives the therapist and himself or herself to be twins, separate but alike. In the twinship transference for the selfobject cohesion to be maintained, it is necessary for the narcissist to view the therapist as 'just like me' (Manfield, 1992). The third type of mirror transference is again termed the mirror transference. In this instance the narcissist is only interested in the therapist to the extent that the therapist can reflect his or her grandiosity. In this transference relationship the function of the therapist is to bolster the narcissist's insecure self (Manfield, 1992). The Idealizing Transference The second selfobject transference, the idealizing transference, involves the borrowing of strength from the object (the therapist) to maintain an internal sense of cohesion. By idealizing the therapist to whom the narcissist feels connected, the narcissist by association also uplifts himself or herself. It is helpful to conceptualize the 'idealizing' narcissist as an infant who draws strength from the omnipotence of the caregiver. Thus, in the idealizing transference the therapist symbolizes omnipotence and this in turn makes the narcissist feel secure. The idealization of the object can become so important to the narcissist that in many cases he or she will choose to fault himself or herself, rather than blame the therapist (Manfield, 1992). The idealizing transference is a more mature form of transference than the mirror transference because idealization requires a certain amount of internal structure (i.e., separateness from the therapist). Oftentimes, the narcissist will first develop a mirror transference, and only when his or her internal structure is sufficiently strong will the idealizing transference develop (Manfield, 1992). Utilizing the Transference Relationship in Therapy The selfobject transference relationships provide a stabilizing effect for the narcissist. The supportive therapist thus allows the narcissist to heal his or her current low self esteem and reinstate the damaged grandiosity. However, healing the current narcissistic injury does not address the underlying initial injury and in particular the issue of the false self. To address these issues the therapist must skillfully take advantage of the situations when the narcissist becomes uncharacteristically emotional; that is when the narcissist feels injured. It thus becomes crucial that within the context of the transference relationship, the therapist shift the narcissist's focus towards his or her inner feelings (Manfield, 1992). The prevailing opinion amongst Psychodynamic theorists is that the best way to address the narcissist's present experience, is to utilize a hands-off type of approach. This can be accomplished by letting the narcissist 'take control' of the sessions, processing the narcissist's injuries as they inevitably occur during the course of treatment. When a mirror transference develops injuries will occur when the therapist improperly understands and/or reflects the narcissist's experiences. Similarly, when an idealizing transference is formed injuries will take the form of some disappointment with the therapist which then interferes with the narcissist's idealization of the therapist. In either case, the narcissist is trying to cover up the injury so that the therapist will not notice it. It remains up to the therapist to recognize the particular defense mechanisms that the narcissist will use to defend against the pain of the injury, and work backwards from there to discover the cause of the injury (Manfield, 1992). Once the cause of the injury is discovered the therapist must carefully explore the issue with the narcissist, such that the patient does not feel threatened. The following case provides a good example of the patience and skill that the therapist must possess in dealing with a narcissistic patient. "...a female patient in her mid-thirties came into a session feeling elated about having gotten a new job. All she could talk about is how perfect this job was; there was no hint of introspection or of any dysphoric affect. The therapist could find no opening and made no intervention the entire session except to acknowledge the patient's obvious excitement about her new job. Then, as the patient was leaving, the therapist noticed that she had left her eyeglasses on the table. He said, "you forgot your glasses," to which she responded with an expression of surprise and embarrassment saying, "Oh, how clumsy of me." This response presented the therapist with a slight seem in the grandiose armor and offered the opportunity for him to intervene. He commented, "You are so excited about the things that are happening to you that this is all you have been able to think about; in the process you seem to have forgotten a part of yourself." The patient smiled with a mixture of amusement and recognition. In this example the patient is defending throughout the session and in a moment of surprise she is embarrassed and labels herself "clumsy", giving the therapist the opportunity to interpret the defense (her focus on the excitement of the external world) and how it takes her away from herself" (Manfield, 1992; PP. 168-169). The cure of the narcissist than does not come from the selfobject transference relationships per se. Rather, the selfobject transference function of the therapist is curative only to the extent that it provides an external source of support which enables the narcissist to maintain his or her internal cohesion. For the narcissist to be cured, it is necessary for him or her to create their own structure (the true self). The healing process is thus lengthy, and occurs in small increments whenever the structure supplied by the therapist is inadvertently interrupted. In this context it is useful to recall Kohut's concept of optimal frustration. "If the interruptions to the therapist's selfobject function are not so severe as to overwhelm the patient's deficient internal structure, they function as optimal frustrations, and lead to the patient's development of his own internal structure to make up for the interrupted selfobject function" (Manfield, 1992; P. 167). The Jungian (Analytical) Perspective of Narcissism Analytical psychology views narcissism as a disorder of Self-estrangement, which arises out of inadequate maternal care. However, prior to tackling narcissism it is useful to grasp the essence of analytical thought. The Ego and the Self in Analytical Psychology It is important to understand that the Self in analytical psychology takes on a different meaning than in psychodynamic thought (Self is thus capitalized in analytical writings to distinguish it from the psychodynamic concept of the self). In psychodynamic theory the self is always ego oriented, that is the self is taken to be a content of the ego. By contrast, in analytical psychology the Self is the totality of the psyche, it is the archetype of wholeness and the regulating center of personality. Moreover, the Self is also the image of God in the psyche, and as such it is experienced as a transpersonal power which transcends the ego. The Self therefore exists before the ego, and the ego subsequently emerges from the Self (Monte, 1991). Within the Self we perceive our collective unconscious, which is made up of primordial images, that have been common to all members of the human race from the beginning of life. These primordial images are termed archetypes, and play a significant role in the shaping of the ego. Therefore, "When the ego looks into the mirror of the Self, what it sees is always 'unrealistic' because it sees its archetypal image which can never be fit into the ego" (Schwartz-Salant, 1982; P. 19). Narcissism as an Expression of Self-Estrangement In the case of the narcissist, it is the shattering of the archetypal image of the mother which leads to the narcissistic manifestation. The primordial image of the mother symbolizes paradise, to the extent that the environment of the child is perfectly designed to meet his or her needs. No mother, however, can realistically fulfill the child's archetypal expectations. Nevertheless, so long as the mother reasonably fulfills the child's needs he or she will develop 'normally'. It is only when the mother fails to be a 'good enough mother', that the narcissistic condition will occur (Asper, 1993). When the mother-child relationship is damaged the child's ego does not develop in an optimal way. Rather than form a secure 'ego-Self axis' bond, the child's ego experiences estrangement from the Self. This Self-estrangement negatively affects the child's ego, and thus the narcissist is said to have a 'negativized ego'. The negativized ego than proceeds to compensate for the Self-estrangement by suppressing the personal needs which are inherent in the Self; thus "the negativized ego of the narcissistically disturbed person is characterized by strong defense mechanisms and ego rigidity. A person with this disturbance has distanced himself from the painful emotions of negative experiences and has become egoistic, egocentric, and narcissistic" (Asper, 1993; P. 82). Analytical Treatment of Narcissism Since the narcissistic condition is a manifestation of Self-estrangement, the analytical therapist attempts to heal the rupture in the ego-Self axis bond, which was created by the lack of good enough mothering. To heal this rupture the therapist must convey to the narcissist through emphatic means that others do care about him or her; that is the therapist must repair the archetype of the good mother through a maternally caring approach (Asper, 1993). A maternal approach involves being attentive to the narcissist's needs. Just as a mother can intuitively sense her baby's needs so must the therapist feel and observe what is not verbally expressed by the narcissist. Such a maternal approach allows the narcissist to experience more sympathy towards his or her true feelings and thus gradually the need to withdraw into the narcissistic defense disappears (Asper, 1993). The Existential Perspective of Narcissism Existentialists perceive narcissism to be a byproduct of an alienating society. It is difficult for the individual to truly be himself or herself because society offers many rewards for the individual who conforms to its rules. Such an individual becomes alienated because he or she feels that society's rituals and demands grant him or her little significance and options in the control of his or her own destiny. To compensate such an individual takes pleasure in his or her own uniqueness (grandiosity), he or she enjoys what others cannot see and control. Thus, the alienated person "sees himself as a puppet cued by social circumstances which exact ritualized performances from him. His irritation about the inevitability of this is counterbalanced by one major consolation. This consists of his narcissistic affection for his own machinery-that is, his own processes and parts" (Johnson, 1977; P. 141). Existential Treatment of Narcissism The existential treatment of the narcissist is based on the existential tenant that "all existing persons have the need and possibility of going out from their centeredness to participate in other beings" (Monte, 1991; P. 492). The severely alienated narcissistic individual, however, does not believe in the validity of experience outside of the self. Unlike others, the narcissist does not believe that a constructive relationship with others is possible. Existentialists therefore believe that the therapist, through emphatic understanding, must create a strong bond with the narcissist, so that he or she can see that others have feelings too (Johnson, 1977). The Humanistic (Client-Centered) Perspective of Narcissism Thus far, no specific formulations have been advanced by humanistic theorists about the etiology of the narcissistic condition. Nevertheless, by utilizing general humanistic principles it is possible to explain narcissism. Essentially, much like the psychodynamic explanation, humanistic psychology would argue that narcissism results when individuals are not 'allowed' to truly be who they are. According to humanistic theory, humans have an innate need for self actualization. We want to be the best person that we could possibly be. This is accomplished by internalizing the behaviors that fit with the individual's personal self concept (that which the individual finds to be appealing). However the self is also subject to pressure from significant others. Significant others place upon the individual, conditions of worth, upon which their love and approval is dependent. These conditions may or may not be congruent with the individual's personal self. If they contrast sharply with the personal self, and the individual does not want to risk loosing the approval or love of significant others, then that individual will behave in ways maladaptive to his or her self actualization needs. Although humanistic theory does not elaborate on the specificity of these maladaptive behaviors, it is possible to speculate that narcissism is one possible outcome. Specifically, the narcissistic individual chooses to mask his or her damaged personal self by the display of a perfect grandiose front to the world. Humanistic Treatment of Narcissism The humanistic treatment of the narcissist, is in general no different from the humanistic treatment of any other client. The humanistic therapist wants the narcissist to rediscover his or her individuality, which was suppressed by the conditions of worth imposed by significant others. In order to accomplish this, the proper environment must be set in therapy, free of any conditions of worth. The narcissist must feel that whatever he or she does is all right with the therapist. The therapist therefore gives the narcissist unconditional positive regard. There is no judgment of the narcissist, instead the therapist honestly and caringly tries to see things through the eyes of the narcissist. When the narcissist comes to accept his or her true needs he or she will be congruent with the personal self and the narcissistic front will no longer be needed. Comparative Analysis Each of the psychological approaches discussed above contains both strengths and weaknesses, in attempting to solve the narcissistic puzzle. Nevertheless, the psychodynamic model possesses a big advantage over the other approaches in its ability to offer both a comprehensive theory of etiology and a detailed description of treatment. With respect to etiology the other approaches suffer from: a lack of concrete observational validity (the analytical approach), lack of clarity in capturing the essence of narcissism (the existential approach), and lack of continuity in predicting narcissism (the humanistic approach). The analytical model of narcissism depends on too many hypothetical concepts, such as the collective unconscious, which are not supported by any concrete evidence. True the psychodynamic model introduces some hypothetical concepts of its own but these concepts are backed by Mahler's comprehensive developmental theory. The existential model seems to confuse narcissism with the schizoid condition. By emphasizing the narcissist's tendency to withdraw into the pleasures of the self, existentialists overlook the immense suffering which so characterizes the narcissist. The humanistic model shares much in common with the psychodynamic model about the etiology of narcissism. However, unlike the psychodynamic model it is rather vague about why this etiology leads to the emergence of narcissism. With respect to treatment the major advantage of the psychodynamic approach is that it goes beyond the exclusive use of emphatic means to treat the narcissist. By limiting treatment to emphatic understanding the other approaches fail to address the underlying issues inherent in narcissism. Therefore, the other approaches might shore up the narcissist's damaged self esteem in the short run, but it is doubtful if they will be able to transform the narcissist. Possibly the only weakness of the psychodynamic approach lies in the length that it takes to treat narcissism. Recall that a successful psychodynamic treatment requires the therapist to be very careful about maintaining the narcissist's delicate self perception. Only gradually can the psychodynamic therapist direct the narcissist's attention towards the real underlying emotional feelings. Conclusion No matter which approach is utilized in the explanation and treatment of narcissism it is important to recognize that the narcissistic individual is a complex and multifaceted human being. Deep inside narcissistic individuals experience tremendous pain and suffering, for which they attempt to compensate for by the projection of the grandiose front. These people are not character disordered. They are people tortured by narcissistic injury and crippled by developmental arrests in functioning which rob them of the richness of life they deserve. They are good people, who are hurting. They are living and suffering the narcissistic style. References Asper, Kathrin. (1993). The abandoned child within. New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation. Carson, Robert C & Butcher, James N. (1992). Abnormal psychology and modern life. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Goldberg, Carl. (1980). In defense of narcissism. New York: Gardner Press. Grunberger, Bela. (1979). Narcissism. New York: International Universities Press Inc. Johnson, Frank A. (1977). The existential psychotherapy of alienated persons. In Marie Coleman Nelson (Ed.), The narcissistic condition. New York: Human Sciences Press Johnson, Stephan M. (1987). Humanizing the narcissistic style. New York: Norton & Company. Kernberg, Otto F. (1976). Object-Relations theory and clinical psychoanalysis. New York: Jason Aronson Inc. Kohut, Heinz. (1977). The analysis of the self. New York: International University Press. Manfield, Philip. (1992). Split self/split object Understanding and treating borderline, narcissistic and schizoid disorders. New York: Jason Aronson Inc. Masterson, James F. (1981). The narcissistic and borderline disorders. New York: Brunner/Mazal Publishers. Monte, Christopher F. (1991). Beneath the mask An introduction to theories of personality (Fourth edition). Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers. Sandler, Joseph & Person, Ethel Spector. (1991). Freud's "On Narcissism: An introduction". New Haven: Yale University Press. Schwartz-Salant, Nathan. (1982). Narcissism and character transformation. Toronto: Inner City Books. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Narcissism.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ On Narcissism: Psychological Theories and Therapeutic Interventions in the Narcissistic Disorders Introduction Understanding the Narcissistic Phenomenon The so called 'narcissistic personality disorder' is a complex and often misunderstood disorder. The cardinal feature of the narcissistic personality is the grandiose sense of self importance, but paradoxically underneath this grandiosity the narcissist suffers from a chronically fragile low self esteem. The grandiosity of the narcissist, however, is often so pervasive that we tend to dehumanize him or her. The narcissist conjures in us images of the mythological character Narcissus who could only love himself, rebuffing anyone who attempted to touch him. Nevertheless, it is the underlying sense of inferiority which is the real problem of the narcissist, the grandiosity is just a facade used to cover the deep feelings of inadequacy. The Makeup of the Narcissistic Personality The narcissist's grandiose behavior is designed to reaffirm his or her sense of adequacy. Since the narcissist is incapable of asserting his or her own sense of adequacy, the narcissist seeks to be admired by others. However, the narcissist's extremely fragile sense of self worth does not allow him or her to risk any criticism. Therefore, meaningful emotional interactions with others are avoided. By simultaneously seeking the admiration of others and keeping them at a distance the narcissist is usually able to maintain the illusion of grandiosity no matter how people respond. Thus, when people praise the narcissist his or her grandiosity will increase, but when criticized the grandiosity will usually remain unaffected because the narcissist will devalue the criticizing person. Akhtar (1989) [as cited in Carson & Butcher, 1992; P. 271] discusses six areas of pathological functioning which characterize the narcissist. In particular, four of these narcissistic character traits best illustrate the pattern discussed above. " (1) a narcissistic individual has a basic sense of inferiority, which underlies a preoccupation with fantasies of outstanding achievement; (2) a narcissistic individual is unable to trust and rely on others and thus develops numerous, shallow relationships to extract tributes from others; (3) a narcissistic individual has a shifting morality-always ready to shift values to gain favor; and (4) a narcissistic person is unable to remain in love, showing an impaired capacity for a committed relationship". The Therapeutic Essence of Treating Narcissism The narcissist who enters therapy does not think that there is something wrong with him or her. Typically, the narcissist seeks therapy because he or she is unable to maintain the grandiosity which protects him or her from the feelings of despair. The narcissist views his or her situation arising not as a result of a personal maladjustment; rather it is some factor in the environment which is beyond the narcissist's control which has caused his or her present situation. Therefore, the narcissist expects the therapist not to 'cure' him or her from a problem which he or she does not perceive to exist, rather the narcissist expects the therapist to restore the protective feeling of grandiosity. It is therefore essential for the therapist to be alert to the narcissists attempts to steer therapy towards healing the injured grandiose part, rather than exploring the underlying feelings of inferiority and despair. Differential Psychological Views of Narcissism The use of the term narcissism in relation to psychological phenomena was first made by Ellis in 1898. Ellis described a special state of auto-erotism as Narcissus like, in which the sexual feelings become absorbed in self admiration (Goldberg, 1980). The term was later incorporated into Freud's psychoanalytic theory in 1914 in his essay 'On Narcissism'. Freud conceptualized narcissism as a as a sexual perversion involving a pathological sexual love to one's own body (Sandler & Person, 1991). Henceforth, several psychological theories have attempted to explain and treat the narcissistic phenomenon. Specifically, the most comprehensive psychological theories have been advanced by the psychodynamic perspective and to a lesser extent the Jungian (analytical) perspective. Essentially, both theories cite developmental problems in childhood as leading to the development of the narcissistic disorder. The existential school has also attempted to deal with the narcissistic problem, although the available literature is much smaller. Existentialists postulate that society as a whole can be the crucial factor in the development of narcissism. The final perspective to be discussed is the humanistic approach which although lacking a specific theory on narcissism, can nevertheless be applied to the narcissistic disorder. In many ways the humanistic approach to narcissism echoes the sentiments of the psychodynamic approach. The Psychodynamic Perspective of Narcissism The psychodynamic model of narcissism is dominated by two overlapping schools of thought, the self psychology school and the object relations school. The self psychology school, represented by Kohut, posits that narcissism is a component of everyone's psyche. We are all born as narcissists and gradually our infantile narcissism matures into a healthy adult narcissism. A narcissistic disorder results when this process is somehow disrupted. By contrast the object relations school, represented by Kernberg, argues that narcissism does not result from the arrest of the normal maturation of infantile narcissism, rather a narcissism represents a fixation in one of the developmental periods of childhood. Specifically, the narcissist is fixated at a developmental stage in which the differentiation between the self and others is blurred. Kohut's Theory of Narcissism Kohut believes that narcissism is a normal developmental milestone, and the healthy person learns to transform his or her infantile narcissism into adult narcissism. This transformation takes place through the process which Kohut terms transmuting internalizations. As the infant is transformed into an adult he or she will invariably encounter various challenges resulting in some frustration. If this frustration exceeds the coping abilities of the person only slightly the person experiences optimal frustration. Optimal frustration leads the person to develop a strong internal structure (i.e., a strong sense of the self) which is used to compensate for the lack of external structure (i.e., support from others). In the narcissist the process of transmuting internalizations is arrested because the person experiences a level of frustration which exceeds optimal frustration. The narcissist thus remains stuck at the infantile level, displaying many of the characteristics of the omnipotent and invulnerable child (Kohut, 1977). Kernberg's Theory of Narcissism Kernberg's views on narcissism are based on Mahler's theory of the separation- individuation process in infancy and early childhood. Mahler's model discusses how the developing child gains a stable self concept by successfully mastering the two forerunner phases (normal autism and normal symbiosis) and the four subphases (differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and consolidation) of separation-individuation. Kernberg argues that the narcissist is unable to successfully master the rapprochement subphase and is thus fixated at this level. It is essential, however, to understand the dynamics of the practicing subphase before proceeding to tackle the narcissist's fixation at the rapprochement subphase. The practicing subphase (age 10 to 14 months) marks the developmental stage at which the child learns to walk. The ability to walk gives the child a whole new perspective of the world around him. This new ability endows the child with a sense of grandiosity and omnipotence which closely resemble the narcissist's behavior. However, reality soon catches up with the child as the child enters the rapprochement subphase (age 14 to 24 months). At this stage the child discovers that he or she is not omnipotent, that there are limits to what he or she can do. According to Kernberg if the child is severely frustrated at this stage he or she can adapt by re-fusing or returning to the practicing subphase, which affords him the security of grandiosity and omnipotence (Kernberg, 1976). The Preferred Psychodynamic model The Psychodynamic literature in general tends to lean towards the object relations school because of the emphasis it places on a comprehensive developmental explanation (i.e. the use of Mahler's individuation-separation model). Nevertheless, the theory of Kohut has left a deep impression on Psychodynamic thinking as is evident by the utilization of many of his concepts in the literature (i.e. Johnson, 1987; Manfield, 1992; and Masterson, 1981). Therefore in the remainder of the Psychodynamic section a similar approach will be taken, by emphasizing object relations concepts with the utilization of the occasional Kohutian idea. The Emergence of the Narcissistic Personality According to Kernberg and the object relations school the crisis of the rapprochement subphase is critical to the development of the narcissistic personality. The individual who is unable to successfully master the challenges of this stage will sustain a narcissistic injury. In essence the narcissistic injury will occur whenever the environment (in particular significant others) needs the individual to be something which he or she is not. The narcissistically injured individual is thus told "Don't be who you are, be who I need you to be. Who you are disappoints me, threatens me angers me, overstimulates me. Be what I want and I will love you" (Johnson, 1987; P. 39). The narcissistic injury devastates the individual's emerging self. Unable to be what he or she truly is the narcissistically injured person adapts by splitting his personality into what Kohut terms the nuclear (real) self and the false self. The real self becomes fragmented and repressed, whereas the false self takes over the individual. The narcissist thus learns to reject himself or herself by hiding what has been rejected by others. Subsequently, the narcissist will attempt to compensate for his or her 'deficiencies' by trying to impress others through his or her grandiosity. The narcissist essentially decides that "There is something wrong with me as I am. Therefore, I must be special" (Johnson, 1987; P. 53). The Narcissist's View of Others Just as the individual becomes narcissistic because that is what the environment 'needed' him or her to be, so does the narcissist view others not as they are, but as what he or she needs them to be. Others are thus perceived to exist only in relation to the narcissist's needs. The term object relations thus takes on a special meaning with the narcissist. "We are objects to him, and to the extent that we are narcissistic, others are objects to us. He doesn't really see and hear and feel who we are and, to the extent that we are narcissistic, we do not really see and hear and feel the true presence of others. They, we, are objects... I am not real. You are not real. You are an object to me. I am an object to you" (Johnson, 1987; P. 48). It is apparent than that the narcissist maintains the infantile illusion of being merged to the object. At a psychological level he or she experiences difficulties in differentiating the self from others. It is the extent of this inability to distinguish personal boundaries which determines the severity of the narcissistic disorder (Johnson, 1987). Levels of Narcissism The most extreme form of narcissism involves the perception that no separation exists between the self and the object. The object is viewed as an extension of the self, in the sense that the narcissist considers others to be a merged part of him or her. Usually, the objects which the narcissist chooses to merge with represent that aspect of the narcissist's personality about which feelings of inferiority are perceived. For instance if a narcissist feels unattractive he or she will seek to merge with someone who is perceived by the narcissist to be attractive. At a slightly higher level exists the narcissist who acknowledges the separateness of the object, however, the narcissist views the object as similar to himself or herself in the sense that they share a similar psychological makeup. In effect the narcissist perceives the object as 'just like me'. The most evolved narcissistic personality perceives the object to be both separate and psychologically different, but is unable to appreciate the object as a unique and separate person. The object is thus perceived as useful only to the extent of its ability to aggrandize the false self (Manfield, 1992). Types of narcissism Pending the perceived needs of the environment a narcissist can develop in one of two directions. The individual whose environment supports his or her grandiosity, and demands that he or she be more than possible will develop to be an exhibitionistic narcissist. Such an individual is told 'you are superior to others', but at the same time his or her personal feelings are ignored. Thus, to restore his or her feelings of adequacy the growing individual will attempt to coerce the environment into supporting his or her grandiose claims of superiority and perfection. On the other hand, if the environment feels threatened by the individual's grandiosity it will attempt to suppress the individual from expressing this grandiosity. Such an individual learns to keep the grandiosity hidden from others, and will develop to be a closet narcissist. The closet narcissist will thus only reveal his or her feelings of grandiosity when he or she is convinced that such revelations will be safe (Manfield, 1992) Narcissistic Defense Mechanisms Narcissistic defenses are present to some degree in all people, but are especially pervasive in narcissists. These defenses are used to protect the narcissist from experiencing the feelings of the narcissistic injury. The most pervasive defense mechanism is the grandiose defense. Its function is to restore the narcissist's inflated perception of himself or herself. Typically the defense is utilized when someone punctures the narcissist's grandiosity by saying something which interferes with the narcissist's inflated view of himself or herself. The narcissist will then experience a narcissistic injury similar to that experienced in childhood and will respond by expanding his or her grandiosity, thus restoring his or her wounded self concept. Devaluation is another common defense which is used in similar situations. When injured or disappointed the narcissist can respond by devaluing the 'offending' person. Devaluation thus restores the wounded ego by providing the narcissist with a feeling of superiority over the offender. There are two other defense mechanisms which the narcissist uses. The self-sufficiency defense is used to keep the narcissist emotionally isolated from others. By keeping himself or herself emotionally isolated the narcissist's grandiosity can continue to exist unchallenged. Finally, the manic defense is utilized when feelings of worthlessness begin to surface. To avoid experiencing these feelings the narcissist will attempt to occupy himself or herself with various activities, so that he or she has no time left to feel the feelings (Manfield, 1992). Psychodynamic Treatment of the Narcissist The central theme in the Psychodynamic treatment of the narcissist revolves around the transference relationship which emerges during treatment. In order for the transference relationship to develop the therapist must be emphatic in understanding the patient's narcissistic needs. By echoing the narcissist the therapist remains 'silent' and 'invisible' to the narcissist. In essence the therapist becomes a mirror to the narcissist to the extent that the narcissist derives narcissistic pleasure from confronting his or her 'alter ego'. Grunberger's views are particularly helpful in clarifying this idea. According to him "The patient should enjoy complete narcissistic freedom in the sense that he should always be the only active party. The analyst has no real existence of his own in relation to the analysand. He doesn't have to be either good or bad-he doesn't even have to be... Analysis is thus not a dialogue at all; at best it is a monologue for two voices, one speaking and the other echoing, repeating, clarifying, interpreting correctly-a faithful and untarnished mirror" (Grunberger, 1979; P. 49). The Mirror Transference Once the therapeutic relationship is established two transference like phenomena, the mirror transference and the idealizing transference, collectively known as selfobject transference emerge. The mirror transference will occur when the therapist provides a strong sense of validation to the narcissist. Recall that the narcissistically injured child failed to receive validation for what he or she was. The child thus concluded that there is something wrong with his or her feelings, resulting in a severe damage to the child's self- esteem. By reflecting back to the narcissist his or her accomplishments and grandeur the narcissist's self esteem and internal cohesion are maintained (Manfield, 1992). There are three types of the mirror transference phenomenon, each corresponding to a different level of narcissism (as discussed previously). The merger transference will occur in those narcissists who are unable to distinguish between the object and the self. Such narcissists will perceive the therapist to be a virtual extension of themselves. The narcissist will expect the therapist to be perfectly resonant to him or her, as if the therapist is an actual part of him or her. If the therapist should even slightly vary from the narcissist's needs or opinions, the narcissist will experience a painful breach in the cohesive selfobject function provided by the therapist. Such patients will then likely feel betrayed by the therapist and will respond by withdrawing themselves from the therapist (Manfield, 1992). In the second type of mirror transference, the twinship or alter-ego transference, the narcissist perceives the therapist to be psychologically similar to himself or herself. Conceptually the narcissist perceives the therapist and himself or herself to be twins, separate but alike. In the twinship transference for the selfobject cohesion to be maintained, it is necessary for the narcissist to view the therapist as 'just like me' (Manfield, 1992). The third type of mirror transference is again termed the mirror transference. In this instance the narcissist is only interested in the therapist to the extent that the therapist can reflect his or her grandiosity. In this transference relationship the function of the therapist is to bolster the narcissist's insecure self (Manfield, 1992). The Idealizing Transference The second selfobject transference, the idealizing transference, involves the borrowing of strength from the object (the therapist) to maintain an internal sense of cohesion. By idealizing the therapist to whom the narcissist feels connected, the narcissist by association also uplifts himself or herself. It is helpful to conceptualize the 'idealizing' narcissist as an infant who draws strength from the omnipotence of the caregiver. Thus, in the idealizing transference the therapist symbolizes omnipotence and this in turn makes the narcissist feel secure. The idealization of the object can become so important to the narcissist that in many cases he or she will choose to fault himself or herself, rather than blame the therapist (Manfield, 1992). The idealizing transference is a more mature form of transference than the mirror transference because idealization requires a certain amount of internal structure (i.e., separateness from the therapist). Oftentimes, the narcissist will first develop a mirror transference, and only when his or her internal structure is sufficiently strong will the idealizing transference develop (Manfield, 1992). Utilizing the Transference Relationship in Therapy The selfobject transference relationships provide a stabilizing effect for the narcissist. The supportive therapist thus allows the narcissist to heal his or her current low self esteem and reinstate the damaged grandiosity. However, healing the current narcissistic injury does not address the underlying initial injury and in particular the issue of the false self. To address these issues the therapist must skillfully take advantage of the situations when the narcissist becomes uncharacteristically emotional; that is when the narcissist feels injured. It thus becomes crucial that within the context of the transference relationship, the therapist shift the narcissist's focus towards his or her inner feelings (Manfield, 1992). The prevailing opinion amongst Psychodynamic theorists is that the best way to address the narcissist's present experience, is to utilize a hands-off type of approach. This can be accomplished by letting the narcissist 'take control' of the sessions, processing the narcissist's injuries as they inevitably occur during the course of treatment. When a mirror transference develops injuries will occur when the therapist improperly understands and/or reflects the narcissist's experiences. Similarly, when an idealizing transference is formed injuries will take the form of some disappointment with the therapist which then interferes with the narcissist's idealization of the therapist. In either case, the narcissist is trying to cover up the injury so that the therapist will not notice it. It remains up to the therapist to recognize the particular defense mechanisms that the narcissist will use to defend against the pain of the injury, and work backwards from there to discover the cause of the injury (Manfield, 1992). Once the cause of the injury is discovered the therapist must carefully explore the issue with the narcissist, such that the patient does not feel threatened. The following case provides a good example of the patience and skill that the therapist must possess in dealing with a narcissistic patient. "...a female patient in her mid-thirties came into a session feeling elated about having gotten a new job. All she could talk about is how perfect this job was; there was no hint of introspection or of any dysphoric affect. The therapist could find no opening and made no intervention the entire session except to acknowledge the patient's obvious excitement about her new job. Then, as the patient was leaving, the therapist noticed that she had left her eyeglasses on the table. He said, "you forgot your glasses," to which she responded with an expression of surprise and embarrassment saying, "Oh, how clumsy of me." This response presented the therapist with a slight seem in the grandiose armor and offered the opportunity for him to intervene. He commented, "You are so excited about the things that are happening to you that this is all you have been able to think about; in the process you seem to have forgotten a part of yourself." The patient smiled with a mixture of amusement and recognition. In this example the patient is defending throughout the session and in a moment of surprise she is embarrassed and labels herself "clumsy", giving the therapist the opportunity to interpret the defense (her focus on the excitement of the external world) and how it takes her away from herself" (Manfield, 1992; PP. 168-169). The cure of the narcissist than does not come from the selfobject transference relationships per se. Rather, the selfobject transference function of the therapist is curative only to the extent that it provides an external source of support which enables the narcissist to maintain his or her internal cohesion. For the narcissist to be cured, it is necessary for him or her to create their own structure (the true self). The healing process is thus lengthy, and occurs in small increments whenever the structure supplied by the therapist is inadvertently interrupted. In this context it is useful to recall Kohut's concept of optimal frustration. "If the interruptions to the therapist's selfobject function are not so severe as to overwhelm the patient's deficient internal structure, they function as optimal frustrations, and lead to the patient's development of his own internal structure to make up for the interrupted selfobject function" (Manfield, 1992; P. 167). The Jungian (Analytical) Perspective of Narcissism Analytical psychology views narcissism as a disorder of Self-estrangement, which arises out of inadequate maternal care. However, prior to tackling narcissism it is useful to grasp the essence of analytical thought. The Ego and the Self in Analytical Psychology It is important to understand that the Self in analytical psychology takes on a different meaning than in psychodynamic thought (Self is thus capitalized in analytical writings to distinguish it from the psychodynamic concept of the self). In psychodynamic theory the self is always ego oriented, that is the self is taken to be a content of the ego. By contrast, in analytical psychology the Self is the totality of the psyche, it is the archetype of wholeness and the regulating center of personality. Moreover, the Self is also the image of God in the psyche, and as such it is experienced as a transpersonal power which transcends the ego. The Self therefore exists before the ego, and the ego subsequently emerges from the Self (Monte, 1991). Within the Self we perceive our collective unconscious, which is made up of primordial images, that have been common to all members of the human race from the beginning of life. These primordial images are termed archetypes, and play a significant role in the shaping of the ego. Therefore, "When the ego looks into the mirror of the Self, what it sees is always 'unrealistic' because it sees its archetypal image which can never be fit into the ego" (Schwartz-Salant, 1982; P. 19). Narcissism as an Expression of Self-Estrangement In the case of the narcissist, it is the shattering of the archetypal image of the mother which leads to the narcissistic manifestation. The primordial image of the mother symbolizes paradise, to the extent that the environment of the child is perfectly designed to meet his or her needs. No mother, however, can realistically fulfill the child's archetypal expectations. Nevertheless, so long as the mother reasonably fulfills the child's needs he or she will develop 'normally'. It is only when the mother fails to be a 'good enough mother', that the narcissistic condition will occur (Asper, 1993). When the mother-child relationship is damaged the child's ego does not develop in an optimal way. Rather than form a secure 'ego-Self axis' bond, the child's ego experiences estrangement from the Self. This Self-estrangement negatively affects the child's ego, and thus the narcissist is said to have a 'negativized ego'. The negativized ego than proceeds to compensate for the Self-estrangement by suppressing the personal needs which are inherent in the Self; thus "the negativized ego of the narcissistically disturbed person is characterized by strong defense mechanisms and ego rigidity. A person with this disturbance has distanced himself from the painful emotions of negative experiences and has become egoistic, egocentric, and narcissistic" (Asper, 1993; P. 82). Analytical Treatment of Narcissism Since the narcissistic condition is a manifestation of Self-estrangement, the analytical therapist attempts to heal the rupture in the ego-Self axis bond, which was created by the lack of good enough mothering. To heal this rupture the therapist must convey to the narcissist through emphatic means that others do care about him or her; that is the therapist must repair the archetype of the good mother through a maternally caring approach (Asper, 1993). A maternal approach involves being attentive to the narcissist's needs. Just as a mother can intuitively sense her baby's needs so must the therapist feel and observe what is not verbally expressed by the narcissist. Such a maternal approach allows the narcissist to experience more sympathy towards his or her true feelings and thus gradually the need to withdraw into the narcissistic defense disappears (Asper, 1993). The Existential Perspective of Narcissism Existentialists perceive narcissism to be a byproduct of an alienating society. It is difficult for the individual to truly be himself or herself because society offers many rewards for the individual who conforms to its rules. Such an individual becomes alienated because he or she feels that society's rituals and demands grant him or her little significance and options in the control of his or her own destiny. To compensate such an individual takes pleasure in his or her own uniqueness (grandiosity), he or she enjoys what others cannot see and control. Thus, the alienated person "sees himself as a puppet cued by social circumstances which exact ritualized performances from him. His irritation about the inevitability of this is counterbalanced by one major consolation. This consists of his narcissistic affection for his own machinery-that is, his own processes and parts" (Johnson, 1977; P. 141). Existential Treatment of Narcissism The existential treatment of the narcissist is based on the existential tenant that "all existing persons have the need and possibility of going out from their centeredness to participate in other beings" (Monte, 1991; P. 492). The severely alienated narcissistic individual, however, does not believe in the validity of experience outside of the self. Unlike others, the narcissist does not believe that a constructive relationship with others is possible. Existentialists therefore believe that the therapist, through emphatic understanding, must create a strong bond with the narcissist, so that he or she can see that others have feelings too (Johnson, 1977). The Humanistic (Client-Centered) Perspective of Narcissism Thus far, no specific formulations have been advanced by humanistic theorists about the etiology of the narcissistic condition. Nevertheless, by utilizing general humanistic principles it is possible to explain narcissism. Essentially, much like the psychodynamic explanation, humanistic psychology would argue that narcissism results when individuals are not 'allowed' to truly be who they are. According to humanistic theory, humans have an innate need for self actualization. We want to be the best person that we could possibly be. This is accomplished by internalizing the behaviors that fit with the individual's personal self concept (that which the individual finds to be appealing). However the self is also subject to pressure from significant others. Significant others place upon the individual, conditions of worth, upon which their love and approval is dependent. These conditions may or may not be congruent with the individual's personal self. If they contrast sharply with the personal self, and the individual does not want to risk loosing the approval or love of significant others, then that individual will behave in ways maladaptive to his or her self actualization needs. Although humanistic theory does not elaborate on the specificity of these maladaptive behaviors, it is possible to speculate that narcissism is one possible outcome. Specifically, the narcissistic individual chooses to mask his or her damaged personal self by the display of a perfect grandiose front to the world. Humanistic Treatment of Narcissism The humanistic treatment of the narcissist, is in general no different from the humanistic treatment of any other client. The humanistic therapist wants the narcissist to rediscover his or her individuality, which was suppressed by the conditions of worth imposed by significant others. In order to accomplish this, the proper environment must be set in therapy, free of any conditions of worth. The narcissist must feel that whatever he or she does is all right with the therapist. The therapist therefore gives the narcissist unconditional positive regard. There is no judgment of the narcissist, instead the therapist honestly and caringly tries to see things through the eyes of the narcissist. When the narcissist comes to accept his or her true needs he or she will be congruent with the personal self and the narcissistic front will no longer be needed. Comparative Analysis Each of the psychological approaches discussed above contains both strengths and weaknesses, in attempting to solve the narcissistic puzzle. Nevertheless, the psychodynamic model possesses a big advantage over the other approaches in its ability to offer both a comprehensive theory of etiology and a detailed description of treatment. With respect to etiology the other approaches suffer from: a lack of concrete observational validity (the analytical approach), lack of clarity in capturing the essence of narcissism (the existential approach), and lack of continuity in predicting narcissism (the humanistic approach). The analytical model of narcissism depends on too many hypothetical concepts, such as the collective unconscious, which are not supported by any concrete evidence. True the psychodynamic model introduces some hypothetical concepts of its own but these concepts are backed by Mahler's comprehensive developmental theory. The existential model seems to confuse narcissism with the schizoid condition. By emphasizing the narcissist's tendency to withdraw into the pleasures of the self, existentialists overlook the immense suffering which so characterizes the narcissist. The humanistic model shares much in common with the psychodynamic model about the etiology of narcissism. However, unlike the psychodynamic model it is rather vague about why this etiology leads to the emergence of narcissism. With respect to treatment the major advantage of the psychodynamic approach is that it goes beyond the exclusive use of emphatic means to treat the narcissist. By limiting treatment to emphatic understanding the other approaches fail to address the underlying issues inherent in narcissism. Therefore, the other approaches might shore up the narcissist's damaged self esteem in the short run, but it is doubtful if they will be able to transform the narcissist. Possibly the only weakness of the psychodynamic approach lies in the length that it takes to treat narcissism. Recall that a successful psychodynamic treatment requires the therapist to be very careful about maintaining the narcissist's delicate self perception. Only gradually can the psychodynamic therapist direct the narcissist's attention towards the real underlying emotional feelings. Conclusion No matter which approach is utilized in the explanation and treatment of narcissism it is important to recognize that the narcissistic individual is a complex and multifaceted human being. Deep inside narcissistic individuals experience tremendous pain and suffering, for which they attempt to compensate for by the projection of the grandiose front. These people are not character disordered. They are people tortured by narcissistic injury and crippled by developmental arrests in functioning which rob them of the richness of life they deserve. They are good people, who are hurting. They are living and suffering the narcissistic style. References Asper, Kathrin. (1993). The abandoned child within. New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation. Carson, Robert C & Butcher, James N. (1992). Abnormal psychology and modern life. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Goldberg, Carl. (1980). In defense of narcissism. New York: Gardner Press. Grunberger, Bela. (1979). Narcissism. New York: International Universities Press Inc. Johnson, Frank A. (1977). The existential psychotherapy of alienated persons. In Marie Coleman Nelson (Ed.), The narcissistic condition. New York: Human Sciences Press Johnson, Stephan M. (1987). Humanizing the narcissistic style. New York: Norton & Company. Kernberg, Otto F. (1976). Object-Relations theory and clinical psychoanalysis. New York: Jason Aronson Inc. Kohut, Heinz. (1977). The analysis of the self. New York: International University Press. Manfield, Philip. (1992). Split self/split object Understanding and treating borderline, narcissistic and schizoid disorders. New York: Jason Aronson Inc. Masterson, James F. (1981). The narcissistic and borderline disorders. New York: Brunner/Mazal Publishers. Monte, Christopher F. (1991). Beneath the mask An introduction to theories of personality (Fourth edition). Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers. Sandler, Joseph & Person, Ethel Spector. (1991). Freud's "On Narcissism: An introduction". New Haven: Yale University Press. Schwartz-Salant, Nathan. (1982). Narcissism and character transformation. Toronto: Inner City Books. 22 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Nature vs.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nature vs. Nurture Psychologists have often questioned whether personality traits are inherited, and therefore a result of genetics, or if they are caused by the environment, and are therefore made. This has come to be known as the nature versus nurture controversy. Many psychologists throughout history have asked this question, and most agree the answer is both. Nature versus nurture has been an on going argument for over a century and will carry on further. Scientists have been unable to conclude this question of which carries most responsibility for behavior. The argument of nature versus nurture is examined through the role of genetics in one's personality. Then the role of environment in a one's personality. Finally showing how both nature and nurture coincide to influence behavior in children, that the genetic makeup shapes one's personality, thus determining how their environment is perceived. Though one's personality is not determined strictly by genetics, there is more evidence to support the idea that personality is inherited than there is to support the idea personality is made based on the environment and based on one's experience. Many experiments and studies have been done to determine where one's personality stems from, yet, few studies have been as effective as those studies based on twins, and adopted children. Both types of studies are extremely successful in determining where one's personality comes from. In a twins study, the genes are regulated while in an adoption study the environment is regulated. Thus, question comes of introverted and extroverted personalities. (Plomin,1993) One who is introverted is often thought to be someone that keeps to himself and rarely chooses to socialize in large groups. He is thought to be a longer and in many cases to lack the social skills necessary to enjoy himself in situations that are new to him. In reality, someone who is an introvert is simply more affected by stimuli than someone who is an extrovert. While an extrovert may be able to study in a noisy environment with many interruptions and distractions, an introvert is more likely to opt for a quiet corner of the library, free of extemporaneous noise. A study was conducted that tested identical adult twins pairs that had been raised living apart from one another (Plomin, 1993). The twins were given self report tests to rate the extent to which they felt that they had grown up in an environment that was based around acceptance or rejection. In addition to testing these two traits, the extent to which their parents disciplined the twins was also tested. The reason for the self report tests to be centered around these topics because Plomin thought that it was important to determine a correlation between the environment one is raised in, and one's personality. Plomin tested 59 pairs of identical twins reared apart and 142 pairs of fraternal twins reared apart. What Plomin discovered was that traits once thought to be created based on the environment that one lives in, are really "influenced by genetic factors" (Plomin and Bergman, 1991). Many of the twins studied were said to have similar personalities, yet because they were raised apart, the only basis for the similarity is a genetic one. Though the twin studies were successful in proving that personality is in fact genetically based, many scientists were not convinced that one's genes are the only factor that create one's personality. Because "twins share the same womb, birth date and family, many possible environmental confounds were controlled" ( Plomin 1993) thus making adoptive studies a more accurate assessment of the inheritance of personality. It has been hypothesized that adopted twins raised independent of their parents will develop a personality more similar to their adoptive parents than to their birth parents. The reason for this hypothesis is that many people assume that one learns who is and how one should act from the people living around them. Through extensive studies, Plomin (1993) was able to discern that adopted children are actually more similar to their birth parents than to their adoptive parents. Additionally, adopted twins reared apart are more similar to one another than similar to their adopted siblings. Though scientists have been able to conclude that genes do effect behaviors and personality, the question still remains what genes effect what behaviors. Studies that look at the influence of genetics and environment on personality use of the concept of genetic similarity of siblings. By examining genetic similarity one can look at the differences in siblings as they grow up, with the knowledge that the subjects came from similar genetic backgrounds. Lynn, Hampson, and Agahi (1989) found support for the idea that traits are inherited in a study that examined Irish siblings. The siblings were not twins. The authors hypothesized that shared family environment has an effect on intelligence but not on personality. The study examined correlations between young Irish siblings in the areas of intelligence, neuroticism, extroversion, and psychoticism. 386 sibling pairs were used in the study. Using the Junior Mill Hill Vocabulary Test and a version of the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory to measure these traits, the authors correlated the scores of siblings against one anothers. It showed that shared family environment does have and effect on personality, and it therefore supports that personality traits are a result of environment. By comparing the level of extroversion in one child against his or her sibling, a correlation of .31 was obtained. This correlation is higher than the correlation predicted from the additive genetic model , which predicts the correlation predicted from the additive genetic model, which predicts the correlation between the siblings based only on their genetic makeup. This suggests that the difference is a result of some shared environmental factors, and these factors cause the siblings to more alike than the genetic model alone says that they should be. These environmental factors include the copying of each other by the siblings and the parents acting as socialization models. Although the siblings were found to have a high extroversion correlation when their levels of extroversion were compared as adolescents, this correlation decreased to .19 when they become adults and left home. These findings suggest that the drop from .31 to.19 is a result of the fact that after growing up, the socialization/observational learning effects diminish. In other words, siblings naturally influence one another while they live together, however this influence diminishes once they are separated. This study clearly shows environmental factors contribute to the personality characteristic of extroversion and it supports the argument that personality traits are a result of environment ( Agahi, Hampson, and Lynn, 1989). McCartney, Harris, and Bernieri (1990), examine the developmental changes in twins by doing a meta-analysis of various twin studies from 1967 to 1985. Initially, the genetic makeup of the sets of twins was identified by determining if the twins were monozygotic, sharing all of their genes, or dizygotic, sharing about fifty percent of their genes. Then the differences within the genes of the twins were measured. With each set of twins, the study looked the correlations between the two with respect to intelligence, sociability, and activity. The results on sociability are the ones that are useful to us, as this characteristic is closely related to the trait of introversion/extroversion. To see what role, if any, environment plays in determining personality traits, the study then correlated sociability with the variables shared environment and non-shared environment to see if differences existed between the two. When all the pairs of MZ twins were used, those that had a shared environment, meaning that they grew up together instead of being separated after birth, had a correlation of .40. Those twins who did not share the same environment had a correlation of .33. When only the two twins with a mean age greater than five years of age were used, a difference of .22 was found. These differences suggest that the environment does influence sociability. The difference in the correlations does not suggest that environment is the ultimate factor in determining personality, but it does provide clear evidence that environment plays a role in affecting personality (Bernieri, Harris, and McCartney, 1990). Stanley Greenspan, a clinical professor of psychiatry, behavioral science, and pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School, has been concerned with how parents can shape the personalities of their children. He proposes that some combination of genes and early and ongoing environment shape a childs personality. Greenspan's work is not limited to one personality trait, but rather all personality types. He acknowledges that genes predispose children to a basic personality type. He also says that parents who are aware of their childs personality can create and environment for them that will help develop positive personality characteristics. For example, and aggressive, active child can become more aggressive, and possibly antisocial if his or her parents do not impose rather strict limits. This child can learn to deal with the aggressiveness in positive ways, such as expending his energy in physical activities, if the parents provide opportunity for the child to do so. This is just one example of how with an understanding of their children parents can shape the childs personality. Greenspan's book the Challenging Child, which describes his work , provides additional support for the premise that environment plays a role in the development of one's social development of one's personality. Personality traits are not set at birth. On the other hand, they are not caused completely by environment. The nature versus nurture argument will never have a clear winner, but the research this paper has found shows that genetics is not the only cause of personality traits. McCartney, etal. (1990) and Lynn, etal. (1989), showed that environmental factors played a part in raising the similarity between the two individuals in a pair of siblings. The work of Greenspan also shows that this is the case. This research show that environmental factors indeed play a part in developing one's personality The "Nature vs. Nurture" debate is summed up best when one says that is neither strictly the environment or one's genes that determines one's personality. It seems that one is given the basis for his personality through the genes that his parents pass on to him, yet this blue print for personality can be altered based on influence from the environment. "You are born with a certain temperament. But your experience in your early years, in you childhood, then ..modifies that temperament. It can change that temperament ...[A] child is born with a temperament that makes the child very bold, assertive, reckless, perhaps even violent, ..that.. dispositions can be changed through socialization" (Gergen and Gallagher 1996) Thus it seems that while this "Nature vs. Nurture" argument is still somewhat unresolved there is more evidence based on twin and adoption studies that lead researchers and scientists to conclude that one's personality is in fact inherited than there is to say that personality is made. While the environment plays a role in determining one's genetic disposition, the world around a person never exclusively determines ones' personality, but rather shapes his or her already existing disposition. The genetic makeup shapes one's personality, thus determining how their environment is perceived. Works Cited Agahi, Hampson and Lynn (1989). Genetic and environmental mechanisms determining intelligence, neuroticism, extroversion, and psychoticism: An analysis of Irish siblings. British Journal of Psychology, 72-85 Bernieri, Harris, and McCartney (1990). Growing up and Growing Apart: A Developmental Meta-Analysis of Twin Studies. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 226-233. Braungart, M., Plomin R., Defries,J., etal. (1992) Genetic Influence on Tester-Rated Infant Temperament as Assessed by Bayley's Infant Behavior Record: Nonadoptive and Adoptive Siblings and twins. Developmental Psychology 28, 40-47. Chipuer, H. Plomin, R. ,Penderson, G. etal. (1993) Genetic Influence on family Environment: The Role of Personality. Developmental Psychology, 29, 110-118. Gergen, D. (1996, May) How Heredity and Experience Make you Who You Are. [36]. Web-cr01.pbs.org [on line]. Available http://web- cr01.pbs.org/newshour/gergen/gallagher_5-14.html Greenspan, Stanley. The Challenging Child. Reading, Mass: Addison- Wesley, 1995 "The Nature/Nurture Question " 1995 [30]. \parInternet, available f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\One of the most important part of language.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ One of the most important part of language, but least discussed, is body language. Body language is the key to seeing one's personality before they ever say a word. Movement and expression involve a person's feeling and emotion into his/her statement whether they mean to or not. In anger, fear, sadness or happiness, body language is used in every condition, perhaps even more than spoken words. Facial expressions are a perfect example of body language. Every morning when I drive to college I get stuck in morning traffic. It is frustrating for everyone; no matter if you are a passive person or an aggressive person. If a red light stops you and you only have ten minutes to get to work the situation can make you a bit livid. As I look at the people around me, I can see their faces burning with fury as they as they hit the steering wheel. Others have looks of desperation, as if to tell me that this single light could be the one to get them fired for being late. The rest of the faces are calm and collective. These faces tell me that they have accepted the light and do not care. Then it happens! Miles down the road, the traffic light far behind us, a car cuts one of the pacifist faces off. The car slows down to turn down the upcoming road. The pacifist's body language does a complete metamorphoses. He immediately grinds his teeth together. His hands grip the wheel so tightly his fingers turn pale white. Even though I cannot hear his words, I know he is cursing by the violent motion of his fist in the air. He proceeds to shake his fist only now his middle finger is raised. This is the boldest and most direct form of body language called "Shooting the Bird". Hostility and anger are sometimes expressed more vividly using body language. However, not all body language is used in anger. A form of body language that is not used in anger is the wink. The winks can be casual blink or a sexy twinkle of the eye. It can, at times, be very hard to distinguish the difference. Like words, body language can be interpreted many ways. If a member of the opposite sex winks at you, it can be difficult to determine whether it was just a friendly gesture or something more. While I was at work a similar event happened to me. I work at Medical Center East Hospital in the Emergency Room. It is a fast paced atmosphere filled with screaming patients, running nurses and doctors barking orders left and right. Most of the time we are so busy we barely say two words to each other. We rely on our body language to express ourselves everyday. Whether it is a roll of the eyes at an annoying patient or gritting our teeth because we are so swamped with patients. So, when a fellow employee winked at me I thought nothing of it. I winked back at her and went back to my normal routine. We continued to do this every time we saw each other. An exchange of winks that neither of us thought of doing anyone harm. Yet, the next day I returned to work she told me that the rest of the staff thought there was something going on between us. I told her that we should give them something to talk about. She agreed. We not only winked at each other, but blew kisses as well. The entire day we laughed together at the naivety our fellow employees. None of them had asked us whether or not anything was going on between us. The let our casual winks lead them to believe that it was true. We also congratulated each other on the success of our charade. Now was the part we both knew would be the funniest. We called everyone to the desk and told them the truth. Even the doctors got a kick out of it. Since we were all friends, we laughed about it and went back to work. However the situation could have gone astray. Body language can get you into trouble in certain situations. For instance, playing poker with friends can be quite tricky if you cannot control your facial expressions. Not thinking about your body language when you go out with your girlfriend is another. Especially when a nice looking girl walks by and you happen to have an approving look on your face. Yet, body language can have a peaceful meaning as well. A hug of a loved one is warm and calming when times are troubled. Thumbs up from your dad when you have done something right can be as comforting as him saying job we done. Body language can mean so much more than just saying what you want to say because you are showing it. In conclusion, body language is used everyday. Whether it is a wave goodbye or hello, we use it to express our feelings without saying a thing. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Personality Test.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Personality Test The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test measures personality according to eight traits, in twos. The first set of traits tested is introversion and extroversion. When taking this test, I scored twenty-two introversion points and only six extroversion points. According to the test, I am an introvert. This means that I better relate to the world of ideas rather than the world of people or things. Introverts are energy conservers. They hold in stress, feelings, and ideas and they build up as long as possible. This type of person would push to the limit all day and hold as much in as possible. When they sit down at the end of the day, they are exhausted. This is what I do. Introverts are quiet but friendly and generally reserved with incredible drives for their own ideas. I feel that I am an introvert because I relate more to ideas and feelings than people. I am very shy and reserved but friendly. I have trouble remembering names and faces but I am interested in what people do and say. I am very detailed and somewhat of a perfectionists, carefully thinking about things before I act. The second set of traits are the sensate and intuitive. The sensate involves a preference to work with known facts while the intuitive is a preference to look for possibilities and relationships. Sensate personalities are characterized by those who do research and observation. This type of person wants to know the facts and can see what is on the outside. They tend to take things at face value. Sensate personalities prefer routines and standard ways of doing things. They tend to be precise and attack things step by step, usually planning ahead. Intuitive types are the opposite. They have no planned schedule, dislike routine, and enjoy new problems. They follow their inspiration and are quick to jump into things without facts. They tend to see deeper into people and things beyond face value. I scored higher in sensate personality, which was not a surprise for me. I consider myself to be rather predictable. My daily routine is monotonous- just the way I like it. I do what I know and seldom try new things. I will not jump into anything without knowing the facts. I am constantly searching for the right answer and will not trust my instincts without researching. The test accurately described my personality again. Thinking and feeling are the third traits tested. This section of the test refers to judgements and decision making. Thinking types are more objective and have impersonal analysis, showing little emotion in their decisions or opinions. They are more forward in telling the truth and saying it like it is. They may be blunt and unknowingly hurt others. Thinking types are more analytical and serious. Feeling types, however, use personal preferences and values when making decisions. They are more sympathetic and can respond to others more easily. They like harmony and try to please everyone. I scored thirteen points in feeling and eight in thinking. Once again, I felt the test accurately described my personality. I am always trying to please others and often do out of my way to do so. I am not happy unless everyone else is happy. I will lie to someone's face in order to make him or her feel better about him or her or be happy. I cannot say anything that I think will hurt someone else's feelings. This is not always a good trait because I cannot be truthful. I always use my personal values to help in my decision making. The last set of traits tested involve the preference for ways of life- judging and perceptive. Judging types have planned and orderly ways of life. They plan their work and follow that schedule. They like to have things settled and finished and do not like to stop in the middle to begin a new project. They focus on one aspect and are not satisfied until completed. Perceptive types adapt well to new situations and are very flexible. They allow time for alternations and may have difficulty making decisions. They tend to procrastinate and welcome new jobs, opportunities, or people. Although I would like to consider myself as flexible, I believe I am the judging type, as the test indicated. I scored higher in judging than in perceptive. I plan and schedule each activity and assignment and stick to the schedule. I can only do one thing at a time and easily stress out when I must stop one thing to do another. I hate to have more than one project unfinished. I will work and not be satisfied until I have successfully completed each thing on my agenda. I feel the test very accurately described my personality: Introvert, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Phobias.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Phobias Jenny Bishop September 3, 1998 Social Phobias Everyone is afraid of something. Everyone experiences nervousness, anxiety and even in superior feelings around certain people. Some people possess these feelings so deeply that their fear is considered irrational. Even they realize that it is irrational and that they have a phobia. Millions of people suffer from phobias every day of their lives. The third largest psychological disorder in the United States is what psychologists have labelled a social phobia. A social phobia is the fear of social situations and the interactions with other people that can automatically bring on feelings of self-consciousness, judgement, evaluation, and scrutiny. They cannot overcome a social phobia without the patient first grasping exactly what triggers their fears, and then learning how to receive proper help. A social anxiety disorder or social phobia is the constant fear of being criticized or evaluated by other people. People with a social phobia are nervous, anxious, and afraid about many social situations. Simply attending a business meeting or going to a company party can be highly nerve wracking and intimidating. Although people with social anxiety want very much to be social with everyone else, their anxiety about not doing well in public is strong and hinders their best efforts. They freeze up when they meet new people, especially authority figures. They are particularly afraid that other people will notice that they are anxious, so this fear enables the anxiety to grow and turn into a vicious cycle. One example, a woman hates to stand in the grocery store because she is afraid that everyone is watching her. She knows that it is not really true, but she cannot shake the feeling. While she is shopping, she is conscious of the fact that people might be staring at her from the big mirrors on the inside front of the ceiling. Now, she has to talk to the person who is checking out the groceries. She tries to smile, but her voice comes out weakly. She is sure she is making a fool of herself. Her self-consciousness and anxiety rise to extremes. Many symptoms go hand in hand with this terrible phobia. The feelings that accompany a social phobia include anxiety, intense fear, negative thinking cycles, racing heart, blushing and trembling. In public places, such as work, meetings, or shopping, people with a social phobia feel that everyone is staring at them (even though, rationally, they know this is not true.)The socially anxious person can never relax when other people are around. It always seems as others are evaluating them, judging them, or being critical of them, so in turn, resisting social situations is much easier for the sufferer. Some specific symptoms are those people, for example, who cannot write in public because they fear people are watching and their hand will shake. Others are too overly introverted, and they find it too difficult to hold down a job. Some cannot eat in public or "freeze" when they step into a public situation. The suffered tries to avoid introductions to new people, being the focal point, or being observed while doing something, because it triggers their uncomfortable nature. Once the patient understands the sickness, they can make measures to help maintain these horrible feelings and overcome the sickness. When the phobias interfere with a person's life, treatment can help. Because few socially-anxious people have heard of their own problem, and have never seen it discussed on any of the television talk shows, they think they are the only ones who have these terrible symptoms. Therefore, they keep quiet about them. It would be too horrific if everyone realized how much anxiety they experienced in daily life. Unfortunately, without some kind of education, knowledge and treatment, social anxiety continues to wreck havoc throughout their lives. Adding to the dilemma, when a person with a social phobia gets up the nerve to seek help, the chances that they can find it are very slim. In fact, Psychiatrists have misdiagnosed people with a social phobia almost 98% of the time. People with a diagnosable DSM-IV social phobia have been mislabeled "schizophrenic," "manic-depressive," "clinically depressed," "panic disordered," and "personally disordered," among many other misdiagnoses. Successful treatment usually involves a kind of cognitive-behavioral therapy called desensitization or exposure therapy, where psychologists gradually expose patients to what frightens them until the fear begins to fade. This treatment provides methods, techniques, and strategies that all combine to lessen anxiety and make the world a much more enjoyable place. Therapy may involve learning to view social events differently, and exercises on relaxation and breathing also to help reduce anxiety symptoms. Three-fourths of the patients benefit significantly from this type of treatment. A social phobia responds to a relatively short-term therapy, like twelve to twenty meetings, depending on the severity of the condition. Socially-anxious people do not need years and years of therapy. Consequently, psychiatrists who teach people to "analyze" and "ruminate" over their problem's usually make their social anxiety's worse. Currently, no proven drug treatment for specific phobias has yet been found, but sometimes Psychiatrists may prescribe certain medications to help reduce anxiety symptoms before someone faces a phobic situation. Scientists have proven some medications effective when used with cognitve-behavioral therapy, about 80% effective. One medication includes antidepressants called MAO inhibitors. Drugs called beta-blockers have helped people with specific form of a social phobia called a performance phobia. Klonopin is another kind of drug, and it helps calm the patient down enough to undergo treatment. Without treatment, a social phobia is a torturous emotional problem; with treatment, its bark is worse than its bite. Once the patient realizes that they have a phobia, treatment can substantially reduce their problems. Treatment may be found from any specialist who understands this problem and knows how to treat it. Getting over social anxiety is not an easy task, yet many thousands have already done it. "Life is just one gut-wrenching anxiety problem after another," says Ph.D. Thomas Richards. However, the patient can quench this in a short period of time-but a cognitive-behavioral therapist who understands and specializes 8in the treatment of social anxiety. Word Count: 1020 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Phrenology.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Phrenology Phrenology is basically the study of personality through the study of the shape of the skull. The basis of this theory is that the brain conforms to the shape of the head and its contours. This pseudoscience says that because we have isolated where different parts of personality come from we can tell how dominant this trait would be in a person's life by the size of the piece of the brain. We have since proven that this theory is not true. Franz Joseph Gall is considered to be the founder of the direct scientific link between the morphology of the skull and personality traits. Gall was one of the first scientists to consider the brain the home of all mental activities. His main work was called The Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System in General, and of the Brain in Particular. In this article he put forth five points that phrenology was based on in general. 1. That moral and intellectual faculties and innate. 2. That their exercise or manifestation depends on organization. 3. That the brain is an organ of all the propensities, sentiments, and faculties. 4. The brain is composed of many particular organs as there are different propensities, sentiments, and faculties which differ from one another. 5. That the form of the head or cranium represents the form of the brain, and thus represents the relative development of the brain organs. Gall linked the faculties with precise brain localizations through careful observation and expensive experimental measures. Johann Spurzheim's contribution to phrenology was also great. He helped Gall in a study of brain injuries with the phrenology concept Gall had created. He also studied many cases of aphasia following victim's cranial injuries in battle. In 1832, he arrived in America, which was at that time desperate for insight into human personality, and started on a lecture circuit that eventually killed him only six months into it. While Spurzheim was in America he managed to inspire two young, frustrated evangelists whose names were Lorenzo Niles Fowler and Orson S. Fowler. These two are largely responsible for spreading phrenology throughout the country. They traveled from town to town carrying the truth of phrenology. They offered lectures, readings, and to evaluate the charteristics of total strangers through the bumps and valleys on their heads. Soon everyone from small-town folk to the rich and famous were getting readings. It became a fad throughout America. Hairstyles were changed to show off attractive phrenological features. Employers wanted people with certain phrenological profiles. They even asked for a reading by the Fowler's as a reference. The Fowler's New York office, called the Phrenological Cabinet became one of the most visited attractions in town. It served as a museum of sorts also containing hundreds of heads of famous people. The Fowler's also published a great amount of material. They put out the American Phrenological Journal and Miscellany, many books and materials on phrenology, and they published the first volume by a young writer named Walt Whitman. They were considered the leading phrenologists of their time. Caesar's phrenological bust (left) **Franz Joseph Gall Phrenology was a craze in the 1800s. Everyone wanted to have a reading. People even wanted to show off their more exciting phrenological features by changing their hairstyles. The craze went as far as employers only wanting certain characteristics found in their phrenological profiles. The only problem with all of these things is that phrenology has no scientific basis at all. The craze went as far as employers only wanting certain characteristics found in their phrenological profiles. The only problem with all of these things is that phrenology has been proven wrong. First of all, it appears that most of Gall's early research was done on criminals and the insane. This led him to place theft organs and murder organs in the brain. Spurzheim later got rid of these and replaced them with such things as benevolence and self-esteem. Second of all scientists know today that personality is not isolated in different parts of the brain. The parts interact in a way that wasn't realized in the 1800s. While phrenology still has its advocates for the most part it has been proved wrong and is out of date. Phrenology has been important though. It has brought about psychological theories that might not have been thought of for years. It has influenced some of the great thinkers and writers of our time. Such as Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, Queen Victoria of Great Britain, and hundreds of others. It has allowed us to move on to a new way of thinking that will most likely carry us into the future as a society or possibly to another new line of thinking that is even more accurate than current thought. In conclusion I think that phrenology has been one of the best mistakes made in psychology. If we can learn this much from a theory that is so wrong just imagine what we will learn when someone comes up with something that is actually right. **phrenologychart Resources Compton's Encyclopedia World Book Encyclopedia The History of Phrenology 134.184.33.110/phreno/intro.html www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~btcarrol/skeptic/phren.html www.epub.org.br/cm/n01/frenolog/frenlink.htm f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Plato.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Plato Plato was a philosopher in the time of the distinguished Greek philosophers. He wrote a book entitled The Republic in which he explains some of his philosophy on subjects ranging from education to government. Plato constructed a model by which he proposed all governments evolve. He called it the Five Stages of Government. He suggested that there are five forms of government, which evolve out of one another; Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, Tyranny, and Aristocracy. A Timocracy is a government of the military and of honor. An Oligarchy is a government of money and of the rich. Democracy is a government of liberty by and for the people, and it coincidentally happens to be the government which we have right now. A Tyranny is a government of absolute power and dictation. And finally an Aristocracy is a government of philosopher kings. Each form of government arises out of another, and so they go about in a cycle. Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, Tyranny, Aristocracy, Timocracy, etc. We can compare our government of liberty by and for the people, Democracy, to Plato's model of the five stages of government. However, we must first discuss the reasons for each of the government's evolution and how Democracy comes about. Plato submitted that all governments, no matter how good, would out of necessity progress into other forms of government. He said that this decay was due to corruption in the form of government. This corruption resulted in the demise of that form of government and out of its ashes arose the next form of government in the cycle. Plato proposed that most new governments begin as Timocracys; governments of the military and of honor. There are always exceptions to every proposal, so this was not absolute. Since a Timocracy is a government of honor, one would think that there would not be any corruption. To the contrary, the Timocratic man quests for power and has a fondness for money. These weaknesses eventually lead to the collapse of Timocracy and the creation of the next form of government, Oligarchy. The Timocratic man's fondness for money carries over into the Oligarchal state; for an Oligarchy is a government of the rich and of money. Man's fondness of money leads him to seek out profits and to strive to be better than his brothers. Soon one man has majority of power in the Oligarchy and the people cry out. This leads to the Oligarchy's ruin. This outcry for liberty brings about Democracy, the system in which we are involved right now. When we talk about Democracy, we have to be careful; there are many subsets of Democracy. When Democracy first begins, there is strict representation, like that of Parliament; where a few make the decisions for the many, considering the good of the common people. This then progresses to a more sensitive representation, were the representatives ask their constituents their opinions and make decisions based on that and the good of everyone. Today we are a more sensitive representative Democracy. Our elected officials obtain the opinions of their constituents but still weigh decisions considering the entire country. After this sensitized representation comes a direct Democracy, where there is no electoral college and public officials are elected purely by the people. With the help of technology, some advocate the founding of a direct democracy in America. "They bandy about the term teledemocracy as a catchword for the establishment of direct democracy through the use of communications media." (Arterton 14) "if one questions the American people today for their opinions as to desired political reforms, large majorities support further 'democratization' such as direct election of presidents or a simple national presidential primary." (Arterton 195) "The belief that technology may provide a needed antidote to the problems created by a representative system is the latest manifestation of a long tradition of American political thought that deplores the usurpation by political elites of power justly residing among the citizenry." (Arterton 69) These feelings of stolen power cause for a cry for more freedom and liberty. Plato suggests that this is the downfall of Democracy; the unending thirst for more liberty. The people demand more and more freedom, eventually spiraling down into anarchy; which is the extreme form of liberty. Out of this anarchy arises a tyrant, and Plato's cycle continues on. Our present form of government is of course a Democracy. We are in transition between a representative, republican Democracy and a direct Democracy. How this affects both us and our descendants is of immense importance. Perhaps a direct Democracy will be instituted, with technology being the catalyst, and the notion of voting at home will not be such a fanciful idea. Then again, if Plato's Five Stages of Government cycle holds true, there is every possibility that from there America will succumb to anarchy. Perhaps by that time we may have found a way to stop the progression around the cycle. Information technology influences everything. And with more information than ever, more consequences are sure to come. Hobbes Chapter XVII I. OF THE CAUSES, GENERATION, AND DEFINITION OF A COMMONWEALTH A. Why put together a commonwealth? 1. Self preservation 2. Getting out of the condition of war 3. To observe natural laws 4. To keep the covenants they make B. Why do we need a commonwealth? 1. Men compete for honor and glory, leading to war 2. People are selfish and look for the personal good rather than the common good 3. Men think that they're smarter than whoever is ruling them and that they can do a better job 4. Men can warp ideas of good and evil and influence others 5. Men can't let things lie--even when things are going well they complain 6. The covenant of men below a leader is artificial--they need something to tie them to their promises C. How do you erect a commonwealth? 1. Channel the opinions of many into the voice of one or a few men 2. This results in true unity rather than just consent or concord of the people D. Definition: One person, of whose acts a great multitude by mutual covenants one with another, have made themselves every one the author, to the end he may use the strength and means of them all as he shall think expedient for their peace and common defense 1. Commonwealth by institution: when the men form the commonwealth voluntarily 2. Commonwealth by acquisition: when the men are forced to enter the commonwealth f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\POP PSYCHOLOGY by Sean Bennett.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ POP PSYCHOLOGY Sean Bennett A summary of ANTHONY ROBBINS AWAKEN THE GIANT WITHIN and other pop psychology books. General principles Your mind leads your body. Your actions lead to your beliefs. Your beliefs lead to generalizations. Generalizations lead to your values. Your actions thus become you. Therefore you can be in control of you. Leaders are not realistic. Your vocabulary matters. All about NLP. Transform your emotions into action towards your goals. People overestimate the amount they can do in a year, but underestimate the amount they can do in ten. Small changes can make a big difference. Thinking is just a process of asking and answering questions. Successful people ask better questions and get better answers. They evaluate situations better and are able to discern what they need to do. You can distort and master time to fit your needs. Model people you admire. 1. Make a decision to never settle to be less than you can be. (Raise your standards) 2. Dream a big dream. 3. Change your limiting beliefs. 4. Change your strategy to an action-based goal strategy. 5. Make goals towards what you think you can do. 6. Gather information about getting to your goal. 7. Find an expert mentor. 8. Don't reinvent the wheel. 9. Stay focused. 10. Do something towards each goal right now. 11. The reason for this is neurobiological 12. Consistency in aiming for your goals is important. 13. Associate pleasure with getting to your goal, pain with all other outcomes 14. Ask others to help you towards your goal. 15. You must persist and think long-term 16. CANI - Constant and never ending improvement. 17. You lead your body, which leads your emotions Areas in the world that could use help: Homelessness Prison reform Gang violence Terrorism Environment Globalization Think of 5 hours a week times millions of people. Fitness tips Must train metabolism Health and fitness go together Train your body to remove fat The right level is pleasurable but tiring Heart rate monitors are a good investment Warm up and cool down is important 180-age rule for Target Heart Rate Exercise becomes a positive addiction Supplement aerobic exercise with explosive bursts of anaerobic exercise. Financial tips Create wealth Add value to people's lives Think of efficient distribution and marketing methods Maintain through investments in the stock market. Compound growth Protect your assets Wealth is an emotion Examples Robbins Gandhi Disney Exercises List personal development goals, career/business goals, toy/adventure goals, contribution goals. Who are you? Write it down. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Post Modern Victorian.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Post-Modern Victorian: A. S. Byatt's Possession If I had read A. S. Byatt's novel Possession without having had British Literature, a lot of the novel's meaning, analogies, and literary mystery would have been lost to me. The entire book seems one big reference back to something we've learned or read this May term. The first few lines of chapter one are poetry attributed to Randolph Henry Ash, which Byatt wrote herself. Already in those few lines I hear echoes of class, lines written in flowery Pre-Raphaelite tradition. "The serpent at its root, the fruit of gold /...At the old world's rim, /In the Hesperidean grove, the fruit /Glowed golden on eternal boughs, and there /The dragon Ladon crisped his jewelled (sic) crest...." Because of class, I was able to pick up on this poetry tradition right away. This story within a story is strengthened by Byatt's ability to write Victorians accurately. Until I read some of the reviews, I thought Byatt's Victorian characters were actual historical literary figures, when actually they are fictitious, and their journals, letters, and poetry are written by Byatt. The action of the book takes place in two periods. The two main characters, Roland and Maud, are literary scholars living in the 1980's. Their love story is shared and played out by the diaries, poetry, and correspondence of two poets and lovers from the 1860's-Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Although the book is modern fiction, much of it is a Victorian novel as well. Possession is characteristic of Byatt's love for intertextuality and imbedded texts. Possession is also an example of several literary genres, all written into one book. At various times it gives evidence of poetry, mythology, a romance novel, a detective story, a fairy tale, journals and diaries, and scholarly writings. There are several themes in Possession that tie this book to earlier texts that we have read. Individual versus group identity, feminism, sexuality and the link between present and past are themes that Byatt deals with in her novel. Interestingly, Byatt expresses many of these themes using symbolic color imagery, a technique that makes her writing reminiscent of Pre-Raphaelite style. According to Byatt, the "struggle of the individual to discover and then live out her own identity, an identity etched out only with enormous effort and determination" is a major theme running through many of her novels, especially this one. The title itself brings out the first questions of identity-Possession. Who possesses whom? Does he possess her, or does she possess him? Are they owning and possessing their literary history, or does it possess them? Individual identity is lost in the way the book is written. Many times, the reader cannot tell one couple from the other-who is reading Ash's poetry, kissing, running away on a honeymoon of sorts, and making love? Is it Roland and Maud, or is she suddenly writing about Christabel and Ash again? Throughout the book, Byatt often makes these switches in characters between scenes without telling the reader. The effect is that the narrative is essentially no different for each couple living in different time periods. The same love story that defines Christabel and Ash in the 1860's also describes Roland and Maud in the 1980's. In Victorian tradition, it was the man who "owned" the woman, his wife. Yet in this modern Victorian work, that becomes twisted. When Ash attempts to "claim" Christabel on page 308 by holding her and making love to her, the act of possession is switched around. He is trying figuratively to grasp her, and "she was liquid moving through his grasping fingers, as though she was waves of the sea rising all round him." He tries to take her all in, to know her, and her womanhood eludes him, as personality always will. Byatt's message seems to be that a personality cannot be taken or possessed by someone else, that individuality always remains, even in Victorian situations of female oppression and domination by males. This interwovenness and connection between the two couples through themes and situations, serves also to connect the past to the present, the Victorian to the Post-modern. Feminism is an important aspect in each time period of the novel. Maud is a modern feminist, attempting to balance her identity as a woman with her identity as an academic scholar, and Christabel was trying to overcome her femininity by living as a recluse with another woman before she met R. H. Ash. Similarly, Maud is a withdrawn person, wary of men, and distrustful. Christabel is doing what many women of her time were doing, that is, struggling for masculine freedom in a world that was very limited for a woman. Maud is doing what many women today are attempting to do, that is, trying to reconcile and accept her femininity in an academic, typically male, environment. Byatt played up this feminist view of literature and society by choosing to base Christabel's poetry (which Byatt wrote) on the strongly feminist poetry of Emily Dickinson, rather than on the softer voice of Christina Rossetti. Another character, Roland's old girlfriend Val, is anything but a feminist portrayal. She seems to serve as a balance and takes on a typical, subservient, Victorian woman's role, even though she is a modern woman. She takes a job as a typist, even though she is a university scholar, constantly berates her job and herself as "menial," and her thesis essay entitled "Male Ventriloquism: The Women of Randolph Henry Ash is discredited and attributed to a male writer. Val and the decrepit Victorian house where she and Roland share an apartment represent oppressive Victorian society, while Roland and Maud are living the more liberated version. Sexuality is another issue that connects the two time periods. On page 6, there is a passage on R.H. Ash's poem representing Proserpina, an ideal Greek woman, as "gold-skinned in the gloom...grain golden...[and] bound with golden links." This is an example of idealized fertility and sexuality in Victorian women. It represents sexuality as something that can be conquered and possessed, like gold or grain. The suppression of sexuality in the Victorian era is a theme throughout the book, in both time periods, as is the sexual freedom that both couples eventually reach. The traces of sexuality in Victorian society have to be searched for and uncovered in Possession. There are hints of lesbianism, expressed by LaMotte's retreat from society and setting up house with another woman. Ash and LaMotte's love affair is hidden, in their own day and to the modern scholars, who have to dig through journals, poetry, and letters left by the two Victorian lovers to uncover it. Even Maud's hair is symbolic, and ties her to Victorian society. She wears it covered with a scarf, symbolic of repressed Victorian sexuality. The juxtaposition and link between the past and the present is a very significant aspect of Byatt's novel. The storyline keeps shifting from the 1860's to the present, and the characters are very similar. It is often difficult to tell which couple Byatt is writing about in any given situation, because their romances are so similar. The way this romantic narrative fits both couples and time periods seems to suggest that not so much has changed, and romance from one time to another is not so different as we thought. The characters mix the old and the new; Maud wears a brooch once belonging to Christabel, and another Ash scholar, Mortimer Cropper, carries Ash's pocket watch. In the end of the novel, the last love letter written by Christabel enables Maud to finally enjoy the value of love in the present, and give her trust to Roland. The cyclical time frame of the novel provides an interesting contrast to the normal, stifling, linear time frame of typical literature and everyday life. The way Byatt expresses many of these themes through her symbolic use of color is significant. Byatt paints with words, making her reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelites. She gives color descriptions for her characters, painting the women such as LaMotte and Christabel in gold and green description, while persons whose characters are flat and never well-developed, such as Paola the secretary, are described in colorless terms. Paola has "long, colourless hair bound in a rubber band" huge mothlike glasses, and "dusty grey pads" for fingertips. Her lack of color sets her off from the beginning as a very flat character. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Predictive Value Of Alexithymia.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Predictive Value Of Alexithymia Review of APA Statistical Guidelines: "Predictive Value of Alexithymia: A Prospective Study in Somatizing Patients" The August 1999 article in the American Psychologist discusses proper statistical methods and how they should be utilized in journal articles. Using some of the guidelines put forth in the article, I will attempt to show the extent to which Bach & Bach (1995) follow these principles. The article in question investigates the role of alexithymia as a predictor of persistent somatization. The study was conducted over a two-year period with the consent of thirty patients exhibiting somatoform and anxiety disorders. The personality trait of alexithymia is a disorder in which a person shows an inability to express any emotion that they might be feeling. They also show a limited ability to express participation in fantasy experiences. Method Design It is not made clear exactly what kind of study the researchers are presenting. It is easy to assume, however, that the study is a test of a hypothesis. This made known by the statement of purpose at the end of the introduction. It is said that the purpose is to evaluate the differences in alexithymia scores between different patients over a two-year period and to determine if those scores predict outcome independent from other disorders. So the hypothesis being tested is that high alexithymia scores can predict long term chronicity of a somatoform disorder. Population Is the population that the researchers are concerned with made clear? No, not really, the population must be assumed by the subject matter. We are to assume that the study is concerned with people who have a somatoform disorder or anxiety. Sample The sample is definitely outlined well in the article. The authors make it known to us that the participants for the study were volunteers from a previous study about somatoform disorders. They clearly state the age ranges, sex, and education of all the patients. Assignment For the purposes of this study, nonrandom assignment was used. This was not stated but rather an obvious point. The procedure called for the participants to all receive the same treatment throughout the study. A control group was not used so suspicions must be raised as to the validity of the research. Variables In terms of variables, the study uses a simple approach to tackle this task. Each patient was grouped by whether or not they exhibited a certain diagnostic disorder at the time of the testing. They were either a yes or a no for five different types of disorders. Instruments As far as questionnaires, these are the only procedural devices used in the study. The authors make it very clear as to what psychometric tests were used. They describe each one and its purpose. The tests used were the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Whiteley Index, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 90, and the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnoses Results In reporting the results, the authors took great care in making sure all data was represented. As the guidelines state, it is better to use common techniques that are proven to work and are understood by most researchers. The data was displayed in an easy to read table that outlined the alexithymia scores for the patients with each of the five diagnoses at outset and after two years. This was more efficient than showing the results in a graphical form which can get misleading. The analysis that was used was the Pearson's test for correlation. The test only showed a trend towards significance in the positive corollary direction when comparing the pre-treatment alexithymia scores with chronic somatization. When the authors looked at the other assessment procedures that were used they used a chi-square analysis. All the information was presented in a common format that most readers of research should be familiar. Discussion The discussion of the findings are the most important part of all research papers because it is here that the author must accurately explain what has been presented and competently defend their point. The guidelines set forth by the task force make it clear that the discussion and any conclusions must be in favor and support of further research on the topic at hand. Bach & Bach (1995) follow the guidelines most succinctly in their discussion of the paper. They begin by stating that their immediate findings are in agreement with previous research on the topic. They go on to explain their conclusions about alexithymia saying that the research does not confidently support the hypothesis that alexithymia is a predictor for chronic somatization. They state that the evidence only leans towards a conclusive answer on the topic. They continue to follow the guidelines by not mentioning the need for further research on the topic. The article is closed with a short paragraph on the possible shortcomings of the research. The authors do not close the door on criticism of the article but instead set the stage for possible extensions of the research in the future. I would have to say that although the article does not cover all the topics outlined in the APA article it does have statistical merit. The presentation of the data and the analyses used were effective but common enough for anyone interested in the topic to quickly understand the effect shown. Although the research itself does not reach any groundbreaking findings, the paper is presented well enough to definitely insight further, more useful research. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Predictors Of Husband To Wife Violence.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Predictors Of Husband To Wife Violence Article: Feldbau-Khon, S., Heyman, R., and O'Leary, K. (1998). Major depressive disorder and depressive symptomatology as predictors of husband to wife physical abuse. Violence and Victims, 13, 347-359. Introduction The work of Feldbau-Khon, S., Heyman, R., and O'Leary, K. is described in the article, "Major Depressive Disorder and Depressive Symptomatology as Predictors of Husband to Wife Physical Aggression." The authors tested the link between a husband's depressive symptomatology and the frequency of physical aggression toward his wife. Also tested was the husband's Major Depressive Disorder and the frequency of physical aggression towards his wife. The authors had four hypotheses. 1: Clinically depressed men are more physically aggressive. 2: Depressive symptomatology is associated with frequency of physical aggression. 3: Depressive symptomatology effects on physical aggression are accounted for by other variables. 4: Depressive symptomatology effects on psychological aggression are accounted for by other variables. The study assessed physically aggressive men who volunteered for treatment with their wives. Participants responded to newspaper announcements offering free therapy for relationship conflicts. All spouses completed three-hour assessments consisting of structured interviews and self-report measures. Almost one third had moderate levels of depressive symptomatology, but only 11% met the criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Although a significant relationship between increased depressive symptomatology and frequency of physical aggression was found, the relationship was most likely accounted for by self- reported anger. Weaknesses One weakness with this study is the makeup of the sample. The racial composition of the sample was 1.3% Black, 1.3% Asian, and 97% White. No Hispanics were included in the study although Hispanic men are also sometimes very violent to their wives. The sample should have had more diversity, not be made up almost entirely of Whites. Some races are more naturally violent than others are because its part of their culture. Using mostly whites in this study taints it because different depression could be a major factor affecting the physical violence of whites but perhaps not men of other races. Another weakness of this study is that it is never mentioned whether or not any of the subjects were taking any sort of medication. Many types of medications, for example any type Serotonin inhibitor, can affect violent behavior. The fact that the subjects were volunteers raises an issue. The participants responded to an advertisement for free therapy for relationship conflicts. These people wanted help. They were not ordered by the court to obtain therapy. This may suggest that they somehow have a different frame of mind than others who might not seek help, therefore, we cannot make accurate assumptions about the results of the study. Another issue one must take into consideration is that the participants completed a three-hour assessment for which they were not being paid for. They could have become tired, annoyed, bored, or frustrated. This could have affected their answers to the questions asked in the interview to determine whether or not they had MDD. They could also have not been revealing their true selves in the self-report. The interviews were conducted by grad students and a research assistant, not by the actual researchers or by doctors. There is a possibility they could have overlooked things a professional with more experience would have caught. Strengths of the Article One of the strengths of this article is that it stresses the possibility of outside factors affecting the physical violence. An example of this kind of variable is self-reported anger. A relationship where one person is depressed may in fact be a very chaotic relationship where anger and frustration can result in violence. In this case, the violence is may not be a direct result of the depression; instead it may result from the anger and frustration or marital discord that may accompany depression. The study recognizes that there are other factors of life that can affect the physical violence. Conclusion Although the study has its weaknesses, it is still a valuable learning tool. The study is consistent with other studies that have emphasized the role of anger in regard to husband-to-wife physical aggression. Much more research still has to be done to better understand the connection between MDD and husband-to-wife physical aggression. With every study performed, we come closer to realizing the true connection between the two. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\PSYCH THEORIES.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PSYCH THEORIES On Narcissism: Psychological Theories and Therapeutic Interventions in the Narcissistic Disorders Introduction Understanding the Narcissistic Phenomenon The so called 'narcissistic personality disorder' is a complex and often misunderstood disorder. The cardinal feature of the narcissistic personality is the grandiose sense of self importance, but paradoxically underneath this grandiosity the narcissist suffers from a chronically fragile low self esteem. The grandiosity of the narcissist, however, is often so pervasive that we tend to dehumanize him or her. The narcissist conjures in us images of the mythological character Narcissus who could only love himself, rebuffing anyone who attempted to touch him. Nevertheless, it is the underlying sense of inferiority which is the real problem of the narcissist, the grandiosity is just a facade used to cover the deep feelings of inadequacy. The Makeup of the Narcissistic Personality The narcissist's grandiose behavior is designed to reaffirm his or her sense of adequacy. Since the narcissist is incapable of asserting his or her own sense of adequacy, the narcissist seeks to be admired by others. However, the narcissist's extremely fragile sense of self worth does not allow him or her to risk any criticism. Therefore, meaningful emotional interactions with others are avoided. By simultaneously seeking the admiration of others and keeping them at a distance the narcissist is usually able to maintain the illusion of grandiosity no matter how people respond. Thus, when people praise the narcissist his or her grandiosity will increase, but when criticized the grandiosity will usually remain unaffected because the narcissist will devalue the criticizing person. Akhtar (1989) [as cited in Carson & Butcher, 1992; P. 271] discusses six areas of pathological functioning which characterize the narcissist. In particular, four of these narcissistic character traits best illustrate the pattern discussed above. " (1) a narcissistic individual has a basic sense of inferiority, which underlies a preoccupation with fantasies of outstanding achievement; (2) a narcissistic individual is unable to trust and rely on others and thus develops numerous, shallow relationships to extract tributes from others; (3) a narcissistic individual has a shifting morality-always ready to shift values to gain favor; and (4) a narcissistic person is unable to remain in love, showing an impaired capacity for a committed relationship". The Therapeutic Essence of Treating Narcissism The narcissist who enters therapy does not think that there is something wrong with him or her. Typically, the narcissist seeks therapy because he or she is unable to maintain the grandiosity which protects him or her from the feelings of despair. The narcissist views his or her situation arising not as a result of a personal maladjustment; rather it is some factor in the environment which is beyond the narcissist's control which has caused his or her present situation. Therefore, the narcissist expects the therapist not to 'cure' him or her from a problem which he or she does not perceive to exist, rather the narcissist expects the therapist to restore the protective feeling of grandiosity. It is therefore essential for the therapist to be alert to the narcissists attempts to steer therapy towards healing the injured grandiose part, rather than exploring the underlying feelings of inferiority and despair. Differential Psychological Views of Narcissism The use of the term narcissism in relation to psychological phenomena was first made by Ellis in 1898. Ellis described a special state of auto-erotism as Narcissus like, in which the sexual feelings become absorbed in self admiration (Goldberg, 1980). The term was later incorporated into Freud's psychoanalytic theory in 1914 in his essay 'On Narcissism'. Freud conceptualized narcissism as a as a sexual perversion involving a pathological sexual love to one's own body (Sandler & Person, 1991). Henceforth, several psychological theories have attempted to explain and treat the narcissistic phenomenon. Specifically, the most comprehensive psychological theories have been advanced by the psychodynamic perspective and to a lesser extent the Jungian (analytical) perspective. Essentially, both theories cite developmental problems in childhood as leading to the development of the narcissistic disorder. The existential school has also attempted to deal with the narcissistic problem, although the available literature is much smaller. Existentialists postulate that society as a whole can be the crucial factor in the development of narcissism. The final perspective to be discussed is the humanistic approach which although lacking a specific theory on narcissism, can nevertheless be applied to the narcissistic disorder. In many ways the humanistic approach to narcissism echoes the sentiments of the psychodynamic approach. The Psychodynamic Perspective of Narcissism The psychodynamic model of narcissism is dominated by two overlapping schools of thought, the self psychology school and the object relations school. The self psychology school, represented by Kohut, posits that narcissism is a component of everyone's psyche. We are all born as narcissists and gradually our infantile narcissism matures into a healthy adult narcissism. A narcissistic disorder results when this process is somehow disrupted. By contrast the object relations school, represented by Kernberg, argues that narcissism does not result from the arrest of the normal maturation of infantile narcissism, rather a narcissism represents a fixation in one of the developmental periods of childhood. Specifically, the narcissist is fixated at a developmental stage in which the differentiation between the self and others is blurred. Kohut's Theory of Narcissism Kohut believes that narcissism is a normal developmental milestone, and the healthy person learns to transform his or her infantile narcissism into adult narcissism. This transformation takes place through the process which Kohut terms transmuting internalizations. As the infant is transformed into an adult he or she will invariably encounter various challenges resulting in some frustration. If this frustration exceeds the coping abilities of the person only slightly the person experiences optimal frustration. Optimal frustration leads the person to develop a strong internal structure (i.e., a strong sense of the self) which is used to compensate for the lack of external structure (i.e., support from others). In the narcissist the process of transmuting internalizations is arrested because the person experiences a level of frustration which exceeds optimal frustration. The narcissist thus remains stuck at the infantile level, displaying many of the characteristics of the omnipotent and invulnerable child (Kohut, 1977). Kernberg's Theory of Narcissism Kernberg's views on narcissism are based on Mahler's theory of the separation- individuation process in infancy and early childhood. Mahler's model discusses how the developing child gains a stable self concept by successfully mastering the two forerunner phases (normal autism and normal symbiosis) and the four subphases (differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and consolidation) of separation-individuation. Kernberg argues that the narcissist is unable to successfully master the rapprochement subphase and is thus fixated at this level. It is essential, however, to understand the dynamics of the practicing subphase before proceeding to tackle the narcissist's fixation at the rapprochement subphase. The practicing subphase (age 10 to 14 months) marks the developmental stage at which the child learns to walk. The ability to walk gives the child a whole new perspective of the world around him. This new ability endows the child with a sense of grandiosity and omnipotence which closely resemble the narcissist's behavior. However, reality soon catches up with the child as the child enters the rapprochement subphase (age 14 to 24 months). At this stage the child discovers that he or she is not omnipotent, that there are limits to what he or she can do. According to Kernberg if the child is severely frustrated at this stage he or she can adapt by re-fusing or returning to the practicing subphase, which affords him the security of grandiosity and omnipotence (Kernberg, 1976). The Preferred Psychodynamic model The Psychodynamic literature in general tends to lean towards the object relations school because of the emphasis it places on a comprehensive developmental explanation (i.e. the use of Mahler's individuation-separation model). Nevertheless, the theory of Kohut has left a deep impression on Psychodynamic thinking as is evident by the utilization of many of his concepts in the literature (i.e. Johnson, 1987; Manfield, 1992; and Masterson, 1981). Therefore in the remainder of the Psychodynamic section a similar approach will be taken, by emphasizing object relations concepts with the utilization of the occasional Kohutian idea. The Emergence of the Narcissistic Personality According to Kernberg and the object relations school the crisis of the rapprochement subphase is critical to the development of the narcissistic personality. The individual who is unable to successfully master the challenges of this stage will sustain a narcissistic injury. In essence the narcissistic injury will occur whenever the environment (in particular significant others) needs the individual to be something which he or she is not. The narcissistically injured individual is thus told "Don't be who you are, be who I need you to be. Who you are disappoints me, threatens me angers me, overstimulates me. Be what I want and I will love you" (Johnson, 1987; P. 39). The narcissistic injury devastates the individual's emerging self. Unable to be what he or she truly is the narcissistically injured person adapts by splitting his personality into what Kohut terms the nuclear (real) self and the false self. The real self becomes fragmented and repressed, whereas the false self takes over the individual. The narcissist thus learns to reject himself or herself by hiding what has been rejected by others. Subsequently, the narcissist will attempt to compensate for his or her 'deficiencies' by trying to impress others through his or her grandiosity. The narcissist essentially decides that "There is something wrong with me as I am. Therefore, I must be special" (Johnson, 1987; P. 53). The Narcissist's View of Others Just as the individual becomes narcissistic because that is what the environment 'needed' him or her to be, so does the narcissist view others not as they are, but as what he or she needs them to be. Others are thus perceived to exist only in relation to the narcissist's needs. The term object relations thus takes on a special meaning with the narcissist. "We are objects to him, and to the extent that we are narcissistic, others are objects to us. He doesn't really see and hear and feel who we are and, to the extent that we are narcissistic, we do not really see and hear and feel the true presence of others. They, we, are objects... I am not real. You are not real. You are an object to me. I am an object to you" (Johnson, 1987; P. 48). It is apparent than that the narcissist maintains the infantile illusion of being merged to the object. At a psychological level he or she experiences difficulties in differentiating the self from others. It is the extent of this inability to distinguish personal boundaries which determines the severity of the narcissistic disorder (Johnson, 1987). Levels of Narcissism The most extreme form of narcissism involves the perception that no separation exists between the self and the object. The object is viewed as an extension of the self, in the sense that the narcissist considers others to be a merged part of him or her. Usually, the objects which the narcissist chooses to merge with represent that aspect of the narcissist's personality about which feelings of inferiority are perceived. For instance if a narcissist feels unattractive he or she will seek to merge with someone who is perceived by the narcissist to be attractive. At a slightly higher level exists the narcissist who acknowledges the separateness of the object, however, the narcissist views the object as similar to himself or herself in the sense that they share a similar psychological makeup. In effect the narcissist perceives the object as 'just like me'. The most evolved narcissistic personality perceives the object to be both separate and psychologically different, but is unable to appreciate the object as a unique and separate person. The object is thus perceived as useful only to the extent of its ability to aggrandize the false self (Manfield, 1992). Types of narcissism Pending the perceived needs of the environment a narcissist can develop in one of two directions. The individual whose environment supports his or her grandiosity, and demands that he or she be more than possible will develop to be an exhibitionistic narcissist. Such an individual is told 'you are superior to others', but at the same time his or her personal feelings are ignored. Thus, to restore his or her feelings of adequacy the growing individual will attempt to coerce the environment into supporting his or her grandiose claims of superiority and perfection. On the other hand, if the environment feels threatened by the individual's grandiosity it will attempt to suppress the individual from expressing this grandiosity. Such an individual learns to keep the grandiosity hidden from others, and will develop to be a closet narcissist. The closet narcissist will thus only reveal his or her feelings of grandiosity when he or she is convinced that such revelations will be safe (Manfield, 1992) Narcissistic Defense Mechanisms Narcissistic defenses are present to some degree in all people, but are especially pervasive in narcissists. These defenses are used to protect the narcissist from experiencing the feelings of the narcissistic injury. The most pervasive defense mechanism is the grandiose defense. Its function is to restore the narcissist's inflated perception of himself or herself. Typically the defense is utilized when someone punctures the narcissist's grandiosity by saying something which interferes with the narcissist's inflated view of himself or herself. The narcissist will then experience a narcissistic injury similar to that experienced in childhood and will respond by expanding his or her grandiosity, thus restoring his or her wounded self concept. Devaluation is another common defense which is used in similar situations. When injured or disappointed the narcissist can respond by devaluing the 'offending' person. Devaluation thus restores the wounded ego by providing the narcissist with a feeling of superiority over the offender. There are two other defense mechanisms which the narcissist uses. The self-sufficiency defense is used to keep the narcissist emotionally isolated from others. By keeping himself or herself emotionally isolated the narcissist's grandiosity can continue to exist unchallenged. Finally, the manic defense is utilized when feelings of worthlessness begin to surface. To avoid experiencing these feelings the narcissist will attempt to occupy himself or herself with various activities, so that he or she has no time left to feel the feelings (Manfield, 1992). Psychodynamic Treatment of the Narcissist The central theme in the Psychodynamic treatment of the narcissist revolves around the transference relationship which emerges during treatment. In order for the transference relationship to develop the therapist must be emphatic in understanding the patient's narcissistic needs. By echoing the narcissist the therapist remains 'silent' and 'invisible' to the narcissist. In essence the therapist becomes a mirror to the narcissist to the extent that the narcissist derives narcissistic pleasure from confronting his or her 'alter ego'. Grunberger's views are particularly helpful in clarifying this idea. According to him "The patient should enjoy complete narcissistic freedom in the sense that he should always be the only active party. The analyst has no real existence of his own in relation to the analysand. He doesn't have to be either good or bad-he doesn't even have to be... Analysis is thus not a dialogue at all; at best it is a monologue for two voices, one speaking and the other echoing, repeating, clarifying, interpreting correctly-a faithful and untarnished mirror" (Grunberger, 1979; P. 49). The Mirror Transference Once the therapeutic relationship is established two transference like phenomena, the mirror transference and the idealizing transference, collectively known as selfobject transference emerge. The mirror transference will occur when the therapist provides a strong sense of validation to the narcissist. Recall that the narcissistically injured child failed to receive validation for what he or she was. The child thus concluded that there is something wrong with his or her feelings, resulting in a severe damage to the child's self- esteem. By reflecting back to the narcissist his or her accomplishments and grandeur the narcissist's self esteem and internal cohesion are maintained (Manfield, 1992). There are three types of the mirror transference phenomenon, each corresponding to a different level of narcissism (as discussed previously). The merger transference will occur in those narcissists who are unable to distinguish between the object and the self. Such narcissists will perceive the therapist to be a virtual extension of themselves. The narcissist will expect the therapist to be perfectly resonant to him or her, as if the therapist is an actual part of him or her. If the therapist should even slightly vary from the narcissist's needs or opinions, the narcissist will experience a painful breach in the cohesive selfobject function provided by the therapist. Such patients will then likely feel betrayed by the therapist and will respond by withdrawing themselves from the therapist (Manfield, 1992). In the second type of mirror transference, the twinship or alter-ego transference, the narcissist perceives the therapist to be psychologically similar to himself or herself. Conceptually the narcissist perceives the therapist and himself or herself to be twins, separate but alike. In the twinship transference for the selfobject cohesion to be maintained, it is necessary for the narcissist to view the therapist as 'just like me' (Manfield, 1992). The third type of mirror transference is again termed the mirror transference. In this instance the narcissist is only interested in the therapist to the extent that the therapist can reflect his or her grandiosity. In this transference relationship the function of the therapist is to bolster the narcissist's insecure self (Manfield, 1992). The Idealizing Transference The second selfobject transference, the idealizing transference, involves the borrowing of strength from the object (the therapist) to maintain an internal sense of cohesion. By idealizing the therapist to whom the narcissist feels connected, the narcissist by association also uplifts himself or herself. It is helpful to conceptualize the 'idealizing' narcissist as an infant who draws strength from the omnipotence of the caregiver. Thus, in the idealizing transference the therapist symbolizes omnipotence and this in turn makes the narcissist feel secure. The idealization of the object can become so important to the narcissist that in many cases he or she will choose to fault himself or herself, rather than blame the therapist (Manfield, 1992). The idealizing transference is a more mature form of transference than the mirror transference because idealization requires a certain amount of internal structure (i.e., separateness from the therapist). Oftentimes, the narcissist will first develop a mirror transference, and only when his or her internal structure is sufficiently strong will the idealizing transference develop (Manfield, 1992). Utilizing the Transference Relationship in Therapy The selfobject transference relationships provide a stabilizing effect for the narcissist. The supportive therapist thus allows the narcissist to heal his or her current low self esteem and reinstate the damaged grandiosity. However, healing the current narcissistic injury does not address the underlying initial injury and in particular the issue of the false self. To address these issues the therapist must skillfully take advantage of the situations when the narcissist becomes uncharacteristically emotional; that is when the narcissist feels injured. It thus becomes crucial that within the context of the transference relationship, the therapist shift the narcissist's focus towards his or her inner feelings (Manfield, 1992). The prevailing opinion amongst Psychodynamic theorists is that the best way to address the narcissist's present experience, is to utilize a hands-off type of approach. This can be accomplished by letting the narcissist 'take control' of the sessions, processing the narcissist's injuries as they inevitably occur during the course of treatment. When a mirror transference develops injuries will occur when the therapist improperly understands and/or reflects the narcissist's experiences. Similarly, when an idealizing transference is formed injuries will take the form of some disappointment with the therapist which then interferes with the narcissist's idealization of the therapist. In either case, the narcissist is trying to cover up the injury so that the therapist will not notice it. It remains up to the therapist to recognize the particular defense mechanisms that the narcissist will use to defend against the pain of the injury, and work backwards from there to discover the cause of the injury (Manfield, 1992). Once the cause of the injury is discovered the therapist must carefully explore the issue with the narcissist, such that the patient does not feel threatened. The following case provides a good example of the patience and skill that the therapist must possess in dealing with a narcissistic patient. "...a female patient in her mid-thirties came into a session feeling elated about having gotten a new job. All she could talk about is how perfect this job was; there was no hint of introspection or of any dysphoric affect. The therapist could find no opening and made no intervention the entire session except to acknowledge the patient's obvious excitement about her new job. Then, as the patient was leaving, the therapist noticed that she had left her eyeglasses on the table. He said, "you forgot your glasses," to which she responded with an expression of surprise and embarrassment saying, "Oh, how clumsy of me." This response presented the therapist with a slight seem in the grandiose armor and offered the opportunity for him to intervene. He commented, "You are so excited about the things that are happening to you that this is all you have been able to think about; in the process you seem to have forgotten a part of yourself." The patient smiled with a mixture of amusement and recognition. In this example the patient is defending throughout the session and in a moment of surprise she is embarrassed and labels herself "clumsy", giving the therapist the opportunity to interpret the defense (her focus on the excitement of the external world) and how it takes her away from herself" (Manfield, 1992; PP. 168-169). The cure of the narcissist than does not come from the selfobject transference relationships per se. Rather, the selfobject transference function of the therapist is curative only to the extent that it provides an external source of support which enables the narcissist to maintain his or her internal cohesion. For the narcissist to be cured, it is necessary for him or her to create their own structure (the true self). The healing process is thus lengthy, and occurs in small increments whenever the structure supplied by the therapist is inadvertently interrupted. In this context it is useful to recall Kohut's concept of optimal frustration. "If the interruptions to the therapist's selfobject function are not so severe as to overwhelm the patient's deficient internal structure, they function as optimal frustrations, and lead to the patient's development of his own internal structure to make up for the interrupted selfobject function" (Manfield, 1992; P. 167). The Jungian (Analytical) Perspective of Narcissism Analytical psychology views narcissism as a disorder of Self-estrangement, which arises out of inadequate maternal care. However, prior to tackling narcissism it is useful to grasp the essence of analytical thought. The Ego and the Self in Analytical Psychology It is important to understand that the Self in analytical psychology takes on a different meaning than in psychodynamic thought (Self is thus capitalized in analytical writings to distinguish it from the psychodynamic concept of the self). In psychodynamic theory the self is always ego oriented, that is the self is taken to be a content of the ego. By contrast, in analytical psychology the Self is the totality of the psyche, it is the archetype of wholeness and the regulating center of personality. Moreover, the Self is also the image of God in the psyche, and as such it is experienced as a transpersonal power which transcends the ego. The Self therefore exists before the ego, and the ego subsequently emerges from the Self (Monte, 1991). Within the Self we perceive our collective unconscious, which is made up of primordial images, that have been common to all members of the human race from the beginning of life. These primordial images are termed archetypes, and play a significant role in the shaping of the ego. Therefore, "When the ego looks into the mirror of the Self, what it sees is always 'unrealistic' because it sees its archetypal image which can never be fit into the ego" (Schwartz-Salant, 1982; P. 19). Narcissism as an Expression of Self-Estrangement In the case of the narcissist, it is the shattering of the archetypal image of the mother which leads to the narcissistic manifestation. The primordial image of the mother symbolizes paradise, to the extent that the environment of the child is perfectly designed to meet his or her needs. No mother, however, can realistically fulfill the child's archetypal expectations. Nevertheless, so long as the mother reasonably fulfills the child's needs he or she will develop 'normally'. It is only when the mother fails to be a 'good enough mother', that the narcissistic condition will occur (Asper, 1993). When the mother-child relationship is damaged the child's ego does not develop in an optimal way. Rather than form a secure 'ego-Self axis' bond, the child's ego experiences estrangement from the Self. This Self-estrangement negatively affects the child's ego, and thus the narcissist is said to have a 'negativized ego'. The negativized ego than proceeds to compensate for the Self-estrangement by suppressing the personal needs which are inherent in the Self; thus "the negativized ego of the narcissistically disturbed person is characterized by strong defense mechanisms and ego rigidity. A person with this disturbance has distanced himself from the painful emotions of negative experiences and has become egoistic, egocentric, and narcissistic" (Asper, 1993; P. 82). Analytical Treatment of Narcissism Since the narcissistic condition is a manifestation of Self-estrangement, the analytical therapist attempts to heal the rupture in the ego-Self axis bond, which was created by the lack of good enough mothering. To heal this rupture the therapist must convey to the narcissist through emphatic means that others do care about him or her; that is the therapist must repair the archetype of the good mother through a maternally caring approach (Asper, 1993). A maternal approach involves being attentive to the narcissist's needs. Just as a mother can intuitively sense her baby's needs so must the therapist feel and observe what is not verbally expressed by the narcissist. Such a maternal approach allows the narcissist to experience more sympathy towards his or her true feelings and thus gradually the need to withdraw into the narcissistic defense disappears (Asper, 1993). The Existential Perspective of Narcissism Existentialists perceive narcissism to be a byproduct of an alienating society. It is difficult for the individual to truly be himself or herself because society offers many rewards for the individual who conforms to its rules. Such an individual becomes alienated because he or she feels that society's rituals and demands grant him or her little significance and options in the control of his or her own destiny. To compensate such an individual takes pleasure in his or her own uniqueness (grandiosity), he or she enjoys what others cannot see and control. Thus, the alienated person "sees himself as a puppet cued by social circumstances which exact ritualized performances from him. His irritation about the inevitability of this is counterbalanced by one major consolation. This consists of his narcissistic affection for his own machinery-that is, his own processes and parts" (Johnson, 1977; P. 141). Existential Treatment of Narcissism The existential treatment of the narcissist is based on the existential tenant that "all existing persons have the need and possibility of going out from their centeredness to participate in other beings" (Monte, 1991; P. 492). The severely alienated narcissistic individual, however, does not believe in the validity of experience outside of the self. Unlike others, the narcissist does not believe that a constructive relationship with others is possible. Existentialists therefore believe that the therapist, through emphatic understanding, must create a strong bond with the narcissist, so that he or she can see that others have feelings too (Johnson, 1977). The Humanistic (Client-Centered) Perspective of Narcissism Thus far, no specific formulations have been advanced by humanistic theorists about the etiology of the narcissistic condition. Nevertheless, by utilizing general humanistic principles it is possible to explain narcissism. Essentially, much like the psychodynamic explanation, humanistic psychology would argue that narcissism results when individuals are not 'allowed' to truly be who they are. According to humanistic theory, humans have an innate need for self actualization. We want to be the best person that we could possibly be. This is accomplished by internalizing the behaviors that fit with the individual's personal self concept (that which the individual finds to be appealing). However the self is also subject to pressure from significant others. Significant others place upon the individual, conditions of worth, upon which their love and approval is dependent. These conditions may or may not be congruent with the individual's personal self. If they contrast sharply with the personal self, and the individual does not want to risk loosing the approval or love of significant others, then that individual will behave in ways maladaptive to his or her self actualization needs. Although humanistic theory does not elaborate on the specificity of these maladaptive behaviors, it is possible to speculate that narcissism is one possible outcome. Specifically, the f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Psychology Anxiety Disorders.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Psychology - Anxiety Disorders Anxiety Disorders Anxiety is a feeling of tension associated with a sense of threat of danger when the source of the danger is not known. In comparison, fear is a feeling of tension that is associated with a known source of danger. I believe it is normal for us to have some mild anxiety present in our daily lives. Everyday that I can think of I have some kind of anxiety though out that day. Anxiety warns us and enables us to get ready for the 'fight or flight' response. However, heightened anxiety is emotionally painful. It disrupts a person's daily functioning. Anxiety can be seen with several other emotional disorders including the following: Acute Stress Disorder Panic Attack Agoraphobia Phobia Anxiety Disorder Due to Medical Condition Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder There are many characteristics associated with anxiety. Frequently, people with anxiety experience tightness in their chest, a racing or pounding heart, and a pit in their stomach. Anxiety causes some people to get a headache, to sweat, and even make them have the urge to urinate. Severe anxiety, which can be described as an episode of terror, is referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks can be extremely frightening. People who experience panic attacks over a prolonged time period may become victims of agoraphobia, which is a psychiatric disorder that is closely associated with the panic disorder. Patients with Agoraphobia avoid certain places or situations such as airplanes, crowded theaters, a grocery store or anyplace from which escape might be difficult. It is said that Agoraphobia can be so severe that it has made certain individuals housebound. Some people argue that there is a genetic basis for these anxiety disorders. Research shows that there is strong evidence for a genetic basis for anxiety. If a person has anxiety, more than ten percent of his or her relatives will also suffer form some form of anxiety if not the same form that they have. It has been found that anxiety disorder affect males and females differently. Females are known to be twice as likely to suffer from anxiety than males. On the other hand, an equal number of males and females are both seen for the treatment of their anxiety. The ages that the people have anxiety attacks vary but, anxiety problems commonly begin when people are in their twenty's. This is something really great to know when you are only a year a way from being twenty. When will my anxiety start? Or has it already? There some known cases of anxiety at early ages but these are rare. Still again people of any age can suffer from anxiety and require the treatment for it. I wondered to myself how common are anxiety disorders in our society today. Then I found out how common they really are. They end up being very common. At least three percent of the population in the untied states has had or will eventually be diagnose with some form of abnormal anxiety. Being a college student I am almost positive that I am in that three percent. How lucky am I? Knowing now that I am almost at the right age to have anxiety who would diagnose a type of disorder like these? I found out that a mental health professional may diagnoses the anxiety disorder after taking a careful look at my personal history. It will be important to the therapist to learn the details of my life. It is also very important not to overlook a physical illness that might mimic or contribute to this psychological disorder since some medical illnesses can cause anxiety like symptoms. Take for instance, a person with an overactive thyroid, known as hyperthyroidism, may have symptoms similar to anxiety. This is something that the professional would pick up and diagnose you accordingly. If there would be a question whether the individual might have a physical problem, the mental health professional would recommend a complete physical examinati f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Psychology In Sports.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Psychology In Sports The mind-body connection is a very powerful one. For everything you think in your mind, your body has a reaction, regardless of whether it is real or imagined. For example, have you ever had a bad dream? Usually, you will wake up and your heart is racing, you are sweating and very agitated, even though all you were doing was sleeping. But, in your mind there was something bad going on and your body was reacting to it. Here's another example: if you are home alone and you hear a noise and interpret it as the wind, you are fine; but if you interpret it as a prowler, your fight or flight response takes over and you become fearful. Your heart begins going a mile a minute, your eyes dilate, and you are scared. These are just a few examples of how strong the connection is between your mind and your body. With this premise, it becomes unmistakable how necessary it is to train both the mind and body for ""peak performance"". It was neat to see that, at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, there were approximately 20 Sport Psychology Consultants there working with athletes. It has also been noted that 1/3 of the golfers on the major tours work with a Sports Psychologist or Consultant. Slowly but surely athletes, teams, coaches and managers are not only saying that they feel sports is mental, but also they are doing something about it. They are hiring Sports Psychologists, reading books, and devoting time to team building and mental training. In sports, so many things are left to chance. Sports are predictably unpredictable. Why let your mental mindset be another one of those things? There's no reason for your mental game to be your one weakness! You have the power to control that. These tools and resources will help you remove psychological barriers that can get in the way of ""peak performance"" and give you some control over your own performance. Mark McGwire has worked with a Sports Psychologist since 1991, saying that the sessions help him find inner peace. He said it was totally his decision and the best one he made. Up until about a decade ago, a Sports Psychologist or Consultant was considered a person who athletes went to see only when they had a problem, not someone who healthy and productive athletes and teams spent their time with. Luckily, this stigma is changing; the change is slow, but it is evident. You see Sports Psychologists everywhere now; recreational athletes, colleges, professional teams, Olympic athletes, businesses, and corporations all seek them out. People are realizing that no matter how good you are, you can always improve, and one way to improve yourself is to become well-versed in performance enhancement techniques. There is no room for complacency; the complacent ones get left behind. This philosophy holds true not only in sports but in business as well. Athletes spend so much time physically practicing to get an edge on the competition. Yet what teams and athletes can really do to get the edge is right in front of their nose, or more accurately, right above their shoulders! You hear the same thing all the time, "Sports is 90-95% mental." Athletes and coaches at all levels say it, but how many of them do something about it? Unfortunately, not nearly enough. It may be common knowledge, but it is not always common practice. Maybe they don't have the time, maybe they don't have the resources, or maybe down deep they don't really believe it. Whatever the reason, the fact remains the same, they are not utilizing their most powerful resource, the mind. Most athletes fatigue mentally before they fatigue physically, due to the fact that their mind is not in as good of shape as their bodies Competition is tight, athletes are physically fit, and the margin for victory is slim. Managers, coaches and players are realizing that to get ahead they need an added resource, and that resource is a trained mind. Still, many coaches are blind to the importance of mental skills in their athletes. When there are two teams that are physically equal, it is the team that works together smoothly and is mentally prepared and confident that will come out on top. Keep in mind, though: no mental training will compensate for ineffective technique. You need to be strong, technically and mentally. Unfortunately, many times one aspect of your game is magnified at the expense of the other. You should give equal attention to both; that is the ideal approach. You are given the talent, it's your job to develop it and watch it flourish by combining physical and mental training with a great work ethic. Oklahoma State University's Baseball Coach Gary Ward says, "Combining the two elements [mental training and technical training] gives the players an opportunity to establish a consistent, "peak performance" every time they step on the field". You want you and your team to be prepared mentally and physically to the best of its' ability to increase the chance of success. If your mind is always working, why not have it work for you? I also think it is important to talk about "peak performances" because this is what athletes are trying to achieve and what experts in the field of sports psychology are trying to help athletes and teams obtain. It's imperative we examine some of the universal characteristics of that best performance. This way you will have more control and awareness about these "peak performances" and they won't seem as mysterious as they once might have. In the flow, in a grove, on a roll, in the zone - whatever you call it, it's all talking about one thing. It's that special feeling of playing like you can do no wrong and everything goes your way. It's great! You are so involved in what you are doing that nothing else seems to matter because you are so connected to your task. Unfortunately, these "peak performances" don't seem to happen often enough. In fact, every time it does happen, it is usually by chance, it just happened to be a day when everything fell into place, clicked for you, and you got a taste of what it's like to be in the zone. Maybe it was something you ate! It's kind of like getting a taste of the good life. Hopefully this occurrence will motivate you to do everything you can to have more "peak performances". By implementing mental training skills and working effectively as a team, you can increase the chances of this transpiring on a more consistent basis and you will be able to be in the zone as one harmonious unit. Being in the zone means doing more than anyone else thought possible, even superseding your own expectations at times. This zone is the definitive reason why many people are motivated to participate in sports. Here are six characteristics of being in "The Zone": You are relaxed. The days of getting psyched up to play are over. Research has shown over and over that the best performances occur when you are just slightly above your normal state of arousal, not at the extreme end of the spectrum as once thought. You are energized; yet relaxed it's a subtle balance of quiet intensity. Your mind is calm and your body is ready to go. You feel relaxed, but you are able to move with great strength and ease. You are confident. Not letting a lapse in performance undermine your belief in your overall abilities is at the core of this characteristic. When you are playing well, you feel confident that no matter what you are up against, you are going to come out on top. You just exude with confidence and pride, and it is evident in your performance. There is no fear. Confidence on the inside is outwardly shown by way of your presence, your walk and your facial expressions. You should expect to be successful, not hope or wish to be successful. You must adopt a confidant, winning attitude. It is trusting your instincts and intuition to do the right thing at the right time; and if you are prepared, you can be confident that this will happen. This complete faith allows you to just know that you are going to do everything necessary to be successful without the conscious use of reasoning or analyzing. You have to be completely focused. You are totally absorbed in the moment. You have no memory of the past and no qualms about the future; you are here now. The only thing you are concentrating on is the task at hand. You are oblivious to everything else going on around you, consumed by the moment. Like a child playing with his toys, you are so absorbed in the moment that nothing outside can effect you. You have no real sense of time, and before you know it, the game is over. The game seems to have flown by, and at the same time, everything you did seemed to happen in a slowed-down pace with great precision and concentration. Having the ability to stay in the moment is a gift that all of peak performers have. Performance feels effortless. Things just sort of happen with little or no effort whatsoever. All your moves are smooth and for that time, your sport seems like the easiest thing in the world. You are in a state of mind and body where you can accomplish great things with little effort. Your mind and body are working with one another in perfect unison. The grace and ease that you display make everything you do seem like the simplest task in the world. You have a sense of finesse and grace, even when the task is very grueling and demanding. That sort of connectedness and moment of greatness is an awesome thing to both witness and take part in. Everything is automatic. There is no interference from your thoughts or emotions. Things are just happening, both without protest and without consent. You are on autopilot - just reacting to whatever comes your way. Your body just seems to know what to do without any directive from you. There is no conscious thought involved; you're going strictly on your instincts. If you think less, you will achieve more. The key is fun. When you're in the flow, the enjoyment is incomparable to anything else. You feel like when you were a kid enjoying your sport with pure and innocent delight. Anyone can see in your eyes the satisfaction and fulfillment the sport gives you. You feel like your sport is giving you back something that you can't get from anyone or anything else. This is a key factor because if you don't enjoy your sport, your future in it will be limited. Be in control. You feel that no matter what, you are in control. What you think and want to happen will. You have ultimate command over your emotions as well - you are controlling them, not the other way around. When you are in control, you are in charge. You control your own destiny. When you feel this strong of a command over your game, great things are sure to happen. The authority is yours, and no one else's. Success in sports requires your mind and your body and as an athlete it is very important to have a clear mental picture of what it is you are striving for. By taking some time to think about "peak performances" you have had in the past, it can aid you in making sure they happen more often! Works Cited http://www.cmhc.com/guide/pro07.htm http://www.fitnesslink.com/mind.htm http://www.psyc.unt.edu/apadiv47/ http://www.psyc.unt.edu/resourc.htm http://www.tennisserver.com/mental-equipment/ f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\psychology notes of chapter 1.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Psychology...Chapter 1 Notes Definition of psychology: Psychology: the science of behavior and mental processes Science: approach to knowledge based on systematic observation Behavior: directly observable and measurable human actions Mental processes: private psychological activities that include thinking, perceiving, and feeling Theories: tentative explanation of facts and relationship in sciences 4 goals of psychology: 1. Describe: the information gathered through specific research helps psychologists describe psychological phenomena more accurately and completely. 2. Predict: psychologists are able to predict future behavior. 3. Understand: behavior and mental processes when we can explain why they happen. 4. Influence: psychologists hope to go beyond description, understanding, and prediction to influence behavior in beneficial ways. Introspection: the process of looking inward at one's own consciousness Structuralism: the 19th century school of psychology that sought to determine the structure of the mind through controlled introspection. Gestalt psychology: the school of thought based on the belief that human consciousness cannot be broken down into its elements Gestalt: an organized or unified whole Phi phenomenon: the perceptions of apparent movement between two stationary stimuli J. Henry Alston: is the best known for his studies of the sensations of heat and cold. He discovered that we feel cold when one kind of nerve ending in the skin is stimulated, and we feel warm feel intense heat only when both the warmth and cold receptors in the skin are stimulated at the same time. Functionalism: the 19th century school of psychology that emphasized the useful functions of consciousness Cognition: mental processes of perceiving, believing, thinking, remembering, knowing, deciding, and so on. Cognitive psychology: the viewpoint in psychology that emphasizes the importance of cognitive processes, such as perception, memory, and thinking Hermann Ebbinghaus: he memorized lists of information and measured his memory for them after different intervals of time. He invented an entirely new set of meaningless items for his experiment called nonsense syllables such as KEB and MUZ. Mary Whiton Calkins: was a prominent teacher and researcher who was a leader in research on memory. She developed a method to study memory that differed from Ebbinghaus. She also pioneered the scientific study of dreams. Alfred Binet (Psychometrics): the useful functions of conscious mental processes in a very different but very practical direction. He developed a way to measure intelligence. Psychometrics: the perspective in psychology founded by Binet that focuses on the measurement of mental functions Behaviorism: the school of psychology that emphasizes the process of learning and the measurement of overt behavior Social learning theory: the viewpoint that the most important aspects of our behavior are learned from other persons in society-family, friends, and culture Unconscious mind: all mental activity of which we are unaware Motives: internal states or conditions that activate behavior and give it direction Psychoanalysis: the technique of helping persons with emotional problems based on Sigmund Freud's theory of the unconscious mind Humanistic psychology: the psychological view that human beings possess an innate tendency to improve and determine their lives by the decisions they make Neuroscience perspective: the viewpoint in psychology that focuses on the nervous system in explaining behavior and mental processes Sociocultural perspective: the theory of psychology that states that it is necessary to understand one's culture, ethnic identity, and other sociocultural factors to fully understand a person Culture: the patterns of behavior, beliefs, and values shared by a group of people Ethnic group: a group of persons who are descendants of a common group of ancestors Ethnic identity: each person's sense of belonging to a particular ethnic group Gender identity: one's view of oneself as male of female Cultural relativity: the perspective that promotes thinking of different cultures in relative terms rather than judgmental terms Sociocultural factors in the history of psychology: Laurel Furomoto and Elizabeth Scarborough, Leonard Krasner, and Ellen Kimmel have helped change our view of the role of women in the history of psychology by reminding us of some key facts. In the early days of psychology, it was extremely difficult of the most qualified women to obtain admission to graduate programs, when they receive training; they were rarely offered teaching position at the male-dominated institutions that they had the best equipped laboratories. Basic Areas of Modern Psychology: 1. Biological psychology: study the ways in which the nervous system and other organs provide the basis for behavior. 2. Sensation and perception: how the sense organs operate and how we interpret incoming sensory information in the process of perception 3. Learning and memory: the ways in which we learn and remember new information, new skills, new habits, and new ways of relating to other people are studied in this problem solving 4. Cognition: with intelligent action: thinking, perceiving, planning, imagining, creating, dreaming, speaking, listening, and problem solving 5. Developmental psychology: with changes that take place in people during their life span, as they grow from birth to old age 6. Motivation and emotion: the needs and states that activate and guide behaviors, such as hunger, thirst, sex, the need of achievement, the need to have relationships with others. The nature of the feelings and moods that color human experience is also a topic of this specialty 7. Personality: focuses on the more or less consistent ways of behaving that characterize our personalities 8. Social psychology: the influence of other people on our behavior: the behavior of people in groups, mobs, or organizations; interpersonal attraction and intimate relationships; and attitudes and prejudice toward others 9. Sociocultural psychology: focus on ethnic and cultural factors, gender identity, sexual orientation, and related issues. Applied Areas of Modern Psychology: 1. Clinical psychology: try to understand and treat emotional problems and correct abnormal behavior 2. Counseling psychology: help people with personal or school problems and with career choices 3. Industrial and organizational psychology: focuses on ways to match employees to jobs, to train and motivate workers, and to promote job satisfaction and good relationships among workers 4. Educational and school psychology: is concerned with the ways children learn in the classroom and with the construction of psychological and educational tests. 5. Health psychology: focus on the ways in which pressures, conflicts, hardships, and other factors contribute to poor health. To prevent health problems such as heart disease by teaching people to relax, exercise, control their diets, and stop high risk behaviors, such as smoking. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Psychology of sport.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Psychology of sport a) 1. Aggression is defined any form of behaviour that is directed towards the goal of harming someone physically or psychologically. 2. Possible causes for this aggressive behaviour would be the nature of the game. If the sport is contact then there is more likely to be aggressive behaviour than in non-contact sports. Frustration caused by poor form, opposition and referees' decisions can also cause aggression as suggested by Dollard's frustration-aggression hypothesis. Hostile crowds may provoke players and their aggression behaviour may trigger and encourage the players to be aggressive themselves through social learning. 3. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Psychology Theories.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Psychology Theories Sigmund Freud is one of the most famous psychologists to ever hit the study of psychology. His name alone symbolizes the importance of his theories, and the name that comes to most people's heads when saying the word psychology is Sigmund Freud. Freud was a psychodynamic psychologist and came from the conservative point of view which states that man is bad and society is good, which I do not agree with 100% because not all man's actions are necessarily bad and with bad intentions. Freud was a real pessimist when it came to human nature. He identifies man's weaknesses in saying that man is a biological creature with biological drives. He reflected these ideas off of Darwin's original ideas. I do agree with this theory because man's drives are survival and self-preservation. Freud also stated that mankind's aggression helps him to survive, he says that man has an innate sense of survival. I also agree with this theory because aggression and dominance guarantees our survival. He also believed that over the many thousands of years that man has been alive man developed rational thought. Freud stated that people do not have to live like animals because overtime we developed a society that has rules and regulations in order to keep our animal nature in check. I agree with Freud on this because of many cases when a person has some bad intentions in mind but let's them go when they know the consequences. Another thing Freud said was the idea of Opposing Instincts which when comes to mind creates conflict. The first of the two opposing instincts is the Eros, which is the life instinct, which also ensures the organisms life. The ID presses us to survive and pushes us to produce. The Eros seeks pleasure and then we rationalize it. Next comes the Thanatos, which is the death instinct, and this instinct says that all organisms have a death wish towards themselves and I agree completely. This he says becomes our own destruction. Freud says it is natural to move towards death and this I think is obvious. The feelings we have must be expressed and released and we direct our feelings outward. This becomes our aggression toward others. Freud's view on the mind is in the shape of an iceberg. He believes that mankind's mind works in the unconscious, which I do not agree with at all I feel that man is mostly conscious when it comes to behaviors. Every choice that mankind makes he is aware of, but maybe the consequences of our action might be unknown. The Structure of Personality which is another interesting part of Freud's theory basically states that we have an ID, a Superego and an Ego. The ID is a biological reservoir of urges and impulses that need to be gratified. He says the ID does not have a conscious, it acts on instinct. It seeks out gratification and pleasure. It is the pleasure principle. The Superego is the Morality Principle, and the Superego knows the difference between right and wrong. The Superego is a bunch of learned internalized morals and values of society. This is basically the thing that keeps the ID in check. Freud said that Superego is our conscious, and that the Superego is the most powerful tool (guilt and pride). Last but not least is the Ego, which is the reality principle. The Ego finds socially acceptable ways to satisfy the ID. It finds the balance between the ID and reality. The functions of the Ego is to find a compromise between the ID and the Superego. The Ego must also learn to deal with anxiety, and it also helps to boost the self-esteem. Without the Ego there would be no mental health. I completely agree with Freud's theory of the Structure of Personality because I feel we have different parts of our behavior that we can control and that we are conscious about and there are other behaviors that come directly from our unconscious. Our ego lies to us, denies, falsifies, and distorts reality which in turn causes us to create what Freud likes to call the seven defense mechanisms. The first of the seven defense mechanisms is Repression. Repression pushes the problem to the subconscious. It is the exclusion of impulses and thoughts from the conscious mind. Next comes Denial, and denial is the cutting of the conscious mind from external threats. An example of this would be when you are walking in the mall with your girlfriend and a beautiful woman walks by and you look but when your girlfriend asks you say, "I wasn't looking at her." Next there is a defense mechanism called Sublimation which is the changing of bad behavior and impulses into socially acceptable behavior and impulses. One example of this could be playing football for a scholarship in order to go to college. Another defense mechanism is Reaction Formation which is a development of behavior opposite of that which brings you anxiety. Somebody saying that they hate homosexuals would be a clear example of this defense mechanism. The next mechanism is called Projection which is when the unconscious attribution of your thoughts and feelings is brought onto others. Finding flaws in others is a good example of Projection. Displacement is the next defense mechanism, and this is when an urge is placed onto another object. Taking out anger onto others when you really should be mad at yourself. Last but not least is the defense mechanism of Rationalization which is giving a good reason in place of the true reason. A great example of this would be when a person fails a test and they blame it on work, or some other corny reason instead of saying that they were to lazy to study. With all the different defense mechanisms of the ego I feel that we use all of them some time or another in order to hide our true instincts. Even though I agree with a majority of what Freud says I do not believe that man is completely bad and that society is good. Both man and society play a big role when it comes to behavior. Another well known psychologist which is actually a student of Freuds' is Carl Jung who is also a psychodynamic psychologist which means he also comes from the conservative point of view which I mentioned earlier meant he felt man is bad and society is good. Carl Jung went a little deeper than Freud did in his theories and he challenges some of his ideas. One that I agree with the most is that Jung's iceberg is right side up and at the top of the iceberg is the ego, and the level underneath that is the personal unconscious, and the final level of the iceberg is finally the collective unconscious which is almost the exact opposites of Freud's. What I mean by deeper is that he feels that man is not just sexual but spiritual as well. He says that the major difference in man is based on the Libido which is your sex drive. As you can see Jung has a much broader level of human interest. Jung theories are strongly based on Darwin's theory of Evolution. Jung thinks we evolved behaviorally which has allowed us to prosper and move forward in order to keep up with society. I do not agree once again that man is bad and society is good, I feel both play a big part in human behavior. Another part of Jung's theory as well as Freud's theory that I don't like is that I don't feel that man is mainly sexual. The part of Jung's theory that I do agree with is that man has evolved behaviorally overtime because if we didn't we would still be behaving like the cave men did thousands of years ago. It's clearly obvious that man has evolved behaviorally. The next part of Carl Jung's theory is the Archetypal Complex, which are common ways of dealing with the world. In other words it's a genetically transmitted response strategy. It ensures survival. There are two examples of Archetypal Complexes and they are the enemy archetype and the social archetype. The enemy archetype means that something that is different is threatening to us which I could not agree with more. There are examples in everyday life when a person does not know what something is they immediately show some sort of aggression or frustration which proves they are afraid of what is different or what they do not really know or understand. The social archetype basically means strength in numbers. Also the social archetype is what we look to for support and look to interact and socialize with. The response strategy is to develop a need to conform. With the whole idea of Archetypal Complexes I agree that different people use different ways to deal with the world's problems, and I also think the enemy archetype could not be more precise about mankind being threatened by something that is different. The next part of Jung's theory is the idea of Individuation which is the integration of our conscious perceptions of the outside world with our unconscious archetypal experiences. Polarities, which are opposite extremes, which ties in the Principle of entropy which, is a state of disorder and a randomness of energy. The last thing Jung states in his theory is the idea of Wholeness which is having both polarities of our life met. Carl Jung's theory challenges much of Freud's, but in some ways is similar. Jung gets more into man being more spiritual than sexual which is almost the opposite of Freud. I probably only agree with Jung's theories of the Archetypal Complexes and the examples that I stated with them. The next psychologist that I will mention will be a social psychodynamic psychologist by the name of Alfred Adler. Alfred Adler came from the liberal point of view in which he felt man is good and society is bad. He was much less of a pessimist than Freud was; Almost a complete opposite from Freud. Adler believed that society impedes humans. His view of the mind is much like Carl Jung's, but instead of having the ego at the top he has the conscious alone at the top with the unconscious on the bottom, which I probably agree with the most. He felt that social interests drive motivation, which is an innate drive to be social and to belong. He also stated in his theory that mankind is dependent on others and their reactions and their acceptance which in turn leaves mankind very vulnerable. The main idea of this theory is that he feels that mankind is more social than biological. I mostly agree with this because humans these days try to be something there not. They go to the extremes to try to fit in. A great example of this would definitely be that in today's schools there are cliques and clans of different people that feel that they are cooler or better and than the people who are not as popular do whatever they can to fit in with a certain group. Teenagers nowadays are probably the best example there is of Adler's theory of social interest. Another part of Adler's theory that he brings up is the idea of the creative self which he says drives us toward human nature. There are two parts to this theory and they are the superiority complex and the inferiority complex. First the superiority complex states mankind tries to better themselves in order to overcome our weaknesses. I agree with this because I am living proof. In everything I do I always try to make myself better. I don't give up until I feel I have completely given it everything I have got. On every weakness that I have especially when it comes to fitness I kill myself everyday to look my greatest and to feel the best that I can feel. This takes much hard work and dedication, but I do not even think about it when I think about how I am going to feel and look when I accomplish my goals. The second part of this theory is the inferiority complex which is when society measures us up to their standards. This is also when we begin to avoid our weaknesses instead of trying to overcome them. I have many examples when there is person who is not so good at an activity whatever the case may be, and completely get frustrated and give up instead of bettering themselves. I have even probably done this as well as most mankind which I feel is going to be the downfall of our society and our race. Alfred Adler's entire theory I feel is a great one and I feel he has a great perspective on human behavior and I would agree with Adler on almost all of his theory. I feel he is the most accurate in his interpretation of human behavior. B.F. Skinner was a behaviorist which means he is neutral in his theories; all men start as blank slates. He believed that men are controlled by their environment and they can be molded. All behavior is learned and conscious. Operant Conditioning is the idea that man is shaped by repetition and/or reinforcement. Reinforcement can be broken down into many different categories. First is primary reinforcement which meets biological and psychological needs. Next comes secondary reinforcement which is a conditioned reinforcer and it is a learned value. An example of this would be money. Positive reinforcement is the next part, and it is anything someone wants that increases positive behavior. Negative reinforcement is oftenly mistaken for punishment which it is not. Negative reinforcement is basically avoidance or behaving in a way to avoid a negative stimulus or consequence. Escape is another part of negative reinforcement which is avoiding something that is already there. Punishment which decreases the likelihood of a negative behavior. Examples of this could be jail or other sorts of consequences. Punishment has limited effects. There are short-term residual effects. Another part of Skinner's theory is something by the name of Beyond Freedom and Dignity which says that man does not have free will. He is a product of reinforcement. Skinner says free will is an illusion and that man should have no pride. He also says that whatever mankind accomplishes he accomplishes because of a system which has certain limitations. B.F. Skinner says that "Man's Biggest Problem" is that mankind's behavior is more easily influenced by small or immediate reinforcers than it is by large but distant and uncertain reinforcers. In other words Skinner feels that we will take immediate gratification and not look at the long-term results. He feels man is very short cited. The part of Skinner's theory that I do not agree with completely is that he thinks that man is a blank slate and he can be shaped and molded by his society. I feel that society should not take full credit for all of mankind's behavior. Also I do not fully agree that all behavior is learned. I feel some is genetically inherited. Operant Conditioning is the part of Skinner's theory I feel is pretty accurate because in daily life the more you do an activity the more it gets processed in your mind and becomes almost automatic. The idea that man has no free will I do not agree with because I believe all of mankind has freewill. When Skinner says that Man's Biggest Problem is that he will take immediate gratification before looking into long term effects I completely agree with him on that. People these days only think about what is going to happen now without thinking about what will happen in the future. Skinner's theory of Man's Biggest Problem is probably one of the most accurate theory's I that I could ever agree with. Erich Fromm who is a liberal social psychodynamic psychologist who was also a student of Freuds'. He believes that man is innately good and society is the thing that corrupts him. He also feels that the conscious mind dominates over the unconscious. Fromm says man is a social creature and he believes that mankind has social needs. He says life is a struggle and society makes our lives difficult. Fromm feels that the four needs of mans' social life are relatedness, frame of reference, identity, and transcendence. Relatedness is a basic need and it states that man needs to feel connected to humanity whether it be friends, family, or activities. It also states that man has to be interacted with other in order to belong. The problems start when a person feels that they are not a part of something. Relatedness is probably the most powerful need. Frame of Reference are common ideas and beliefs of looking at the world. This is when we seek out a belief system or a value system. We receive our frame of reference from where we find our relatedness. Without frame of reference there is no meaning to life. Identity is the next out of the four needs of mans' social life which is when you know who you are and what you stand for. With identity you have to establish your own uniqueness or identity. Recognizing differences in others help you to find your own identity. Next comes transcendence which is rarely achieved and this means to rise above societies conformities in order to be an individual. With transcendence there is a risk of losing your relatedness, and for this not to happen relatedness must allow you rise above society. A conflict of freedom and loneliness means that the more that we become transcendent the more we lose the relatedness. I agree with Fromm when he states that society corrupts man. I also feel that the conscious mind dominates over the unconscious. I do not agree that man is 100% social either. When Fromm says that the four needs of social life are relatedness, frame of reference, identity, and transcendence I could not agree with more. Everyday you see people that have to be well connected in the social pipeline and without it I do not think they would function normally. There are plenty of people that have to be liked and be in a certain group in order to be mentally stable. People think it is a bad thing when you are not in the popular group or not cool enough to be liked and accepted by a certain group. I also do feel that there are some people who know who they are and what they stand for. These are the people that survive the longest is the long run because they know who they are and they will not change for anything. Realizing other people's differences also helps to boost your identity which in turn causes a person to create their own uniqueness. I think that I am a perfect example of a person who has all four needs met at all times and that I know exactly what I am and who I stand for. I would not change who I am and my behavior just to fit into the social pipeline. I have to plenty of parties where there has been everything from drinking to sex and I have never given in to the peer pressure of drinking, smoking or anything else while I was there, but I still had all the fun in the world. The reason why I don't give in is because I care about my health I have set values for myself and I like to follow them exactly like I planned. This way I will never do something that I would regret. All of Fromm's theories are very accurate when it comes to social needs, but when it comes to human behavior in general I don't feel that man is completely social. Michael Itsines is the next psychologist which is a mixture between a psychodynamic psychologist and a behaviorist. I feel that behavior is an upside down iceberg and consciousness is at the top and the unconscious is on the bottom. I think that most behavior is conscious. Neither man or society is bad just at times it seems like one of the two influences a little more of behavior. I feel that man is both biological and social. The part that I think is biological is the part of Freud's theory where he states there is an ID, Superego and an Ego. Another thing that I agree with is Freud's theory of the Defense Mechanisms. I feel that mankind uses each one of them in everyday life. Another thing that is a great example of man being biological is that at sometimes man can have animal drives and desires. The only thing that keeps us from behaving like an animal is the thing that man developed thousands of years ago and that is rational thought. This is the difference between human and animal behavior. That's what separates man from animal. We do this in order to curb our human nature. Another reason why I think man partially biological is because of Carl Jung's theory of Archetypal complexes which are genetically transmitted response strategies and I feel that mankind has this. On the social side I feel that man is partially motivated by social needs such the four needs of man's social life which are relatedness, frame of reference, identity, and transcendence. I agree with Fromm on this theory. This is probably on the most accurate examples of man being a social creature. Also Adler stated in his theory that social interests motivate us. Social Interest is an innate drive to be social and to belong. B.F. Skinner states in his theory that behavior is driven by external rewards. Also he says that reinforcement plays a huge role mankind's behavior. I feel that man is also driven by the idea of free will which to Skinner seems to be an illusion. I think mankind has free will but maybe takes it for granted. Overall I feel that man can be both good and bad at times but then again so can society. Sometimes society has a great deal of influence on human behavior. An example of this would be that man pushes himself in order to be the best he can be and to reach the top. Mankind will stop at nothing in order to be number one. Selfishness and greediness are probably going to be the downfall of the human race. If mankind could actually see differences in other people instead of making them look like something there are not everybody and everything would be much happier and they would live a much more fuller life. In my theory I think that mankind should be much more grateful and appreciative for the environment that is created and for what they have become due to their environment. Man's behavior just can not be either biological or social because I feel that mankind also passes on behavior through genetic inheritance. Man has to be both according to my own theory and I stand by it. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Psychology.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Psychology ADD Reaction Essay Mr. Fabrizio ADD: Who does it effect and what are the treatments? I chose this topic because being a young person I personally know a good amount of people who have ADD and are treated with the drug Ritalin, and at one time or another most people have a hard time focusing and think whether they have a problem or not. While doing this report at times I found myself looking away or doing other things but I realized that there is a difference between getting lazy for a minute or two and not actually being able to do the project at all which some people with ADD might have to put up with. There have been many different people effected by ADD since it was first described medically in 1902. Attention Deficit Disorder effects approximately 10 million Americans including adults and effects around 4% of school-aged children and once it was estimated that between 3 and 5 % of all children had it . What's interesting about these numbers is that there is an increasing amount of experts who are examining the possibility that ADD may be genetic. For a long time it was presumed that diet, like too much sugar, was the main cause of this disorder, but this was later disproved by the National Institute of Health. Another assumed cause of the disorder was environment like bad family life, neglect, and/or divorced parents that caused this. But the more research was done, the more counterexamples against these premonitions were found. What experts realized through this research was that the only concrete cause was genetics. Studies of twins revealed in the article by James Freeman (6th para) shows that identical twins are more likely to get the disorder than fraternal twins which suggest that the stronger the genetic relationship with a relative who has ADD or ADHD, the greater the likelihood of developing one of the disorders. Many adults are shown in the articles I chose as having ADD. Showing that perhaps people don't grow out of the disorder once they reach puberty and even when they reach their twenties. What's even more interesting is that many of these people who never grow out of ADD are led to a life of crime. Whether it is impulsive acts, poor attending, and distractibility many youths participate in criminal acts before they are adults but even when they are adults, never really grow out of these things. In T. Dwaine McCallon's article (1st para), these people can stop from considering the consequences of their actions putting them at risk of criminal activity. Further research in this article shows that in Utah prisons, that 24 percent of male inmates have ADD. After tests and treatments with the drugs Ritalin, Cylert and other medications the inmates behavior was greatly changed for the better. In fact, of the 41 prisoners paroled while on these drugs, only three violated parole and only one had a new criminal charge brought against them. Of the drugs used in that experiment, Ritalin is by far the most popular and widely used. Of the people given this medication about 80 percent of children and 50 percent of adults improve with medication. Ritalin has been found to greatly improve behavior, participation, performance and how the children get along with their peers and family. Most of the people who have taken the drugs are supporters but there are some who say that the drug may have certain things that are wrong with it that haven't fully been looked into which makes it unsafe. Many critics say that because there hasn't been a sufficient amount of research put into the lasting effects of the drug so that doctors who prescribe it don't really know whether it will effect the patient negatively in the long run. There was many things I found out by doing this project that I didn't know before doing this report. Beforehand I had no idea that as many children had it as there was. I thought that a good amount of them had it but not three to five percent of all children in the United States. Another thing I didn't know prior to doing this was that many adults are effected by this disorder. Before doing this I thought only children and teenagers got ADD, but after perusing through some of the articles these experts wrote i found out that adults were indeed effected by this disorder. After reading all these articles from the journals of some of the best psychological experts on ADD, I have come to the conclusion that there needs to be more testing on the effectiveness and long-lasting effects of Ritalin before doctors should be allowed to give it out as treatment as much as they do. If there is some bad side effects down the road people should know about it before they are severely effected negatively. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Psycology.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Psycology Which psychologist's theory best describes your own personality? Personality can best be described as "personal qualities of an individual". No two people have the same personality, but yet all the different personalities in the world can be characterized into 4 main theories. The four psychologists that thought up the four theories are Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Abraham Maslow. (pg.64) Each man based his theory on a different part of a person's personality development. The theory that best describes my personality is Maslow's. Maslow's theory suggested that human needs could be put onto different levels, as if on a pyramid. (Pg. 65) Lower or more basic needs must be met before higher needs can be satisfied. (pg.65) For example, Maslow has the need for water, food and shelter at the bottom of the pyramid. As everyone knows a life as an underprivileged person is much harder then that of a wealthy person. It takes more strength to be underprivileged and rise to the top, knowing you did not start out with all the basic needs. Maslow's theory best describes my personality because I agree with what he says that people need to satisfy the smaller needs of their life before going on to satisfy the bigger ones. In my life, I know that if I did not have the essential needs, such as water, food, shelter I would be depressed and saddened. It would be hard for me to push myself to do things such as go to school, get a job because I would feel lower then other classmates, or other employees. If I did not have shelter or a place I could go to then I would not be able to feel secure which would also keep me from loving my family and friends. Without family and friends it would be hard to gain esteem to reach higher and higher then what I have already mastered, or learned. Even in my own life I have come across examples of Maslow's theory. One example is when a class project was assigned and I did not have the correct materials. Not having those materials made me feel as thought I could not move on to the next step, which would be doing the project. Another example of how Maslows theory has taken shape in my own life is something as simple as forgeting a lunch, or lunch money. Without having the basic essential need, food, I was hungry and did not feel I could go on the rest of the day in school. Maslow's, pyramid formed way of showing the developmental needs of people best suits my personality. I feel that in order to go on in life I need to have all the things "under my belt" to support me as I try and achieve higher things. Everything in life needs a strong base, whether it be someones personality or a building. Without a strong base the structure, whatever it is, that is trying to be built up will not stay strong. My personality is very much built around that feeling of security. That is why Maslow's theory explains my personality best. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Right Brain, Left Brain.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Psychology Right Brain, Left Brain The article in which I chose to examine is called Right Brain, Left Brain: Fact and Fiction, written by Jerre Levy. In the past fifteen years or so there has been a lot of talk of left brain and right brain people. Levy's reason for righting this article was clearly to stop the misconceptions and show the truth about how our brain hemispheres operate. Levy first explores the myth of the left brain and right brain theory. She states that generally people see the left hemisphere of the brain controlling logic and language and the right, creativity and intuition. In addition people differ in their styles of thought, depending on which half of the brain is dominant. She believes that most of what these notions state is farce. Next the article explores the history of this fascination of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Apparently the study of this aspect of the brain traces back to time of Hippocrates. Levy weaves in and out of the various theories and prominent people known for contributing to the confusion. It wasn't until 1962 when Roger W. Sperry began experimenting on certain aspects of the brain that contribute to the truth of the left and right brain theory. Sperry studied people who had undergone surgical division of the corpus callosum, the bridge between the two hemispheres. His studies showed that, "an object placed in the right hand (left hemisphere) could be named readily, but one placed in the left hand (nonverbal right hemisphere) could be neither named nor described. Next to branch off of Sperry's studies was psychologist Doreen Kimura. Kimura developed behavioral methods which involved presenting visual stimuli rapidly to either the left or right visual fields. Another important method developed was "dichotic listening" which centered around the use of sound to study the hemispheres. Through these tests and the continual study the theory that the left brain controlled ended. Instead a new theory was born known as the two-brain theory. This said that at different times one of the two hemispheres would be operating. An example of this is that the right hemisphere is in control when an artist paints but the left hemisphere was in control when a novelist wrote a book. This theory failed because of one physical studies showed that people with hemispheres surgically disconnected could operate in everyday life. Also, research demonstrated that each hemisphere had its own functional expertise, and that the two halves were complementary. Next, the article states its worth. The author shows the up to date agreed upon theory of the two hemispheres in five simple points. 1. The two hemispheres are so similar that when they are disconnected by split-brain surgery, each can function remarkably well, although quite imperfectly 2. Although they are remarkably similar they are also different. The differences are seen in contrasting contributions. Each hemisphere contributes something to every action a person takes. 3. Logic is not confined to the left hemisphere. Although dominant in the left logic is present in the right hemisphere. 4. There is no evidence that either creativity or intuition is an exclusive property of the right hemisphere. Same theory as #3. 5. Since the two hemispheres do not function independently, and since each hemisphere contributes its special capacities to all cognitive activities, it is quite impossible to educate one hemisphere at a time in a normal brain. Levy comes to the conclusion that people are not purely left or right brained. There is a continuum in which the hemispheres work together in harmony. Often the left or right hemisphere is more active in some people but it is never the sole operator. She concludes, "We have a single brain that generates a single mental self." Compared to what we did in class related to the left and right hemispheres of the brain, both what we learned and the article taught were extremely similar. Our exercise showed that we are not left or right brained but merely somewhere on the scale between left and right brain. Some of us were extreme left, few extreme right and most in the middle leaning left a bit (this is where I fell). I could not agree more with what we did in class and the article I read. The author wrote a fabulous complete article. In my summary which probably was a little lengthy, I feel I am not doing the author just. She had so much wonderful background that there was no way to include it all. She introduced the problem at hand and explored every aspect of the subject showing other's views and previously excepted theories. After all was said she introduced her (generally accepted) theory in a simple well thought out five point system that suited the novice as well as the expert. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Right Brain.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Right Brain, Left Brain The article in which I chose to examine is called Right Brain, Left Brain: Fact and Fiction, written by Jerre Levy. In the past fifteen years or so there has been a lot of talk of left brain and right brain people. Levy's reason for righting this article was clearly to stop the misconceptions and show the truth about how our brain hemispheres operate. Levy first explores the myth of the left brain and right brain theory. She states that generally people see the left hemisphere of the brain controlling logic and language and the right, creativity and intuition. In addition people differ in their styles of thought, depending on which half of the brain is dominant. She believes that most of what these notions state is farce. Next the article explores the history of this fascination of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Apparently the study of this aspect of the brain traces back to time of Hippocrates. Levy weaves in and out of the various theories and prominent people known for contributing to the confusion. It wasn't until 1962 when Roger W. Sperry began experimenting on certain aspects of the brain that contribute to the truth of the left and right brain theory. Sperry studied people who had undergone surgical division of the corpus callosum, the bridge between the two hemispheres. His studies showed that, "an object placed in the right hand (left hemisphere) could be named readily, but one placed in the left hand (nonverbal right hemisphere) could be neither named nor described. Next to branch off of Sperry's studies was psychologist Doreen Kimura. Kimura developed behavioral methods which involved presenting visual stimuli rapidly to either the left or right visual fields. Another important method developed was "dichotic listening" which centered around the use of sound to study the hemispheres. Through these tests and the continual study the theory that the left brain controlled ended. Instead a new theory was born known as the two-brain theory. This said that at different times one of the two hemispheres would be operating. An example of this is that the right hemisphere is in control when an artist paints but the left hemisphere was in control when a novelist wrote a book. This theory failed because of one physical studies showed that people with hemispheres surgically disconnected could operate in everyday life. Also, research demonstrated that each hemisphere had its own functional expertise, and that the two halves were complementary. Next, the article states its worth. The author shows the up to date agreed upon theory of the two hemispheres in five simple points. 1. The two hemispheres are so similar that when they are disconnected by split-brain surgery, each can function remarkably well, although quite imperfectly 2. Although they are remarkably similar they are also different. The differences are seen in contrasting contributions. Each hemisphere contributes something to every action a person takes. 3. Logic is not confined to the left hemisphere. Although dominant in the left logic is present in the right hemisphere. 4. There is no evidence that either creativity or intuition is an exclusive property of the right hemisphere. Same theory as #3. 5. Since the two hemispheres do not function independently, and since each hemisphere contributes its special capacities to all cognitive activities, it is quite impossible to educate one hemisphere at a time in a normal brain. Levy comes to the conclusion that people are not purely left or right brained. There is a continuum in which the hemispheres work together in harmony. Often the left or right hemisphere is more active in some people but it is never the sole operator. She concludes, "We have a single brain that generates a single mental self." Compared to what we did in class related to the left and right hemispheres of the brain, both what we learned and the article taught were extremely similar. Our exercise showed that we are not left or right brained but merely somewhere on the scale between left and right brain. Some of us were extreme left, few extreme right and most in the middle leaning left a bit (this is where I fell). I could not agree more with what we did in class and the article I read. The author wrote a fabulous complete article. In my summary which probably was a little lengthy, I feel I am not doing the author just. She had so much wonderful background that there was no way to include it all. She introduced the problem at hand and explored every aspect of the subject showing other's views and previously excepted theories. After all was said she introduced her (generally accepted) theory in a simple well thought out five point system that suited the novice as well as the expert. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Satanism 2.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Satanism I am hoping I can somehow make this seem like a psychological report without making it lose any of it's important details. My goal in writing this paper is to hopefully make people understand and agree that Satanism is not a "Devil Worshipping," animal mutilating, child scarifying cult organization. The psychological thing comes in when people say Satanism is wrong or evil, they hear the word Satan and automatically assume that it must be bad. They make these assumptions without even taking the time to find the facts and understand them. I'll start off by saying that Satanists do not worship the devil! A Satanist believe that he or she as an individual rule their own destiny and are the god of their own lives. Satanism is a religion based on the reality that man is an animal, like all others. They choose to separate themselves from a society where natural behavior is suppressed and the strong support the weak. The average Satanist disagrees with much of Christianity. In many ways Christians are considered the enimies. Christians say Satan is a fallen angel, not a God. All religions have gods and demons, some of which are forbidden by a typical society. Satan is one among these, originally conceived by the Hebrews, long before the birth of Jesus. Most Satanists are familiar with the teachings of Christianity, and have read the Bible or part of it. They simply consider the Bible to be false and disregard it much like Christians would disregard books which represent the foundation of another religion. Satanism is not considered a religion for the white race and should not be confused with or grouped together with skinheads, The KKK, Nazi's, Neo-Nazi's, or people who support white power. Satanists are not teenage vandals, not gang murderers, not psychopathic murders, not child molesters or vicious rapists. Satanists do not sacrifice young children or animals. The ninth and tenth of the Eleven Satanic Rules of The Earth forbid this, in fact, animal sacrifices are primarily used in the Afro-Caribbean syncretistic religions such as Voodoun, Candomble', and Santeria. Child Sacrifices are used in Television and by journalists to improve ratings. A Satanist does not practice baby breeding or child molestation. Evidence does not support what is said to occur. If the number of murders said to be committed by Satanists' was accurate some bodies would have been found by now. Members of the Church of Satan are involved and advanced exactly as their own desires, abilities, and accomplishments dictate. There are no set activities, meetings, or contacts. A new member comes into the organization ideally with his or her own goals and plans of achieving them. When being brought to the church of Satan new members are told to not let anyone tell you what to believe or what to do. Advice or recommendations are one thing; orders or commands quite another. Remember that you are a free being, not a pawn in someone's power fantasy. They believe the weaker elements of society should serve the stronger elements of society or perish. Satanists support any means of returning to the order of Darwin's Natural Selection Process, this is inclusive of elimination of welfare to selective sterilization of those weaker elements. Weak elements are determined by performance and intelligence, not race or religion. So where does Satan come into all of this? Satanists believe Satan (and other gods) is not so much an entity as a force of nature. These gods are not all concerned with the life of mortals. Satan is a very powerful word that serves as an isolation between Satanists and society. It is this separation that a true Satanist appreciates and holds dear. the separation of a society where the strong and willing work for what they need and want but are forced to support the weak through welfare and charity. Satanists' know their opinions may not be politically correct, but they still obey the laws governing man on this planet and they expect the same protection under the laws as other minorities, races and religions. There are several divisions of the believe systems of various "Satanic" groups. Satanism has changed so much from it's original form. For instance a group that are sometimes referred to as The Dabblers adopt Satanic beliefs for a brief period of time, usually for entertainment rather than serious purposes. Many modern youths fall into this category. A Promethian Gnostic believe that the creator of the world (Jehovah) is the evil deity. They look at Satan as the "bringer of life"; a beneficent god. Then there is the Dark Gnostic who worships the dark force of nature. These type of groups follow a Capricious god. A Secondary Satanist would not consider themselves as being "Satanic" and actually should not be defined as Satanists. Hellfire Clubs were a phenomenon of the 18th century. The first of those was founded in the early 1700's. Members of a Hellfire Club were dedicated to political intrigue and some occasional occult activities. Many would be suprised to know that Benjamin Franklin was a very active member of this club. Those are just a few examples of different Satanic groups. There is one thing that all groups do agree on and that is the Satanic Bible. The Satanic Bible is a describing book by Anton LaVey, founder of the church of Satan. I hope your views of Satanism have been verified. In the end you are free to believe what you want and understand. I would like to state that this paper is not written on my personal views, opinions, or religion f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Satanism.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Satanism Sociology/Psychology I am hoping I can somehow make this seem like a psychological report without making it lose any of it's important details. My goal in writing this paper is to hopefully make people understand and agree that Satanism is not a "Devil Worshipping," animal mutilating, child scarifying cult organization. The psychological thing comes in when people say Satanism is wrong or evil, they hear the word Satan and automatically assume that it must be bad. They make these assumptions without even taking the time to find the facts and understand them. I'll start off by saying that Satanists do not worship the devil! A Satanist believe that he or she as an individual rule their own destiny and are the god of their own lives. Satanism is a religion based on the reality that man is an animal, like all others. They choose to separate themselves from a society where natural behavior is suppressed and the strong support the weak. The average Satanist disagrees with much of Christianity. In many ways Christians are considered the enimies. Christians say Satan is a fallen angel, not a God. All religions have gods and demons, some of which are forbidden by a typical society. Satan is one among these, originally conceived by the Hebrews, long before the birth of Jesus. Most Satanists are familiar with the teachings of Christianity, and have read the Bible or part of it. They simply consider the Bible to be false and disregard it much like Christians would disregard books which represent the foundation of another religion. Satanism is not considered a religion for the white race and should not be confused with or grouped together with skinheads, The KKK, Nazi's, Neo-Nazi's, or people who support white power. Satanists are not teenage vandals, not gang murderers, not psychopathic murders, not child molesters or vicious rapists. Satanists do not sacrifice young children or animals. The ninth and tenth of the Eleven Satanic Rules of The Earth forbid this, in fact, animal sacrifices are primarily used in the Afro-Caribbean syncretistic religions such as Voodoun, Candomble', and Santeria. Child Sacrifices are used in Television and by journalists to improve ratings. A Satanist does not practice baby breeding or child molestation. Evidence does not support what is said to occur. If the number of murders said to be committed by Satanists' was accurate some bodies would have been found by now. Members of the Church of Satan are involved and advanced exactly as their own desires, abilities, and accomplishments dictate. There are no set activities, meetings, or contacts. A new member comes into the organization ideally with his or her own goals and plans of achieving them. When being brought to the church of Satan new members are told to not let anyone tell you what to believe or what to do. Advice or recommendations are one thing; orders or commands quite another. Remember that you are a free being, not a pawn in someone's power fantasy. They believe the weaker elements of society should serve the stronger elements of society or perish. Satanists support any means of returning to the order of Darwin's Natural Selection Process, this is inclusive of elimination of welfare to selective sterilization of those weaker elements. Weak elements are determined by performance and intelligence, not race or religion. So where does Satan come into all of this? Satanists believe Satan (and other gods) is not so much an entity as a force of nature. These gods are not all concerned with the life of mortals. Satan is a very powerful word that serves as an isolation between Satanists and society. It is this separation that a true Satanist appreciates and holds dear. the separation of a society where the strong and willing work for what they need and want but are forced to support the weak through welfare and charity. Satanists' know their opinions may not be politically correct, but they still obey the laws governing man on this planet and they expect the same protection under the laws as other minorities, races and religions. There are several divisions of the believe systems of various "Satanic" groups. Satanism has changed so much from it's original form. For instance a group that are sometimes referred to as The Dabblers adopt Satanic beliefs for a brief period of time, usually for entertainment rather than serious purposes. Many modern youths fall into this category. A Promethian Gnostic believe that the creator of the world (Jehovah) is the evil deity. They look at Satan as the "bringer of life"; a beneficent god. Then there is the Dark Gnostic who worships the dark force of nature. These type of groups follow a Capricious god. A Secondary Satanist would not consider themselves as being "Satanic" and actually should not be defined as Satanists. Hellfire Clubs were a phenomenon of the 18th century. The first of those was founded in the early 1700's. Members of a Hellfire Club were dedicated to political intrigue and some occasional occult activities. Many would be suprised to know that Benjamin Franklin was a very active member of this club. Those are just a few examples of different Satanic groups. There is one thing that all groups do agree on and that is the Satanic Bible. The Satanic Bible is a describing book by Anton LaVey, founder of the church of Satan. I hope your views of Satanism have been verified. In the end you are free to believe what you want and understand. I would like to state that this paper is not written on my personal views, opinions, or religion f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Schizophrenia.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder. It is a disease that makes it difficult for a person to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses to other, and to behave normally in social situations. People with schizophrenia may also have difficulty in remembering, talking, and behaving appropriately. Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses. About 1% of the world population has schizophrenia. In the United States, there are about 2.5 million people with the disease. Schizophrenia is the cause of more hospitalizations than almost any other illness. Schizophrenia most commonly begins between the ages of 15 and 25. Although it strikes men and women equally, the symptoms may appear later in women than in men. Very rarely, the symptoms of schizophrenia can appear before the age of 12. Childhood schizophrenia has a more chronic disease course and involves poor early language development. People with schizophrenia can have a variety of symptoms. Sometimes, these symptoms come on suddenly. Usually, though, the illness develops slowly over months or even years. At first, the symptoms may not be noticed or may be confused with those of other conditions. For example, people with schizophrenia may feel tense, be unable to concentrate, or have trouble sleeping. They often become increasingly isolated and withdrawn as their grip on reality loosens. They do not make or keep friends. They may stop caring about the way they look. Dropping out of school or doing badly at work are other early signs of schizophrenia. As the illness progresses, symptoms of psychosis develop. The person starts to act strangely and talk nonsensically. People with schizophrenia may develop paranoid delusions. Examples of this would be that they might see, feel, smell, or hear things that are not really there. They may have physical symptoms, like frowning or unusual movements, and may stand or sit in strange positions. Some people become almost motionless. Others move around constantly. The severity of symptoms will vary from one person to another. The symptoms also tend to worsen and improve. When the symptoms are improved, the person may appear to behave relatively normally, but usually there will be repeated episodes of the illness that will cause symptoms to reappear. Schizophrenia is a complex and puzzling illness. Even the experts are not sure exactly what causes it. Some doctors think that the brain may not be able to process information correctly. People without schizophrenia usually can filter out unneeded information: for example, the sound of a train whistle in the background or a dog barking next door. People with schizophrenia, however, cannot always filter out this extra information. One possible cause of schizophrenia may be heredity, or genetics. Experts think that some people inherit a tendency to schizophrenia. In fact, the disorder tends to "run" in families, but only among blood relatives. People who have family members with schizophrenia may be more likely to get the disease themselves. If both biologic parents have schizophrenia, there is nearly a 40% chance that their child will get it, too. This happens even if the child is adopted and raised by mentally healthy adults. In people who have an identical twin with schizophrenia, the chance of schizophrenia developing is almost 50%. In contrast, children whose biological parents are mentally healthy - even if their adoptive parents have schizophrenia - have about a 1% chance of getting the disease. That is about the same risk as for the general population of the United States. Some researchers believe that events in a person's environment trigger schizophrenia. Some studies have shown that influenza infection or improper nutrition during pregnancy and complications during birth may increase the risk that the baby will develop schizophrenia later in life. Many believe that schizophrenia is likely caused by a complex combination of genetic and environmental factors. Certain people are born with a tendency to develop the disease. But the disease only appears if these people are exposed to unusual stresses or traumas. Schizophrenia is usually treated with antipsychotic medication. Some people with schizophrenia also benefit from counseling and rehabilitation. They may need to go to the hospital during an acute attack. The goal of treatment is to reduce symptoms during acute attacks and to help prevent relapses. At this time, there is no cure for schizophrenia. Antipsychotic medications are very effective in controlling the symptoms of schizophrenia. These medications first became available in the mid-1950's. They have greatly improved the lives of thousands of people. Before that time, people with schizophrenia spent most of their lives in crowded hospitals. With antipsychotic medication, however, many people with schizophrenia are able to live in the outside world. Because each person with schizophrenia has a unique mix of symptoms, no single medication works best for all people. The ideal medication for one person may not be the best choice for another. Although antipsychotic medications do not cure the disease, they can reduce hallucinations and delusions and help people with schizophrenia regain their grip on reality. Medication also reduces the risk of they symptoms returning. If the person does have a relapse of symptoms, medications may make the symptoms less severe. People with schizophrenia can have a hard time communicating with other people and carrying out ordinary tasks. Counseling and rehabilitation can help people with schizophrenia build the skills they need to function outside the sheltered setting of a hospital. However, these treatments are not very helpful during acute attacks. Rehabilitation programs may help people with schizophrenia develop skills such as money management, cooking, and personal grooming, for example, needed for ordinary life. They may also prepare the person to go or return to work. Individual psychotherapy may help person with schizophrenia learn to sort out the real from the unreal. Group therapy may help them learn to get along with others. Self-help groups may help persons with schizophrenia feel that others share their problems. The best way to prevent relapses is to continue to take the prescribed medication. People with schizophrenia may stop taking their medications for several reasons. Side effects are one of the most important reasons that people with schizophrenia stop taking their medication. It is hard for people to put up with unpleasant side effects for months or years. It is especially hard when the person feels well. It is very important to find the medication that controls symptoms without causing side effects. Convenience is also important. Some medications need to be taken two, three, or even four times a day. Others may be taken just once a day. People are more likely to remember to take a medication once a day than several times a day. Some people profer to get injections every month of long-lasting medication. Taking medications regularly is the best way to prevent repeated illness and hospitalization. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\School Violence.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ School Violence From decade to decade, there has been a new type of fad to sweep the country. In the 50's it was dancing and having fun. In the 60's it was to dress freely and avoid the draft. The 70's were full of pot smoking has-beens, the 80's big hair and radical clothing. From the smallest of fades, the children in the 90's have taken a whole new approach to the game. The changed the rules, that would affect the country for the rest of their existence. The fad? To act out in violence in school against eachother, not just fist to fist physical altercation, but from one boy's fathers gun to another. The new fad is to take a school by a surprise attack and make news headlines. Quite a change from the early 50's. So the question that boggles ever Americans mind, is why and how we allowed these children to invade and inhabit our lives and allow them to take the control they have at this point. The question can only be answered by figuring out the exact problem to a "T". We need to figure out every aspect of what they are doing. What are the exact statistics on the teen crime rate? How can we stop it? Let's start by recognizing the problem and deal with it from there. Here is the first step. Here are some solutions to the high rising problem, I have supplied part of the solution, it is now up to the public to take action. Three-quarters or more of all schools reported having zero tolerance policies for various student offenses. "Zero tolerance policy" was defined as a school or district policy that mandates predetermined consequence/s or punishments for specific offenses. About 90 percent of schools reported zero tolerance policies for firearms (94 percent) and weapons other than firearms. Eighty-seven and 88 percent had policies of zero tolerance for alcohol and drugs, respectively. Seventy-nine percent had a zero tolerance policy for violence and 79 percent had a zero tolerance policy for tobacco. Tobacco seems to be a rising problem on its own, and we as citizens, teachers and peers, need to do more to let the children know that this behavior is unacceptable, that they are in fact still children. Another way to help stop the problem is Requiring School Uniforms Public school principals were presented with a list of crimes and asked to report the number of incidents of each type of crime that had occurred at their schools during the 1996-97 school year. The crimes about which schools were asked were murder, suicide, rape or other type of sexual battery, physical attack or fight with a weapon, robbery, physical attack or fight without a weapon, theft or larceny, and vandalism. Respondents were provided with definitions for each of these types of crime. Under the assumption that crimes or offenses reported to police would be more accurately recalled, schools were asked to report only those incidents for which the police or other law enforcement representatives had been contacted. It was also assumed that requiring a benchmark of law enforcement contact would minimize subjective judgment about which incidents to include. Only crimes occurring at the school, including those that took place in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at school-sponsored events or activities, but not officially on school grounds, were to be reported. While student victimization and teacher-reported data on crimes occurring at school have been collected and reported elsewhere, school principals were asked to report unduplicated incidents at the school level. During 1996-97, about 4,000 incidents of rape or other types of sexual battery were reported in our nation's public schools. There were about 11,000 incidents of physical attacks or fights in which weapons were used and 7,000 robberies in schools that year. About 190,000 fights or physical attacks not involving weapons also occurred at schools in 1996-97, along with about 115,000 thefts and 98,000 incidents of vandalism. Because the sample size was not large enough to produce reliable estimates for very rare events, the survey was not able to estimate either the percentage of schools experiencing one or more incidents of murder or suicide or the total number of these crimes that occurred at public schools during 1996-97. For example, in the sample of 1,234 public schools, murder was not reported by any of the schools and, similarly, only 4 schools in the sample reported any incidents of suicide. The rarity of the occurrence of these crimes at school, given the sample size of the study, precluded the generation of reliable national estimates. In a descriptive case study of violent deaths in schools, Kachur, estimated that there were 105 school-associated violent deaths including 85 murders occurring at schools during a 2-year period from 1992 to 1994. We see these statistic on almost a daily basis, and yet we sit and wonder why it is not decreasing. Because we are just sitting here in awe that's why. We need to get up and take back control. Three percent of all public schools require students to wear uniforms. About one-fourth (26 percent) of these schools initiated the requirement prior to the 1994-95 school year, 40 percent initiated it between the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years, and 34 percent initiated it in 1996-97. Uniforms were more likely to be required in schools with a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (11 percent in schools with 75 percent or more free or reduced-price lunch eligibility) compared with schools in which less than 50 percent of students were eligible schools with 50 percent or more minority enrollment were also more likely to require student uniforms than those with lower minority enrollment (13 percent compared with 2 percent or less). Schools reported on whether the following actions were taken:  Visitors were required to sign in;  Access to school grounds was controlled;  Access to the school building was controlled;  School campuses were closed for most students during lunch;  Students had to pass through metal detectors daily;  Random metal detector checks were performed; and  Schools conducted drug sweeps (e.g., locker searches, dog searches). Ninety-six percent of public schools reported that visitors were required to sign in before entering the school buildings. This measure was required by almost all schools, with a range of 91-100 percent, regardless of instructional level, size, locale, region, minority enrollment. Security included controlled access to school grounds in 24 percent of public schools and was most prevalent in large schools. Forty-nine percent of large schools reported controlling access to school grounds, compared with 16 percent of small schools and 24 percent of medium-sized schools. Controlled access to school grounds also varied by locale, region, percent minority enrollment, percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and principals' reported discipline problems. City schools were more likely to secure school grounds than rural schools (35 percent, compared with 13 percent). Schools in the Central region of the country were about half as likely to report controlling access to school grounds as those in the Southeast and the West (12 percent compared with 28 to 31 percent, respectively). Controlled access to school grounds was higher in schools with the highest percentages of minority students than those with the lowest percentages (14 percent in schools with less than 5 percent minority enrollment and 38 percent in schools in which at least half the students were minorities) and in schools with the largest proportions of students in poverty than in those with the lowest (18 percent in schools with less than 20 percent eligibility for the free or reduced-price school lunch program and 37 percent in schools with 75 percent eligibility for the school lunch program). Fifty-three percent of public schools controlled access to their school buildings. Elementary and middle schools were more likely to secure access to the school building than high schools (57 and 51 percent compared with 40 percent). Differences were also found by school size. Fifty-five percent of large schools and 57 percent of medium-sized schools controlled access to their school buildings compared with 40 percent for small schools. City and urban fringe schools were also more likely to control building access (62 and 68 percent, respectively) compared with those located in towns (49 percent) and rural areas (33 percent). Northeastern schools were more inclined to have controlled access to their school buildings (70 percent) compared with Western schools (46 percent), Central schools (48 percent), and Southeastern schools (52 percent). Eighty percent of schools reported having a closed campus policy prohibiting most students from leaving the campus for lunch. There is something maybe for us to concider. At 93 percent, middle school principals overwhelmingly reported having this policy. A smaller percentage of elementary and high schools had this policy (76 and 78 percent, respectively). Sixty-seven percent of small schools had instituted the closed campus policy compared with 82 percent of large schools. Daily use of metal detectors as a security measure was reported in 1 percent of public schools. Schools where serious violent crimes were reported were more likely to employ metal detectors than those with less serious crime only or no crime (4 percent compared with 1 percent or less). Random metal detector checks were more likely to be reported by large schools (15 percent) compared with small schools (less than 1 percent) or medium-sized schools (4 percent). Similarly, a higher percentage of schools where a serious crime was reported (15 percent) performed these checks compared to schools where no crime was reported (1 percent) or schools where only less serious crimes were reported (4 percent). Middle and high schools where principals reported at least one serious discipline problem were more likely to use drug sweeps (36 and 45 percent, respectively) compared with elementary schools (5 percent). In addition to the security measures above, 6 percent of public schools had police or other law enforcement representatives stationed 30 hours or more at the school, 1 percent of schools had law enforcement officials stationed 10 to 29 hours, 3 percent had officials stationed from 1 to 9 hours, 12 percent of schools did not have officials stationed during a typical week (but were available as needed), and 78 percent of schools did not have any officials stationed at their school during the 1996-1997 school year. The full-time presence of law officials, while rare at elementary schools (1 percent), was found in 10 percent of middle schools and 19 percent of high schools. It was also reported in 39 percent of large schools with 1,000 or more students, in 13 percent of city schools and schools with 50 percent or more minority enrollment, in 15 percent of schools in which principals felt there were some serious discipline issues, and in 23 percent of schools in which at least one serious crime was reported in 1996-97. Our personal opinion on the subject is that we need to take a stand against the idiots. We need to stop giving them specials on TV that are all about them and them only and teach others that what they are doing is not going to give them a dateline special, rather a life sentence without parole, or punishment by death. Whatever the action we decide to take it needs to be taken now, it has come to far and is completely out of control. Someone needs to let these monsters take responsibility for their action, instead of sympathizing with them saying they were molested as a kid or come from a broken home. Save the sob story. There are a lot of people in the world who have gone through a lot of this and a lot worse and don't take their misfortunes out on other people. We all need to unite together to make sure there isn't another incident at our school, or a neighboring school. The statistics above are completely outrageous, and unacceptable. We need to get off our can and take some action. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Self Concept.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Self Concept Self-concept emerges as a child develops an increasingly rich concept of him or herself, separating the notion of "I" from other people and objects. In addition to he concept of "I" a child develops a separate notion of "Me" which has certain defining features and qualities. William James defined "Me" as one that is observed and perceived. "It is the Me that one sees when attention is focused on the self, the Me as an object, represented in self-concepts, in how we see ourselves." The notion of "I" is represented by actions of an individual. The "I" self-regulates, self-monitors, and presents the self to others in most appropriate way. Self-concepts involve an integration and organization of an enormous amount of information. The self-concepts are utilized with the individual's past experiences as well as his or her future preferences. The individual who learns to perform more competently achieves more gratification and is also likely to develop more positive attitudes toward himself or herself. Once one can overcome fears and stressful feelings, one will become more confident as a result. Evaluation of one's behavior may play a significant role on how the individual perceives himself. Critics of behavioral therapy note that people may suffer not because their behavior is inadequate but because they evaluate it improperly. Some people have problems with distorted self-concepts more than with performance. These distorted self-concepts can be seen as a person labels himself and reacts to his own behaviors differently than people around him. Thus, many human problems involve a false self-evaluation and self-reaction. The roots of out self-concepts are the evaluations and the impressions of others in their responses to our interaction with them. The significance that a particular event has on individual depends on the concepts that it activates to encode a meaning. This psychological meaning and significance of an event, rather than the event itself, affects its impact on the individual. If a person is exposed to a certain set of train constructs, he will pursue these constructs, and apply them to relevant situation which might which might be different in it's context. There are differences between the individuals in the types of constructs the tend to self-activate. Thus, people are different on the constructs that they have which are readily accessible for encoding new event which are relevant to themselves. Self-conceptions may influence how a person behaves in a certain environment. If a person feels that he or she is not welcome in a particular place, they will act aggressively or ignorantly towards others. This notion might not necessarily be true, but since the individual perceives it that way, his or her self-concepts are set. One might behave inappropriately in a certain place while having no idea he is doing so. Although concepts continue to change over time, their foundations form early in life. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Self Idenitity.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Self Idenitity Essay Option #5 Self and Identity The better which a person develops an understanding of themselves and of the other people around them, the better able they will be able to develop intimate relationships. A person who has a negative model of self and has a negative model of others , otherwise known as Fearful, is going to shy away from attachment and be socially avoidant which obviously is going to affect the crisis of intimacy versus isolation. The example describes a person who is hesitant to make long term commitments and resists urges to display intimacy, but is capable of forming a dependency on him by the other in the relationship. A Preoccupied person has a negative self model and a positive model of others. They often tend to be overly dependent and ambivalent. The example suggests a person who might be shy and conservative but is capable of not displaying their awkward feelings to the other person. A Secure individual has a positive model of self and others. They are comfortable with intimacy and autonomy and often do not have a difficult time in forming intimate relationships. The example describes this person as someone who is very capable of healthy relationships and good communication skills. It seems like a secure person has all the good qualities that any relationship requires. And finally, a Dismissing person has a positive model of self but a negative model of others. They are characterized by denying attachment and their counter dependency. All of the differences among the different models result from past experiences in the individual's life. How they were raised in terms of different parenting styles and methods of child raising affect an individuals internal working models of self and others. Attachment styles of Secure individuals are described as passionate and selfless. They have high levels of intimacy, passion and are very committed and able to be trusted. This reminds me of the perfect girlfriend. I don't see a lot of jealously and bizarre head games coming from a secure person. They are highly self confident and low on self consciousness with their partner. They tend not to fear being close to another person and yet are not likely to go out of their mind when things don't feel right. Avoidant people are known for their head games. They tend to be low in terms of intimacy, passion and commitment. This reminds me of a relationship my roomate has with his girlfriend. They are both madly in love with each other and yet all they do is fight over stupid little game they play with each other. Neither one of them are faithful to the other and they rarely speak encouragingly of their relationship. They are both very self conscious and yet still interdependent on each other for support. An Ambivalent person tends to be very possessive of other individuals in a relationship with them. They tend not to be very passionate and trustworthy in terms of commitment. As its described in the worksheet that they are high on pre occupation, dependence, and idealization. They are known to be self conscious and yet still willing to initiate intimate relationships. Differences in internal working models of self and others as well as differences in attachment styles can be accredited to various influences. For example secure individuals have memories of their parents being warm and affectionate while Ambivalent people tend to remember their father being unfair. Differences in attachment beliefs and attitudes such as the amount of self doubts and self worth one has and ones ability to understand others are obvious from secure to ambivalent. Secure people tend to feel that others are trustworthy and dependable while avoidant folks think that social situations are difficult to understand. And finally while avoidant people need to maintain distance in relationships, secure and ambivalent people desire intimate relationships but vary in degree of intimacy. These differences stem from the individuals perception of others and where he/she fits into reality. People act how they think they are suppose to, so their perception of reality is a major factor in determining how they act in , and while establishing intimate relationships. Identity achievement comes from many years of exploring different roles and personalities. Like we discussed in class individuals can change their attitudes and personalities almost daily. As the person is trying new things he/she is also taking cues form society as to which role or personality they fit best. How and individual perceives these cues will determine how they choose which personality or role is right for them. As we move from secure people to ambivalent we can see varying levels of self consciousness and self worth. These two characteristics are primary in forming intimacy. A persons internal working models are directly affecting that persons ability to perceive reality which is essentially the struggle for identity. So as the characteristics of self and others as well as attachment styles, are approaching security, strength, worth, and importance the better able that person is at creating, maintaining, and enjoying themselves and others. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Serial killers.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ****, *** Professor ****** History II, Period 6 17 November 1995 The nineteen-seventies was an incredible decade. It was a decade of change, one of freedom, a time for great music. It was also an incredible decade for shock, fear and serial killers. John Wayne Gacy, an amateur clown, was a pedophiliac homosexual. He tortured and killed thirty three little boys and stored their remains under his house. David Berkowitz, a.k.a. the Son of Sam, stalked New York City from nineteen-sixty-seven to nineteen-seventy-seven. He claimed to have been following a voice from his dog that told him when and where to kill. Ted Bundy, who is believed to have killed at least thirty-four people, was charged for only three under his own defense- and in fact, he was commended by the judge for his own defense. He was put to death. With the combination of a very powerful media and a society fascinated with gruesome, sadistic crimes, modern serial killers have been put in the spotlight. We are enraptured with serial killers so much, that we pay seven dollars to go see a movie where everyone except the bad guys gets strangled, mutilated, or shot- and enjoy it in some sick way. The media goes out of its way to glamorize murder and terrify the public. We support killers like Charles Manson on Death Row with our tax dollars. In fact, we support them with more than that. About two months ago there was an art show in California entitled: The Death Row Art Show III. Pieces sold for thousands of dollars regardless of their aesthetic appeal, because of the identity of the artists. Serial killers are becoming as popular as rock stars. Serial killers are a development of the industrial world; they really didn't "come about" until the late eighteen-hundreds when society was becoming modernized and the threat of the new age sort of displaced some individuals so much they felt they had to kill to get their point across to society. Jack the Ripper is probably the most notorious killer in history because he established the serial killer profile. Ripper set up a pattern for the new line of mass murderers who would follow in the tradition of a truly organized killer. He had a sexual obsession with prostitutes that led him to target complete strangers for a days work. When he was done, he laid his victim out in a ritualistic manner with various disemboweled items placed strategically on or around the victim's corpse. Of course, murder has been around for centuries, committed by under-educated thieves. No one was interested in meeting, and hearing about a poor peasant that slit someones throat in a dark alley. But ever since the introduction of serial killers into our society, with their precision and strategy of the murder, the media became fascinated with these people, and so did society. So instead of killing or punishing these horrible people, we now have television networks arguing over movie rights to the killers story. News shows fighting to get the "exclusive interview". T-shirts with the killers faces on them(e.g.. the famous "Manson T-shirt"). The only explanation I can offer is that we are still obsessed with our own mortality, and we always will be. As long as we die, we'll be fascinated by those who seem to be invincible from death like, serial killers, Hitler...its almost as is we like to see the act of death itself, over and over, to observe the exact moment- or what it is that puts us over that incredible brink between life and death. I can honestly say I am fascinated with the serial killer. But since when did we condone the practice of serial killers? Why aren't they put to death promptly after being convicted, instead of being kept alive for the media to interview? You have to wonder who is making money in this. When we allow people like this to dominate our media, it's like we're saying its all right to murder. Did society and the media forget that the victims of those serial killers are us and our families? Its not the serial killers that affected the twentieth century so much, but the spotlight that allowed them to grow. Maybe if not for all the attention, there wouldn't of been so many deaths. There are so many maybes, so many problems. But it all comes down to one thing, basically, money. The media will do just about anything for money. When are they going to learn that they have been corrupting the minds and souls of observers everywhere? Works Cited Yofee, Ellen B. "Here Pigs!" Gear October 1995: 10-12 The editors of Time Life Books Serial Killers. Alexandria, Virginia: Time Life Books, 1992. The editors of Time Life Books Mass Murderers. Alexandria, Virginia: Time Life Books, 1992. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Sex And Laterality.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sex And Laterality Abstract This paper discusses the differences in laterality among males and females. More specifically, it discusses the differences in verbal and visuospatial ability among different sexes. The common hypothesis, which has been proven by various people, is that males are superior to women in visuospatial tasks while women are superior in verbal tasks. This difference among males and females is due to the fact that the male brain is more lateralized than that of a female. The purpose of the experiment explained in this paper was to prove the common hypothesis by testing males and females with a verbal and visuospatial task. "Laterality refers to the preferential use or superior function of one part of the body..." (Martin, 1998, p.135) Laterality pertains to the idea that certain functions or tasks can be performed better by one side of the body. Specific to this paper, certain parts of the brain are designated to perform only certain tasks. It has been proven that the brain is lateralized, meaning that one hemisphere is dominant for specific functions and the other is dominant for other functions. "The conventional view of hemispheric function is that the left hemisphere is rational, verbal, linear, and analytical whereas the right hemisphere is emotional, spatial, holistic and intuitive." (Martin, 1998, p.140) Though the right brain is more involved in aspects of visuospatiality and the left more involved in language ''...the right hemisphere is capable of undertaking rudimentary or compensatory language processing and the left hemisphere is capable of undertaking some spatial processing."(Martin, 1998, p.140) The idea of lateralization can be applied to the difference among people in handedness. It has been observed that left-handed people appear to be superior to right- handed people on tests of verbal skills. However, left handers are inferior to right handers on tests of visuospatial tasks. The reason that left-handed people have superior verbal ability is because they have more mass of the left brain able to be devoted to language. Therefore, since there is a large area of the right hemisphere devoted to language little mass is available to visuospatiality, its own specialization. (Springer & Deutch, 1981, p.154) Handedness is one of many ways in which the presence of laterality in the brain can be observed. Through various studies it has been found that the female brain is less lateralized than the male brain. A great amount of evidence has shown that females are superior to males in tasks, which involve the use of language while males are superior to females in spatial tasks. (Springer & Deutch, 1981, p.121) It is found that the female brain is more symmetrical than the male brain. This means that there is less neural mass in the female brain to devote to specific functions. Males are able to devote a large amount of their left brain to verbal tasks and a large amount of their right brain to visuospatial tasks. However, this means that if one section of the brain is damaged a male may totally lose ability to perform the tasks associated with that part of the brain. But, because the female brain is more symmetrical, damage to a section of the brain may not be inhibited because an identical section may be present on the opposite side of the brain. The left hemisphere of the female brain is still mostly devoted to language but the right hemisphere is not devoted to visuospatial tasks as much as the male brain. Because of the information discussed above it is hypothesized that the results of this experiment will reveal a difference between males and females. It is expected that the males will perform better on the visuospatial task and the females will perform better on the verbal task. The tasks used in this experiment are considered pure tasks, meaning that only either visuospatiality or verbal ability was tested. In an impure task both abilities are tested. If the two abilities are tested together than the results will not be accurate. (Coltheart, Hull & Slater, 1975, p. 439) Method This experiment involved 97 psychology students; 27 males, 70 females. The materials used in this experiment consisted of a pencil/pen, a stopwatch, and paper. The instructor must separate the students into groups of two. For the first task one person was the recorder and the other was the subject being experimented on. The groups were arranged so that an even number of males and females participate in each task. The first task required the students to mentally go through the alphabet, A to Z and count the number of letters which contain the sound 'ee'. This is only a mental task. Nothing was to be used by the student being tested to aid them. The instructor told the students when to begin. When instructed the recorder started the stopwatch immediately and the subject began the task. When the subject was completed the task the recorder recorded the time needed to complete the task. The results were then handed into the instructor to compile the results. For the second task the recorder and subject reversed roles. This task required the subject to mentally go through the alphabet, A to Z, and count the number of letters which contain a curve in the typed, capital form of the letter. The subject was timed and the results were recorded and handed into the instructor. Results From the first task the overall mean was a time of 21.71 seconds and an answer of 8.60. The mean answer for the females was 9.38 with a time of 19.66 seconds as compared to the males with a mean answer of 7.87 and a time of 23.75 seconds. The correct answer for this task was 9 letters containing the sound 'ee'. This answer was obtained only if the letter 'Z' was pronounced 'zee' not 'zed'. From the second task the overall mean was a time of 27.76 seconds and an answer of 11.46. The mean answer for females was 12.03 with a time of 29.81 seconds as compared to the males with a mean answer of 11.06 and a time of 25.92 seconds. The correct answer for this task was 11 letters containing a curve in the typed, capital form. Discussion From the results obtained from the experiment the hypothesis that males are superior to females in visuospatial tasks and that females are superior to males in verbal tasks has been proven to be true. The first task was a verbal task as it involved the pronunciation of words which is associated with language. The results obtained from the verbal task revealed that the females were able to complete the task quicker and more accurately than the males. This supports the fact that "...females are superior to males in a wide range of skills that require the use of language..." (Springer & Deutch, 1981, p.121). However, the results from this task are somewhat inaccurate because it was not specified whether the letter 'Z' was to be pronounced as 'zee' or 'zed'. Because of this inaccuracy, the results of the first task can not be truly analyzed to explain the differences in verbal skills. The results obtained from the second, visuospatial task support the belief that males are able to perform better on spatial tasks. The males were able to complete this task quicker and more accurately than the females. These results support the ideas discussed in the literature. The difference in laterality between males and females has been observed but, what is the reason for these differences? It has been suggested that because females tend to be weaker than males a greater ability to vocalize is needed for a means of protection. (Geschwind and Galaburda, 1984, p.138) In addition, it is believed that throughout evolution males have been the hunters and so require good visuospatial skills in order to be successful. Whereas the women have been the mothers and so have a greater need for the use of communication. (Springer & Deutch, 1981, p. 128) Works Cited Coltheart, M., Hull, E. & Slater, D. (1975). Nature ( Volume 253), pp.438 - 440. Geschwind & Galaburda. (1984). Cerebral Dominance,U.S.A: President and Fellows of Harvard College. Martin, G. (1998). Human Neuropsychology. Middlesex: Prentice Hall Europe. Springer, S.P., & Deutch, G. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Sigmund Freud.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sigmund Freud When I was 10th grade in Korea, I took a psychology lecture for the first time in the academy. That time, I was come into some psychologists and lots of theories about psychology. At the beginning, it was very strange and difficult to learn. But as time passed by, I had more interests about the psychology especially Sigmund Freud, who was a very intelligent psychoanalyst. Sigmund Freud has many theories on how people develop. His most influential theory to the development of the human mind was his five psychosexual stages. Freud's belief was that children were done developing after they finished going through puberty. The stages started with infants describing this as the oral stage, or the sucking stage. The anal stage deals with the one and two year olds. This age group is starting to potty train. After this stage the three through five year olds go through the phallic stage. The child focuses on the genitals, as they discover it is enjoyable. Freud's fourth stage is the latency stage, including children six to twelve years. This is when their sexual interests are put on the back burn. The last stage is the genital stage. Children going through puberty have a time of sexual reawakening. Other theorists criticized him by saying that there was more to development than sex. They also said a person does not stop developing after they turn eighteen. Freud did develop another theory that many author's have described in their literary works which included the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id, Ego, and Superego dealt with how the mind worked conscientiously and unconsciensously. It also described the behavior of the human body and why we do the things we do. Freud's behavior theory begins with the subject of the Id. The Id part of your brain is what you are born with. All babies are influenced by the Id. They live in an all unconscious world. Little do they know what it right or wrong. In an adult this is the pleasure seeker of the person's behavior. Your instincts are what you act on and sometimes this may show the bad side of the person. The next part of Sigmund Freud's behavior theory is the Ego. The ego is the balance between the Id and the Superego. This part of the brain is the reality check. The Ego helps you deal with the outside world. It is sometimes called the Executive Branch of the personality because it makes important decisions. Just like Id there is no morality in a person's personality. The difference between the Id and the Ego is that the Id acts on impulse, while the Ego deals with the reality. The Ego is very important to the behavior development of the human being. The last of the behavior development is the Superego. This is probably the most important piece because it keeps the world a lot safer. The Superego is the moral branch of the personality. It uses the conscious part of the brain, instead of using the unconscious. The Superego follows the rules, listens to authority, and the person's moral values. Freud's psychoanalytic theories of the Id, Ego, and Superego have a great influence on a person's behavior. Depending on how much we use of each one can show how we act out of our personality. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Single Men vs Committed Men.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Single Men vs. Committed Men Single men lead different lifestyles compared to men that are committed to one woman. When a guy is single, he might wish he had a girlfriend. When that same guy finds a girlfriend, he might want to be single again. This is a strange cycle that many young men go through for many years. Although there are many differences between these two lifestyles, one similarity is apparent. That is the transition from one lifestyle to the other. The transition is often very difficult. These transitions often cause many aspects of a man's life to change. This means that there are many contrasts when you compare lifestyles of single men and men in a relationship with one woman. A guy may enjoy or hate living his life single. Often times a single lifestyle consists of merely hanging out with guys and girls just as friends, and having fun. If a guy really enjoys partying and getting a little crazy on the weekends, this is what he will do when he is single. Single men usually do and say whatever they want to, and don't worry about what others may think about them. He just wants to be with his buddies and have a good time. Sometimes single men will not be seeking potential girlfriends. Other times he will be on the lookout for girls he is interested in. In either case, girls will be on his mind. For that guy who is not looking for a relationship, he will not mind not seeing any girls for a period of time. A guy who is looking for a commitment will want to go to the clubs and other spots where he can meet some women. A man with a girlfriend will enjoy her company all the time. He will not desire to see his buddies as much as he used to. He won't think about all of the girls he could meet at a party where he could be. Overtime, the guy with a girlfriend will spend less and less time with friends. He will concentrate more of his time on his partner, trying to make the relationship work out as best as it can. The period of time when a man is happy with his girlfriend can be deceitful. This time of harmony between a man and a woman may last for a lifetime, or just a few days. Sometimes he will start to think about his buddies and parties, and feel that his girl is holding him back. This is a sign that the relationship will not last much longer, and many hearts can be broken because of these feelings. That is just the way the cycle goes and there is nothing he can do about it. A single guy will not worry about as many things as a guy with a girlfriend. The single man may not worry about how he looks or acts sometimes. He can keep his house messy, because there is no woman to worry about. Unless he is attempting to get a girlfriend, he will live the way he feels most comfortable. It is a whole different story when a girl comes into a man's life. He will start to worry about how she is doing. He will start to be on time for dates and appointments he makes. When a woman comes into a man's life, she will bring a sense of responsibility to that man with her. Overnight his house will look neat, his car will be clean, and he will start to worry about his appearance. Sometimes it will seem like he has made many changes overnight, and he may look like a different man. Responsibility is a must when a man has a girl. If he cannot keep his end of the deal, the relationship will not last. A man cannot spend more time with his buddies than his girlfriend, and expect to keep her happy. Men can't have the lifestyle of a single man and keep a girlfriend at the same time. This will leave him feeling dissatisfied with himself, and his girlfriend. Many men will actually crave to have both lifestyles. They are so different from each other that it cannot be possible. Sometimes having a girlfriend will change a man's life drastically. A man may not always be happy with the way he is living at the time. Not all relationships can last forever, as many men find out. When examining a man over a period of time, it will be easy to spot the contrasts in his lifestyle from being single to having a girlfriend. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Social Acceptance and Its Consequences.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Social Acceptance and Its Consequences There is a moment in every person's life that defines what they will be and how they will do in the future. Although most people are unable to pinpoint the exact day and time of this moment, it is usually in early adolescence and involves that person's peers and developing morals. It is usually caused by the metamorphosis from a completely dependent person to a social being where there is an increased pressure to fit in. The fictitious narrator in Alice Adams' "Truth or Consequences" - itself an excerpt from her book To See You Again - was unique in that she could pinpoint this defining moment. Her experience with Carstairs Jones was a mixed blessing that she was not able to overcome and, in light of how her life turned out, was a foreshadowing of things to come. Throughout the monologue, the narrator drops hints about how her "normal" past turned out. The many lovers she'd had - three marriages and as many abortions. Each time she was seeking out to gain an upper hand in life and social status. Once, she writes, "I was raped by someone to whom I was married." These are not part of what most people would constitute as a "normal" life. The sublimation of her own values and morals to become part of the 'in' crowd at her elementary school started with the malicious game of Truth or Consequences where she was the victim of a trick question designed to humilate her. Car Jones happened to be the rock adjacent to the hard place she was wedged between. Her ill fate led to the use of Car to prop her into social acceptance and the toll that Car imposed on her for her use of him caused confusion that stayed with her throughout her life. In her own mind, the narrator decides that all of these events can be traced back to the incident with Car and, as indicated by the final line in the story, cause her to be traumatized and allow these things to happen. "... he could be as haunted as I am by everything that ever happened in his life." The traumatization threw the narrator into the arms of the most popular kid in class and that in turn led to her descent up the ladder of popularity. She reasons that to Car, the event was of little consequence and was quickly forgotten. Just the last 'bad' thing he could do before his sudden advancement to high school. He just floated above all of the inconsequential things that he did and followed what he wished with nary a look back. His poisoning of her formative year prevented her from doing the same. She also allows that he could be just the opposite, but not much faith is put into that, for if it were true, surely something would have come of it. The ability to cope is part of human nature and the narrator felt as though that part of her had been ripped asunder and left dead. She could no longer cope the same way that everyone else could. Something inside had died, allowing all of the unfortunate events of her life to happen. So she thinks, anyway. While it is probable that this kiss meant nothing to Carstairs Jones, it did have an impact on how Ms. Emily Ames turned out. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Social Issues Depression.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Social Issues : Depression Adolescent Depression Depression (also known as melancholia) is the state of sadness, decreased initiative, and introversion. It's known as being blue, or just being down. Depression can be caused by anything that's disturbing to the individual, or can be caused by massive amounts of stress. Anything that gives you a feeling of guilt can lead to depression. Adolescence is a time where there are great amounts of stress due to mental, physical, and chemical changes in the body. This is the time where many people feel down or depressed. It sometimes goes unnoticed because it's felt that these are just things kids have to go through, but speaking from personal experience not everything is written in plain black and white. Adolescent depression is a big problem, and if nothing's done about it, it can lead to an emotional breakdown. Sometimes resulting in attempted suicides. Adolescence is what scientists label a problem period. This is the time where children, become young adults. They are being prepared for adulthood. To prepare for this the body must go through a certain amount of changes. These changes are both physical and mental: "Adolescence" comes from the Latin verb adolescere, which means "to grow," or "to grow to maturity." Maturing involves not only physical but also mental growth. On the physical side, it means the attainment of mature stature...mentally a mature individual is one who has reached their maximum intelligence level. During this time, weird things begin to happen to the mind and body that are scary but exciting at the same time. But this time also brings huge amounts of pressure and stress. Some of which the child may not be able to handle, causing them to feel "weighed down" by life. The teen doesn't have to be troubled to feel depressed, all it takes is something negative that makes them feel insecure and you have the beginnings of adolescent depression. During this period the youth is worried about their new role in life. They are unsure of their abilities and this confuses them, adding stress to an already stressful period: A person is an adult when he can take his place and play his role in adult affairs, physically, socially, and economically. A person is regarded as an adolescent until he operates as an adult. During this period of the youths life, it causes them to be confused, uncertain, and anxious. This is a transition period for the youth, and it may be too much for one to handle causing emotional unstability: Like all transitions, adolescence is marked by shiftings backward and forward from old to new behavior, from old to new attitudes. Instability and inconsistency are indications of immaturity. This shows that the youth is unsure of themselves and they're second-guessing their abilities, and they are trying to adjust themselves to the new status that they must now assume in their new social group. There are easy to read signs of transition (the beginning stages of depression). Because he feels unsure of himself and insecure of his status, the adolescent tends to be aggressive, self-conscious, and withdrawn. This causes them to shelter themselves and become more reserved. They won't talk much, and they'll begin to feel less social, unwanted, and misunderstood. This is from my personal experience. The teen years is when the depression usually goes unnoticed because people feel this is just a phase and eventually they'll grow out of it. Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don't. It's like a time bomb ticking away that could go off at any minute. moods are linked to physical functions. But when they last for several days and weeks, these are when the sirens are going off. These are warning signs that there are severe disturbances of personality or undesirable conduct. Although these are symptoms that all teens go through, they differ depending on sex. As adolescents boys and girls worry about different problems, but they all lead to the same thing. Girls are more concerned with school problems, relating to their parents, family adjustments, social adjustments, personal attractiveness, and etiquette. Boys worry about money and problems relating to their future. Being a teen is stressful enough but when you add all of these pressures, it leads to mental and physical breakdown. Within themselves the adolescent years are already a problem. This is a confusing time for youngsters because they have many changes and adjustments to make. Society also helps add to the turmoil of the adolescent years. Society has a lot to do with the failure of some adolescents in life. When you have something to prove it makes you tentative. Here are some of the main reasons for failure: Overemotional repression, oversuppresion of unsatisfied desires, the undue multiplicity of wishes, failure to be properly introduced, when young, to the world of reality, which is followed subsequently by the uncontrollable desire to flee from reality... Too often, adolescents are judged by adult standards, thus putting massive amounts of pressure on them. This is the time when adolescents usually get very unhappy. That's because of the demands placed on them by society. This is all on top of the demand placed on the youth by their social group. This could be too much for a still developing mind to cope with. Peer group membership is the essential feature of this phase of development. Other causes of pressure leading to depression can come from home as well. I know when I became depressed at the beginning of the year it started at home. Parents put lots of pressure on their kids. Yes, they want their kids to do well, but by drilling that you must succeed in life into their heads, it makes the kid anxious, and nervous. And when the child does fail at something, they think it's the end of the world and that they've failed themselves and their parents. Another thing that puts a lot of pressure on kids is school. School has always played a big role in adolescent depression. This is where a lot of depression actually begins. When a student feels like they are not understanding something, instead of going to get help they'll just forget about it. They'll pretend nothing's wrong and that they don't really need school to succeed in life. They won't ask for help because they're afraid of what will be thought of them. Adolescents always worry about what others think, this is what gets them down. Treating depression can be very difficult, because before you can treat someone for depression, they have to acknowledge the fact they have a problem. This is the hardest part of trying to treat depression. Before anything can be done, the person has to want help. After the person acknowledge that they have a problem, counseling is the first stage of recovering. Talking to a counselor about all of their problems will help relieve some of the pressure they feel. Counseling can help adolescents adjust to their new roles in society. But this is not always the best way to go. Counselors are just there to talk, if the person is really depressed, other treatments are going to be needed. Counselors are there for talking. For reassurance, to let the youth know that they can get through any of their problems. Depending on the type of problem, treatments are different. Kinds of Problems Everyday Problems Friendships Family School, etc. Experience Education (Guidance) Special Problems Educational Vocational Premarital Personal, etc. Guidance (Counseling) Adjustment Problems Emotional Sexual Social Religious Moral Counseling (Psychotherapy) Mental health and personality problems Neuroses Homosexuality Alcoholism Drug Addiction Psychosis Psychopathy, etc. Psychotherapy (Medical Treatment) Medical problems Injury Disease, etc. Medical Treatment A person must first be diagnosed with having a problem before any type of psychotherapy or medical treatment. They must be diagnosed by a professional MD. For the other types of problems, the youth may come to an adult telling you what's wrong with them. All treatments should be done by professionals, but if the youth just wants to talk, it's okay for you to listen to their problems, but do not under any circumstances try and perform your own personal counseling session. These are serious problems and they need to be treated that way. Dysthymia Dysthymia is a mild or moderate form depression. Is has been observed as form of depression since 1980 . Dysthymic disorder is characterized by an overwhelming yet chronic state of depression, exhibited by a depressed mood for most of the days, for more days than not, for at least 2 years. (In children and adolescents, mood can be irritable and duration must be at least 1 year.) The person who suffers from this disorder must not have gone for more than 2 months without experiencing two or more of the following symptoms: · poor appetite or overeating · insomnia or hypersomnia · low energy or fatigue · low self-esteem · poor concentration or difficulty making decisions · feelings of hopelessness No Major Depressive Episode has been present during the first two years (or one year in children and adolescents) and there has never been a Manic Episode, a Mixed Episode, or a Hypomanic Episode, and criteria have never been met for Cyclothymic Disorder. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of the use or abuse of a substance (alcohol, drugs, and medications) or a general medical condition. The symptoms must also cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, educational or other important areas of functioning. During the 2-year period (1 year for children or adolescents) of the disturbance, the person has never been without the symptoms for more than 2 months at a time . Dysthymic disorder can begin in childhood and in adulthood. Like most for the depression, Dysthymia is more common in women then in men. Most people who suffer from this disorder cannot remember when they first became depressed. Up to 3 percent when people suffer from Dysthymic disorder. 5-15 percent of people in a local doctor's office has the disorder . If someone is the criteria for Dysthymia they should go discuss the matter with a physician. The physician will then determine whether the symptoms are because of depression the outside factors such as thyroid disorders. Also a full diagnostic interview is held. When possible collaborative information from family and friends is utilized. Information on the causes of Dysthymia remains largely incomplete. There are several series on the matter. It has been observed that Dysthymia runs in families. This would suggest that Dysthymia may be hereditary but the family environment may also play a role. There's also a theory that Dysthymia may be the result of a change in the brain involving the chemical Serotonin, which would hinder the ability of the affected person to maintain social or interpersonal relationships . Since the calls the Dysthymia is not known there seems to be no exact way to prevent it. According to Dr. Martin Keller, executive psychiatrists-in-chief at Brown affiliated hospitals in Providence RI, the best way to deal with Dysthymia early detection. Since most people who suffer from Dysthymic disorder at some point in their lives experience chronic major depression the diagnosis of Dysthymia can be used to help prevent these cases . Treatment for Dysthymic disorder is also very broad topic. According to Dr. Phillip Long medication is usually not an issue for someone who suffers from this disorder. Most patients show no additional improvement with the addition of an antidepressant medication, Long-term treatment of this disorder with medication should be avoided; medication should be prescribed only for acute symptom relief. Additionally, prescription of medication may interfere with the effectiveness of certain psychotherapeutic approaches. Consideration of this effect should be taken into account when arriving at a treatment recommendation . When appropriate to treat a concurrent major depressive episode, Tricyclic antidepressants are effective and inexpensive. Phillip W. Long, M.D. suggests that, "a patient should not be considered a failure until the equivalent of 200 mg to 300 mg of Imipramine has been evaluated for at least 6 weeks." Selective Serotonin reuptake inhibitors may also be appropriate for prescription. Phillip W. Long, M.D. also states, "A number of drugs are not of value for long-term treatment. Those drugs include the amphetamines, the barbiturates, and the benzodiazepines. Those drugs are often prescribed for patients with chronic symptoms of insomnia, fatigue, or tension. However, clinical experience and systematic research indicate that they are little better than a placebo and are at times worse." As with many chronic disorders psychotherapy is the recommended treatment of choice. Is important for the initial physician to conduct a complete diagnostic evaluation to assess the patient's ability to function, suicidal tendencies, etc. a cycle therapeutic approach seems to work best because the therapist can provide us to produce change oriented personalized environment for treatment. Therapy should be generally conducted with respect to the client's pace and level of functioning. Attempts to focus on change too early in therapy could lead to early termination of therapy. This likely occurs because the patient feels the therapist didn't respect or care enough about him or her to move at their rate. Psychotherapy approaches for this disorder vary widely. Short-term approaches are preferred, however, because they emphasize realistic, attainable goals in the individual's life, which can usually bring them back to their normal level of functioning. This level, however, may be markedly less than what is expected in the average person. A person who suffers from Dysthymic disorder has generally learned to live with a fair amount of chronic unhappiness in their lives. Realistic goals should be established early on and the focus of therapy, instead of focusing on the person's mood state. Group therapy has been shown to be an effective modality for individuals suffering from this disorder. A group can be more supportive to an individual than any one therapist can and help point out inconsistencies in the patient's thinking and behavior. It should be considered, if not initially, then later on in treatment as the client regains his or her own self-confidence and can interact in a social context. Issues of self-esteem often accompany individuals who have Dysthymic disorder, so care must be employed not to place the person into a group situation (where failure may be imminent) too soon. Family therapy may also be helpful for some individuals. Couples therapy can bring the individual's spouse or significant other into the therapeutic relationship to create a therapeutic (and more powerful) triad. Goals will vary according to type of therapy. Cognitive therapy emphasizes changes in one's faulty or distorted way of thinking and perceiving the world. Interpersonal therapy focuses on an individual's relationships with others and how to improve and strengthen existing relationships while finding new ones. Solution-focused therapy looks at specific problems plaguing an individual's life in the present and examines how to best go about changing the person's behavior to solve these difficulties. Social skills training focuses on teaching the client new skills on how to become more effective in social and work relationships. Usually, psychoanalytic and other insight-oriented approaches will be less effective because of their focus on the past and emphasis on lengthy therapy. While incorporation of therapy into a person's chronic condition might be quite financially lucrative for the therapist, it is not the most change-effective and timely approach to help the individual overcome his or her difficulties. Because the clinician must move at the client's pace, progress with any type of therapy can be slow. Therapists should resist the temptation to try and "speed up" the process or force the client in a direction he or she is not yet ready to try. Closely related to this issue of the pace of therapy is being aware of the clinician's frustration with lack of progress or boredom within the therapy session. It can be an emotionally draining experience for some therapists. Additionally, Phillip W. Long, M.D. adds, "The patient's unrealistic and idealistic expectations of himself or herself may, for example, be transmitted to the therapist and give rise to overlying optimistic expectations of progress in therapy. If the patient shows no subjective improvement over time, the therapist may inadvertently respond somewhat in the way significant individuals in the patient's life have responded. Interpretation of such personal experiences by the therapist can, in the proper context, be therapeutic." Seasonal Affective Disorder "I just feel a little bit under the weather, that's all..." is a phrase some may use to explain a slight feeling of depression that they feel. However, the weather and the change of seasons may cause a harsher form of depression, known as seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder is the feeling some get, every year at the same time of year, that makes them feel depressed for extended periods of time. This period of time is usually between the months of September and the following May, and so this form of depression is also commonly known as the winter blues or winter depression. However, during the rest of the year, the patient feels perfectly normal and mentally healthy. Hence the disease is named the seasonal affective disorder, because though the majority of the cases occur during the September to May period, there are the few occurrences of the depression during the spring or summer. The existence of the term seasonal affective disorder has had a short life span. The term "seasonal affective disorder" was coined in 1982 by Norman Rosenthal after he had researched what they perceived as regular patterns of depression in Rosenthal and one of his colleagues, Herb Kern. In the mid 1970's, Kern, a research technician at the National Institute of Mental Health, noticed some regular changes that occurred every year. He noticed that every winter, he would become unhappy, slow, and lazy, while in the summer and spring and fall, he would behave normally, more quickly and more productively. Rosenthal theorized that these changes were due to the change in the amount of sunlight one received throughout the year, and theorized that daily doses of bright light would be able to cure the condition during the winter. The research team settled for two doses of three hours each of bright sunlight-like light exposure everyday. After just three days of treatment, Kern felt better, more lively, and his colleagues also noticed that he was more energetic and generally more friendly. These studies led to the conclusion that although the symptoms pertaining to seasonal affective disorder could be triggered by anything, such as stress, most cases of seasonal affective disorder were caused by lack of bright light due to a lack of time spend outdoors during elongated periods of time. Stress, however, is still a major factor. If a painful or stressful time in a person's life is associated closely with a specific season or time, the person is susceptible to seasonal affective disorder during that set amount of time. Further studies were conducted, and the results conducted showed early on what seasonal affective disorder was about. During certain seasons, most likely winter, some people will try to stay inside more, and not go out as much as they would normally. This kind of behavior is likely to cause slothfulness in a person, as well as certain extents of depression, weight change, and lack of energy. This is somewhat natural, but when the change of season affects a person to the point of what is referred to as clinical seasonal affective disorder, one may not be able to leave the house and may feel a greater sense of depression. If one notices a set pattern during several years in which there is a repetition of feelings of depression during a certain season, one can easily seek help, and this is a treatable disorder, with almost a 90 percent treatment effective rate. There has been, since the creation of the clinical term "seasonal affective disorder", many revelations made by various scientists and their research groups. One is that a vast percentage of the world suffers from any range of degrees of the types of seasonal affective disorder from clinical seasonal affective disorder to a degree in which one just feels a little sad during the winter. In his original study, Dr. Rosenthal suggested that almost one of twenty five adults in America suffered from a change in season, especially the transition between fall and winter, the time in which the most light hours were lost. He also conjectured that another 14 percent, roughly one in eight adults, had a milder form of the disorder, known as winter blues or winter depression, which is the label for cases strictly in winter and less severe than the clinical versions of the disorder. Another 30 percent of the population was shown to suffer from Sub-syndromal seasonal affective disorder, a condition or state in between the states of full-blown seasonal affective disorder and the more common winter blues. Another factor that may be favorable for getting seasonal affective disorder may be one that a person cannot immediately control. That factor is his/her location. According to various studies conducted in the twenty-year history of seasonal affective disorder, it has been found that people living in certain zones are more susceptible to the adverse effects of seasonal affective disorder. For example, 10 percent of Alaska residents have been reported to have clinical-level seasonal affective disorder, while the rest of the population only suffers from milder levels. Also, in Britain, almost one in three adults between the ages of 20 and 40 are shown to have some level of the disorder. On the contrary, those who lived in Florida only showed a total of one percent suffering from any stage of seasonal affective disorder. Thus it is generalized that the closer one is to the equator, since there are periods of sunshine, the lesser chance of one getting the disorder, while on the other hand, the closer one finds oneself to the polar caps, the chance of getting seasonal affective disorder grows exponentially. Whatever the cause, seasonal affective disorder usually causes one or several problems in a patient. These symptoms have tolls on both the mind and body. For the mind, the disease may cause such symptoms as: depression, guilt, low self-esteem, loss of confidence, hopelessness, apathy, loss of feelings, irritability, avoidance of human contact, despair, suicidal feelings, anxiety, inability to tolerate stress, paranoid thoughts, poor memory, poor concentration, difficulty "thinking straight", difficulty concentrating or making decisions, panic attacks, abusive behavior, weeping, seasonal alcohol and drug abuse, and seasonal bulimia. For the body, symptoms may include: fatigue, lethargy, debility, too much sleep or trouble staying awake/waking up, insomnia. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Social Psychology Essay interpersonal attraction.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Social Psychology Essay Q) Describe and evaluate one or more explanations of interpersonal attraction (24 marks) A) Interpersonal attraction is based on the basic human need to be with others, also known as affiliation. This attraction ranges from romantic to casual relationships. There are numerous explanations of interpersonal attraction, the matching hypothesis is one. This concept was put forward by Berscheid in 1974, and is based on the idea that we select partner of equal attractiveness. Because according to the social exchange theory, we become romantically involved with those who have similar ability to reward us. In 1966 Walster conducted a study which w sin contrary to the matching hypothesis. Participants were randomly pre-selected using a "computer dance" and sent out on dates. They were then asked to rate their partner's attractiveness. Six months later 18 participants were asked if they'd been out with their partner again. The findings showed that the most attractive women got a second date. Therefore, the men wanted the best lookers, despite their appearance. However, in 1969 another "computer dance" study was conducted by Walster and Walster; which supported the matching hypothesis. This time participants were able to meet each other first. They were also able to state what type of partner they wanted regarding attractiveness. In this study the participants chose partners that were of comparable attractiveness. In conclusion, this model suggests that we choose partners that we feel won't reject us, rather than positively desired ones. However the research for this model tends to concentrate on dyadic and short term relationships. Also the research has been criticised for lacking ecological validity. Because of this Harrison and Saheed conducted research into personal columns; more relevant to real life. This concluded that men wanted younger women and women wanted older men. Another criticism is that the methods used to measure attractiveness tend to be subjective. Therefore not the same in different cultures i.e. the western desire for thin women. Also most of the research was conducted in America, and Western cultures tend not to have arranged marriages. An alternative explanation of interpersonal attraction is the halo effect this suggests that we believe physically attractive people are also psychologically attractive, e.g. capable, intelligent and knowledgeable. Dion in 1972 studied the halo effect in children. Using photographs he found that the more attractive were also judged to be better behaved. This shows how attractive people are assumed to have an attractive personality, as well as being sexually warm and responsive, kind and caring. Langlais in 1990 studied infants of two months and their reaction to faces. He showed them colour slides of adult faces; one attractive, one unattractive, and found that they spent longer looking at the attractive ones. This suggests that a preference for attractiveness has an innate component. However in 1975, Derner and Thiel conducted research which opposed the halo effect. They found that females who judged other females as very attractive thought hem to be vain, materialistic, snobbish and not likely to be successfully married. This theory is criticised as it only looks at one type of relationship, a romantic one. There are different types of relationships which aren't based on this type of attraction e.g. cross-sex friendships, same sex friendships and those with colleagues and relatives. Also we are in more then one relationship at once such as parents and friends. Not all of these are based on romantic attraction and a third party can affect the relationship, through their influence. Traditionally studies have concentrated on attraction to strangers; however relationships are usually longer term. Also research is usually conducted in America, on college students, therefore they lack ecological validity. Sarah Farncombe f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Stress 2.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Stress I. What Is Stress? Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress. A convenient way to think about stress is in terms of stressors and stress responses. Stressors are events that threaten or challenge people. They are the sources of stress, such as having to make decisions, getting married, and natural disasters. Stress responses are psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions to stressors. Anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties, and muscle tension are all examples of stress responses. The connection between stressors and stress responses, however, is not as straight forward as it may seem. Mediating processes, for instance, stand in between stressors and stress responses. Whether stressors lead to stress responses depends on mediating processes like how people appraise potential stressors and how well people are able to cope with the negative impact of stressors. Furthermore, a number of moderating factors, such as personality traits and health habits, influence the the links between stressors and stress responses. These mediating processes and moderating factors help determine whether people experience stress-related problems like burnout, mental disorders, and physical illness and are the focus of many stress management techniques that emphasize cognitive-behavioral approaches, relaxation, exercise, diet and nutrition, and medication. II. Sources of Stress Stressors, the sources of stress, include three types of events, referred to as daily hassles, major life events, and catastrophes. Additionally, specific types of stressors occur within certain domains in life, such as family, work, and school. A. Stressors Daily hassles are the little hassles or annoyances that occur practically everyday, such as having to make decisions, arguing with friends and family, trying to meet deadlines at school or work, and stepping on a piece of bubble gum that someone carelessly spitted out. Although a wide variety of daily hassles can be sources of stress, they often involve conflicts between behaviors people may or may not want to do. If someone is experiencing an approach-approach conflict, that person has to choose between two attractive alternatives, such as going on vacation or buying a new computer. If someone is experiencing an avoidance-avoidance conflict, that person has to choose between two unattractive alternatives, such as having a pet "put to sleep" or spending the money on an expensive surgical procedure for it. If someone is experiencing an approach-avoidance conflict, that person has to choose whether to engage in an activity that has both attractive and unattractive qualities, such as mowing the lawn, an activity that would result in a nice lawn but would not be enjoyable to do. In general, major life events do not appear to be significant sources of stress. Accordingly, major life events generally do not tend to be related to the health problems that accompany stress. Under some circumstances, however, major life events can be sources of stress. Whether major life events involve positive or negative feelings, for instance, is relevant. Major life events that are positive tend to have either trivially stressful or actually beneficial effects, but major life events that are negative can be stressful and are associated with medical problems. Examples of major life events are getting married, getting divorced, and being fired from a job. Although they do not happen very often, when catastrophes do occur, they can be tremendous sources of stress. One major type of catastrophe is natural disasters. After people are exposed to natural disasters, they are more anxious, have more bodily complaints, drink more alcohol, and have more phobias. A group of Stanford University students who completed a survey before and after the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, for example, were more stressed afterwards than they were before hand. War is another type of catastrophe. It is one of the most stressful catastrophes that you could ever endure. Between 16% and 19% of the veterans who served during Operation Desert Storm, for example, had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as recurrent memories, nightmares, restricted emotions, sleep disturbances, and irritability. PTSD is a mental disorder characterized by the re-experiencing of stress responses associated with an earlier traumatic event like withstanding a natural disaster or being assaulted. Compared to the impact of other types of events, the cumulative effect of daily hassles over time are probably the most significant sources of stress. An obvious reason why major life events and catastrophes are probably less significant sources of stress is that people just do not experience them as often. It is not every day that a person spends time in prison or retires from a job, for instance. Likewise, people do not have to and possibly never will face the repercussions of a nuclear war, for instance, on a daily basis. B. Life Domains 1. Family Specific types of stressors that family members are exposed to through their family include a lack of parent-child emotional bonding, parental workload, misbehavior of children, teenage pregnancy, lack of emotional closeness between spouses, poor communication between spouses, tension between spouses, divorce, remarriage, and maternal depression. Additionally, a family member's job can interfere with his or her home life. Marital conflict is a good example of a daily hassle that is specifically related to the family. Marital conflict tends to occur when spouses come from different social and economic backgrounds and the spouse of higher status emphasizes his or her superiority. Marital conflict often occurs in the context of unequal occupational statuses, for instance. Teenage pregnancy, particularly the unplanned pregnancy of an unmarried, teenage daughter, is a good example of a major life crisis that is specifically related to the family. Regarding teenagers who follow through with the pregnancy, this event leads to several premature role transitions, such as the teenager becoming a young mother and the mother becoming a young grandmother. These kinds of role transitions tend to be sources of distress in the family if new mothers are still teenagers but sources of eustress if new mothers are age 20 or older. In cases in which teenagers terminate the pregnancy, they tend to find it especially stressful if they perceive a lack of support from their parents or the father of the child, are less sure of their decision and coping abilities beforehand, blame themselves for the pregnancy, or delay until the second trimester. 2. Work The specific types of stressors that employees are exposed to in the workplace fall into four categories of demands: task demands, interpersonal demands, role demands, and physical demands. Among these categories, work overload, boundary extension, role ambiguity, role conflict, and career development are particularly relevant stressors. Additionally, an employee's home-life can interfere with his or her job. Work overload is a good example of a daily hassle that is particularly relevant in the workplace. When employees feel overwhelmed from trying to work on more tasks than they can handle or from trying to work on tasks that are too difficult for them, they are suffering from work overload. Work overload is common after layoffs among the remaining workers who are assigned more tasks. It is also common among newly appointed managers who feel unprepared for their new, unfamiliar roles. Boundary extension is another good example of a daily hassle that is particularly relevant in the workplace. Some jobs, such as public relations and sales, require employees to work with people in other occupational settings. Such boundary extension can be difficult for employees, especially if it involves any of the following difficulties: Dealing with very diverse organizations Maintaining frequent and long-term relations with people in other organizations Interacting in complex and dynamic environments Not having screening mechanisms like secretaries or voice mail Participating in non-routine activities Trying to meet demanding performance standards (139) Two more good examples of daily hassles that are particularly relevant in the workplace are role ambiguity and role conflict. When employees are unsure about what is expected of them, how to perform their job, or what the consequences of their job performance are, they are experiencing role ambiguity. When employees finds it difficult to perform their job effectively because of the multiple explanations about their job performance, they are experiencing role conflict. Role conflict takes place in five basic ways: Receiving conflicting or incompatible expectations from another employee Receiving different expectations from two or more other employees Receiving expectations that lead to incompatible roles Receiving too many expectations, expectations leading to too many roles, or expectations leading to roles that are too complicated Having values and beliefs that conflict with expectations (139) Career development is a good example of a major life event specifically related to work. Changing jobs or occupations can be stressful. People may feel frustrated and afraid, for example, after being laid off or fired from their job. Similarly, employees may feel belittled or embarrassed after being demoted. These feeling may be even more damaging for employees if such changes in ccupational status interfere with their family life. 3. School As with work, work overload, role ambiguity, and role conflict are daily hassles that are particularly relevant to students. Students incollege, for instance, often feel overwhelmed from having too many assignments or assignments that are too difficult.Additionally, they sometimes experience role ambiguity in poorly designed courses or from poor instructors and sometimesexperience role conflict from instructors who seem to believe that the students in their classes are not taking any other classes.According to two surveys, the following stressors are particularly relevant for college students: Final grades Excessive homework Term papers Examinations Study for examinations Time demands Professors Class environment Among children and adolescents, transitions from one stage of schooling to another are major life events that can be significantstressors. The transition from elementary school to junior high or middle school, for instance, can be a significant stressor. III. Stress Responses Although the presence of stressors does not mean that stress responses will necessarily follow, when they do, stress responsesare the way in which people react to stressors. They are the experience of being stressed. Stress responses can be divided into three categories: psychological responses, physiological responses, and behavioral responses. A. Psychological Responses When people react to stressors, a wide variety of cognitive and emotional responses can occur. Examples of cognitiveresponses are as follows: Concentration problems Indecision Forgetfulness Sensitivity to criticism Self-critical thoughts Rigid attitudes B. Physiological Responses Physiological responses follow what is called the general adaptation syndrome. The GAS has three stages:alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. The first stage, aarm, is basically the fight-or-flight response, the various physiological changes that prepare the body to attack r to flee a threatening situation. The sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system is activated and prompts the release of two catecholamines, epinephrine and norepinephrine, from the adrenal medulla.Additionally, glucocorticoids like cortisol are releasedfrom the adrenal cortex. The following examples of physiological changes characterizes the alarm stage: Increased heart rate Increased blood pressure Rapid or irregular breathing Muscle tension Dilated pupils Sweating Dry mouth Increased blood sugar levels In the second stage, resistance, the body tries to calm itself and restrain the fight-or-flight response from the alarm stage. These changes allow people to deal with stressors more effectively over a longer period of time. When the body eventually runs out of energy from trying to resist stressors, the exhaustion stage takes over. In this stage, the body admits defeat and suffers the negative consequences of the stressors, such as a decreased capacity to function correctly, less sleep, or even death. C. Behavioral Responses People act differently when they are reacting to stressors. Sometimes, the behaviors are somewhat subtle, such as the following responses: Strained facial expressions A shaky voice Tremors or spasms Jumpiness Accident proneness Difficulty sleeping Overeating or loss of appetite Behavioral responses are more obvious when people take advantage of the preparatory physiological responses of the fight-or-flight response. One side of the fight-or-flight response is that it prepares people to "fight", and people sometimes take advantage of that feature and behave aggressively toward other people. Unfortunately, this aggression is often direct toward family members. After Hurricane Andrew devastated south Florida in 1992, for example, reports of domestic violence doubled. The other side of the fight-or-flight response is that it prepares people for "flight" . The following behavioral responses are examples of how people try to escape threatening situations: Quitting jobs Dropping out of school Abusing alcohol or other drugs Attempting suicide Committing crimes (23; 116; 129) IV. The Connection Between Stressors and Stress Responses Stressors prompt stress responses, right? Well, it depends. A number of conscious and unconscious things occur in our inner world that determine whether a stressor in the external world will trigger our stress response. These inner world happenings are referred to as mediating processes and moderating factors. A. Mediating Processes Mediating processes in our inner mind/body world begin to influence the quality and intensity of our stress response from the moment we are exposed to a stressor. Consider, for example, a person who discovers that his or her cat neglected to use the litter box. Whether or not this person appraises the problem as something he or she can establish control over may help determine whether he or she becomes angry. Mediating processes include appraisal and coping. 1. Appraisal Once people become aware of a stressor, the next step is appraisal. How a stressor is appraised influences the extent to which stress responses follow it. In fact, many stressors are not inherently stressful. Stressors can be interpreted as harm or loss, as threats, or as challenges. When stressors have not already led to harm or loss but have the potential to do so, it is usually less stressful for people if the stressors are seen positively as challenges rather than negatively as threats. The influence of appraisal does have its limits, though. For example, although people who suffer from chronic pain tend to be able to enjoy more physical activity if they view their pain as a challenge they can overcome, appraisal does not matter if the pain is severe. Moreover, thinking negatively about the influence of past stressors is associated with a greater vulnerability to future stressors. Consider, for example, people with PTSD. Among victims of sexual or physical assault with PTSD, those who have trouble recovering tend to have more negative appraisals of their actions during the assault, of others' reactions after the assault, and of their initial PTSD symptoms. An important aspect of appraisal is how predictable and controllable a stressor is judged to be. Regarding predictability, not knowing if or when a stressor will come usually makes it more stressful, especially if it is intense and of a short duration. After a spouse passes away, for example, the other spouse tends to feel more disbelief, anxiety, and depression if the death was sudden than if it was anticipated weeks or months in advance. Similarly, during the Vietnam War, for example, wives of soldiers who were missing in action felt worse than did wives of soldiers who were prisoners of war or had been killed. Regarding control, believing that a stressor is uncontrollable usually makes it more stressful. Alternatively, believing that a stressor is controllable, even if it really is not, tends to make it less stressful. When people are exposed to loud noises, for example, they tend to see it as less stressful when they are able to stop it, even if they do not bother to stop it. How much more stressful a stressor becomes from feeling a lack of control over it depends, however, on the extent to which the cause of the stressor is seen as stable or unstable, global or specific, and internal or external. Stable and unstable causes represent causes that are enduring and temporary, respectively. Global and specific causes represent causes that are relevant to many events and relevant to a single occasion, respectively. Internal or external causes represent causes that are the result of personal characteristics and behaviors or the result of environmental forces, respectively. The more stable and global the cause of a stressor seems, the more people feel and behave as though they are helpless. Likewise, the more internal the cause of a stressor seems, the worse people feel about themselves. Together, these feelings and behaviors contribute to a depressive reaction to the stressor. Consider, for example, a case in which a guy's girlfriend breaks up with him and he thinks that his love life is always in the dumps, that nobody really cares about him, and that he must not be a dateable guy. Such an interpretation could contribute to a depressive reaction, such as him coming to the conclusion that he might as well not try because there is nothing he can do about it and that he is pretty much a lost cause. 2. Coping After a stressor has been appraised, the next step, if necessary, is coping. How well people are able to cope with stressors influences the extent to which stress responses follow them. Coping strategies can be divided into two broad categories: problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. Problem-focused coping involves trying to manage or to alter stressors, and emotion-focused coping involves trying to regulate the emotional responses to stressors. Although people tend to use both forms of coping in most cases, the relative use of each of these forms of coping largely depends on the context. Problem-focused coping is more appropriate for problems in which a constructive solution can be found, such as family-related or work-related problems. Alternatively, emotion-focused coping is more appropriate for problems that just have to be accepted, such as physical health problems. B. Moderating Factors Moderating factors influence the strength of the stress responses induced by stressors or the direction of the relation between stressors and stress responses. Regarding the previous example about the cat and the litter box, how angry the person becomes after finding out that his or her cat neglected to use the litter box may depend on, for instance, how anxious or tense he or she is in general. Mediating processes include appraisal and coping. Moderating factors include personality traits, health habits, coping skills, social support, material resources, genetics and early family experiences, demographic variables, and preexisting stressors. 1. Personality Traits Two general personality traits, positive affectivity and negative affectivity, are particularly relevant to stress. People who are high in positive affectivity tend to have positive feelings like enthusiasm and energy, feelings that characterize eustress. People who are high in negative affectivity tend to have negative feelings like anxiety and depression, feelings that characterize distress. In particular, negative affectivity is associated with the ineffective use of coping strategies and susceptibility to daily stressors. Another personality trait relevant to stress is optimism, a general tendency to expect that things will work out for the best. Optimism is associated with stress resistance. Students who are optimistic, for example, tend to have fewer physical responses to stressors at the end of an academic term than do students who are pessimistic. Even when taking into account other personality traits like negative affectivity, perceived control, and self-esteem, optimism is still associated with a lack of stress responses like depression. As stated previously, appraising the causes of a stressor as stable, global, and internal contributes to a depressive reaction to the stressor. Such appraisals are usually made by people who have a general tendency for this kind of appraisal, referred to as a pessimistic explanatory style or a depressive explanatory style. Such people tend to have more depressive reactions to stressors in general. Hardiness is composed of a set of three related personality traits: control, commitment, and challenge. Control refers to the belief in people that they can influence their internal states and behavior, influence their environment, and bring about desired outcomes. Commitment refers to the tendency for people to involve themselves in what they encounter. Challenge refers to the willingness in people to change and try new activities, which provides opportunities for personal growth. Hardiness is associated with stress resistance. In particular, hardiness is associated with favorable appraisals of potential stressors and effective use of coping strategies. Of the three personality traits that comprise hardiness, control appears to be the most important. For instance, when people feel unable to control their environment, cortisol levels rise in the body. This process can take place in response to crowding, for example, in places like high-density residential neighborhoods, prisons, and college dormitories. Self-esteem, how people tend to feel about themselves, is another personality trait that is relevant to stress. Self-esteem is one factor that can influence the relation between daily hassles and emotional responses to stressors. Additionally, low self-esteem is associated with increased blood pressure in response to stressors and other physiological responses that often occur in response to stressors, such as trembling hands, pounding heart, pressures or pains in the head, sweating hands, and dizziness. Low self-esteem also has an important role in depression . A. Burnout Burnout is an increasingly intense pattern of psychological, physiological, and behavioral dysfunction in response to a continuous flow of stressors or chronic stress. It is commonly found among employees and professionals who have a high degree of personal investment in work and high performance expectations. In the initial stages, people often have a variety of physiological and behavioral symptoms and lose interest and confidence in their work. The following physiological symptoms may occur: Shortness of breath Loss of appetite or weight Headache Fatigue and exhaustion The following behavioral symptoms may occur: Lack of interest in fellow employees Risky behavior Mood swings In the later stages, people often do the following things: Abuse alcohol and other drugs Smoke excessively Drink more caffeinated beverages Become more rigid in their thinking Lose faith in the abilities of co-workers, management, the organization, and themselves Become less productive (117) Another concept, ego depletion, is very similar to burnout. In fact, it may represent an underlying feature of burnout. The idea behind ego depletion is that acts of volition-making choices and decisions, taking responsibility, initiating and inhibiting behavior, and making plans of action and carrying them out-draw on a limited supply of volitional energy that is available inside people. Consequently, if people deplete this resource too much, it is no longer very easy to do what they need to do to handle stress, such as trying to use coping strategies in response to stressors. B. Mental Disorders Mental disorders are the result of a varying combination of sources, one of which being stress. Examples of other sources are as follows: Chemical imbalances Inherited characteristics Early learning experiences Brain damage Psychological traits People sometimes have symptoms of mental disorders, but they usually do not meet the criteria or are not clinically significant, severe enough to necessitate treatment. Before a person can be diagnosed with a mental disorder, his or her problematic thoughts, feelings, and actions must meet the criteria for the mental disorder and must prevent adequate social, occupation, or other forms of functioning. Stress may play a causal role in a wide variety of mental disorders. Some of the mental disorders in which stress appears to have a causal role are anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and substance-related disorders. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Stress.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ stress Psychological stress is a result of many factors and should be dealt with very carefully. Stress can be defined as a set of interactions between the person and the environment that result in an unpleasant emotional state, such as anxiety, tension, guilt, or shame (swin pg 1). Another way of putting it, is that there are somethings that put certain demands on us. The effects of stress should not be limited to unpleasant emotional states. Many studies have concluded that the effects on our physical health from stress can be extremely detrimental. These adverse physical effects include heart disease and formations of cancer. There are also some societal issues that psychological stress can hamper. There are numerous elements that trigger the effects of psychological stress. Frustration is one of these elements that will trigger stress. Frustration is one of the most prevalent sources of stress in my life at this moment. A lot of different events will cause frustration. Frustration occurs from something blocking our attainment of certain goals or needs (Corey 207). All of the little things that frustrate us include waiting in lines or traffic, sense of failure or inadequacies, bad relationships, deaths, and loneliness. Self-defeating thoughts are a way in which we almost deliberately block attainment of our needs. If in our heads, we have this preconceived notion that we are incapable of obtaining something that we want or that others could not possibly love us, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy. I used the word "deliberately" in describing self-doubt because we have the ability to change these misinformed thoughts. Major life changes whether it be positive or negative can lead to very stressful situations. In our society, many people fall into a rut of everyday life and fear change to their daily routines. When any kind of change occurs it is very traumatic. There are many changes in ones career that can cause stress. Starting a new career or getting a new job is a major change that will produce stress. The feeling of being accepted in the organization and learning the companies ways of doing things are stressful. Other changes in one's life resulting in stress include a change in a personal relationship or financial changes. You might think that hitting the lottery and being a multi-millionaire would relieve any possible stress in one's life. That fact is that it is a major change and you are going to have many different issues that you never had before. There are issues of what to do with the money and how to invest it. Pressures that are brought about in our society are imposed by ourselves and by others. If one has too high of expectations for oneself it is inevitable that they will burn themselves out. These expectations are derived out of our gender roles as men. Men are thought of in our society to be the provider of money and security to their families. It is one way we measure or "manlyhood". Unrealistic pressures such as this, and pressures from school, work and social life will lead to high levels of stress. Conflict happens when two or more incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses compete for expression. There are three classifications of conflict; approach/approach, avoidance/avoidance, approach/avoidance. Approach/approach conflicts occur when we have two attractive options from which we have to chose. This can happen when we have two group of friends going out for New Year's Eve, both with exciting plans. It is tough to decide which group of friends you want to hang out with. Avoidance/avoidance is the opposite of approach/approach. When you have to decide between two unattractive choices or goals, stress sets in. This has occurred to me this past month or so in deciding what I am going to take for my accounting elective. All of my options are very unappealing. Decisions may arise where both objects that you are to chose from have both attractive and unattractive components. This type of conflict can be categorized as approach/avoidance conflict. An example of this type could be in finding a house. If you have found the house of your dreams for an amazingly low price but it is very far away from your place of employment, you have approach/avoidance conflict (Corey pg. 207-208). Other sources of stress include ambiguity in a certain situation. If you are unsure of what to do or how to act in a situation it can cause stress. If you get into a fight with someone it can cause stress. Contradictions to your value systems can produce some unwanted stress. I have never before in my life been under so much stress that it has caused serious questions of hopelessness. Throughout my entire life, I have been very good with coping with stressful situations, but something happened on October 12 that will change my life forever. A couple of policeman came to my door with a complaint. Apparently, a friend of mine and I had been accused of a crime that we did not commit. The threat that we could possibly get expelled from school or even worse get put in jail for a very long time comes with a very high level of stress. The investigation has been going on ever since they first came to our door. They have decided to postpone the investigation over the winter break which has caused a great deal of anxiety and ambiguity for me. If I had committed this crime than I would have no problem facing the consequences. The fact is, that I did not commit the crime and this has left me very angry and upset. This situation has caused a lot of pain and money for my parents that I caused. Having to tell them and seeing how upset they are have left me extremely stressful and full of unnecessary anxieties. About a month or so after this incident in October, I received a call from a friend of mine. He had just found out that my roommate from sophomore year and very good friend was found in his grandmothers barn dead. Two days later, a friend of the family lost his battle to lung cancer. Some other frustrations that I am having include school. I have only five options left for classes next semester. I am having trouble getting in to some of the classes that I want. I have yet to start looking for a job for many reasons. I feel pressure from my parents and peers to start the process of finding a job. Many of my friends have already received offers and I have yet to begun writing my resume. Those are just some of the major issues, but there are many other everyday demands in my life that cause unwanted stress. The effects of these stresses have left me emotionally bewildered. I am chronically depressed and a short time after the incident I had a panic attack. My heart started racing frantically and I could not stop shaking. My best friend was on the couch across from me watching a movie. I was so afraid of what was happening that I couldn't speak. I have been emotionally scarred for life. This incident has left me with serious issues of trusting others. This lack of trust has hurt my ability to form interpersonal relationships. When we go out into Boston I have a lot trouble talking to other people. Normally, I am the one out of my friends that like to go out and meet new and interesting people. Ever since that incident, I have not been able to figure out what is wrong with my social skills. I have become very shy around people that I do and don't know. I have lost contact with a lot of my friends because of this. It has also been found that prolonged stress can cause many disorders from minor to life threatening. Some of the minor reactions from the body to stress are headaches, asthma, digestive disorders and sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation was a major problem for me right after this all occur but it is no longer a problem. One of the effects it has had on me is weight loss. Before the incident I was eating very healthy foods and lifting weights at the gym. I have lost almost fifteen pounds and have trouble eating well. Doctor Abbot in I Never Knew I Had a Choice states that about 75 percent of ailments that he treats are related to stress (Corey pg. 209). It has been found that stress activates the body's hormone system. This in turn has an effect on our immune system's capabilities to fight of infectious diseases including cancer. There have been cases were people who have experienced the loss of a loved one shortly after develop cancer (cancernet). Stress and its impact on breast cancer has received a lot of attention as of late. Studies have shown that an alarming number of women with breast cancer had experienced some sort of traumatic life experience or loss several years before their diagnosis (cancernet). It is no coincidence that heart disease is one of the highest causes of death among Americans. We live in the most stressful and demanding country in the world. We are constantly in fierce competition with others. Stress manifests physiological changes in the body. The evidence that stress causes coronary disease has yet to be conclusive but most professionals believe there is a direct correlation. There are many different hypothesis including Blascovich and Katkin. The examine many studies to the effects of stress on the heart in their book, Cardiovascular Reactivity to Psychological Stress and Disease (www.apa.com). The best way to cope with the many stresses that we have throughout a day is to have different attitudes towards life. I must slow down and question many of the beliefs that this country has instilled in us. Many people believe that work and money are the most important things to obtain through life. People have got understand the importance of leisure time and rest. Developing a sense of humor goes a long way in dealing with stress. Proper time management is something that I, in particular, must employ to remain less stressful. I must also continue my old eating habits. Food can give us the energy needed to deal with stress. Exercise is a very important part of reducing stress. There is actual physical evidence that exercise helps people recover from stress. According to Professor Kubitz of Kansas State University, stress releases hormones that cause the heart to beat faster. If we exercise, our heart will become stronger and will be better able to deal with stress (geocities). Works Cited I Never Knew I Had a Choice, 6th ed. Gerald and Marianne Corey. Brooks/Cole Publishing 1997. www.apa.org www.cancernet.com www.geocities.com www.swin.edu Word Count: 1803 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Subliminal Advertising.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subliminal Advertising Subliminal advertising: A collective term for public announcements designed to promote the sale of specific commodities or services while being integrated below the threshold of perception or awareness. To sell products, merchants consciously use subliminal advertising as a basis for general consumerism. This seems like an unnecessary task, but when taken into consideration all the people, who have expressed their disbelief in its effectiveness, it is obvious to see how vital and necessary such a task commands. Through this, corporations must take on new strategies and methods of persuasion and justification. The importance is that advertisers rely on a trust relationship with consumers in order to successfully subliminally sell products. In other words, those who don't believe in subliminal advertising, are its likely victims. The effect of subliminal advertising on the individual and the culture has been influenced and promoted by many different elements. Let it be magazines, newspapers or radio; but the most prominent in this field is television. Television advertising influences the choices we make, perhaps more so than anyone cares to believe. It may not be so obvious, but even teachers face competition with advertising. Television stations, for example, have some four billion dollars a year from industry to spend on programming for the same students that teacher's face. Nicholas Johnson, a former Federal Communications Commission Commissioner from 1966 to 1973 writes that television is diametrically opposed to almost everything a teacher tries to do: TV tells them that the only thing necessary to give them all the joys in life and the values that are important is the acquisition of yet another product. TV is telling them to sit still and don't think. TV is telling them that they are to be treated as a mass. He writes that it is extremely important to understand this force in our society if a teacher is to deal with it. He writes the most important thing to know is that advertising is a business. Johnson continues: It is the business of selling. But what it is in the business of selling is you and your students. You are the product being sold. Who are you being sold to? You're being sold to an advertiser. It is the advertiser who is the consumer in this equation. The advertiser is buying you. The advertiser is buying you from the broadcaster. And why the advertiser is buying you is because he wants you to look at his message; his billboard, his magazine ad, and in this instance, his TV commercial. But in any study of advertising and advertising effects it is difficult to agree on what are clearly examples of advertising and what are clearly not. This is more difficult to do than it seems. Television is an excellent example of why this is so difficult in their attempt to influence purchasing decisions. He writes that the sole purpose of the television programs between the commercials is to act as an attention getting device. The scripts are written to build tension before the commercial to hold the viewer's attention during the commercial. He writes that once they have that attention, ... what is the advertiser trying to sell you? Products? No. He's trying to sell you a religion. What is it? It's the philosophy known as materialism. If you watch television closely, you'll see that there's no real difference between the programs and the commercials. Indeed, if you turn on a television set you often can't tell what it is that you've just turned on. Is it a commercial or a program? Suppose you tune into a Hawaiian beach scene. All right, there's a big hotel in the background and palm trees and there's this brand new car on the beach and this couple strolling across the beach. Now you don't know whether that's going to turn out to be a scene of one of these cops-and-robbers programs or whether it's a commercial. It is even more important to note, however, that you don't know what it's going to be a commercial for. That's because every commercial is a commercial for all products. Most of us are aware of the huge amount of sophisticated research generated by the advertising industry to refine its persuasion techniques. We even feel comfortable admidst our advertisement-plagued society. Although subliminal advertising may be effective, the most difficult factor is relaying the message to possible consumers. Such advertising techniques include flash messaging, buzz words, celebrity endorsements, emotion targeting, fear and the oh-so common bandwagon method. Flash messaging is a common technique where a viewer is influenced by quick images and messages for a very short period of time. The subconscious registers this almost like it never occurred. All of this is pleasing to the eye; flashy colour, or a picture with a sexual innuendo. Another factor would be KISS (Keep It Sweet & Simple). All of these affect the success of the ad and the final result for the product at hand. A more cunning way to influence the buyer is to target your emotions. To question yourself is most successful for an advertiser. Although seeing sick hungry children living in a run down village in some 3rd world country may lead to your donating money, there are some ethics involved in purposely tampering with one's emotions. Through all of this, this method of persuasion is most effective. A technique usually described as using "buzz words" is found more in prints than on television or radio. If we are scrolling through a newspaper and we see an exciting flashy word, our eyes tend to draw towards it. Companies are entirely aware of this, so that is why they flash words on their ads like, "FREE," "NEW," "HURRY." Something about these words makes the reader want to see what the fuss is all about, and to read the company's ad. Not always will there be "buzz words" embedded into the ad that look flashy. They may not have any significant meaning, but they are added in and seem successful in relaying the message. Words like, homemade, improved, 100%, tasty, and the list goes on Endorsements by celebrities have through the years lost their edge and have mostly looked down upon the endorser. Michael Jordan is selling you Gatorade, Jerry Seinfeld is backing up American Express, and Paul Reiser wants you to use AT&T. The purpose is to subliminally give the product traits that it never even deserves, like wealth, fame, and success. When Michael Jordan is seen drinking Gatorade and then going for a 360-slam dunk, the company wants you to think that you as well are capable of the same feats. Besides the less obvious, there is simply the fact that a company wants a famous celebrity to present a product, rather than some common person. "Everybody else is doing it, so why aren't you?" Using the bandwagon technique for many already established corporations has been quite successful. Companies that have already achieved marvelous success will start using advertisements, suggesting it is second nature to buy the product. As if it had such a high demand rate that without it, life would be dysfunctional. For instance, the new saying from McDonald's is, "Did somebody say McDonald's?" There is so much behind that quote than what it actually says. It gives you the idea that they are the best, the tastiest, and the most popular, without really even telling you without being up front about it. McDonald's knows that they are successful, so they do not need some cheap gimmick to sell their food, all they have to do is be there, and the people will flock. The Fear technique, where they inform the consumer that not purchasing a certain product will be disastrous on your own self. This technique targets the most primitive emotion; fear. Mostly used on people that are uncomfortable with their self, insecure and believe that they need some personal improving. The most known method would be the BEFORE/AFTER scene, where there is a comparison between an obviously terrible picture and a beautified picture. As Nicholas Johnson indicated, "TV sells the great religion known as materialism" (p.157). In the media, product acquisition and consumption equate to good health, success, exultation, enchantment, moral righteousness, ethical certainty, trust, faith, superiority, coolness, freedom, liberty, self-esteem, confidence, democracy, etc; quite simply, the most any human could ever hope to attain and more. And ownership is only part of the equation-consumption of the product counts more; and, the acquisition of the product counts even more manifestly. In fact, to attain an even greater sense of good health, success, high standards, moral righteousness, ethical certainty, coolness, self-esteem, confidence, fulfillment, meaning, and absolute purposefulness in life. A person needs only to borrow the money or charge the purchase... The subliminal advertising effect is probably the most difficult aspect of any study of advertising. The extent of this influence probably cannot be measured. Many components can be analyzed to discover possible effects on human attitudes and behavior, but none can be for certain. We need to divide the concept advertising into small parts or components in order to analyze that effect. Possible narrow components include: non-verbal communication by models in television commercials, speech tones and its effect in radio commercials, or subliminal words and/or symbols in magazine advertisements Our way of life involves a lot more than anyone wants to believe. The need for developing individual awareness of the power of advertising is increasing, but it seems that what we consciously perceive of our world is constantly decreasing. The brain has to sort through the overwhelming amount of sensory input data and consciously acknowledge only what it deems important or necessary for our immediate survival. Oftentimes our defense mechanisms even keep us from consciously acknowledging data that is necessary for our survival such as piercing through to the message conveyed in subliminal advertising. Even as we are aware of the nature of perceiving, subliminal symbols and/or words in magazine advertisements are difficult to recognize when first attempted. Wilson Key has written, "As a culture, North America might well be described as one enormous, complex, magnificent, self-service, subliminal massage parlor." In short, the effect that advertising (whatever this concept might include) has on human buying attitudes and behavior is of almost incomprehensible complexity. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Subliminal Messaging.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subliminal Messaging Subliminal Messages in Advertising: The Case For and Against Lisa Caswell Syracuse University Running Head: Subliminal Messages Subliminal messaging and subliminal perception are controversial topics in the field of psychology. Many studies have been conducted to determine if subliminal messaging does in fact work. Many people think that subliminal messages in the field of advertising are much more successful than subliminal messages for self-improvement, such as tapes sold to help the consumer lose weight, gain intelligence, or do something else to improve themselves simply by listening to a tape. Subliminal advertising can be defined as "embedding material in print, audio, or video messages so faintly that they are not consciously perceived." Rogers and Smith (1993) surveyed 400 households. When asked if they believed advertisers deliberately included subliminal messages, 61.5% responded 'yes'. A 72.2% 'yes' answer was obtained when asked if subliminal advertisements were effective. Based on these results, it can be concluded that consumers are aware of subliminal advertising, and believe it is effectively used by advertisers to influence their decisions. The term "sub-threshold effects," first popularized by Packard in 1957, preceded the popular notion of "subliminal advertising," whose originator is James Vicary. Subliminal advertising first came to the public's attention in 1957 when Jim Vicary conducted a subliminal advertising strategy of interspersing "drink Coca-Cola" and "eat popcorn" messages on a movie screen so quickly that they could not be seen consciously by the audience. His research initially reported increases in the sales of both Coca-Cola and popcorn as a result of the subliminal messages. Later, however, when he was challenged and could not replicate or even produce the results, Vicary admitted that the results of the initial study had been fabricated (Weir, 1984). Key (1989) has more recently claimed that hidden or embedded messages are widespread and effective. Key's theories have been widely discredited by scholars who have examined marketing applications scientifically (Moore, 1982). Although a few scholarly studies have reported certain limited effects of exposure to subliminal stimuli in laboratory settings (Greenwald, Klinger, and Liu, 1989), most academic researchers on the subject have reported findings which indicate no practical or predictable effect in an advertising setting (Dixon, 1971). The 1957 Vicary study has been largely disregarded in the scholarly community due to lack of scientific documentation of methodology and failure to replicate. However, scholarly findings and industry assertions may have had little or no effect on the average American, who has been exposed to popular articles and books promoting the notion that subliminal advertising is used and is effective. In addition, Americans have been exposed to advertisements claiming that self-help audio-tapes and videotapes containing subliminal materials can help the purchaser with weight loss, better relationships, an improved golf game, quitting smoking, and even birth control. Awareness of Subliminal Messaging by the Public Many in the public are aware of the term "subliminal advertising," understand the basics of the concept, and believe it not only is used by advertisers but is also successful in influencing brand and purchase choice. Shortly after the Vicary study was brought to the public's attention (Brean, 1958), Haber (1959) sought to discern "exactly what the public believes about subliminal advertising when so little factual information is available." Results of this study determined that 41 percent of 324 respondents had heard of subliminal advertising, and although half believed it to be "unethical," 67 percent stated that they would still watch a television program even if they believed subliminal messages were embedded in the commercials. Two decades later, a survey of 209 adults conducted by Zanot, Pincus, and Lamp (1983) reported double the awareness levels of the Haber study. The Zanot survey concluded that 81 percent had heard of subliminal advertising and that "respondents believe that subliminal advertising is widely and frequently used and that it is successful in selling products." The same survey determined that educational level is the demographic variable most highly correlated with awareness of subliminal advertising; the more educated the respondent, the more likely he or she is to be aware of the phenomenon. A study by Rogers and Smith (1993) found that the more education a person has (and therefore the more opportunity to learn of the limitations of the subliminal persuasion phenomenon), the more likely one is to believe that subliminal advertising "works." A 1985 study by Block and Vanden Bergh surveying consumers' attitudes toward use of subliminal techniques for self-improvement found some consumer skepticism and reported more favorable attitudes among those who were less educated and younger. Three surveys conducted in the past decade have demonstrated that a majority of American adults are aware of "subliminal advertising" and believe advertisers sometimes use it to sell products. The three surveys spanned a broad geographic spectrum (Washington, D.C.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Toledo, Ohio). All three surveys opened with questions that determined whether the respondent was aware of subliminal advertising and determined whether or not basic knowledge was present and sufficient for continued discussion. Remaining questions in all three surveys assessed beliefs about the phenomenon, as distinguished from knowledge. Each study covered slightly different ground. Each was subject to different limitations, yet all three produced similar findings. All three surveys found similar proportions who were aware of subliminal advertising, who believed that it is used by advertisers, and who thought that it "works" to help marketers sell products. Awareness of Subliminal Messaging by the Advertising Industry A survey of advertising agency members, their clients and media production professionals was conducted by Rogers and Seiler (1994) as to whether or not they have ever used, or been connected with a firm that used, subliminal advertising. Based on a response rate of 36 percent, the reaction was nearly unanimously negative, and evidence suggests that the few positive responses were due to a misunderstanding of the term "subliminal advertising." The results revealed that the majority denied ever using this advertising strategy, despite the public's fears of this method of 'brainwashing.' In addition, a significant part of the minority that answered in the affirmative is shown to have misinterpreted 'subliminal' as 'subtle.' The advertising industry trade press has for decades ridiculed the notion of using hidden or embedded messages in advertisements. A significant percentage (75 to 80 percent) of the U. S. population believes that advertising agencies and the companies they represent purposely use subliminal advertising. These consumers also believe that subliminal advertising actually "works" even though research studies have shown that no significant effects can be identified as a result of using subliminal imagery in advertisements (Rosen and Singh, 1992). Consumers spend about 50 million dollars a year on subliminal self-help products (Krajick, 1990). Scholars have researched advertisements with subliminal messages embedded in them and their effects (Beatty and Hawkins, 1989). These studies have generally refuted the possibility of eliciting predictable responses that could be useful to marketers. No one has tried to determine whether the advertising community has deliberately utilized subliminal messages (Kelly, 1979; Dudley, 1987). The advertising industry has repeatedly denied the use of subliminal embeds, and spokespersons within the industry have used such common-sense arguments against its probable use as: "If subliminals worked, wouldn't there be textbooks on how to practice it?" and "How can showing someone a penis get him or her to switch, say, from Kent (cigarettes) to Marlboro?" (Kanner, 1989). Wilson Bryan Key's (1972, 1976, 1980, 1989) writings, and frequent public-speaking presentations, may have served to promote the concept and purported use of subliminal persuasion by advertisers. While his theories have been widely discredited by scholars (Moore, 1982), his writings still appeal to consumers and keep the question current: do advertisers use subliminal advertising purposely in order to elicit a predictable response by consumers? Kelly (1979) asserts that this question is extremely important but unanswered by existing research, which focuses on whether subliminal advertising might be effective if it were used, and not on whether it is used deliberately. One way of identifying whether in agencies and the client companies they represent consciously use subliminal advertising to help sell their products is to survey them. It was not until 1984 that a formal research study was undertaken to determine if advertisers purposely used subliminal embeds as an advertising strategy. In his survey of 100 advertising agency art directors, Haberstroh (1984) inquired whether any of these art directors had ever deliberately embedded, supervised an embedding, or had knowledge of an embedding of a subliminal message in advertising artwork for a client. His findings indicated that, of the 47 usable responses, only 2 answered "yes" to any of the questions. When he checked open-ended explanations by these two respondents, he determined there was confusion on the part of the respondents to the implied definition of "subliminal embeds" and that, apparently, none of the 47 participants had ever used subliminal messages (Haberstroh, 1984). The Affects of Subliminal Messaging Vokey and Read (1985) were unable to find any evidence to support the claim that subliminal messages affect behavior in their study. Key is a major figure in the argument that subliminal messaging not only occurs, but is also effective. Key claims that a variety of subliminal techniques are used to capitalize upon the public's obsession with sex. These include the obvious use of sexual imagery within the verbal and pictorial content of advertisements. Examples of Key's research include both the Playboy ads and the rum pictorial ads. Key asserts that the subliminal sexual imagery included in a Playboy magazine advertisement depicting a naked woman effectively renders the ad more memorable. He stated that about 95% of college males remembered viewing this ad an entire month later. It is also possible that the college students would have remembered the ad equally well without the embedded imagery. There is ample data to demonstrate that college students can likely recognize 95% of even relatively extensive sets of pictures shown to them. In the case of the rum ads, Key felt that the explanation for an overwhelming preference for a particular brand of rum is the embedded presence of the phrase "u buy" in a pictorial ad depicting four types of rum. No researcher since has been able to find the message in the ad. Key claims that 80% of the subjects in his studies unconsciously perceived the backward message, resulting in a marked preference for the rum with the message. Key refuses to believe that the fact that the preferred rum is the only one with the words "extra special" written on the bottle, or that it is much darker than the others and presented in a high-status brandy-snifter in a larger bottle has anything to do with the preference. A study by Vokey and Read (1985) was conducted to test Key's hypothesis on the embedding of sexual messages on images. Participants in the study recognized the images imbedded with sexual imagery, random imagery, and no imagery at the same rate. Key suggested that it often takes at least a day to see the effect of the subliminal material. Vokey and Read waited two days and found that the participants who waited the two days to indicate what slides they had previously seen remembered less than those who indicated what slides they had seen immediately. Every result in the study disagreed with Key and his ideas regarding subliminal messages. It is difficult to believe that while there has been so much research completed proving that not only are subliminal messages not used, but that subliminal messages are completely ineffective in changing or influencing behavior, the public so strongly believes in the influence. After all the research, the public still fears subliminal messages and the effects they could have. Psychologists must work to educate the public in the matter of subliminal messages. It is as if subliminal messages are like superstitions. Everyone knows that it is just a superstition that if one breaks a mirror it will bring on seven years of bad luck, yet most people will become quite upset if they do break a mirror. Most people realize that subliminal messages do not have a strong effect, yet they are still superstitious about them. The paranoia brought on by the idea that the brain can be influenced by subliminal messages is great. No one likes the idea that their thoughts and beliefs are being altered without their knowledge or consent. Education regarding advertising practices and the non-existent effects of subliminal messages would help to bridge the gap between the knowledge and beliefs of the industry, and the knowledge and beliefs of the public. References Townsend, J. M., Levy, G. D. (1990). Effects of Potential Partners' Costume and Physical Attractiveness on Sexuality and Partner Selection. Journal of Psychology. 371-379. Block, M. P., and Vanden Bergh, B. G. (1985). Can You Sell Subliminal Messages to Consumers? Journal of Advertising. 59-62. Dixon, N. F. Subliminal Advertising: The Nature of a Controversy. London: McGraw-Hill, 1971. Greenwald, A. G., Klinger, M. R., and Liu, T. J. (1989). Unconscious Processing of Dichoptically Masked Words. Memory and Cognition. 35-47 Haber, R. N. (1959). Public Attitudes Regarding Subliminal Advertising. Public Opinion Quarterly. 291-93. Key, W. B. (1972). Subliminal Seduction: Ad Media's Manipulation of a Not-So-Innocent America. New York: Signet. Moore, T. E. (1982). Subliminal Advertising: What You See Is What You Get. Journal of Marketing. 38-47. Packard, V. The Hidden Persuaders. New York: Pocket Books, 1957. Rogers, M., and. Seiler, C. A. (1994). The answer is no: a national survey of advertising industry practitioners and their clients about whether they use subliminal advertising. Journal of Advertising Research. 36-46 Rogers, M., Smith, K. H. (1993). Public perceptions of subliminal advertising: why practitioners shouldn't ignore this issue. Journal of Advertising Research. 10-19. Vokey, j. R., and Read, J. D., Subliminal Messages: Between the Devil and the Media. American Psychologist. 1231-1239. Zanot, E. J., Pincus, J. D., and Lamp, E. J. (1983). Public Perceptions of Subliminal Advertising. Journal of Advertising. 39-45. subliminal messaging f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Summary.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Summary: Symptoms of clinical child depression can vary depending on their age, personality, and home situation. Symptoms are often blamed on physical problems than on depression so the diagnosis is frequently made in the pediatrician's office. If one suspects depression they should look for the following symptoms: seems distracted and has trouble concentrating much of the time, is emotionally unstable -easy to anger and cries easily, "looks" sad most of the time, has difficulty finding activities that create happiness, may refuse to eat or has a loss of appetite, may overeat, has obvious weight gain or loss, exhibits attention seeking behaviors before bedtime, awakens more frequently during the night, has hard time getting going in the morning, avoids or seems disinterested in being with friends, fights with friends over trivial matters, has school avoidance or school phobias, loses interest n home activities and conversations, and avoids or seeks parents attention. Brown, thinks that some cause are obvious such as chronic illness, an unhappy home life, difficult social situations, real or imagined fears of failure, and worries of physical or emotional harm. But other causes are not. Note: Sleep deprivation often causes depression like symptoms, but this can be cleared up with a few daytime naps. When to seek help is often a question for parents noticing changes and symptoms in their child. A useful technique for teachers and parents for deciding whether to seek help is evaluating the severity of the situation is to divide your child's day into three components: 1) home life and interaction with family members, 2) school grades and studies and 3) social contacts with friends and peers. If the problem is only in one area, counseling should be considered. Problems in two areas would suggest that coping abilities are starting to fail, and professional help is strongly recommended. And when all three areas are affected, there is little place to take refuge so counseling should be considered mandatory. Reaction to article: As a teacher we should always be on the look out for behavior problem causes. Our children's wellbeing should be the most important part of being a teacher. If the only thing teachers care about is teach, teach, teach then they will be failing at nurturing their children and teaching them not just facts be common sense about life. Every time I read an article about depression it affects me. I think because I wonder what has happened to our society to make them this way. Thirty ago we didn't have little one's with severe depression. Meaning for all of time till the 70's we had no depression. What is it? The absence of God in America is responsible for it all. I am sick and tired of the devil, and what he is trying to do to our families and children. I am looking into therapeutic school counseling. This will be useful for me because many of these children will be sent to the office, and in turn I will need to look at the symptoms and diagnose it right. God willing, I will be able to, and I will be able to help them. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Teenage Years Are Depressing.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Teenage Years Are Depressing Teenage years are depressing because they are going through some of the biggest changes in their life. Teens start high school and have to deal with being little in a school again. They go through major hormonal changes. Their bodies develop and grow. They have to decide whether or not they are going to college or not. If they choose college, then what college will meet their needs the best? Will they even be accepted to the college they want to go to? These are major decisions and changes they have never experienced before. Then there is the daily life. They wake up in the morning dreading school, they know they have to go. They just don't want to go. Then they get ready and go to school. They are depressed about school. They go to all their classes. The end of the day is nearing and they may be depressed about having to go home. Their family life might be bad. They go home and what do you do? Sit down, watch television, play a video game, lock themselves in their room, or just going around being mad at everyone and their life. This really is the pits. They need to change their life whether it be changing their after school activity or changing their attitude. Depression is defined as a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies. No two people feel or experience depression the same way. The symptoms and causes of depression are very different for everyone. Lawrence Clayton, Ph.D. and Sharon Carter write, "The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [reported that] for 4 to 10 percent of the American public at any given time the ["downer"] mood doesn't lift." They also reported that one quarter of the population would experience a major depressive period during their lifetime (8). One out of four people will have a problem with depression in the United States. NIMH also reported that "approximately 4 out of a 100 teenagers get seriously depressed each year. Clinical Depression is a serious illness that can affect anybody, INCLUDING TEENAGERS" ("Let's Talk" 1). Gerald D. Oster, Ph.D., Sarah S. Montgomery, MSW, write, "Clinical depression refers to a condition marked by the changes in one's mood and by associated behaviors that range from a mild degree of sadness to intensely experienced feelings of hopelessness and suicidal thought's" (43). Did you know suicide is the second leading cause for death in teenagers? "Suicidal thoughts, remarks, or attempts are ALWAYS SERIOUS...if any of there happen to you or a friend, you must tell a responsible adult IMMEDIATELY ...it's better to be safe than sorry" ("Let's Talk" 3). According to a website called Depression.com "Each year 250,000 teens attempt suicide, and 2,000 complete it. Since 1960, teen suicides have doubled. Girls are more likely to attempt suicide, but boys kill themselves four times more often, usually with guns ("Depression" 1)." Suicide is not the answer. According to Lawrence Clayton, Ph.D. and Sharon Carter there are a lot of symptoms to depression: The symptoms to look for in yourself, or anyone you suspect may be depressed, are as follows: social withdrawal, lack of interest in usual activities, frequent tearfulness, unkempt appearance, belief that no one cares, feelings of hopelessness, beginning or increasing use of alcohol or other drugs, inappropriate feelings of guilt, pessimistic outlook, excessive anxiety, low self-esteem, inability to concentrate, excessive irritability, difficulty in making decisions, prolonged sadness, recurrent thoughts of death, desire for revenge, thoughts of suicide, sudden drop in grades or work performance, very high or low energy level, sleeping too much or not enough, loss of appetite or overeating, and confusion. They do not need to be experiencing all of these symptoms to have a problem. Experiencing any four is enough to warrant concern (9-10). They should definitely get help if their problem persists over two weeks. Why are they having these problems? Is it their grades, their relationship with their friends and family, alcohol, drugs, sex, or is it something else? The causes for depression vary. Someone might get depressed because they spilt milk in front of everyone in the cafeteria and everyone turns and looks. If the same thing happened to someone else, it would not even bother him or her. Some people the weather effects them and they become depressed; on the other hand, a person can become depressed when a good event in their life is about to occur. Clayton and Carter describe six stages of depression: change, pain, anger, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation. The stages go in that order but they can stop at any stage or can regress. Change is described as being hard for teenagers because they have experienced time as slower then adults. Adults have been around longer so time passes quicker for adults. Change is hard for teenagers because most fear risks like asking a peer out on a date. The second stage is pain. Good and bad change occurs in ones life. With teenagers, good change can be a devastating as bad. Graduating from high school is painful, knowing they might not ever see their peers again. While bad change can hurt like rejection, relationships ending, and a death of a loved one. Change can be very painful for teenagers because they have not had enough exposure to it. Teenagers do not always understand the pain will pass and will not hurt as much. Clayton and Carter go on to say that anger comes from pain. When the pain hurts, teenagers can become angry. How they deal with their anger depends on how depressed they will become. They can handle their pain in different ways: dissociation, projection, passive aggressiveness, displacement, minimization, denial, repression, somatization, diffusion, and expression. They should be aware of which way they express their anger. Guilt can cause one to blame themselves for a romantic rejection, failing to reach an important goal, receiving less than acceptable grades, or failing to be admitted to a particular college. For example a teenager's parents breaking up causes them to feel the blame for their parents being separated. This guilt obviously is inappropriate because they had no responsibility in their parents not getting along. The depression gets worse from the guilt. The teenager starts feeling hopeless. The hopelessness then takes over and they feel worthless. When the worthlessness sets in, they are showing signs of depression. Worthlessness then turns into thoughts about how everyone would be better off without them. The teen then feels they don't want to deal with life anymore (Clayton and Carter 74-79). Here are a few quick fixes depressed teenagers can try: do some form of exercise, eat a banana, drink a couple of glasses of water, keep a journal of everything they eat, laugh frequently, have a good cry, change the scene, do volunteer work, do something thoroughly selfish, start a fitness program, hang around happy people, plan an escape, talk to they school counselor, go to the library, change their sleeping patter, get some sun, start a project, cut caffeine from their diet, move away, go to college, live with a relative, get a job, or join the military. If none of these things work then the next step is therapy. Therapy will only work if they want it to work. When they start therapy most teenagers are scared to open up. The therapist takes an oath not to release any information unless they are self-harming. If they are trying and nothing is improving, it perhaps could be because they have a chemical imbalance in their head. The therapist is the only one who can tell them whether or not they need to be put on medication or receive some other treatment. Oster and Montgomery list things to remember when teenagers go to counseling: Many adolescents believe that therapy is for "crazy" people. It is helpful to explain that therapy is for people who are feeling emotional hurts and pains and need an objective listener. There are many therapists willing to help; it is up to you to find a qualified and personable professional. Most teens feel a sense of relief after entering therapy and find it useful to be able to share personal feelings and secrets. Individual therapists come from a number of different theoretical perspectives, including psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral. Most therapies are helpful to reduce present family tension and to enhance communication (128). Depression in teenagers in the United States has grown through the years. One out of four people today will have a problem with major depression. This number is high. If teens can understand what depression is and get help today then they can learn how to deal with depression. We may be able to bring down this high statistic. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Temper tantrums.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Temper tantrums Temper tantrums occur when a child is tired, hungry, uncomfortable, or not feeling well, too warm, or wearing scratchy or tight clothing. It's best to try to find out what caused it so you can try to avoid the circumstances that might trigger another outburst. Temper tantrums are found to be most common among 3-5 year old children. Boys more often than girls display temper tantrums. A number of behavioral problems are associated with temper tantrums, including thumb sucking, sleep disturbances, bed-wetting and hyperactivity. Most children displaying temper tantrums come from families in which both the mother and father are present. Researchers suggest that one possible reason for this might be the parents' expectations and discipline methods conflict. Young children often become confused when parents use different discipline methods, their confusion can lead to frustration and temper tantrums. Children act by parental example. If adults tend to have outbursts, children are most likely going to follow their example in handling their frustrations. Parents need to learn that they have to control themselves. They can't expect their children to control their tempers if they can't control their own. Physiological needs also are a big part. If a child is hungry or fatigued, they are more likely to have a temper tantrum. Make sure that they child is getting enough sleep and having their meals on time. A small snack after school should also be provided. Be sure that children have plenty of opportunity to play freely outdoors. Try not to be excessively restrictive in managing your child by setting too many unnecessary rules which tend to provoke temper outbursts. Anger and resistance are natural reactions to stop. So limit controls over your children to necessary ones. Children prone to temper outburst require close supervision to prevent tantrums, or "head them off at the pass", early in the episode. If a child starts rumbling and grumbling and seems to be head for an eruption of temper, suggest to the child that something seems to be bothering them and that you would like to be helpful. If the child has difficulty expressing themselves, you might try to put into words what you suspect the child is thinking and feeling. If you have no idea what is bothering your child, ask some questions such as, "Did anything happen in school today? " or "Are you angry about having to clean up your room?" Even if the child denies that you are correct about what is bothering them, but calms down right away, it's a good bet that the diagnosis was on target even though the child is too upset to admit it. Parental understanding and concern can go a long way toward reducing unpleasant feelings even if the parent cannot satisfy the child's immediate desire. A child who is becoming upset is sometimes easily stopped, just by an adult moving physically closer to the child, expressing interest in the child's activity, or offering a hug or snuggle. If the child is becoming frustrated, suggest a few ways of solving the problems. But, leave the final choice to the child. Teach your child how to relax by tensing and relaxing different muscle groups. Emphasize mental as well as physical relaxation by having the child picture a particularly relaxing scene, or deep breathing exercises. By becoming more aware of mental and physical tension, the child prevents the tantrums before it happens. Tantrums are not completely preventable, but the extent that they are taken to, can be. It all depends on how it is handled, and how the child responds to the handling of the situation. Putting a lid on tantrums : Age-by-age Ages 12 to 18 months Biggest triggers: Any activity requiring the child to be still, the inability to master a toy or activity, having to give up a toy their playing with. How to avoid: Don't keep child immobile for too long. Alternate activities with ones that allow him to moved around. Provide age appropriate toys. Distract them with another toy if you need to remove one. Ages 18 months to 2 years Biggest triggers: immobility, unpredictability, not getting their way. How to avoid: Routines help a lot.Also, encourage free play and allow your child plenty of time to move around and at will. If a power struggle does erupt, distract your child with some kind of alternative activity or plaything. Ages 2 to 3 Biggest triggers: Having to follow rules, such as going to bed on time, sharing and abstaining from biting, hitting, or throwing food. Also, being jealous of a younger sibling. How to avoid: Think carefully about what a two and a half year old can live up to, and keep your expectations realistic. When you do sense a tantrum brewing, give advance warning to cool down, remove your child from the situation, and teach a talker to replace aggressive acts with language. Ages 3 to 5 Best triggers: Wanting more independence, being frustrated with rules, unable to compromise or share. How to avoid: Demonstrate self-control yourself when conflict arises. When possible, offer your child a choice to give them a sense of control. Steer clear of situations - such as crowded supermarkets when your child is exhausted - that trigger tantrums. Set a few firm limits and be consistent. Also, encourage your child to communicate his feelings. Older children might benefit from physical outlets, like an old mattress to bounce on. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Boston Strangler Serial Killer.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Boston Strangler - Serial Killer The Boston Strangler was probably the most notorious criminal that Boston, Massachusetts has ever known. But who was the Boston Strangler? Was he Albert DeSalvo, the person who confessed and went to jail for these crimes? Is he someone that took his secret to the grave and let an innocent man take the blame for his crime? Or is he still walking the streets of Boston, or even the streets of another city? We may never know for sure because based on all the evidence I've read, in my opinion Albert DeSalvo was not the famed Boston Strangler. The Boston Strangler wreaked havoc on the city from June 1962 until January 1964. He claimed the lives of thirteen women, ages ranging from 85 years old to 19 years old. The first victim had been raped and her bathrobe tie wrapped around her neck in a bow in June 1964. The next victim, was 85 year old Mary Mullen, she was not technically killed by the strangler, but rather a fatal heart attack when confronted by him. On June 30th, 1962, Helen Blake met death at the hands of the strangler. Next was 68 year old Nina Nichols. The fifth victim was 75 year old Ida Irga. On August 20th, 1962 Jane Sullivan had been raped and strangled with her nylons. The only black woman to be killed by the hands of the Boston Strangler was Sophie Clark. On December 30th, 1962, 23 year old Patricia Bissette was killed. Then 68 year old Mary Brown met her fate. In August 1963, Beverly Samans met the strangler, she was stabbed instead of strangled and was not raped, but the police still thought it was the strangler's work. The next victim was Evelyn Corbin . On November 11th 1963, Joann Graff was found raped and strangled in her apartment. But the Boston Strangler was getting sloppy, because he allowed himself to be seen. A man that lived upstairs from Joann reported to police a man had knocked on the door across the hall from his and inquired about Ms. Graff, when he told the man where she lived he quickly left, but not without being seen. The final murder occurred on January 4th 1964. The victim was Mary Sullivan. She was the youngest of the strangler's victims. Susan Kelly in The Boston Stranglers: The Public Conviction of Albert DeSalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders makes a persuasive argument for DeSalvo being innocent of the strangling murders. She cites a number of reasons why she and others still believed that DeSalvo was innocent. One of the strongest of these reasons is that there was "not one shred of physical evidence that connected him to any of the murders." Nor could any eyewitness place him at or even near any of the crime scenes. Albert had a relatively memorable face, particularly because of his prominent, beak-like nose. The Strangler (or Stranglers, since some experts believe that it had to be at least two different murderers and possibly more) was seen by a number of eyewitnesses. One was Kenneth Rowe, the engineering student who lived on the floor above Joann Graff's apartment. He spoke to the stranger who was looking for her apartment just before she was killed. When Rowe was shown a photo of Albert DeSalvo, he did not recognize him as the man looking for Joann. Another point to make is serial killers tend to follow a pattern. The Boston strangler did not. He chose woman of all different ages and backgrounds, which leads me to believe that it was more than one person committing these crimes. No one can know for sure why DeSalvo would confess to crimes he didn't commit, but one reason could be money. When Albert was conferring with his lawyer, he asked him if confessing could bring money to his family by ways of books and interviews. His attorney said probably and Albert then quickly confessed. On the night before DeSalvo was killed by another inmate in prison, he called his attorney and told him he had something important to tell him and to come see him the next day. Unfortunately we will never know what Albert had to say, because he was stabbed through the heart and killed, but I think he wanted to tell his lawyer who the Boston Strangler really was. Works consulted: 1. Bailey, F. Lee. The Defense Never Rests New York: Mass Market Paperbacks, 1995. 2. Kelly, Susan. The Boston Stranglers; The Wrongful Conviction of Albert DeSalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders. Los Angeles: Carol Publishing Group. 1995 3.Frank,Gerold. The Boston Strangler. Boston: New American Library, Inc.1966 4. Banks, Harold K. The Strangler! The Story of Terror in Boston: A Prize-Winning Newspaperman's On-The-scene Account; New York: Avon Books, 1967. 5. The Boston Strangler--Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy. 20th century Fox. 1968 6. Frasier, David K. Murder Cases of the Twentieth Century: Biographies and Bibliographies of 280 Convicted or Accused Killers New York: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers. 1996 7. APB news online.(1998)online. Internet. 12 Nov 1999. available FTP: www.apbonline.com f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Comparative Method.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sociology The Comparative Method Sociologists have embraced what is known as the comparative method as the most efficient way to expose taken-for-granted 'truths' or laws that people have adopted. But what is this comparative method and how does it work? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to exposing these false 'truths'. What forms or variations of the comparative method exist? In the pages to follow I will attempt to give you some insight and understanding of what the comparative method is, and how it works. The comparative method, simply put, is the process of comparing two things (in our case societies, or the people that make up society) and seeing if the result of the comparison shows a difference between the two. The comparative method attempts to dereify (the process of exposing misinterpreted norms. Norms that society consider natural and inevitable characteristics of human existence) reified (the human created norms or 'truths') beliefs. Obviously there are various ways in which a nomi (a labeled, sometime constructed, norm or truth) can be exposed. Which form of the comparative method should one use however? The answer, whichever one applies to the 'truth' in question. For example, you certainly would not do a cross-gender form of comparison if you wished to expose whether or not homosexuality has always been feared and looked down upon by most people throughout history. No, rather you would perform a historical comparison of two or more different societies to see if these beliefs always existed, or, whether or not this is a newly constructed belief. Let's look at little more closely at the above mentioned historical comparison and see how the comparative method works with a specific example. There is no question that in today's western society there is a lot of fear and trepidation towards people who are labeled 'homosexual'. The question we will attempt to answer however is whether or not it has always been like this and is this a universal truth. In ancient Greek societies people had a very different opinion of men that slept with men. For example, it was considered quite an honor for a family with a young boy under the age of 10, to be given the privilege on an older man of high society taking their son into his house. The young boy would go and live with this older man. The older man would have sex with the young boy on a regular basis until the boy developed facial hair. It was not until then that the boy was considered a man. Society thought that an older mans, of great reputation, semen would help the boy develop into a fine young man. Once the boy developed the facial hair, the sex between the two would stop. The older man's job was finished. Obviously this would be considered an atrocious and disgusting act these days. The older man in this case would certainly go to jail for the 'crimes' that he had committed. However, in Ancient Greece this was not only considered perfectly normal, but as I already stated, it was an honor and a gift that not every boy was 'lucky' enough to be given. Therefore, we can conclude from this comparison that homophobia, as we know it, is not a natural truth, nor is it a universal belief. Rather it is a socially constructed belief that many people have taken for granted as an inevitable part of human existence. It is important at this point to clarify something however. It is said that the role of the sociologist is a descriptive one as opposed to a prescriptive one. That is to say that the sociologist should describe the various practices, customs and structures that exist in various societies rather than suggest to people which one is actually the correct belief or the 'real' truth. Cross-gender comparisons is another commonly used comparison used to reveal socially constructed truths. In Carol Gilligan's book 'In a different voice' we find a fine example of a cross-gender comparison. She states that most people believe that the majority of people, both men and women, view morale issues in the same way. However, through empirical data collection, Carol Gilligan concludes that this is not most often the case. Rather, she states that men tend to approach moral issues quite differently than women. Where as men view morale issues with a "don't interfere with my rights" view, women focus more on the "responsibility" end of the morale involved. Thus we can conclude, thanks to the comparative method, that the constructed truth that all people view morale issues the same is not a correct one. Another quick example of a cross-gender comparison would be that of the house-wife. Still today most men view the role of the married woman as one that involves being a house-wife, in the traditional sense of the term. However, women today certainly would not view themselves in the same manner. The data collected from a comparison such as this could help to dereify this socially constructed truth. Cross-class comparisons is also a comparison commonly used when attempting to expose constructed truths between two classes. i.e. lower-class, upper-class, middle-class. For an example I refer to my lecture notes. Our professor gave us a fine example of a cross-class comparison involving his own life. He was from a middle-class family and attended a public school where he got involved with various kids from the middle and lower class. He grew up in this type of environment and accepted it as the his life as the way society was. To him, there was not another lifestyle. This was life. Several events occurred and because of these events our professor was moved, by his parents, to a private school. This private school and the 'new' society that accompanied it resulted in a form of culture shock for him. All of a sudden he was placed in a new world, a world that he never even knew existed. As you can see, our professor socially constructed the view that society was like the one that he lived in when he went to his public school, hung around with middle and lower-class friends, and did what middle and lower-class kids did. When he was afforded the chance to compare that type of lifestyle to one of the upper-class he dereified his constructed view and his eyes opened to a new reality and a new view of the way society was. Another major comparative form is that of the cross-generational. This one is fairly straight forward. The name basically says it all. In fact, it's much like the historical comparison method but on a much smaller scale. I believe that in order for it to be termed cross-generational, the generations that are being analyzed have to be living at the same time. Otherwise it becomes a historical comparison. Karen Anderson gives an example of a cross-generational comparison in her book Sociology : A Critical Introduction (1996, pg. 12). "Canadians pride themselves on their tolerance and lack of prejudice. But we do not need to look very far into our history to find examples of taken-for-granted understandings that have led to discriminatory and prejudicial treatment. Some segments of the population have been classified as undesirable and thus as unwanted or undeserving outsiders..." Anderson is pointing out that the constructed view in Canada is that we pride ourselves on the fact that we have very little prejudice in Canada. She goes on to point out that this is not at all the case. She gives the example of Canada's history of immigration. She discusses the fact that a lot of Chinese people were allowed to immigrate to Canada, much to the dismay of current residents and already established European immigrants, during the time when the transcontinental railroad was being built. Sir John A. Macdonald was the Prime Minister at this time and defended his reputation by telling the people of Canada, who were very disturbed by his actions, that the Chinese immigrants would live in Western Canada just temporarily. To reassure the people further Macdonald said "...no fear of a permanent degradation of the country by a mongrel race". This would be considered horrific these days. Most Canadians would not even realize that their country was very closed to the idea of the immigration of certain types of people. The social idea that Canada is, and always have been, a very tolerant country is exposed as a false, constructed truth through this cross-generational comparison. Finally we come to the last major comparative form. That of the cross-cultural. Cross-cultural comparison consists of comparing two societies or cultures in an attempt to reveal and expose some socially constructed 'truths' in order to prove that they are not universal but rather they are relative to each society. There are literally thousands of differences between almost every culture that people would be surely shocked to learn of. For the next example I will show how the cross-cultural comparative method dereifies some of the constructed so-called universal-truths that people in our society may have. India differs in it's customs considerably from that of Canada or Northern America. For example, in Western Civilization families sit together when they attend church, in India this is not acceptable at all. Men and women must sit on opposite sides of the church. Men and women in India for the most part will not eat together, whereas in Western civilization it is a common practice and is actually looked upon as a good time for a little family bonding. In India it is considered rude to eat with both hands at the table. The right had is solely used for eating and the left for drinking. Obviously we have a completely different practice in Western society. Another shock that a Westerner might face if he/she were to travel to India would be the fact that it is still considered a major social impropriety for a man to even touch a woman in public. In North America public displays of affection can been seen everywhere. . (Stott, John. Down To Earth. 1980. Pg. 12-15) These are all prime examples of Western universal truths that are exposed when compared to another culture. One of the major benefits for exposing these truths through the comparative method is the fact that dereifying accepted truths leads to a decrease in ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the act of interpreting all societies through one's own cultural lenses and believing that there idea of truths are the only correct ones. This could lead to the imposing of one's own beliefs onto other societies. In other words, comparing, exposing, and dereifying helps educate and eliminate ignorance when it comes to social 'truths'. However, there is a danger to exposing social constructs. It could lead to one taking on the perceptive of a radical relativist (all truths are correct) or a nihilistic view (the belief that all truths are relative and therefore there are no truths). Obviously this is a very negative, and possibly a destructive, way of thinking. As you can see, the comparative method is an essential part of a sociologists practice. Without it there would be a lot of confusion and misunderstanding between people and societies. Hopefully I have shown by example the various forms of the comparative method and how each of them applies to society and how they attempt to expose falsities. Toronto, Ontario. Canada 3rd Year University B+ f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Dalai Lama Wisdom Derived from Suffering.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Dalai Lama: Wisdom Derived from Suffering The Dalai Lama: Wisdom Derived from Suffering In His sixty-three years of the current reincarnation, the Dalai Lama has grown from a simple undiscovered child to a world-reknowned symbol of peace. His philosophies were inspired by the early sufferings that are posed the environmental, cultural, religious, and political suppressions. The wretchednesses and the difficulties that he has encountered lead to his wisdom. Combined with His never-ending desire to learn and communicate, The Dalai Lama's philosophies have not only touched the hearts of the six million Tibetan people, but also acquired the general acceptance of the entire world in terms of his teachings of spiritual and mental enrichments. It is pretty hard to imagine the woes that he suffered and the profoundity that contains in His old little body. Nonetheless, dressed in His saffron-and-maroon-colored robes, speaking in an often broken English, and peering at the world through eyes that have lost none of their wonder and decency despite the horrors He has witnessed, the Dalai Lama is seemingly out of place in the modern world. Therefore, the phenomenon stired our curiosity to find out His glamour and manetism to people. Based on His book "My Land and My People", we follow that the exiled leader has seen all the myriad dangers facing the modern world unleashed upon his own country: wars, ecological destruction, and the trampling of human rights, political justice, and religious freedoms in the name of supposed political, economic, and ideological progress (The Dalai Lama of Tibet 15). According to the autobiography of the Dalai Lama, as early as 1950, He was confronted with China's desire to peacefully liberate Tibet of its foreign influences. By 1951, this so-called "peaceful liberation" created a previously unseen starvation and heavy inflation in the Tibetan population (His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama 85). Because the Tibetan culture centered on its strong Buddhist heritage, the subsequent burnings of the temples, the banishment and massacre of the monks, and Chairman Mao's imposed belief that "Religion is poison" all presented a threat to their culture and religious beliefs (His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama 296). In China's point of vew, the religious faith of the Tibetans, which they saw as backward and antithetical to the spread of communism. The Tibetans resisted the oppression, and China responded with brutal crackdowns, arrests, and imprisonments. Last but not least, while in exile, the Dalai Lama witnessed China's announcement to dissolve the Tibetan government and relieve His right to rule, thereby destroying the political structure that was established and practiced for centuries (The Dalai Lama of Tibet 172). It is this first-hand experience with the many faces of suffering that makes the Dalai Lama so authentic a teacher. As the Buddha of Compassion, He held the strong belief that "compassion is not an element of religion, but a basic characteristic of humanity" (His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama 6). He thinks that compassion is fundamentally a human quality; so its development is not restricted to those who practice religion (Bunson 76). From the book "Worlds in harmony: dialogues on compassionate action," we know that He preached that the ultimate goal of life is the pursuit of contentment and happiness resulting from an inner peace originating from true love of all living things (His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama 7). He also thinks that compassion leads to the inner peace (Bunson 70). Moreover, He holds the idea that as we learn to remain ourselves in peace, then we can demonstrate in society in a way that makes a real statement for world peace (Bunson 150). Furthermore, He believes that "Warfare and hatred are always based on misunderstanding about human happiness and on mistrust between people" (Bunson 150). He elaberates and promotes his ideas by traveling, delivering speeches, and writing books in order to eliminate the gaps and bias among people. This challenge is one that is taken up willingly and with the full acknowledgment of His supporters that His words are of benefit to their lives truly a just one. And yet, the religious leader commands the attention of the world by utilizing its most advanced methods of communication and transportation. He travels on jet aircrafts, writes books and articles, speaks on television, and has even encouraged his embassies (the offices of Tibet) to have their own sites on the World Wide Web (Thurman 1). He first visited the United States in 1979 and now makes an annual trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with American learders (Bunson 14). He also delivers speeches all around the world where He finds welcome (Bunson 18). As a prolific author, He has written extensively on Tibetan Buddhism but is perhaps best known for his two autobiographies, My land and My People (1964) and Freedom in Exile (1990) (Bunson 18). He aslo participated in the editing of the books that are of or about His thinkings and philosophies (Bunson 17). It is this profound depth of His belief that has permitted Him the patience and the compassion to forgive His enemies, to be ceaseless in His optimism for peace, and to bear upon Himself the anguish of the Tibetan people. These efforts, however, are mere tools to present the same challenge to all whom He meets: to join a quest for inner peace and spiritual attainment that defies the ephemeral modern age and focuses the heart and mind on what is real and eternal (Bunson 210). The Dalai Lama's continued efforts on behalf of peace earned Him widespread acclaim and were decisive factors in His being honored with the 1989 Nobel peace prize. The Nobel committee declared in its citation: "The Dalai Lama has developed his philosophy of peace from a great reverence for all things living and upon the concept of universal responsibility embracing all mankind as well as nature" (Bunson 247). In Thurman's point of view, the Dalai Lama has come forward with constructive and forward-looking proposals for the solution of internaional conflicts, human rights issues, and global problems (Thurman 2). In my own opinion, this prize is also recognition to Dalai Lama Himself as well as his efforts of preaching the ideas of love and compassion continuously. Moreover, it indicates that what he has insisted is worthy fighting for. The efforts of him also made the Tibetan leader one of the best known and most respected spiritual figures in the modern era. Today, the Dalai Lama is still carrying out His missions. He continues to travel to any country where He finds welcome and where His teachings about Buddhism, compassion, and the paths to inner peace will be heard. Applying His learnings and personal experiences, Dalai Lama developed a unique philosophy that has made him, along with Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Pope John Paul II, one of the genuinely transcendent spiritual figures of the twentieth century. Like these three remarkable teachers, the Dalai Lama has been able to reach beyond his Buddhist devotees to find a universal relevance. Although He is a Nobel laureate, a beloved and influential religious leader, and, for Tibetans, the living incarnation of the Buddha of compassion, He remains in all essentials exactly what He describes himself to be: "a simple Buddhist monk, no more, no less," living in his residence, a small cattage, in Dharamsala (Bunson 248). He has followers from among the Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic, and even atheist communities. As people all over the world came to know the lama, they realized the richness of His message beyond the appeal for Tibet, such as his teachings concerning peace, compassion and inner peace. Those who revere him do not necessarily adopt Buddhist practices, but virtually all derive spiritual and mental enrichment from his insights on peace, compassion, and justice. Works Cited Bunson, Matthew E. The Wisdom Teachings of The Dalai Lama. New York: Penguin, 1997. His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. Worlds in harmony: dialogues on compassionate action. Taipei: New Century, 1996. His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. Freedom in Exile: the autobiography of the Dalai Lama. Taipei: Lan-gin, 1997. The Dalai Lama of Tibet. "My Land and My People." New York: Warner, 1997. Thurman, Robert. "A Brief Biography of the Dalai Lama." MoJo Wire 17-23 March 1998, Mother Jones Online. Online. 20 Mar. 1998. Word Count: 1372 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Individual And Society.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Individual And Society In this paper I will try to explain the puzzle of whether individuals are products of society or society is a product of individuals. I believe that in general, and in the beginning, the answer to this question, is that society is a human product. I will start by presenting early man, the hunter and gatherer as an early form of society, but lacking critical qualities of a society. Then I will continue to support my theory by analyzing the beginning of known society some three and one half thousands years ago. I will present the individual as creation of society, or more precisely, an ongoing social recursive conditioning. I will also present society as creation of individuals. Finally, I will conclude my paper with some thoughts on the paradox of who is the product and who is the producer of the individual and society. EARLY MAN According to Charles Darwin, man developed from the ape. Darwin's theory of evolution appears to be unsupported though, because for thousands of years these apes have been there, but none of them have developed into human beings nor did Darwin ever find the missing link. Although unproved, there must be a process of evolution. And if there was evolutionary process, a few of the steps in-between still must be missing. Since man is not asexual, man did not, and could not, survive or prosper by himself. Early man grouped together with other hunters and gathers to form a family which brought order, direction, and stability to his life. According to Rousseau, "the earliest and only natural societies are families (Primis 192)." The point here is that the individuals choose to become a part of something larger than the individual. But if Rousseau is correct, there was a time when the individual gave up certain freedoms to find security within a group. This is contra to Thomas Hobbes view. It was not until significant scientific advances in the nineteenth century that the view of this seventeenth century philosopher Hobbes has his views rejected. Hobbes stated that the life of early man was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. Hobbes thought that early man was scarcely even human and a club-wielding savage. At either rate, early man lacked the qualities that were considered by John Locke as necessary to begin a society even though it is believed that groups and families existed. Society as Product of Individuals Some three and one half thousands years ago a group of individuals gathered their resources together to form the first civilization named Sumer. The people that lived there were called Sumerians. The Sumerians began as a primitive race stemming from the hunters and gatherers who came to the area known as southern Mesopotamia to form the first permanent human settlement. By the end of their occupation in Mesopotamia, they had created the beginnings of society as we know it today. It has been said by the locals that this place is the fabled Garden of Eden and also according to tradition, Eden existed in the marshes of this fertile land that is today known as Iraq today. The lands of Sumer were fertile and in close relationship to two major rivers which are known as the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers today. The fertile lands were feed by the rivers and allowed the settlers to stop the migratory habits of their predecessors or early man. The constant migration of early man had prevented any real education to exist as they were always on the move in search of food and shelter. Early man was only concerned with survival, which meant that they did not have the leisure time to give thought to the development of academia. The Sumerians, which found the development of agriculture an easy task in this land, found that they had time to develop culture and devote time to academic studies. The Sumerians conceived and began development of mathematics, reading, writing skills and the written text on cunieform tablets, the wheel and agricultural technology, which are heavily relied upon in today's society. By 3,000 BC, the written script of the Sumerians had evolved into a full syllabic alphabet. The Sumerian's gift of writing made possible for the recording of history for the first time. The recording of literature, science, society and history is a lasting legacy of the Sumerians and our society. The individuals in the Sumer originated the development of society through the codes of law that was written as, and to be, social policy. These were the first written laws and law is what defines the norms within our society. This is a defining point as to whether individuals are products of society or society is a product of individuals. Since these individuals conceived what society shall represent, then it is clear that originally society is a product of individuals. It was not only the codes of law that were created by the Sumerians, but tens of thousands of cunieform texts that contain lullabies, poetry, ledgers, administration and property records. The theory that John Locke presents is that man must agree to join society and the community living peaceably and secure in the fact that his personal property is protected by the community by the laws and property records against any that are not of the community. The social concept that began in Sumer would change the face of history. Individuals as Product of Society Society is the unconscious collective of the morals and values of individuals that formed that society, but society is only a word. It was there before the individual was born, and it will be there after their death. Society is not tangible although individuals that formed it are. Society has no soul and the individual would find it hard too change anything about it. Yet society has the ability to change the individual based on previous individuals influence on society. The social effect as far as the individual is concerned, I envision as a ceaseless externalization of the individual in the course of their perpetual edification while society is absorbed through social control. But, I also see society is an outgrowth of the individuals particular previous generations, or more precisely, an ongoing recursive human production through which social institutions manifest themselves without intervention of the individual. Therefore I feel that social institutions clearly have a coercive power over the individual. Individuals that adhere to the morals and values cannot be created instantaneously or by using the same edification principals for great lengths of time. There is no magic that will create the perfect individual based on the norm, nor is there any institution that is capable of doing this. This is where continuing education plays its social role. Education as well as other social institutions always has a history, of which they are the products, but they also must be able to adapt to the constant change of the social environment. Understanding the historical process that produced a social institution is needed before it is possible to understand the institution. Part of that history is that institutions control the individuals conduct by setting up predefined patterns of conduct, which are channeled against the many other deviations that are ideological possible. The given existence of an institution is basic proof of social control of the individual and as such proof that the individual is a product of society, but only of the society past individuals have created. That is, man and his social world interact with each other by which the product acts back upon the producer and the producer act upon the product. Society is a human product and society and an undeniable reality, but the individual is by themselves a social product. Although this is external to the individual, institutions are there, whether the individual likes it or not and inescapable persistent reality. The existence of institutions is not diminished if the individual does not adhere to its social constraints for it has far reaching power. Who is the Producer The paradox of whether individuals are products of society or society is a product of individuals is controversial at least. It is the case that the individual is capable of producing a world that the individual experiences as something other than a human product. It is argumentative the individual is the producer of society or that society is the producer of the individual, but maybe they are so inter-linked that they are indistinguishable. This is a different situation when an individual separates themselves from society. It is apparent that an individual in isolation could not conceive of or build a society. Society is built upon the collective of the morals and valves of the individuals within society, but a singular individual does not have a collective opinion. An individual in isolation can only look at the world from an internal perspective. Only through individual externalization can an individual view the social world as their others that transcended into social conformity. For society to persevere, society must perpetuate its values to further too present and future generation. I have tried to explain the puzzle of whether individuals are products of society or society is a product of individuals. I then presented early man, but have shown that early man was not the product or producer of society. I have shown that Sumer was the beginning of society and that society was a human product. I then presented the individual as a product of ongoing social conditioning of the institutions of society. I feel that presented difficulty in trying to solve the paradox of who is the product and who is the producer of the individual and society. Bibliography Primis Social Science. McGraw-Hill Publishing. Columbus, OH f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Limitations of Gender Roles.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Limitations of Gender Roles Just how different are men and women? Everyone acknowledges that there are significant differences between males and females, even if they are only physical. Others see not only the physical but also the social, emotional and intellectual differences between male and female. Gender roles by definition are the social norms that dictate what is socially appropriate male and female behavior. In early American culture it was common for a women's job to be a submissive homemaker in clear contrast to the males aggressive breadwinner role. The seventies marked the beginning of the Woman's Movement and the end of the ideals we held on what it is to be a "man" and what it is to be a "woman". Women were no longer like the stereotypical homemaker, always offering a hot meal for her family, but were instead out burning bras and protesting inequality. No one disputes that the Women's Movement began but there is a disagreement on whether or not it should come to an end. One of the Women's Movement primary goals was to invalidate gender roles in the sense that women were secondary to men. The fact that gender roles exist is indisputable. Gender roles influence women and men in virtually every area of life including family and occupation. Early into childhood girls and boys are treated differently in families, schools and other institutions. Girls are encouraged to play with dolls and playhouse type of toys while boys will often play with trucks and army toys. Boys are played with in a rough manner and told to "tough it out" when they get hurt. Girls are taught to be more passive and expressive with their feelings. Whether these gender roles are fair or not, is where the argument begins. Does the fact that we are treated differently based on our sex prevent us from reaching equality or are we treated differently because we are different by nature? We are indeed raised differently, but does the fact that a boy is given a blue room and a girl is given a pink room mean that a girl is being sleighted? The outdated, sexist gender roles that dehumanize women are extinct, the ones that presently exist are the ones that are true. "Males are better in math while females are better in English. Women master language skills better than men, while men are better at organizing objects in a spatial layout". Gender roles are present but they are not beneficiary to either sex. Women are portrayed as physically weaker, but that is because as a general rule they are physically weaker. It is not so much an evil conspiracy by "the man" but an observation of an obvious fact. It has been proven that gender roles are not something that society determines, but that nature determines. A recent story that has hit the media illustrates this point. "John" was born a normal baby boy, however in a tragic accident his penis was damaged beyond repair by a circumcision that went wrong. The parents then decided the childs best shot at normal life was as an anatomically correct woman and therefore the baby was castrated. This case became a landmark in sex research during the 1970's, in that sexual identity exists in a kind of continuum and that nurture is more important than nature in determining gender roles. Experts thought babies are born gender neutral, catch them early enough and you can make them what you want. What the doctors and the parents did not know was that the celebrated sex change success story was, in fact a total failure. "John" rejected anything remotely feminine. He refused to wear dresses, make up, and when the time came he tried to refuse to take any hormones that would give a feminine figure. "John" did not know that he was born a boy. He only knew that, "...something was wrong." The fact that he instinctively tried to take on a masculine role, even when everyone in his environment was telling him to do the opposite, proves that there are undeniable differences between the sexes. These differences should be celebrated instead of being ignored, after all in the end they all balance out. On the other side of that, is the argument that gender is a part of our culture integrated into our being and does in fact give men an edge. "Gender is a social structure that has its origins in the development of human culture, not in biology or procreation....As is true of other institutions genders history can be traced, its structure examined, and its changing effects researched". Traditional gender role ideology has reflected male dominance and bias. For example, having been trained like most American boys to dread the accusation of doing anything "like a girl" men were said to grow into the assumption that women were valueless, natural prey. It is true that women are physically weaker, not because nature intended them to be but because women are discouraged from building muscle and resembling a man's figure. "In a great many cultures women are taught to depend on others, not themselves, for protection from bodily harm. Women are not taught to defend themselves from strangers because fathers and husbands fear the consequences themselves". This trend demonstrates the fear that males hold in that a woman is dangerous with to much power. Traditional gender roles for the woman include, nurturance, dependence and emotional expressiveness, this socialization rooted from the placement of male and female in separate roles. Emotionally, this is impacting on the woman because she has to teach other females how to be caretakers. Furthermore, women are taught to be self sacrificing, passive victims. As a result of this, a woman's identity is based on how well she serves others. Men are encouraged to venture out and establish a place in the world, women are encouraged to stand behind them and clean up their mess. Seen in this light equality does not really apply. In conclusion, Gender equality has been a social concern since man has step foot on earth. When we think of gender equality discrimination is the first thought, which comes to mind. Gender Roles by definition are the social norms that dictate what is socially appropriate male and female behavior. The argument begins between these two sides in which the stated gender roles in society, are they fair on both sides or do they in fact discriminate against the two sexes. Men are taught to be stoic in times of stress and women are taught to be helpless and needy. This is how our society expects men to behave. Maybe, in the near future as a culture we will use gender transcendence, in which as a people we will abandon our "assigned" gender idea, so that other aspects of life become separated and gender free. Works Cited Gorman, Christine. "A Boy without a Penis." Time Magazine 24 March 1997: 2-3. Lahey, Benjamen. Psychology. Boston: McGraw Publishers, 1998. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Loe Moo.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Loe Moo atertown, CT 06795 for a copy of their publication. House-sitting is much more more attractive to the average person. The only drawback is that most opportunities are for short terms, 3 months to a year. However, if you only want to locate to an area for a short period of time, this is the way to do it and live rent-free. Many people would rather have someone occupy their home during their absence than have it sit empty. You would be expected to maintain the premises and treat it "better" than as if it were your own. Sources of Additional Information Free Reports How to Get Free Travel How to Fill Your Home with Free Books, Magazines and Computer Software How to Travel Almost Anywhere and Stay Free in a Home or Luxury Hotel Books for Sale Free Stuff from Uncle Sam Free Stuff for Sports Fans 1001 Things You Can Get Free If you would like to browse hundreds of other how-to and special interest books, as well as hundreds of free reports, click here! (c)1998 Advantage Enterprises Unlimited, Inc. The publisher assumes no responsibility or liability for any of the information, and its potential use or misuse, included in this report. While the information is believed to be correct at the time of publication, it is recommended that you seek the advice of the a qualified professional for assistance. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Mind Body Connection.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Mind-Body Connection The mind has an incredible power. We see it as we go through our everyday activities, constantly displaying the wonders of logic, thought, memory and creativity. Yet, can the mind be more powerful than we know? Is it possible to reduce or even eliminate pain, illness and disease by using the natural powers it possesses? Can the mind heal? Many of our finest researchers and scientists have explored that question, and while the exact answer still eludes us, the facts seem to bear out that the mind does have the power to assist in both healing, and conversely, bringing on "disease" as well. Two such examples of mind and body healing are hypnotherapy and meditation. There are others such as ionization, which focuses on thinking positive instead of negative. But first, I will describe the reasoning behind the mind-body connection. Psychoneuroimmunology is the name for the study of the min-body connection, or PNI for short. PNI has been around for the last 20 years or so and has revolutionized the way we look at health and wellness. There was a point in human existence when the connection between the mind and the body was taken for granted. A couple of centuries ago, science had grown to understand the "mechanical universe" concept. The laws of Sir Newton and the science of physics had begun to infiltrate the science of medicine. If the universe followed mechanical laws, so might the body. To prove this theory, scientists needed to open a body up to observe how it worked. The Church was very adamant about the body being the temple of the soul and could never be desecrated. After much haggling and several smoke-filled back room discussions, an agreement was reached. The Church would maintain it's jurisdiction over "the mind" for that is were the personality and soul "truly" resides and science could have the body, which is just a "machine for the mind" and upon death, would become simply an empty vessel. Furthering the rift, more recent science has discovered that specific diseases can be "cured" through specific medicinal formulas or drugs. This "magic bullet" mentality spread throughout medicine and science. Truly the body was a mechanical thing that responded to specific stimulus and could be counted on to respond the same way every time. Wonderful news, the body did not respond as intended. Science has tried to brush aside or explain away this phenomenon y saying, "Oh, it's just the placebo effect" or "It's spontaneous remission" as well as other innocuous terms seemingly to lessen it's importance. It is human nature when something is not understood to either dismiss it, diminish it or ignore it all together. This search to seek out answers to this reoccurring phenomenon is the basis for PNI, the way the mind-body connection is made and how we can utilize it for greater health and well-being. Over the past decade, we have come a long way in understanding the psycho-biology of mind-body communication and the mental/emotional processes involved. To begin with, most of us have a basic understanding of how psycho-biology communication occurs through the nervous system. Messages are transmitted through electrical impulses along a system of nerves that connect the brain to every system, organ, gland, muscle, etc.. When we want to lift our arm, the specific signals race along the nerves to the required muscles, ligaments, etc., in order to accomplish the task. There is, also, the "autonomic" nervous system that sends the electrical impulses automatically, without conscious thought, to such parts as the heart, lungs, digestive tract, etc.. That way we don't have to worry about things like forgetting to have our heart beat. There is another facet to this seemingly automatic activity. The "autonomic immune system". The immune system cells, which free-float throughout our bodies, act all on their own, automatically. When you get an infection, the immune system kicks in and takes care of the problem. How do they know when to go into action? New research is pointing that there is another open line of communication. A biochemical, molecular code that is transmitted to each cell. This code is in the form of hormones or neuroceptides. Each cell of the body has receptors for these neuroceptides. The code contained in the peptide is then communicated to the cell. The cell then acts according to this communication, just like a muscle acts according to the signals it receives. The cell then sends biochemical responses back into the system. This allows for the two-way communication not only between itself and the brain, but also between itself and other cells. This shows itself openly the well coordinated immune cells attacking an invading bacteria. Communication is paramount to a successful immune system defense. This biochemical connection must also have a direct link to the mind. Researchers have found that link. If you were to draw a line through your head starting just behind your ear going to just behind the other ear, at the middle of that line you would find a clumping of glands and blood vessels called the Limbic-Hypothalamic System which consists of the limbic system, hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. The connection works this way. A mental/emotional state exits within the mind, the mind transmits the image of that state through the nervous system and to the Limbic-Hypothalamic system. Every system, organ, gland, fiber and cell of the body receives the message. Then they each act according to the message. To illustrate a point, a university study was done on the immune system of persons whose long-term partner had recently died. Having factored out all other affecting stimulus but grief, it was discovered that the immune system in the state of deep grief operated at 70% decrease of activity. In other words, the immune system was running at only 30%. That can explain why the widowed spouse, who was never sick in their life, would die of pneumonia or such related disease, 6 months after their spouse's death. You know yourself, how emotions can boost your energy level or drain it to almost nothing. The images and experiences that we fill our mind with, get communicated and then translated physically. This is how stress operates. The major stressors (like job loss, death, divorce and etc.) while having a significant effect, are not the major culprit of stress related health problems. It seems that the little stressors (like being late for work, a car cutting you off on the expressway, etc.) have more effect on us physically. The theory is that the little stressors are judged to be of little or no importance, so we tend to ignore their effect. All those little frustrations, unconsciously remain frustrations even when they are forgotten long ago to our conscious awareness. They linger on and their effects never diminish. All the images we carry with us are communicated to all parts of our body all the time. You tell yourself something often enough, you will start believing it. The body hears that you "don't have a leg to stand on", or you're dying of cancer", or that argument you had with your parents twenty years ago is still eating away at you. It will then respond to that communication. If you have an internal image of " I only seem to take time off when I'm sick", your body will make you sick when you need that time off. You can be sure your body will give you what you expect. Think negative and bad things can happen, think positive and good things can happen. It's all within the mind and body connection. Now we understand the communication between the mind and body, let's go back to how the mind can assist the body in healing. One method of accomplishing that is through hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is the reconditioning of certain sensory reactions to the stimuli of anxiety so that physiological symptoms such as ulcers and headaches will not be produced. Habitual reactions of the patient are altered under hypnosis. After the therapist has changed the patient's anxiety-producing sensation system, the subject is trained in the use of the new responses in life outside therapy. The problems that hypnotherapy is best placed to help with, fall into thoughts and ideas, feelings and habits. People can suffer from thoughts of low self-esteem, or obsessive thoughts about someone or something. They may not be able to get out of their minds the idea that they are suffering from an illness. Hypnotherapy can help the person to change such ideas. Sort of like altering the mind. Other people can suffer from a wide range of distressing feelings, such as panic attacks, anxiety, jealousy, guilt, anger and inadequacy. Whatever the problem feeling, hypnotherapy can deal with it more specifically than can a drug and without side effects. On the other hand, people can find themselves in the grip of many habits that they seem unable to control, from something like nail-biting or smoking to more deep-seated compulsions. Hypnotherapy, using hypnotic techniques, can help to remove habits with precision and a freedom from side effects. There is of course, a considerable variation in the difficulty of the various problems, and there is no general rule which makes it possible to say how much improvement can be achieved and in how much time. The simpler problems can at times be overcome completely in one session; hypnosis can be extremely effective. More deeply rooted problems may take longer. On the contrary, meditation is taking the time to get in touch with our true nature. It is a simple effort that becomes effortless as we do it more and more. True effort comes in simply taking the time out of our hectic lives. The rest is easy. When we first begin to meditate, our minds resist. We are used to a constant chatter in our minds. Our thoughts are often uncontrolled. We worry about our jobs, finances, relationships, out "to do" list, and the list goes on. All of this belongs to the physical world. The practice of meditation helps us temporarily let the physical world go so we can begin to see ourselves as we truly are - spiritual beings. Meditation helps us in many ways. You will begin to notice some benefits right away, while others will occur gradually. Beyond the purely physical benefits, which have been scientifically proven, meditators receive emotional and mental benefits as well as spiritual enrichment. When we meditate, we are focused only on the experience of meditation. We are living "in the moment." There is no room for our worries or fears. The stresses and tensions we have been carrying around are suspended. We become relaxed and are able to experience inner peace and joy. Some of the results of meditation show we gain: increased clarity of mind, improved emotional well-being, increased happiness, increased intelligence, increased creativity, improved memory and improved relationships. Meditation has been used successfully in the treatment and prevention of high blood pressure, heart disease, migraine headaches, and autoimmune diseases such as diabetes and arthritis. It has proved helpful in reducing obsessive thinking, anxiety, depression and hostility. Learning to meditate takes only a few minutes and your body will immediately start to respond. However, regular meditation is needed to gain the full benefits of meditation. With practice your level of relaxation will deepen. Your attention span will increase. You'll become more skilled at living in the present moment. Many of the mental and spiritual aspects of meditating will become apparent over time. This ability to heal ourselves lies within each of us. It is just a matter of learning to tap to this incredible resource, to make the mind-body connection, to reach within ourselves and discover how much power we have over our bodies and ourselves. This is what will ultimately lead us all to a higher quality of life, true health, and wellness. I think the future of the mind-body connection is gaining a lot more respect than it used to. Conventional physicians want to learn a great deal on this phenomenon. Doctors and practitioners are becoming aware that we, the patients, just don't want conventional medicine anymore. We want to heal ourselves. To be able to use our mind and body to prevent disease and become a lot more aware of how our bodies function. There is always something that can be done to help us improve the quality of our life. Maybe even make strides toward ending the condition. By studying the self-images, understanding the way we think and feel about the world and how we fit into it, we can adjust them and change the outcomes, both mentally and physically. By understanding the process, we can take the necessary action to change what we don't want and create what we do want. Works Cited Benson, Herbert. The Mind/Body Effect. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979. Bosworth, Patricia. "Can the Mind really heal the body?" Self Feb. 1996: 126- 129. Kelly, Sean F., and Reid J. Kelly. Hypnosis: Understanding How It Can Work for You. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1985. Kwako, Jerome E. "Ask your body-mind for healing." Northern Sun June 1997: 8. LaPatra, Jack. Healing: The coming revolution in holistic medicine. NewYork: McGraw-Hill, 1978. Mieszkowski, Martin. "The Healing Mind." Wholestar Journal May 1996: 1-4. Mandelbaum-Schmid, Judith. "Prophets and Pioneers." Self Nov. 1996: 166-167. Weil, Andrew. The Natural Mind. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Power of Knowledge.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Power of Knowledge A person's feeling can be depicted by the way he or she draws their pictures. Superiority and inferiority can be shown by the way the artist makes a person or ship larger or smaller than another person or ship. This is shown in the Spanish picture where the French ships are on the coast of America. The French ships are small and the Native Americans appear to be larger. In another picture it shows a tribe of Native Americans gathered around each other in a village. The first picture shows the Spaniards belief that the French are inferior to the Native Americans and themselves. They depict this by drawing the Native Americans much larger than the French people and even their ships. The power of the Spaniards is proven when they combine forces with the Native Americans to annihilate the French in Florida. The Europeans believed power was about conquering people. They conquered people in the name of God and Christianity. If they could not convert them they would destroy them. Their only knowledge was of God and what he wanted them to do. The Native Americans believed power was in the tribe. The picture of the Native Americans showed how they all come together. They thought a close -knit society was the best way of life. They created villages where people lived close to each other. They had a number of different occupational groups in their society. The Native Americans knew how to use the land far better than the Europeans. The Native's farmland was located around the village. That also showed the how tight their bonds were. Because they all worked together on the farm and all took home some of the profit. On the other hand, the Europeans tended to keep a distance from each other. They had no sense of community. They did this because they wanted more land to farm. The more land they farmed the more money they could make. The Europeans had no real idea of who their neighbors were they lived in isolation. The main difference is the Europeans were all about themselves, where the Native Americans were all about teamwork. I believe this is more about power than it is factual. I think if the Spaniards wanted to change history they could because they had the power. One nobody really knew what was going on in the New World so they could lie about it. The second thing is who can stop them. At that time Spain was a major world power, so they could do whatever they wanted f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Psychological Affects of the Holocaust.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Psychological Affects of the Holocaust The Holocaust was a tragic point in history which many people believe never happened. Others who survived it thought it should never have been. Not only did this affect the people who lived through it, it also affected everyone who was connected to those fortunate individuals who survived. The survivors were lucky to have made it but there are times when their memories and flashbacks have made them wish they were the ones who died instead of living with the horrible aftermath. The psychological effects of the Holocaust on people from different parts such as survivors of Israel and survivors of the ghettos and camps vary in some ways yet in others are profoundly similar. The vast number of prisoners of various nationalities and religions in the camps made such differences inevitable. Many contrasting opinions have been published about the victims and survivors of the holocaust based on the writers' different cultural backrounds, personal experiences and intelectual traditions. Therefore, the opinions of the authors of such books and entries of human behavior and survival in the concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe are very diverse. The Survivors of the Holocaust: General Survey Because the traumatization of the Holocaust was both individual and collective, most individuals made efforts to create a "new family" to replace the nuclear family that had been lost. In order for the victims to resist dehumanization and regression and to find support, the members of such groups shared stories about the past, fantasies of the future and joint prayers as well as poetry and expressions of personal and general human aspirations for hope and love. Imagination was an important means of liberation from the frustrating reality by opening an outlet for the formulation of plans for the distant future, and by spurring to immediate actions. Looking at the history of the Jewish survivors, from the beginning of the Nazi occupation until the liquidation of the ghettos shows that there are common features and simmilar psychophysiological patterns in their responses to the persecutions. The survivors often experienced several phases of psychosocial response, including attempts to actively master the traumatic situation, cohesive affiliative actions with intense emotional links, and finally, passive compliance with the persecutors. These phases must be understood as the development of special mechanisms to cope with the tensions and dangers of the surrounding horrifying reality of the Holocaust. There were many speculations that survivors of the Holocaust suffered from a static concentration camp syndrome. These theories were proved to have not been valid by research that was done immediately after liberation. Clinical and theoretical research focused more on psychopathology than on the question of coping and the development of specific adaptive mechanisms during the Holocaust and after. The descriptions of the survivors' syndrome in the late 1950's and 1960's created a new means of diagnosis in psychology and the behavioral sciences, and has become a model that has since served as a focal concept in examining the results of catastrophic stress situations. After more research was done, it was clear the adaptation and coping mechanisms of the survivors was affected by the aspects of their childhood experiences, developmental histories, family constellations, and emotional family bonds. In the studies and research that were done, there were many questions that were asked of the subjects: What was the duration of the traumatization?, During the Holocaust, was the victim alone or with family and friends?, Was he in a camp or hiding?, Did he use false "Aryan" papers?, Was he a witness to mass murder in the ghetto or the camp?, What were his support systems- family and friends- and what social bonds did he have? These studies showed that the experiences of those who were able to actively resist the oppression, whether in the underground or among the partisans, were different in every way from the experiences of those who were victims in extermination camps. When the survivors integrated back into society after the war, they found it very hard to adjust. It was made difficult by the fact that they often aroused ambivalent feelings of fear, avoidence, guilt, pity and anxiety. This might have been hard for them, but decades after the Holocaust most of the survivors managed to rehabilitate their capacities and rejoin the paths their lives might have taken prior to the Holocaust. This is more true for the people who experienced the Holocaust as children or young adults. Their families live with a special attitude toward psychobiological continuity, fear of separation, and fear of prolonged sickness and death. The experience of the Holocaust shows how human beings can undergo extreme traumatic experiences without suffering from a total regression and without losing their ability to rehabilitate their ego strength. The survivors discovered the powers within them in whatever aspect in their lives that were needed. Survivors of Ghettos and Camps The Jews, arrested and brought to the concentration camps during WWII were under sentence of death. Their chances of surviving the war minimal. Their brutal treatment on the part of the camp guards and even some of the other prisoners influenced the Jews. The months or years already spent in the ghettos, with continuous persecutions and random selections, had brought some to a chronic state of insecurity and anxiety and others to apathy and hopelessness, even though passive or active resistance had also occured. This horrible situation was worsened by overcrowding, infectious diseases, lack of facilities for basic hygiene and continuous starvation. When the people were transported to the concentration camps, they lived in horrible conditions such as filth and lack of hygiene, diseases and extreme nutritional insufficiency, continuous harassment, and physical ill treatment, perpetual psychic stress caused by the recurrent macabre deaths- all combined to influence deeply the attitudes and mental health of camp inmates. Observations and descriptions by former prisoners, some of whom were physicians and psychologists differ drastically. Some described resignation, curtailment of emotional and normal feelings, weakening of social standards, regression to primative reactions and "relapse to animal state" whereas others show feelings of comeradeship, community spirit, a persistant humanity and extreme altruism- even moral development and religious revelation. Afer liberation, most of the Jewish camp inmates were too weak to move or be aware of what was happening. Prisoners were not restored to perfect health by liberation. Awakening from nightmares was sometimes even more painful than captivity. In the beginning of physical improvement , the ability to feel and think returned and many realized the completeness of their isolation. To them, the reality of what had happened was agonizing. They lived with their overwhelming personal losses whose impact is beyond intellectual or emotional comprehension. They also clung to the hope of finding some family member still alive in the new DISPLACED PERSONS' camps that were now set up. Many of the people admitted to those camps lost all sense of initiative. After the war, organizations such as THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF and REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION, THE JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE and the International Refugee Organization were founded. Their work was useful but their methods were not suitable. The ex- prisoner, now a "displaced person", was brought before boards set up by different countries which decided on his or her worthiness to be received by that country. Most survivors tried to make their way to Palestine. Then Israel was founded and they integrated quickly into a new society. The majority of the people adapted adequately to their changed life, in newly founded families, jobs and kibbutzim, many however still suffered from chronic anxiety, sleep disturbances, nightmares, emotional instability and depressive states. The worst however were those people who went to the United States, Canada, and Austrailia, some of them with extreme psychological traumatizations. They had to adjust to strange new surroundings, learn a new language, and adapt to new laws, in addition to building new lives. After the survivors received compensation from the West German government, they were examined by specialists in internal and neurological medicine. In most cases, no ill effects directly attributable to detainment in camps were found. The reason for this was because the repeated selection of Jewish victims for extermination in ghettos, on arrival at the camps, again at the frequent medical examinations, in the sick bays, and at every transferment that all those showing signs of physical disease had already been eliminated. Many survivors described themselves as incapable of living life to the fullest, often barely able to perform basic tasks. They felt that the war had changed them and they had lost their much needed spark to life. Investigations show that the extreme traumatizations of the camps inflicted deep wounds that have healed very slowly, and that more than 40 years later, the scars are still present. There has shown to be clear differences between camp victims and statistically comparable Canadian Jews: the survivors show long term consequences of the Holocaust in the form of psychological stress, associated with heightened sensitivity to anti-semitism and persecution. The survivors, normal people before the Holocaust, were exposed to situations of extreme stress and to psychic traumatization. Their reactions to inhuman treatment were "normal" because not to react to treatment of this kind would be abnormal. Survivors of Israel There were few studies done, following the Holocaust that were made in Israel of the psychological effects of the Nazi persecution even though the number of survivors was high as time passed, research increased and in 1964, a comparison was made between Holocaust survivors now in Israel and non-Jewish Norwegians who returned to Norway after being deported to camps. The results showed that the Jewish survivors suffered more from the total isolation in the camps, from the danger of death, which was greater for Jews, and from "survivor guilt", than did the Norwegians. It also showed that most Israeli survivors were suffering from symptoms of the so called survivors syndrome, but were active and efficient, and often held important and responsible jobs and social positions. Another study, of Israeli Holocaust survivors in kibbutzim (collective settlements), revealed that survivors who could not mourn their losses immediately, after the war began mourning and working through their grief when they adjusted to life in the kibbutz. The study also indicated that many Holocaust survivors had a low threshold for emotional stress. This was brought out during situations that reminded them of the Holocaust- especially during the EICHMANN TRIAL, when they had to testify against Nazi criminals, and during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. These were the times when they suffered periods of depression and tension. Studies made in Israel more than 30 years after WWII did not show significant differences in the extent of psychological damage between people who were in hiding during Nazi occupation and former concentration camp inmates. The only difference that was found was that the inmates experienced more pronounced emotional distress than those who survived the occupation outside the camps. The research done on the elderly Holocaust survivors in Israel indicated that they encountered particular difficulties in absorption because of the serious problems they had to overcome (loss of family and of the social and cultural backround they had known before the Holocaust). The community in Israel tried to provide them with personal and professional care. Nevertheless, to those survivors who immigrated to Israel when elderly it was more difficult to adjust than the younger survivors. There was also a study done in the University Psychiatric Hospital in Jerusalem 40 years after liberation. It revealed a difference between hospitalized depressive patients who had been inmates of Nazi concentration camps and the match group of patients who had not been persecuted. The camp survivors were more belligerent, demanding, and regressive than the control group. Oddly enough their behavior may have helped their survival. Despite the many hardships and difficulties faced by the survivors in Israel, their general adjustment has been satisfactory, both vocationally and socially. In the end it has been more successful than that of Holocaust survivors in other countries. When looking at it from a general point of view, the survivors, for the most part have shown to be as strong as humanly possible. Not one person who hasn't seen what they saw can possibly imagine how they feel. Many people are greatly affected by things the survivors would consider menial. There is no other way they are supposed to act. These people were lucky to have survived but there is no doubt that there have been times when their memories have made them think otherwise. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bettelheim,B. The Informed Heart. Glencoe, Ill.,1960 Des Pres,T. The Survivor:An Anatomy of Life in the Death Camps. New York, 1976 Dimsdale,J.E.,ed. Survivors, Victims, and Perpetrators:Essays on the Nazi Holocaust. New York, 1980. Eitinger, L., Concentration Camp Survivors in Norway and Israel. London, 1964. Krystal, H.,ed., Massive Psychic Trauma. New York 1968. Lifton, R.J."The Concept ofm the Survivor." in Survivors, Victims, and Perpetrators:Essays on the Nazi Holocaust, edited by J.E. Dimsdale, pp.106-125. New York, 1980. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE HOLOCAUST Rabbi Stern Antoanela Ciomo Gari Fox f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Psychology of Color and Internet Marketing.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Psychology of Color and Internet Marketing By Pam Renovato As Internet marketers it is imperative that we constantly look for ways to make a good impression on our viewers. Your business depends on it. We only have a short amount of time, before a decision on whether or not we are professionals will be made. We must make good use of this time. The first instant we have at presenting ourselves to viewers is our web page. Which brings us to the importance of good design and proper color choices. First impressions are very important. We must make the best of them because we are only allowed one. Remember this is your store front, and you must treat it respectfully. While content, customer service, a niche in your market, and a high subscriber list, are crucial to your life on the internet. Good web page design and proper color choices, are crucial as well. It is a good part of the reason why viewers bother to look over your content at all. Regardless of how incredible your content may be, you need to welcome them and make them feel at home, while they are there. Or, they will leave. Did you know you can control the mood of your visitors by using certain color choices? This is a simple concept that is very often ignored. Why? Human emotions are very often triggered by color. You need to know which colors trigger which emotions. Color can make the difference between buying and selling, if used correctly. You need to choose the right color combinations for your site and product. Everything we, buy, eat, wear, and all of the things that take up space where we live, work or play, all have colors. These colors provide a psychological and emotional response in everyone. These responses reflect who we are and the things that we think and feel. Color is the first thing we notice and the last thing we forget. If used properly it can be a powerful tool. It is the doorway to our deepest thoughts and feelings, and desires. This is an issue worth discussing. Which colors should you use? Well, it is always best to keep your main content on a white background. This is easier on the eyes and will provide a sense of professionalism. The color white triggers emotions such as: purity, peace, and perfection. While white is an important color, you will probably want to complement your site with other colors as well. After all, there is creativity in each and every one of us. There is a huge color spectrum for us to choose from. Which colors are best! Here are a few ideas to help you. Red colors can stimulate warmth, hunger, and excitement. Cooler colors such as green and blues, enhance calm and content feelings. Dark colors make objects seem heavier, while light colors make them seem lighter. Yellow may reflect a lack of worry, while black a troubled state. Of course not all colors mean the same things to all people. Yellow may sometimes mean cheap, green may mean money or greed, black may mean elegance or death. Color has become a science and it is a much needed weapon as part of your marketing arsenal. You will need to take great thought in choosing color as it will identify you, because once a color is "owned" it is associated with you and your company. I am sure you have noticed this with examples such as Coca Cola red, Tide orange, and John Deere Green. It is just as important to your identity as your logo. If a shape provides a symbol, be aware that color does the same. Think carefully when choosing colors! Applying a certain color to your product is just plain logic. For example: In stores, colors identify flavors, brands, and products: Green in a cleaner says pine- in a mouthwash says mint, blue very often means strong mint - icy cool. Clear means additive free. Red found in strawberries, cherries, and apples is very appealing. You would never choose gray for laundry detergent because you don't want gray clothes, you want brightly colored clothes. Blue, very unappetizing on a dinner plate, is much more successful as a dinner plate. Because they strongly affect mood, grays and browns seem somber and often depressing. But they can take on a more cheerful attitude with complements of red. No matter how you use them they suggest weight, or something heavy. This would provide your visitors with a feeling of stableness and strength. Emotions like this will help your visitors to associate your site with solidity and confidence. Other colors such as burgundy, oyster, beige, and blues will also provide a feeling of solidity. The list goes on and on. Don't over look the issue of color with your business. Believe me it matters! You see, once we lived in a black and white world. TV was black, printed publications were predominantly black. All of that changed in the 60's and has created a chain reaction that holds true today. Color is the most important attention getter. As humans, we bring our own tastes to the world. How do we choose which color to be identified with? What is the right color? Sometimes there is no right answer, you just have to take your best shot. But the number one choice of Corporate America is still blue. About The Author Pam Renovato is the web master of a newly renovated: The Free Advertising Network. What will you do when you discover all of those other marketing packages don't work? Try using your use your teeth! 4 great memberships one low monthly price! f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Psychology of Colour.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Psychology of Colour Colour not only affects other colours, but also people viewing it. It affects people emotionally and mentally. When you view a colour, it is transmitted to your eye by reflected light (general) and is encoded by the rods and cones in the retina. These ocular mechanisms invert the information and send it through the optic nerve, when the information reaches the brain, it is then decoded and it is here that the mind will translate the colour into meaning. Our culture is what gives colour a specific meaning. For this reason, colour psychology is not the same around the world. Colour has different meanings for different cultures and societies. It has been accepted that colours affect us emotionally and many people dress determined on the effect certain colours have on them. Colours can also be used to express emotions for example, a "cool blue." In 1988 a group of scientists confirmed that the human skin acts like a prism, converting spectral colours to chemical reactions within the body. People with the same health deficiency share the same colour deficiency, gravitating towards the similar colours. Red: We associate the colours of fire - red, yellows and oranges, with warmth. Psychological research shows that under red lighting, the human body produces more adrenaline and the blood pressure and breathing rate increases. This can lead to a rise in temperature. * Urgency, * Passion * Heat * Love * Blood * Excitement * Strength * Sex * Passion * Speed * Danger * Children prefer red * Considered physically energizing * Stimulating * Aggressive * An advancing colour Blue: Blues and greens are associated with being cool or next to nature. Psychological research shows that the colour blue slows the heartbeat and decreases temperature. * Dignity * Power * Coolness * Melancholy * Heaviness * Trust * Reliability * Belonging * Coolness * Liked by most adults worldwide * The least appetizing colour when applied to food * Researchers found that children tested higher on IQ tests in rooms with blue ceilings * Relaxes the human nervous system * A colour that suggests hygiene and coolness, blue is used from detergent to beauty cleansers Green: * Nature * Health * Cheerfulness * Environment * Money * Vegetation * Nature * Freshness * Cool * Growth * Abundance * The most restful colour Yellow: * Warmth * Sunshine * Cheerfulness * Happiness * Cowardice * Brightness * The first colour seen by newborns * Bright lemon yellow is the most luminous of all colours and the most fatiguing if viewed for long periods of time * The most cheerful if seen at a glance * Couples fight more and babies cry more in lemon-coloured rooms Purple: * Wealth * Royalty * Sophistication * Intelligence * Spirituality * Dignity * The hardest colour for the eye to discriminate Pink: * Softness * Sweet * Nurture * Security * While red may be considered an energizing colour, pink is the most calming. For this reason the California children's probation department found that violent children had fewer outbursts when placed in a pink room. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Question of Spanking.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Question of Spanking Spanking a child is a controversial issue. On one side of the debate are people who believe spanking is a necessary component of parenting. On the contrary are people who think spanking a child is destructive. Somewhere in the middle are people who believe spanking is legitimate only when used correctly. Part of the reason for the debate is that some parents and experts define spanking differently. To some, spanking means slapping a child on the rear-end, while others believe it is a form of corporal punishment that does not cause injury. By showing how each perspective of spanking supports their claim and defining spanking, one will be able to form an opinion. In order to conclude an argument, it is first necessary to define any vague or ambiguous terms. Spanking is an unclear term in need of explanation. To some spanking means to slap a child on the buttocks, while others believe it is a mild form of corporal punishment which does not cause harm to the child. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) defines spanking as "one or two flat-handed swats on a child's wrist or rear end" (Rosellini 52). The New American Webster Handy College Dictionary also agrees with the AAP when defining spanking as "[to] strike with an open hand." Spanking does not infer a sustained whipping from Dads belt, but a mild form of corporal punishment that does not cause injury. Spanking is alive and well today despite the antispanking prohibition. In a poll sponsored by Working Mother and the Epcot Center at Walt Disney World in Florida, 7,225 adults and 2,599 kids were surveyed (Hickey 48). When asked "When should parents spank their children," 51 percent replied "When they think it's necessary," 30 percent said "Only in extreme circumstances," and only ten percent answered "Never"(Hickey 48). Twelve percent of young adults, ages 18 to 34, which responded to the poll, said spanking should not occur; in comparison with the seven percent of both the 35-49 and 50-64 age groups which responded "Never" (Hickey 48). The poll asked "Which of these is (or was) most often used in your family to control children's behavior?" As the prevalent choice, 37 percent responded "Taking away privileges," 23 percent said "spanking," 18 percent replied "reasoning with the child," four percent said "bribes" and three percent answered "assigning extra work" (Hickey 48). A different study headed by Rebecca R. S. Socolar, a clinical assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, took a poll of 204 New York, NY mothers (Jet 15). The poll asked if a child less than one year old should be spanked. As a result, 81 percent of the mothers disagreed with spanking a child less than a year of age, and 19 percent believe a child under a year of age should be spanked (Jet 16). Then when asked if a child of 1-3 years old should be spanked, 26 percent disagreed with spanking at that age and an astounding 74 percent agreed with spanking a child of this age(Jet 16). When asked about the harshness of the spanking, 92 percent said they do not leave visible marks of damage while only eight percent say they do leave a mark upon the child (Jet 16). The results of both polls show consistent finding with the research of sociologist Richard J. Gelles, PhD, and director of the Family Violence Research Program at the University of Rhode Island. He Believes "Hitting children is so taken for granted in out society that almost all parent view spanking as an inevitable part of raising children"(Working Mother 48). He believes this ideology will remain apart of our culture because it is infused within each of us since birth (Working Mother 48). The American Academy of Pediatrics determined in a 1996 conference on corporal punishment that spanking could prove useful if used as reinforcement of other disciplines (Rosellini 52). S. Kenneth Schonberg, a pediatrics professor who co-chaired the AAP conference said "There's no evidence that a child who is spanked moderately is going to grow up to be a criminal or antisocial or violent" (Rosellini 52). Spanking continues to be a prevalent form of child rearing because parents believe it "will teach children not to do things that are forbidden, stop them quickly when they are being irritating, and encourage them to do what they should" (Ramsburg 1). Some parents feel mental disciplines (i.e. time-outs) are not effective enough, while other parents spank because it is a culturally ingrained practice (Ramsburg 1). The beginning of the antispanking movement had much to do with a new understanding of the science of behavior and the rise of smaller families (Rosellini 52). In the years before, families passed down the idea "spare the rod, spoil the child" which warranted the act of spanking as a form of discipline (Rosellini 52). Then in the 1970s and 1980s psychologist and child-development authorities promoted the radical notion "that kids are equal members of the household" (Rosellini 53). This development, along with numerous publications, such as Thomas Gordon's Parent Effectiveness Training, helped legitimize such ideas. The book Beating the Devil Out of Them, by Irwin A. Hyman and Murray A. Straus, crystallized the antispanking general agreement. Straus, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire, gathered that spanking is a "'social problem' that can doom a child to a lifetime of difficulties ranging from juvenile delinquency to depression, sexual hangups, limited job prospects and lowered earnings" (Rosellini 55). Straus goes as far to say that we should pass a law forbidding spanking (Rosellini 58). He goes even further toward the extreme to assert "that spanking helps foster punitive social attitudes, such as support for bombing raids to punish countries that support terrorists" (Rosellini 58). T. Berry Brazelton, MD, emeritus professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, believes "[spanking] says that you believe in using force as a way to settle disputes...[and that] children should listen to you because you're bigger and stronger than they are"(Hickey 48). Brazelton says spanking is punishment which only teaches children only suffering and to be afraid (Hickey 48). Spanking generates more hatred in the child for being humiliated, and for suffering, than a clear understanding and recollection of why he/she is being punished (Nelson 58). Drs. James P. Comer and Alvin F. Poussaint said, "By being hit by you when you are angry, children learn to hit others when in turn they are angry (Jet 17). The AAP suggested that according to researchers, "spanking may be the least effective discipline" (Ramsberg 1). When tested with the assumption children would learn a lesson after being spanked, and need to be spanked less. Nonetheless, the research results indicated that families who began spanking before one year old are as likely to spank when the child is four years old (Ramsberg 1). These results affirm that spanked children are not learning their lesson. Spanking may not be effective because it exemplifies no other optional behaviors (Ramsberg 1). Between the black and white of this issue is a gray area which has found errors in research and believes spanking should be used only selectively. John Rosemond, family psychologist, author, speaker, and director for the Center of Affirmative Parenting (CAP) in North Carolina, caters neither extreme of creating laws against spanking or "spare the rod, spoil the child." Rosemond attacks the claims of sociologist Murry Straus because he is an often-quoted representative of the antispanking movement. Rosemond believes that Straus' research does not prove spanking is problematic (Rosemond 21). Straus' research conclusions are based mostly upon adults who, as teenagers, were spanked (Rosemond 21). Straus also fails to distinguish between beating and spanking (Rosemond 22), which does not allow a distinction between child abuse and child discipline. Rosemond believes Straus is looking for certain results with his research to further support his position, therefore obscuring results. Rosemond feels spanking is appropriate when used appropriately. He believes "not to give numerous threats or warnings or to build up to a spanking..."to a child (Rosemond 50). He thinks it is important to not allow your child's unwanted behavior to grow to the point of spanking (Rosemond 50). Do not hesitate or warn before spanking, he recommends (Rosemond50). Rosemond believes one should spank in anger (the very reason you are spanking), but not in a rage (Rosemond 51-2). He believes it is important to "use your hand, and your hand only" because the idea is to communicate, not to cause the child pain (Rosemond 55). "Follow through with a clear, stern message and, if need be, a restrictive consequence of one sort or another" (Rosemond 57). Rosemond brings a rational appeal to spanking. His approach views spanking as an intimate act of communication, not a savage form of child abuse The question of whether to spank or not has been the most controversial child-rearing issue of the past three decades. Though no end in sight, after analyzing my research of the extremes of spanking, I conclude in the gray area. John Rosemond proved the most logical approach to spanking. He has studied both sides of the issues and points out the inconsistencies of each side. Rosemond supports his point of view with grounds of disagreement and agreement and fills gaps the gap of the gray area connecting the opposing sides. WORKS CITED Hickey, Mary C.. To Spank Or Not To Spank. Working-Mother. v. 14 Jan. '91, p. 48-9. Nelson, Gerald E., Lewak Richard W.. Who's the Boss?: Love, Authority, and Parenting. Boston: Shambhala Publications, INC. Ramsberg, Dawn. The Debate Over Spanking. ERIC Digest. Mar. '97. Rosellini, Lynn. When To Spank. U.S. News and World Report. v. 124 no14 Apr. 13 '98, p. 52-3+. Rosemond, John. To Spank or Not to Spank. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1994. Socolar, Rebecca. Survey Says Some Mothers Still Believe That Spanking Is Good Discipline, Jet. 30 Jan, '95. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The Significance Of Dreaming.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Significance Of Dreaming Alexander the Great dreamt of a dancing satyr before conquering Tyre. An interpreter said his dream meant, "thine is Tyre", which fortified Alexander before the battle (Boxer 1). President Lincoln dreamt about his own death before it actually occurred several days later, but ignored the dream (Cartwright 3). Is it possible that if he had taken his dream more seriously he could have taken precautions that would have spared his life on that fateful evening at the theater? The course of U.S. history could have been altered just as history was altered when Alexander the Great dreamt of a dancing satyr that led to the courage to conquer Tyre. Understanding dreams and why we have them is important, but shouldn't influence how we react to our daily lives. Many diverse hypotheses have been made on how and why we dream and there is a wide-spread disagreement by psychologists and scientists to explain these strange happenings. One of the foremost authorities on dreaming was Sigmund Freud, who attributed dreaming to psychological causes. Freud said, "The dream hides not a divine message, but a wish from the dreamer's unconscious" (Boxer 1). He felt that all dreams were tied to desires that a person wasn't aware of consciously, and dreaming allowed these desires to be fulfilled (Evans 84). By way of contrast, Dr. J. Allen Hobson does not subscribe at all to Freud's psychological notions, and suggests that dreams are the product of brain stem activity. He says a wish can't be a cause of a dream because the non-thinking part of the brain, the brain stem, activates a dream. "Hobson believes that neurophysiology even explains why dreams seem so emotionally loaded...because the brain stem activates the emotional center--the limbic brain-and because the 'startle network,' the part of the brain stem that speeds the heart and breathing is turned on" (Boxer 3). G. William Domhoff, Ph.D., of the University of California, Santa Cruz, believes that dreams reveal the cultural stereotypes and preoccupations of men and women (Boxer 4). "You break down a verbal report of a dream into its constituent elements and count the number of times each element appears" (4). Analyses of dreams, counting the number of men versus women, friendly versus aggressive interactions, indoor versus outdoor locations, day versus night time, etc., can find out a dreamers preoccupation's, explains Domnoff (4). Analyses like these can prove what men and women both notice more in their dreams. Men's dreams are almost in complete contrast to women's dreams. For example, women notice facial features of people in their dreams more than men, and tend to have more verbal than physical interactions with the people. Men dream of having more aggressive interactions with people, and notice the features of a person's body more (4). Although we have many more dreams than we remember, there is disagreement among experts whether we are dreaming to remember, or dreaming to forget. Stanley R. Palombo, M. D. of George Washington University said that, "Dreams are a test between the past and the present" (Boxer 5). He contends that dreams show how what is happening in your life now relates to something that has happened in the past. Therefore, we have dreams so that every memory can be stored in an emotionally significant place (Boxer 5). Contrasting Palombo's ideas are Francis Crick, Ph.D., of the Salk Institute and theoretical biologist Graeme Mitchison, Ph.D., of Cambridge, England, who say that since most of our dreams are forgotten, we must be dreaming to forget. "An overloaded memory can malfunction, and this malfunction will show up as an obsession," said Mitchison. If an overloaded memory turns to obsessions, it's like vibrations in an airplane (Boxer 5-6). When you feel these vibrations, they can be meaningful by warning you of a fault with the plane, but it doesn't mean you want to remember them. You want to forget them. What would it be like if every time you got on a plane, all could think about were the vibrations you had heard years before? What Crick and Mitchison are saying is that if you dream of an event after it happens, and you can't remember your dream, it's because you don't want to. Therefore, you dreamt about it in order to forget about it. These scientists have hypotheses of why we dream, and what the cause of dreaming is, but how can we understand the different kinds of dreams that we have each night, and whether or not we should pay attention to them? Do they have some hidden meaning, or no meaning at all for us? Nightmares, lucid dreams, and repetitive (reoccurring) dreams; what do they mean, and how should we react to them? Nightmares are the low life of dreams. They are dreams of pain, fear, and unexplained bad feelings ("Nightmares" 1). Nightmares resemble unresolved problems a person might have in his/her life, and can contain certain details to indicate what these problems might be (Swami 89). Many times, people will have nightmares about something traumatic that has happened in the past, which indicates a problem you still have. Although nightmares can haunt a person, they can be very beneficial believe it or not. Having a nightmare only indicates what a person is afraid of or having problems with, and should be thought about afterwards, if remembered. They give you symbolic insight on what probably needs to be worked on in your life and should be paid attention to. In most dreams a person cannot control what happens, but in a type of dream called a lucid dream, a person can alter what is happening without waking up ("Dream" 1). Steven LaBerge, a researcher of lucid dreams, said that lucid dreams allow a dreamer to do anything he/she wants; even overcoming a nightmare ("Lucid Dreams" 1). Throughout a lucid dream there are high and low levels of lucidity (mental clarity). A lower level allows a dreamer to change what they are doing to their liking, and everything seems completely real. During a higher level of lucidity the dreamer is completely aware that he/she is dreaming, and will most likely wake up soon. Because a person can control a dream when it is lucid, it's not really important to infer any significance from the dream. It's merely something the dreamer wants to be happening, not what could or should happen without the dreamer's control. The third, and last type of dreams people have are repetitive dreams, which occur over and over again. These dreams can be very beneficial. Repetitive dreams can pin point something in a dreamers life that they constantly think about, and usually don't have any complicated symbols to go along with them. For instance, if you're constantly dreaming about missing trains, you might simply be worried about missing trains (Boxer 4). In this situation, a dreamer can simply change his/her route to work, if they usually take the train, and most likely, the dream will cease. If a person is dreaming the same thing two or three times a week, it definitely has meaning, and should be noticed to an extent without going overboard. The dreamer should try changing one little thing in their life, and see if the dreams end. According to scientists and psychologists, dreaming is an important contribution of the mind, but they disagree about the causes and significance of dreams. The type of dream you have determines the significance of what you dream. Clearly, certain types of dreams should be considered more important than others and may alert you to significant events or thoughts in your daily life. However, attaching significance and meaning to every image in a dream could lead to unwanted situations, and erroneous interpretations, possibly changing the course of history! f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\The stages of Cognitive Development from the Piagetian point of view are the Sensorimotor Stage.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The stages of Cognitive Development from the Piagetian point of view are the Sensorimotor Stage (birth to two years of age), the preoperational stage (2 to 7 years), Concrete Operational stage (7 to 11 years) and finally the formal operational stage (11 years and up) · Senseorimotor Stage- which is from birth to two years of age. This stage involves learning to respond through motor activity to the array of stimuli that are a part of the senses. This primary stage is split into 6 substages. 1. Stage One (0-1 month) this is where infants begin to use and develop their reflexes. For example the baby will try to suck on any object that is in or around its mouth. 2. Stage Two (1-4 months) where the newborn repeats circular reactions. These reactions are things like thumb sucking, things that have to do with the infant's body. 3. Stage Three (4-8 months) this is where Secondary circular reactions take place. These secondary reactions are effects that the child sees and enjoys. An example of secondary circular reactions would be when a child shakes a rattle; he/she hears the noise from inside the toy and enjoys the sound. 4. Stage Four (8-12 months) this stage is called purposeful coordination of secondary schemes. This particular stage is where the baby's behavior has more of a meaning and purpose. Where the motor skills and sensory skills start to come together. This is a very active where the baby starts to crawl across the room and grabbing toys. 5. Stage Five (12-18 months) this certain stage is named Tertiary Circular reactions. This is where the child begins using trial and error, to try to learn new and different things. An example of this would be if a child were to touch a hot stove, through trial and error he/she will learn that the stove will burn them and to not touch it again. 6. Stage Six (18-24 months) this is the mental solution where the toddler begins to think and solve problems in their own way. This is also where some extensive language skills just begin to evolve. · Preoperational Stage- this is mainly the mental stage which involves much thought and logic. They deal with this deep thought process through using symbolic thinking. Trying to visualize what they want to do through pictures in their heads. This also is a very important time where language and communication will take place. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\ULYSSES S.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ULYSSES S. GRANT "Grant: a biography" by William S. McFeely. Published by: Norton,Ww Copyright 1981 Ulysses Simpson Grant, (1822-1885), American general and 18th President of the United States. Grant, the most capable of the Union generals during the Civil War, was a master strategist. He won the first major Union victories. President Abraham Lincoln staunchly defended him against critics and promoted him to command all Union forces. Grant accepted Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. However, Grant had no disposition for political leadership, and as president (1869-1877) he scarcely attempted to control events. He made injudicious appointments to public office, and official corruption tainted his administration, although Grant himself was not involved in the peculations. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822, and baptized Hiram Ulysses. The eldest son of Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant, he came from a family that, he proudly declared, had been American "for generations, in all its branches, direct and collateral." In 1823 his father moved his tanning business to Georgetown, Ohio, where "Lyss" spent his boyhood. His education at a grammar school in Georgetown, at Maysville Seminary in Maysville, Ky., and at the Presbyterian Academy of Ripley, Ohio, was superficial and repetitious, and the boy showed no scholarly bent. He became noted, however, for his sturdy self-reliance and for his ability to ride and control even the wildest horses. MILITARY LIFE In 1839, Jesse Grant secured for his son an appointment to the U. S. Military Academy. When he arrived at West Point he learned that he was on the muster roll as Ulysses Simpson Grant, through an error of the congressman who had nominated him. Finding it impossible to change this official listing, Grant accepted the inevitable and dropped Hiram from his name. "A military life had no charms for me," Grant said later, and his only purpose at the academy was "to get through the course, secure a detail for a few years as assistant professor of mathematics at the Academy, and afterwards obtain a permanent position as professor at some respectable college." Understandably, his West Point record was not spectacular. In 1843 he graduated in the middle of his class (21st in a class of 39), was commissioned brevet 2d lieutenant, assigned to the 4th U. S. Infantry, and sent to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Mo. There he began to learn his army duties and, even more important, met his future wife, Julia Dent, sister of a West Point classmate. The orders that sent Grant's regiment to the Southwest frontier in May 1844 temporarily interrupted his romance. Grant served with distinction in the Mexican War (1846-1848), a conflict that he privately deplored as an unjust war to extend slavery. Promoted on Sept. 20, 1845, to full 2d lieutenant, he took part in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Monterrey. Grant's commanding general in all these engagements was "Old Rough and Ready," Gen. Zachary Taylor, whose informal dress and lack of military pretension he was to copy in later years. In 1847, Grant's regiment was transferred to the army of Gen. Winfield Scott, and he participated in all the battles that led to the capitulation of Mexico City: Veracruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, where he was made 1st lieutenant for his bravery, and Chapultepec, where he was brevetted captain. Besides teaching Grant the practical lessons of warfare, the Mexican conflict gave him a personal acquaintance with most of the men who were later to command the Confederate armies. After the Mexicans surrendered, the American military establishment was drastically curtailed, and Grant was assigned to routine garrison duty. His four years at Sackets Harbor, N. Y., and Detroit, Mich., were pleasant, because Julia, whom he had married on Aug. 22, 1848, was with him. But in 1852, when the regiment was transferred to Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River, his wife and young family had to be left at home. Grant's next two years, spent in barracks life on the West Coast, were the most miserable in his career. His duties were dull and routine; his superior officer, Col. Robert Buchanan, rode him hard; his income was inadequate, and efforts to increase it by farming and cattle raising were unsuccessful. Most of all, he missed Julia, the one woman in his life. Like so many other peacetime officers of the period, Grant began drinking. Though he was promoted to a captaincy, he continued forlorn and unhappy, and a quarrel with Colonel Buchanan helped to precipitate his decision, on April 11, 1854, to resign his commission. Returning to Missouri, Grant settled his family on 80 acres of land given him by his father-in-law and tried to farm. With grim humor he called the place "Hard Scrabble," for he had to bear all the work of clearing the land, hauling wood, plowing, and cultivating his crop. After four years he abandoned farming and set up an unsuccessful real-estate business in St. Louis. In 1860 he moved to Galena, Ill., where he worked in his father's leather shop. Not particularly interested in politics, Grant was nominally a Democrat at this time; but when the South seceded, he had no trouble in making up his mind to support the Union cause. He helped organize the first company of Union volunteers in Galena and accompanied the men to Springfield. At the request of the Illinois governor, Richard Yates, he remained to muster in the new volunteer regiments, for his experience as quartermaster, commissary, and adjutant in the field made him invaluable. Grant longed for active duty, however, and on May 24, 1861, tendered his services to the U. S. government, suggesting modestly that he was "competent to command a regiment." Failing to secure such an appointment, he accepted from Governor Yates the command of the 21st Illinois Regiment, quickly brought it under excellent discipline, and did good service against guerrillas in Missouri. On Aug. 7, 1861, President Lincoln appointed Grant brigadier general of volunteers, and he took up headquarters at Cairo, Ill. Only a few days after he assumed his new command, he occupied Paducah, Ky., at the strategic junction of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. On November 7 he attacked the Confederates at Belmont, Mo., in an assault that was not well planned or executed. The arrival of Confederate reinforcements compelled him to retreat. The general was still learning his trade. In February 1862, after much persuasion by Grant, Gen. Henry W. Halleck, Grant's superior officer, authorized him to move against Forts Donelson and Henry, the Confederate positions guarding the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. With 17,000 men and a flotilla of gunboats under the command of Commodore Andrew Hull Foote, Grant captured Fort Henry on February 6 and promptly moved against Donelson 12 miles (19 km) away. When the Confederate commander there, Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner, asked for terms of capitulation, Grant replied tersely: "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." On February 16, Buckner surrendered with over 14,000 men. The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, the first major Union victories in the war, opened up Tennessee to the Federal armies. For the first time "Unconditional Surrender" Grant became prominent on the national scene. Despite Halleck's jealousy, Lincoln made him major general of volunteers. Grant's next important battle was at Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., on April 6-7, 1862. Early in the morning of April 6, Gen. Albert S. Johnston's Confederate army burst through the unfortified Union lines near Shiloh meetinghouse and threatened to drive Grant's men back into the Tennessee River. Historians differ on almost every aspect of the battle: whether Grant was at fault in being at Savannah, 9 miles (14 km) from Pittsburg Landing, at the beginning of the battle; whether Grant was surprised by Johnston; whether Union troops should have been entrenched; whether Grant was personally responsible for checking the Confederate advance; and whether the arrival of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's army saved the day for the Union cause. At any rate, on April 7 the Union forces recaptured the initiative and drove the Confederates back in great disorder. When the news reached the North, a storm of abuse broke out against Grant, who was blamed for this bloodiest battle yet to occur on the American continent, and it was falsely whispered that he had been drunk and negligent of his duty. But Grant also had defenders, among them Lincoln, who said simply, "I can't spare this man--he fights." On April 11, General Halleck arrived at Pittsburg Landing and took personal command of the army. In the ensuing campaign against Corinth, Miss., Grant occupied an ambiguous and humiliating position. Nominally second in command of the army, he was in fact ignored during the slow advance that occupied the Union troops until the end of May. When Halleck was called to Washington in July, Grant was left in command of the District of West Tennessee, holding a wide territory with few troops. He was, nevertheless, able to drive Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Confederates from Iuka, Miss., on September 19-20, and a part of his army, under Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, defeated Price and Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn at Corinth on October 3-4. On Oct. 25, 1862, Grant was made commander of the Department of Tennessee and was charged with taking Vicksburg, Miss., the principal Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. He first followed a rather conventional strategy, advancing with 30,000 men overland through Mississippi while sending Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman's troops down the river from Memphis. On December 20, Van Dorn destroyed Grant's principal supply base at Holly Springs; nine days later Sherman was bloodily repulsed at Chickasaw Bayou. Grant now faced the most important decision of his career. To pull back to Memphis and mount a new expedition would be an admission of defeat and a severe blow to Union morale. To any retreat Grant had an instinctive aversion. "One of my superstitions," he wrote, "had always been when I started to go anywhere, or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop until the thing intended was accomplished." He decided, therefore, "There was nothing left to be done but to go forward to a decisive victory." That is precisely what he did, in a plan as brilliant in conception as in execution. Abandoning the overland approach, Grant moved his army to the position Sherman had occupied across the Mississippi from Vicksburg and ostensibly busied his troops during the rainy winter months in constructing a canal bypassing Vicksburg, while beginning to gather supplies for a daring experiment. By April 1863 he was ready. He ran his provisions down the river under the guns of Vicksburg, marched his men through the backcountry, reached a position on the west bank of the Mississippi below Vicksburg, crossed over to high ground on the eastern side, and commenced operations behind the Confederate lines. Grant had cut himself off from communications and supplies from the North; his troops had to subsist on the country until victory. He drove inland to Jackson, Miss., held off a threatened attack from Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army to the north, and pushed Lieut. Gen. John C. Pemberton's troops on the west into the defenses of Vicksburg. After a regular siege, on July 4, 1863, Pemberton was obliged to surrender his 30,000 men. The victory was one of the most decisive in the war. It eliminated a major Confederate army from the conflict; it cut off the trans-Mississippi states from the rest of the Confederacy (the capture of Port Hudson, La., by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks promptly followed); and it brought to the attention of the Northern government and people the ablest Union general of the war. President Lincoln wrote Grant a personal letter of congratulations and nominated him major general in the Regular Army. Grant's next major engagements saw him in a different field of operations. In September the Confederate general, Braxton Bragg, defeated Rosecrans at Chickamauga and placed the Union army in Chattanooga under virtual siege. Grant was summoned to the rescue. He acted promptly: Rosecrans was replaced by Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas; Sherman's troops were ordered to march east; a "cracker line" was opened to bring in desperately needed food for the garrison; and reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac were speedily moved west by rail. By the end of November, Grant was prepared to take the offensive. On November 24, Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker cleared Lookout Mountain of Confederates, and on the following day Thomas' men stormed Missionary Ridge. Bragg retired, demoralized, to Dalton, Ga. Grant's new victory made him the man of the hour, and he was brought to Washington to receive the personal thanks of the President, a gold medal voted by Congress, and the newly created rank of lieutenant general commanding all the armies of the United States. Grant looked anything but a hero. He was, as Richard Henry Dana observed, "a short, round-shouldered man, in a very tarnished ... uniform. ... There was nothing marked in his appearance. He had no gait, no station, no manner, rough, light-brown whiskers, a blue eye, and rather a scrubby look withal." But behind the unprepossessing exterior and the modesty of manner lay a powerful strategic genius. Grant now gave to the Union armies something they had never had before, a concerted plan of action. He ordered simultaneous movements (commencing May 4, 1864) of all the Union armies--Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac, which he personally accompanied; Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the James; Sherman's Army of the Tennessee; and Banks' troops in Louisiana. Throwing enormous concentrated force against the enemy, Grant planned to batter the Confederates constantly and, if only through attrition, to compel their surrender. The advance of Meade's army into the Virginia Wilderness was skillfully parried by Gen. Robert E. Lee's strategy, but undeterred by the appalling loss of 17,666 men; Grant gave the enemy no rest. At Spotsylvania Court House and on the North Anna, Lee again fended off Grant's sledge-hammer blows. At Cold Harbor, Grant ordered a direct assault on the Confederate lines, only to lose 6,000 men in an hour's fighting. Though he was wearing down the Confederates, he had failed to defeat Lee in a single engagement. His prestige plummeted, and enemies in the North began to call him "Grant the Butcher," careless of his men's lives. Grant continued to hammer away. On June 12 he shifted his base, adroitly withdrew from Lee's front, and crossed the James River. Failing to capture Petersburg by surprise, he settled down to a regular siege. From June 18, 1864, to April 2, 1865, the Army of the Potomac was engaged chiefly in mining, sapping, assaulting, cutting Lee's transportation lines, and sending out flanking expeditions. But while Grant was starving Lee in Richmond, Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan was devastating the valley of Virginia, and Sherman's army, far to the south, was burning a trail of desolation through Georgia. In the spring of 1865, Grant was ready for the final push. Sheridan's victory at Five Forks (April 1, 1865) was the beginning of the end. The next day when Grant assaulted the Confederate right, Lee was obliged to abandon Richmond and Petersburg and march west, hoping to join the army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. Grant cut off his retreat, and a series of running battles made it clear that further resistance was useless. On April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Lee capitulated. Grant's terms were magnanimous, and Lee accepted them without question. Seventeen days later Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman, and the Civil War was over. THE PRESIDENT Given the grade of full general (newly created) in 1866, Grant oversaw the sale of wartime surpluses, had the Indian frontier policed, and protected the gangs constructing the transcontinental railroad. The most ticklish part of his postwar duties related to the reconstruction of the Southern states. At first he was inclined to be easygoing with the ex-Confederates; and when President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor, sent him on a fact-finding tour of the South in 1865, he reported that the "mass of thinking men of the south" were willing to accept their defeat. But Johnson's pro-Southern policy and the outbreak of renewed violence and rioting in the former Confederacy disturbed the peace-loving general. Despite growing doubts, Grant accompanied Johnson on his "swing round the circle" in 1866, an attempt to publicize presidential reconstruction plans. On Aug. 12, 1867, when Johnson suspended Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, Grant agreed to act as secretary ad interim. During the next five months he served rather uncomfortably in the cabinet; but when the Senate refused to concur in the suspension of Stanton, he resigned. While the President publicly accused him of bad faith, Grant drifted into the Radical Republican camp, supported the impeachment of Johnson, and became the obvious Republican candidate for the presidency in 1868. He easily defeated the Democratic candidate, Horatio Seymour, and won 214 out of the 294 Electoral votes. Grant was not a politician, and he entered the presidency with no real comprehension of the powers and duties of his office. For his Cabinet he picked not the strong leaders of his party but personal friends, such as Secretary of War John Aaron Rawlins, or wealthy men who had contributed to his campaign chest, such as Secretary of the Navy Adolph Edward Borie. His famous motto, "Let us have peace," was a slogan, not a program of executive action. Grant explicitly denied any intent to exert leadership over Congress and his party; he had no policy "to enforce against the will of the people," he declared. For the eight years that he occupied the White House, therefore, one is obliged to speak of the events of Grant's administration, not of the actions of the president. On questions of Southern reconstruction, Grant acquiesced in the plans of the Radicals to enfranchise blacks. Half-hearted efforts to enforce the 14th and 15th amendments proved futile, and not even the Force Acts of 1870-1871 put down Ku Klux Klan violence in the South. By 1876 most blacks had been driven from the polls, and the former Confederate states were becoming the solidly Democratic South. In financial matters Grant followed conservative Republican economic theorists who deplored the inflated paper money issued during the war. One of the first important measures to receive his signature was an act declaring the government's ultimate intention to redeem these greenbacks in coin. Grant's financial ignorance led him to serve as a dupe of the unscrupulous Jay Gould and James Fisk in their attempt to corner the gold market in 1869. But when he discovered their scheme, he ousted the lesser officials whom they had bribed, ordered prompt sale of government gold, and on Black Friday (September 24) broke the corner. Later, not even the panic of 1873 shook Grant's distrust of inflation, and in 1875 he signed a bill pledging the resumption of specie payments in January 1879. On foreign policy, Grant generally followed the advice of his cultivated, aristocratic secretary of state, Hamilton Fish. Through Fish's caution, Grant's desire to recognize the belligerence of Cuban insurgents (who had set up a republic in 1869) was curbed. His one independent effort at making foreign policy, his plan to annex Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), led to a rupture with Charles Sumner, powerful chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and annexation was defeated in the Senate (1870). In a treaty with Great Britain in May 1871, Fish settled the Alabama and other claims arising from British aid to the Confederacy during the Civil War. Later, he also secured a peaceful adjustment of the Virginius crisis with Spain in 1873. Grant's Southern policy alienated the former Confederates; his financial policy discouraged debt-ridden Western farmers who desired inflation; and his foreign policy outraged Sumner and some other Republican leaders. Nevertheless, his popularity with the masses was unimpaired in 1872, and the regular party bosses enthusiastically urged his renomination. Dissident Liberal Republicans and Democrats joined in nominating Horace Greeley as his opponent, but Grant was triumphantly elected for a second term, receiving 286 of the 349 electoral votes. Grant's second four years in the White House were not happy ones. A storm of scandal, which had started while the campaign was still under way, broke about his head. Leading Republican congressmen and officials were involved in railroad scandals; his whole party was implicated in the "salary grab" act (February-March 1873), which retroactively increased the pay of congressmen and the executive; and his secretary of war, William Worth Belknap, shared in Indian agency frauds. The president's private secretary, Orville E. Babcock, had a hand in the Whiskey Ring peculations, and Grant, refusing to doubt his integrity, supported him to the last. Grant himself was not involved in the corruption, but when his close advisers proved faithless, the popular conviction grew that he was a failure as president. The more completely the Republican Party was discredited, however, the more firmly did party stalwarts like Roscoe Conkling, Zachariah Chandler, and Oliver P. Morton cling to Grant as the one man who could bring victory at the polls. Their attempt to run him for a third term had Grant's assent and Mrs. Grant's enthusiastic approbation, but the Republican National Convention of 1876 refused to break with precedent and nominated Rutherford B. Hayes. In the disputed election that followed, Grant's presence in the White House had a steadying effect and discouraged hotheaded supporters of both Hayes and the Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden. LAST YEARS Upon leaving office, Grant made a tour of the world with his wife and youngest son, during which he was treated not as a discredited president of the United States but as the triumphant victor of the Civil War. After two years of travel, he returned more than ever interested in a third term, which now seemed possible because Hayes did not seek reelection. At the Republican National Convention in 1880 in Chicago he had 306 supporters, organized by Conkling; but a coalition of his opponents gave the nomination to James A. Garfield on the 36th ballot, and Grant's political career was ended. The last years of Grant's life were sad ones. Admirers collected a fund of $250,000, which they placed in trust for him; when the securities in which the fund was invested became worthless; however, he was so hard up for money that he had to sell his wartime swords and souvenirs. He became a partner in the brokerage firm of Grant & Ward, but like all his previous business ventures, it failed (May 6, 1884) and he went into bankruptcy. A move to have him restored to the rank of general, which he had resigned to run for the presidency, met political opposition and was not approved until the last day of Chester A. Arthur's administration (March 3, 1885). Grant had only a few months to enjoy the salary that Congress thus voted him. Afflicted with a cancer of the throat, the general was heroically trying to provide for his family during these last years. The success of an article on the Battle of Shiloh, which he wrote for the Century Magazine in 1884, led him to plan writing his own account of the war in which he had played so large a part. In his sickroom at Mount McGregor near Saratoga, N. Y., he composed the two volumes of personal recollections that remain one of the great war commentaries of all times. Published by Mark Twain, the Personal Memoirs ultimately brought the Grant family nearly $450,000 in royalties. Grant himself did not live to reap the reward. Exhausted from his heroic battle, he died quietly at Mount McGregor on July 23, 1885, and his body eventually found its last resting place in the great mausoleum (dedicated 1897) in New York City overlooking the Hudson River. William S. McFeely is a very well known historical writer. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for his biography on Ulysses S. Grant. He has written more than 8 books on the Civil War. These include: Proximity to Death, Sapelo's People: A Long Walk into Freedom, and Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Not only does McFeely give a good historical background of Grant, he makes points about his life and draws conclusions that add a lot to the book. I thought the book was very good. I found that he originally did not want to be a military man but instead wanted to be a college professor. McFeely's conclusions can sometimes be a little annoying and seem too much like literature instead of history but, surprisingly, after researching the book from multiple sources very few of McFeely's points are incorrect. I thought that the book got a little long after the section on his military career was over. But, how can politics be as interesting as military achievement? f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\UPLOADING YOUR BRAIN.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UPLOADING YOUR BRAIN... "I'm sorry, Jim, but I just don't think it's right for a man's atoms to be scattered all over creation and then brought back together again. It's just not right." (Character, Dr. Leonard McCoy, original Star Trek series) I wonder what Bones would have to say about swallowing, or being injected with billions of microscopic robots, or nanobots, to enter into a three dimensional cyberspace - a virtual reality environment or to enable him to live forever? In an article that could be taken from a Star Trek: Voyager script, I think Dr. Kurzweil is proposing the coming of the perpetual human as a result of nanobot technology. I guess it's not that strange a conception for science and sci-fi to be bedfellows. It's actually quite exciting to see some of the fantastic ideas once seen only in the entertainment media come to fruition. I just wish they'd work on the teleporting theory so that commuting would become a thing of the past. It would sure help the ozone layer. In due time, I suppose, but I don't know if I'm ready for an energizer bunny type of human being. Neural implants are now being used to counteract tremors from Parkinson's disease as well as multiple sclerosis. Cochlear implants are helping the deaf to hear and a retinal implant is now underway in the hopes that the blind may one day see again, or for the first time. Along those lines, Dr. Kurzweil, believes that nanobot based implants will enhance the human brain and in effect I believe, create a race of super intelligent humans. At present, the nanobots cannot be made small enough. But he states that in 30 years we will be able to miniaturize (shades the movies Fantastic Voyage and Inner Space) them and send billions of the blood cell sized scanning machines through every capillary of the brain to create a complete noninvasive scan of our every neural feature. Perhaps noninvasive on a physical level, but what about our emotional and spiritual levels? Right now we find our rights being stepped on more and more as the federal government takes control of areas in which we should be governing ourselves. When governments, extremist groups and terrorists get hold of this of kind of technology the results will be devastating. Mind boggling, if you will. Instead of bugging your phone or house you could be slipped a "nanobot mickey" and the "spy nanobots" could monitor, from within, every move you make or control your thoughts and actions. Talk about the ultimate violation. They could be put in the food or water supply of an entire population. Forget cryogenics or cloning. If you combine cybernetic and nanobot technologies you could upload your knowledge and experiences into a computer and then be put into a cybernetic body (the Bionic Man/Woman meet Bicentennial Man) you could, quite conceivably, live forever. But, would you want to? I might if I could outrun a car and eat all the cheeseburgers and chocolate cake I wanted without gaining an ounce! Seriously, though, I doubt that I would. I personally do not feel comfortable with the human race having access to this kind of knowledge. We're not exactly the most stable of species. I want to live my 'natural' life in my biological body as I was meant to. Not some man made super body. Dr. Kurzweil regards the freeing of the human mind from its severe physical limitations as a necessary next step in evolution. He sees it as moving us inexorably closer to becoming like God. Maybe God had a very good reason for our physical limitations. No, I'd rather take the natural, age-old approach to God myself - dying as we were meant to do. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Verbal aggression.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Verbal aggression is message behavior which attacks a person's self-concept in order to deliver psychological pain.(Infante, 1995) Studies of verbal aggression have focused primarily on children and adolescents in educational and social settings. Very few studies were found to examine verbal aggression in adults in the workplace.(Ebbesen, Duncan, Konecni, 1974) The consequences of verbal aggression in the workplace can lead to social isolation, job related stress, health related problems, as well as problems in career advancement. It therefore should be considered important, for the individual and management, to identify and address the causes of verbal aggression. This program attempts to understand verbal aggression by 1) identifying the various functions of verbal aggression. 2) identifying the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. 3) Avoiding the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. Method Subject The subject, Shirley J., is a 49 year old African American female. Shirley J. has several advanced degrees and is employed as a school psychologist in a metropolitan school district. She is married with two adult children. The subject readily agreed that the target behavior, verbal aggression, is a problem as it interferes with her relationships with others. She was enthusiastic in her desire to reduce, if not eliminate, this behavior. It would seem that self-monitoring for verbal aggression and antecedent control would be valuable as it would allow for consistent avoidance of verbal aggression. As a school psychologist the subject was very familiar with the basic principles of applied behavioral analysis and frequently offered programmatic suggestions. A behavioral contract was developed jointly between the therapist and subject. The contract outlined the target behavior, success criteria, and individual responsibilities of the therapist and subject. (see Appendix A) Apparatus A basic checklist was used to document the frequency of verbal aggression on a daily basis. The checklist was designed to track only the occurrence of the behavior. It was felt by the therapist that the content of the verbally aggressive message would be too open for subjective interpretation and that no meaningful data would be gained from such documentation. In addition the subject made frequent comments of significant success or failure in avoiding verbal aggression for discussion with the therapist. The weekly discussions were used to evaluate the appropriateness of the procedures used and make any necessary adjustments to the program. Procedure For the first two weeks of the program no intervention was applied. Given that the subject self-reported that verbal aggression was a problem it was important to determine if the frequency of the behavior merited intervention. Therefore, the subject documented the daily frequency of verbal aggression. The results of the baseline period revealed a high rate of verbal aggression. (see Appendix B) Given the results of the baseline data as well as the demanding, often stressful, nature of the subjects job, it was mutually agreed that reducing verbal aggression would be the focus of the program. Verbal aggression was defined as cursing, yelling, and screaming at others. The agreed upon goals of the program was to decrease verbal aggression by 75% of baseline for four consecutive weeks. Treatment would consist of identifying and avoiding the antecedent conditions to verbal aggression. Avoidance of the antecedents is considered less restrictive, more proactive, and most effective. During the initial consultation it was determined that the antecedent conditions included, but was not limited to: work stress, time of day, verbal behavior of others (ie. tone of voice, inflection of voice and content of conversation, etc.), and non- verbal behavior of others (ie. facial expression, body posture, eye contact, etc.). In addition, the subject was required to self monitor for the following antecedents: clenched fists, tight jaw, rapid heart beat, and the emotions of anger, frustration and disappointment. Lastly, it was suggested by Infante (1995) that appropriate strategy must be taken to prevent verbal aggression from escalating. Successful avoidance of the antecedent conditions consisted of removing oneself from stressful situations, when possible, as well as not responding verbally when provoked. Weekly consultation revealed that verbal aggression was most often used to: 1) Escape demand situations. 2) Avoid demand situations. 3) Relieve job stress. The subject was to document the frequency of verbal aggression and record the circumstances of significant success or failure during the work week for discussion at weekly consultation sessions. A schedule of reinforcement was developed for the subject. The reinforcement was to be given for successful avoidance of verbal aggression. Reinforcement included: five minutes alone for 'quiet time', when possible, or a short, silent prayer. Considering the stress and escalating nature of verbal aggression time alone was considered appropriate for 'cool down'. If time alone was not possible or convenient the subject would say a short prayer when provoked. Results The results of the baseline phase revealed what was considered an extraordinarily high rate of verbal aggression. However, after the first week of data collection it was realized that verbal aggression was not operationally defined. The subject considered verbal aggression on much broader terms than did the therapist which included subjective, rather than objective, behavior observations. Weekly consultation sessions revealed that cursing was the most common manifestation of the target behavior. When correctly defined using objective terms a decrease in verbal aggression was noted. Based on the results of baseline data it was mutually agreed that 4 to 8 episodes of aggression per day was significantly high and merited intervention. The results of the intervention phase of treatment revealed a sharp increase of verbal aggression over the first three weeks. This increase is thought to be due to extinction. Afterwards, a gradual decrease of verbal aggression was noted during weeks 4 through 9. No data was collected during week 10 due to subject illness. The treatment phase ended with a weekly average of one episode of verbal aggression. After week five the subject stated that she no longer delivered the reinforcement after the behavior. She reported that the ability to control her emotions was in itself reinforcing and would maintain the behavior. Discussion The results of this program show that verbal aggression can be successfully decreased by identifying and avoiding its antecedent conditions. As stated previously, the subject used verbal aggression for escape from demanding or difficult situations, relief from stress, and avoidance of demanding or difficult situations. The behavior appears to be maintained through positive reinforcement. Because the subject is in a position of some power and influence there were relatively few consequences for the behavior. Ebbesen, Duncan and Konecni (1974) suggested that verbal aggression could be reinforced and maintained in such a manner. Since the most common form of verbal aggression was cursing, the method of identifying and avoiding the antecedents proved very successful. Infante (1995) used a similar method with young students. When replicating this program it may be appropriate to focus on the positive behavior rather than the negative. Instead of documenting the frequency of verbal aggression it may have been better to document the frequency of successful avoidance of verbal aggression. In this way we would help to internalize the strategy to maintain the behavior, as well as having a more positive and constructive program. A question raised by Golin and Romanowski (1977) was is there a sex difference in the rate and target of verbal aggression. Although this question was not investigated in the current program, it does raise an intriguing question for future study. References Ebbessen, E. B., Duncan, B., & Konecni, V. J. (1974). Effects of Content of Verbal Aggression: A Field Experiment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 11, 192-204. Golin, S., & Romanowski, M. (1977). Verbal Aggression as a Function of Sex of Subject and Sex of Target. Journal of Psychology, 97, 141-149. Infante, D. A. (1995). Teaching Students to Understand and Control Verbal Aggression. Communication Education, 44, 51-63. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Violence and Pornography.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Violence and Pornography Pornography -- Sex or Subordination? In the late Seventies, America became shocked and outraged by the rape, mutilation, and murder of over a dozen young, beautiful girls. The man who committed these murders, Ted Bundy, was later apprehended and executed. During his detention in various penitentiaries, he was mentally probed and prodded by psychologist and psychoanalysts hoping to discover the root of his violent actions and sexual frustrations. Many theories arose in attempts to explain the motivational factors behind his murderous escapades. However, the strongest and most feasible of these theories came not from the psychologists, but from the man himself, "as a teenager, my buddies and I would all sneak around and watch porn. As I grew older, I became more and more interested and involved in it, [pornography] became an obsession. I got so involved in it, I wanted to incorporate [porn] into my life, but I couldn't behave like that and maintain the success I had worked so hard for. I generated an alter-ego to fulfill my fantasies under-cover. Pornography was a means of unlocking the evil I had burried inside myself" (Leidholdt 47). Is it possible that pornography is acting as the key to unlocking the evil in more unstable minds? According to Edward Donnerstein, a leading researcher in the pornography field, "the relationship between sexually violent images in the media and subsequent aggression and . . . callous attitudes towards women is much stonger statistically than the relationship between smoking and cancer" (Itzin 22). After considering the increase in rape and molestation, sexual harassment, and other sex crimes over the last few decades, and also the corresponding increase of business in the pornography industry, the link between violence and pornogrpahy needs considerable study and examination. Once the evidence you will encounter in this paper is evaluated and quantified, it will be hard not come away with the realization that habitual use of pornographic material promotes unrealistic and unattainable desires in men that can leac to violent behavior toward women. In order to properly discuss pornography, and be able to link it to violence, we must first come to a basic and agreeable understanding of what the word pornography means. The term pornogrpahy originates from two greek words, porne, which means harlot, and graphein, which means to write (Webster's 286). My belief is that the combination of the two words was originally meant to describe, in literature, the sexual escapades of women deemed to be whores. As time has passed, this definition of pornography has grown to include any and all obscene literature and pictures. At the present date, the term is basically a blanket which covers all types of material such as explicit literature, photography, films, and video tapes with varying degrees of sexual content. For Catherine Itzin's research purposes pornogrpahy has been divided into three categories: The sexually explicit and violent; the sexually explicit and nonviolent, but subordinating and dehumanizing; and the sexually explicit, nonviolent, and nonsubordinating that is based upon mutuality. The sexually explicit and violent is graphic, showing penetration and ejaculation. Also, it shows the violent act toward a woman. The second example shows the graphic sexual act and climax, but not a violent act. This example shows the woman being dressed is a costume or being 'talked down' to in order to reduce her to something not human; such as a body part or just something to have sex with, a body opening or an orifice. Not only does 'erotica' show the entire graphic sexual act, it also depicts an attraction between two people. Her research consistently shows that harmful effects are associated with the first two, but that the third 'erotica', is harmless (22). These three categories basically exist as tools of discerning content. Although sometimes they overlap without a true distinction, as in when the film is graphic in the sexual act and also in violence, but shows the act as being a mutual activity between the people participating. In my view, to further divide pornography, it is possible to break it down into even simpler categories: soft and hard core pornography. Hard core pornography is a combination of the sexually explicit and violent and the sexually explicit and nonviolent, but subordinating and dehumanizing categories, previously discussed. Soft core pornography is thought to be harmless and falls into the category known as 'erotica'; which is the category based on mutuality. In hard core pornogrpahy, commonly rated XXX, you can see graphic depiction's of violent sexual acts usually with a man or group of men, deriving sexual gratification from the degradation of a woman. You can also see women participating in demoralizing sexual behavior among themselves for the gratification of men. In a triple-X movie all physical aspects are shown, such as extreme close-ups of genitalia, oral, vaginal, and anal penetration, and also ejaculation. Much of the time emphasis is put on the painful and humiliating experience of the woman, for the sole satisfaction of the male. Soft core pornography, or X-rated pornography, is less explicit in terms of what is shown and the sexual act is usually put in the light of mutual enjoyment for both the male and female parties(Cameron and Frazer 23). Triple-X pornography is manufactured and sold legally in the United States. Deborah Cameron and Elizabeth Frazer point out that other forms of hard core pornography that have to be kept under wraps, made and sold illegally in underground 'black' markets. These are ultraviolent, 'snuff', and child pornography. Ultraviolent tapes or videos show the actual torture, rape, and sometime mutilation of a woman. 'Snuff' films go even future to depict the actual death of a victim, and child pornography reveals the use of under-age or pre-pubescent children for sexual purposes (17-18). These types of pornogrpahy cross over the boundaries of entertainment and are definitely hard core. Now that pornography has been defined in a fashion mirroring its content, it is now possible to touch upon the more complex ways a community, as a society , views or defines it. Some have said it is impossible for a group of individuals to form a concrete opinion as to what pornography means. A U.S. Supreme Court judge is quoted as saying, "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it" (Itzin 20). This statement can be heard at community meetings in every state, city, and county across the nation. Community standards are hazy due to the fact that when asked what pornography is to them, most individuals cannot express or explain in words what pornography is, therefore creating confusion among themselves. Communities are left somewhat helpless in this matter since the federal courts passed legislation to keep pornography available to adults. The courts assess that to ban or censor the material would be infringing on the public's First Amendment Right (Carol 28). Maureen O'Brien quotes critics of a congressionally terminated bill, the Pornography Victim's Compensation Act, as saying "That if it had passed, it would have had severely chilling effects on the First Amendment, allowing victims of sexual crimes to file suit against producers and distributors of any work that was proven to have had 'caused' the attack, such as graphic material in books, magazines, videos, films, and records" (7). People in a community debating over pornography often have different views as to whether or not it should even be made available period, and some could even argue this point against the types of women used in pornography: "A far greater variety of female types are shown as desirable in pornography than mainstream films and network television have ever recognized: fat women, flat women, hairy women, aggressive women, older women, you name it" (Carol 25). If we could all decide on just exactly what pornography is and what is acceptable, there wouldn't be so much debate over the issue of censoring it. The bounds of community standards have been stretched by mainstreaming movies, opening the way even further for the legalization of more explicit fare (Jenish 53). In most contemporary communities explicit sex that is without violent or dehumanizing acts is acceptable in American society today. These community standards have not been around very long. When movies were first brought out, they were heavily restricted and not protected by the First Amendment, because films then were looked upon only as diversionary entertainment and business.Even though sexual images were highly monitored, the movie industry was hit so hard during the Great Depression that film-makers found themselves sneaking in as much sexual content as possible, even then they saw that 'sex sells' (Clark 1029). Films were highly restricted throughout the 30's, 40's, and 50's by the industry, but once independent films of the 60's such as: "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Whose afraid of Virginia Woolfe?" (Clark 1029-30), both with explicit language, sexual innuendo, and violence started out-performing the larger 'wholesome' production companies, many of the barriers holding sex and violence back were torn down in the name of profit . Adult content was put into movies long ago, we have become more immune and can't expect it to get any better or to go away. Porn is here for good. Pornography is a multi-million dollar international industry, ultimately run by organized crime all over the world, and is produced by the respectable mainstream publishing business companies (Itzin 21). Although the publishing companies are thought to be 'respectable', people generally stereotype buyers and users of pornographic material as 'dirty old men in trenchcoats', but most patrons of adult stores are well-educated people with disposable income (Jenish 52). Porno movies provide adults of both genders with activities they normally wouldn't get in everyday life, such as oral pleasures or different types of fetishes. Ultimately adult entertainment is just a quick-fix for grown-ups, as junk-food would be for small children. Pornography's main purpose is to serve as masturbatory stimuli for males and to provide a sexual vent. Although in the beginning, society saw it as perverted and sinful, it was still considered relatively harmless. Today there is one case studie, standing out from the rest, that tends to shatter this illusion. The study done my Monica D. Weisz and Christopher M. Earls used "eighty-seven males . . . that were randomly shown one of four films", by researchers William Tooke and Martin Lalumiere: "Deliverance, Straw Dogs, Die Hard II, and Days of Thunder", for a study on how they would react to questions about sexual violence and offenders after watching. In the four films there is sexual aggression against a male, sexual aggression against a female, physical aggression, and neutrality-no explicit scenes of physical or sexual aggression. Out of this study the males were more acceptable of interpersonal violence and rape myths and also more attracted to sexual aggression. These same males were less sympathetic to rape victims and were noted less likely to find a defendant guilty of rape (71). These four above mentioned movies are mainstreamed R-rated films. If a mainstream movie can cause this kind of distortion of value and morality, then it should become evident that continuous viewing/use of pornographic films depicting violent sex and aggression could lead vulnerable persons into performing or participating in sexual violence against their partners or against a stranger. Bill Marshall, psychology professor at Queen's University and director of a sexual behavior clinic in Kingston, interviewed one-hundred and twenty men, between the years 1980 and 1985, who had molested children or raped women. In his conclusion he found that pornography appeared to be a significant factor in the chain of events leading up to a deviant act in 25% of these cases (Nicols 60). The results of this study should prove that pornography obviously has a down side to it. According to Mark Nicols, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, Neil Malamuth, concludes quite cautiously that some messages combined with other factors, including the viewer's personality type, in pornography can lead to antisocial behavior and make individuals less sensitive to violence. Dr. Marshall also quotes men in Nicols article as saying, "that they looked at pornography with the intent to masturbate, but then became aroused, and decided to go out and assault a woman or child." Men who are drawn into pornography and use it frequently, have also been proven to suggest more lenient prison terms for sex offenders" (60). If this previous statement is true, should we reevaluate how many men serve on juries for these trials? Itzin gives possible support for these theories. It can be found in the case of an ex-prostitute who had her pubic hair removed with a jackknife and was forced by her pimp to be filmed reenacting what they had seen in pornographic movies; she was sexually assaulted and forced to have intercourse with animals, generally dogs. Another such case is one of a woman who reports having metal clips attached to her breasts, being tied to a chair, and being raped and beaten continuously for twelve hours (22-24). The dehumanizing, degradation, and reduction of a woman's body isn't just a result of viewed pornography, it is often inseminated into the production of a pornographic project. During the making of "Deep Throat", a 1970's pornographic film, Linda Marchiano (a.k.a. Linda Lovelace), was presented to the public as a liberated woman with an ever present and unfulfilled appetite for fellatio. What isn't known to the general public is that during the making of the movie, she was hypnotized to suppress the natural gagging reaction, was tortured when caught trying to escape, and also held at gun-point by her boss, who threatened her with death (Itzin 22). Ms. Marchiano did escape and when her story was told, it was repeated by a number of women in the pornography business. According to D'Arcy Jenish many children are lured into the pornography industry by choosing first to model. These young teen's egos are boosted when they are told "[they have good bodies]", and are asked "if they work out?". More often than not, they are told "to take off [their] shirts", and then asked "Do you feel nervous?" (36). These youngsters honestly don't know when too much is too much, and what they don't know could put them in serious danger. Calvin Klein, once known for being a reputable clothing designer, is now known for his racy ads using teens. Some feel he crossed the line when he chose this type of advertising. Jenish observes that these advertisements "featured an array of . . . teen-aged models dressed in loose jeans or hiked-up skirts, one showing bare breasts, others offering androgynous models kissing" (36). If adults in positions of power act this way, these youngsters cannot expect other adults to act any differently. Therefore they accept this type of behavior as normal. Diana Russell claims that tactics like these are being used more often in advertising and television, which has led media watchdogs and anti-porn activists to believe that this sort of masked imitation of pornography tricks mainstream television viewers into having an "everybody's doing it" attitude about pornography. She also feels that this attitude subconsciously leads them into seeking pornography out (39). We need to show the younger generation that everyone is not doing 'it', and that it is all right not to have sex if they feel pressured. Another problem anti-pornography activists believe arises from regular viewing of pornography, is the acceptance of "rape myths". Rape myth is a term pertaining to people's views on rape, rapists, and sexual assaults, wherein it is assumed that the victim of a sexual crime is either partially or completely to blame (Allen 6). To help understand the rape myth a "Rape Myth Acceptance Scale" was established, which lists some of the most prominent beliefs that a person accepting the rape myth has. They are as follows: 1. A woman who goes to the home or apartment of a man on their first date implies that she is willing to have sex. 2. One reason that women falsely report a rape is that they frequently have a need to call attention to themselves. 3. Any healthy woman can successfully resist a rapist if she really wants to. 4. When women go around braless or wearing short skirts and tight tops, they are just asking for trouble. 5. In the majority or rapes, the victim is promiscuous or has a bad reputation. 6. If a girl engages in necking or petting and she lets things get out of hand, it is her own fault if her partner forces sex on her. 7. Women who get raped while hitchhiking get what they deserve. 8. Many women have an unconscious wish to be raped, and may then [subconsciously] set up a situation in which they are likely to be attacked. 9. If a woman gets drunk at a party and has intercourse with a man she's just met there, she should be considered "fair game" to other males at the party who want to have sex with her too, whether she wants to or not (Burt 217). Pauline Bart reports that studies held simultaneously at UCLA and St. Xavier College on students, demonstrate that pornography does positively reinforce the rape myth. Men and women were exposed to over four hours of exotic video (of varying types; i.e. soft, hard core, etc.) and then asked to answer a set of questions meant to gage their attitudes of sex crimes. All the men were proven to be more accepting to rape myths, and surprisingly, over half of the women were also (123). Once again, the women in these films were portrayed as insatiable and in need of constant fulfillment. After so much exposure to women in this light from films and books, it is generally taken for granted that women should emulate this type of behavior in real life(125). comment? Of all the studies and examples from real life situations connecting pornography with violent behavior and sexual aggressiveness, none are more concrete than the activities the Serbian military are part of every day now in the Bosnian war. Part of the "ethnic cleansing" process the Serbs are practicing in Bosnia involves the gang-raping of all Muslim and Croatian women. Andrea Dworkin states that it is mandatory for the Serbian soldiers to rape the wives and female children of Muslim men. Concentration camps are set up as brothels where women are ordered to satisfy the soldiers in the most painful and dehumanizing ways imaginable. The women in these camps are taped with cam-corders and the videos are displayed everywhere throughout the camps to lower the woman's will and need to resist. Were do the soldiers get the inspiration to commit these crimes, from commercial pornography. Serbian troops are basically force-fed porn; it is present all through training and is made readily available to (even pushed upon) the soldiers. They are basically asked to "watch and learn". After the seed is planted not much is needed to be done, because they are naturally instilled with the desire to repeat what they have seen, and are not concerned with the feelings of the women. They have seen that some women have no feelings and are meant to be used merely for sexual gratification (M2-M6). To add insult to injury, some of the tapes of these women being victimized have entered the black market, being sold internationally, possible infecting the minds of millions. Pornogrpahy has enamored itself as a large part of our modern society. It is seldom discussed and often hidden as a dirty secret, but porn still seems to play a major part in the shaping of our morals and behaviors. Although some say pornography is relatively harmless, a considerable larger group seem to uphold the assumption the porn works in negative and disruptive ways on those who view it and participate. Nearly all the research supports this assumption, so it is evident the the topic is in need of much more examination and debate. Even though the majority of modern society views pornography as objectionable and sometimes obscene, there are some that do not agree with the assumption that pornography is guilty of the defamation of women and their sexual roles. Social observationalists, such as Mary White, at the University of Michigan often agree with her statement on the part women play in pornogrpahy which explains that "since most pornographic material plays up to male fantasy, women are usually the aggressors, hence women are given a semblance of empowerment. Also, the majority of these women in the material are very attractive, therefore seen as the forms of beauty and desire, something to be respected and worked for" (72). Although White may not realize it, this statement reinforced most of the arguments made in support of the notion that pornography is subordinating and degrading to women. By saying that being sexually aggressive gives a woman empowerment, she limits a woman's ability to reach empowerment to sexual activity alone, and by claiming that the use of attractive women in pornographic material lends to a view of women being desirable, she inadvertently excludes women that don't fit society's mold of the model physical female, (i.e. overweight, small breasted, short, etc.). Most of the arguments similar to White's follow the same line of reasoning, and are easily broken down in the same manner as hers. In regards to pornogrpahy perpetuating violent acts toward women, pornography defenders claim that the use of pornographic material can act as a cathartic release, actual lessening the likelihood of males committing violent acts. The reasoning is that the pornogrpahy can substitute for sex and that the 'want' to commit sexual crimes is acted out vicariously through the pornographic material (Whicclair 327). This argument, however, does not explain the crimes committed by serial killers like Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacey, who regularly viewed pornography during the lengths of their times between murders and rapes (Scully 70). By saying that pornogrpahy would reduce harm to women through cathartic effects, pornography defenders display a large lack in reasoning because through their argument the rise in the production of pornography would have led to a decrease in sexual crimes, but as has been shown previously, that simply is not true. Pornographers and pornography defenders proclaim that the link between pornography and violence is exaggerated and that the research linking pornography to sexual crimes is inconclusive. They state that the fundamentals of sex crimes are found inherently in the individuals and that the sexual permissiveness of American society cannot be blamed on the increase of pornography's availability (Jacobson 79). David Adams, a co-founder and executive director of Emerge, a Boston counseling center for male batterers, states, "that only a minority of his clients (perhaps 10 to 20 percent) use hard-core pornography. He estimates that half may have substance abuse problems, and adds that alcohol seems more directly involved in abuse than pornography" (Kaminer 115). The statement made by Adams and the view that pornography does not contribute to the act of sex crimes is heavily outweighed, however, by the various studies connecting violence and pornography. Bill Marshall's observations on his patients and the examples of individual crimes originating from pornography, show this acclimation to be invalidated. Some also say that attacks on pornography merely reflect the majority of feminist's disdain for men, cynically stating that people who fear pornography think of all men as potential abusers, whose violent impulses are bound to be sparked by pornography (114). Researcher Catherin MacKinnon, says that "pornography works as a behavioral conditioner, reinforcer, and stimulus, not as idea or advocacy" (114). However, this idea is proven to be false by the use of pornography in and by the Serbian military. This example shows that pornography does advocate sex crimes and that ideas of sexual violence are able to be stemmed from the viewing of pornography. Pornography has become to most just another one of those cold, nasty facts of life that cannot be stopped, so some choose to ignore it. This attitude has to change. After reviewing the abuse and subordination delegated to women as an almost indisputable result of the mass infiltration of pornography into modern society, it should be impossible for someone not to want to do something about it. What can be done is for those concerned to try to spread the word and educate others as much as possible to the dangers of this sort of material. If people knew the roots of some of their more violent behavior, it could be deminished, thus protecting the future and health of our communities. From its inception, in most cases, pornography is a media that links sexual gratification and violence together. This fact can only lead a rational mind to the conclusion that a chain of events will begin, combining sex and violence further in the minds of those who watch pornography and will ensure an unhealthy attitude towards women and their sexual identities. Only through discussion and individual action can the perpetuation of the negative impacts of pornography be swept from the closets and dark corners of the American household. Works Cited Allen, Mike. "Exposure to Pornography and Acceptance of Rape Myths." Journal of Communication. Winter, 1995: 5-21. Bart, Pauline B., and Patricia H. O'Brien. Stopping Rape: Successful Survival Strategies. New York: Pergamon Press, 1985. Burt, M. "Cultural Myths and Supports for Rape." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 38 (1980): 217-230. Cameron, Deborah, and Elizabeth Frazer. The Lust to Kill. New York: New York UP, 1987. Carol, Avedon. "Free Speech and the Porn Wars." National Forum. 75.2 (1985): 25-28. Clark, Charles S. "Sex, Violence, and the Media." CQ Researcher. 17 Nov. 1995: 1019-1033. Dworkin, Andrea. "The Real Pornography of A Brutal War Against Women." Los Angeles Times. 5 Sept. 1993, M2+. Itzin, Catherine. "Pornogrpahy and Civil Liberties." National Review. 75.2 (1985): 20-24. Jacobson, Daniel. "Freedom of Speech Acts? A Response to Langton." Philosophy & Public Affairs. Summer 1992: 65-79. Jenish, D'Arcy. "The King of Porn." Maclean's. 11 Oct. 1993: 52-56. - - - - "Did Sexy Kalvin Klein Ads Go Too Far?" Maclean's. 2 Oct. 1995: 36. Kaminer, Wendy. "Feminists Against the First Amendment." The Atlantic Monthly. Nov. 1992: 111-118. Leidholdt, Margaret. Take Back The Night: Women on Pornography. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1980. Nicols, Mark. "Viewers and Victims." Newsweek. 10 Aug. 1983: 60. Russell, Diana E.H., ed. Making Violence Sexy: Feminist View on Pornography. New York: Teachers College Press, 1994. Webster's Dictionary. Miami Florida. P.S.I. & Associates. 1987: 286. Weisz, Monica G., and Christopher M. Earls. "The Effects of Exposure to Filmed Sexual Violence on Attitudes Toward Rape." Journal of Interpersonal Violence. March 1995: 71-84. Whicclair, Mark. R. "Feminism, Pornography, and Censorship." Contemporary Moral Problems. ed. James White. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 1994. White, Mary. "Women As Victim: The New Stereotype." Spin. Apr. 1992: 60-65. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\What is borderline personality disorder.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ What is borderline personality disorder Borderline personality disorder "is defined in the DSM IV, a manual used by psychiatrists to diagnose all mental disorders, as an AXIS II disorder which has symptoms of impulsively and emotional dysregulation" (Livesley 146). A person with BPD have feelings of abandonment and emptiness, and have "frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, going to extremes to keep someone from leaving" (Burger 300). He or she is emotionally unstable and forms intense but unstable interpersonal relationships. They show impulsive behavior, such as spending money, sex, eating and substance abuse. Borderlines engage in self-manipulating behaviors and recurrent suicide attempts and thoughts. "Their behavior can be seen as maladaptive methods of coping with constant emotional pain" (Livesley 144). "Personality includes those aspects of a person's thinking, moods and behavior which affect his or her relationship with others" (Livesley 98). Differences in personality style (traits) add color and variety to relationships but may become too extreme, inflexible or maladaptive, significantly impairing a person's ability to function. When a person is not able to deal with people or problems of the environment, he or she is said to have a Personality Disorder (Livesley 99). "Originally the term borderline was used to refer to individuals whose adjustment was on the borderline between normal and psychotic" (Holmes 393). Today borderline personality disorder is primarily marked by instability, showing different symptoms at different times. Most of the symptoms revolve around problems of mood, mild disturbance in thought processes, and impulsive self-injurious behavior (Holmes 393). All of this prevents the borderline to have interpersonal relationships. Individuals with the borderline personality disorder tend to have intense relationships that are very unstable. "Frequent interpersonal conflict, unstable, stormy relationships are characteristics of a borderline; Relationships usually have "love and hate characteristics" (Durand 334). Individuals with this disorder do not simply drift in and out of friendships, but instead show abrupt, frequent and dramatic changes between "intense love and equally intense hate" (Durand 334) in any one relationship. The fluctuations in their mood, involved with their anger; involved with their thought disturbances, and mixed with their paranoid thoughts about betrayal and abandonment by others; as well as their impulsiveness make it difficult to maintain relationships with others. Borderlines have problems with their mood. Their mood is not manic, but alternates between normal and flat to moderate or severe depression (Livesley 150). These individuals also go through periods of intense anger that can interfere with effective social functioning. Persons with borderline personality disorder are very vulnerable, and usually over-react to stress. These individuals usually form unstable and intense 'love-hate' relationships, either a person or situation is "all-good", or if any problems occur, "all-bad'" (Durand 273). "The borderline's anger usually alienates a relationship yet the borderline will make frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment" (Burger 299). People with BPD angrily fear the abandonment of their friend or loved one and have episodic angry outbursts in fear that the person might abandon him or her. Recent research has shown that medications can significantly relieve the suffering of borderline patients when used in combination with psychotherapy (Livesley 145). Individuals with the borderline personality disorder experience thought disturbances. The thinking of a borderline show to have "unusual perceptions" that include illusions, "a mistaken or distorted perception" (Chaplin 220), and depersonalization, "a pathological condition in which the individual experiences a feeling that he or his body is unreal" (Chaplin 122). Individuals with this disorder show to have "black - white thinking, difficulty seeing the "gray" in situations or compromising." (Durand 139). "The instability of mood, thoughts, interpersonal relationships and behavior that is characteristic of the borderline personality disorder has led some theorists to believe that individuals with this disorder have a problem with identity" (Holmes 222). Identity is "the individual self" (Chaplin 218). That is, the instability reflects the lack of any real sense of self or self-direction, and indeed these individuals report a feeling of emptiness (Durand 144). Individuals with BPD show self-mutilating and suicidal behavior. The self-mutilating is a serious symptom but not well understood. It involves "burning of one skin with a cigarette, carving up one's body with a razor blade, making deep scratches with the finger nails, sandpapering the skin or pouring acid on oneself" (Durand 147). This behavior does not seem to want to result in death but self-mutilation is often done to feel or experience themselves as real (Durand 147). "Stress related dissociate symptoms such as paranoia; feeling as if they are losing touch with reality; feeling victimized; unable to accept responsibility" (Burger 562) can also cause a borderline to mutilate himself. The suicidal behavior stems from the feelings of depression and impulsively. Intense emotional instability, rapidly changing short-term moods and anxiety, chronic feelings of emptiness, sadness or depression may all lead to suicide attempts, or brief psychotic episodes. The borderline personality disorder is diagnosed most frequently in women than in men (Livesley 156). One question in the research of borderline personality disorder is whether this is one disorder or a combination of schizophrenia and a mood disorder. One argument by Livesley is that the borderline disorder may be a "low-grade" combination of schizophrenia and a mood disorder that is further complicated by problems with impulse control. BPD is estimated to affect 2 - 3 % of the general population, 11% of the patients seen in outpatient clinics and as many as 20% of the hospitalized psychiatric patients (inpatients)(Livesley 157). About 8 - 10% of the people with this disorder die by suicide. "BPD, difficult to diagnose, is often misdiagnosed as schizotypal or schizo-affective disorder, depression, bipolar disorder or anti-social personality disorder" (Burger 600). BPD plays a major role in many issues of public health such as substance abuse, domestic violence, gambling, shop lifting, sex addiction, AIDS, homelessness, child abuse, and adult and adolescent suicides. A significant number of people with BPD can be found in prisons or jails (Burger 600). Those with BPD are heavy users of mental health services because of frequent hospitalizations and emergency room visits due to suicide attempts. Brief use of anti-anxiety medication may be required to relieve the episodic, intense anxiety of borderline patients (Livesley 144). "Latest research indicates that BPD is a biologically based disorder of the emotional regulation system which may be due to genetic, the environment or a combination of these two factors" (Livesley 150). These biological "vulnerabilities" may place a person at increased risk for developing BPD given certain developmental factors such as prenatal stresses, infections, nutritional deficits or stressful events in the early family environment (Livesly 160). Other family members may often have BPD, Major Depression, Bipolar Illness, or problems with addiction that may affect a person's personality. "Serotonin, a chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) in the brain, that is important in regulating mood and aggressive, impulsive, and suicidal behavior" (Livesley 162). Abnormal levels of serotonin in the brain may impair the ability to control one's impulses and increase the chance of suicide (Durand 150). "Dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, is involved in regulating awareness of the environment and other higher information processing tasks" (Livesley 165). Abnormal levels of dopamine in the brain may make it difficult in relating to other people, social isolation and sometimes in distorted perceptions of the world (Durand 150). Medications may reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, irritability, and paranoid thoughts. "A single "one-size-fits-all" medication for BPD does not exist yet (Burger 603). Symptoms can be reduced with monitoring of the medication and psychoanalysis of the patient because the symptoms of a borderline are constantly changing. "Recent research studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of individual cognitive behavioral therapy along with group psychoeducation and skills training that teach emotional regulation skills, distress tolerance, improved interpersonal relationship behaviors and awareness (mindfulness); This, combined with careful medication management, may allow the patient to achieve significant progress" (Burger 603). When taught skills to regulate their emotions and tolerate distress, people with BPD can do better. Traditional psychotherapy, a long-term process, may have uncertain results. It is important that the person with BPD be motivated to change life long ways of behaving and "be able to tolerate uncomfortable feelings during treatment where new problem solving and communication skills are taught" (Burger 604). "Patients with BPD are currently the most stigmatized in the mental health system" (Livesley 111). Apparently the greatest sin a client can commit is poor response to treatment. Borderlines are very inconsistent when in treatment and for this reason many doctors choose not to treat these individuals. Recognizing signs and symptoms is not always easy. Sometimes symptoms can go unnoticed or are misunderstood. "Persons with BPD may often be thought of as manipulative or as attention-seeking (Burger 134). They can sometimes "act as if" they are okay. "People with BPD need validation and acknowledgment of the pain they struggle to live with as well as compassion without blame or judgments (Durand 99). Family members should always take suicidal statements and threats seriously and alert a mental health professional as soon as possible. "Education for family members cannot be stressed enough (Durand 99). Families need to learn all they can about BPD so that they can advocate for appropriate treatment for their loved ones. Informed families are then better able to deal with the stigma often encountered from mental health professionals. Instability might not even do borderlines justice, (Burger 199) chaotic is the best word to describe the life of a borderline. Their lives are intense their friendships abrupt. BPD is extremely painful to the patients, their families and to society. People with BPD experience intense emotions and are very vulnerable. They are among the most intensive and extensive utilizes of mental health services. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Who Am I.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Who Am I? The amount of research that has been conducted about adoptees and their problems with identity development is enormous. Many of the researchers agree on some of the causes of identity formation problems in adolescent adoptees, while other researchers conclude that there is no significant difference in identity formation in adoptees as birth children. This paper will discuss some of the research which has been conducted and will attempt to answer the following questions: Do adoptees develop identity formation difficulties during adolescence? If so, what are some of the causes of these unpredictable changes? And finally does the role of te adoptive parent play a crucial role in the adoptee's identity devolpment? The National Adoption Center reports that fifty-two percent of adoptable children have attachment disorder symptoms. It was also found that the older the child when adopted, the higher the risk of social maladjustment (Benson, 1998). This is to say that a child who is "adopted during infancy to a loving home, usually progress' rapidly, especially in the cognitive development" (Myers, 1999). Myers also states that "babies reared in constitutions without the stimulation of a regular care-giver are often withdrawn, frightened even speechless. This may be due in part to the probability that an infant will learn how to trust, where as a ten-year-old may have more difficulty with this task, depending on his history "The quality of attachment and the foundational sense of basic trust that derives from it, sets the stage for significant developmental outcomes concerning the individual's sense of self participation in relationship" (McRoy 1990 ). Eric Erickson, a developmental theorist, discusses trust issues in his theory of development. The first of Erickson's stages of development is Trust v. Mistrust which takes place during infancy. A child who experiences neglect or abuse can have this stage of development severely damaged. An adopted infant may have the opportunity to fully learn trust, where as an older child may have been shuffled from foster home to foster home as an infant, thereby never learning trust. Even though Trust v. Mistrust is a major stage of development, "the greatest psychological risk for adopted children occurs during the middle childhood and adolescent years" (McRoy. 1990). As children grow and change into adolescents, they begin to search for an identity by finding anchoring points with which to relate. This is the fifth stage of Erickson's model, which is called Identity v. role confusion. This is the time when "teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused about who they are. The gradual re-shaping of self-definition that unifies the various selves into a consistent and comfortable sense of who one is, is an identity" (Myers.1999). Unfortunately, adopted children do not have a biological example to which to turn (Horner & Rosenberg, 1991), unless they had an open adoption in which they were able to form a relationship with their biological families as well as their adoptive ones. Also key to the development of trust is the ability to bond with adoptive parents. The absence of a biological bond between the adoptee and adoptive parents may cause trust issues in the adoptee (Wegar, 1995). Baran (1975) stated, "Late adolescence . . . is the period of intensified identity concerns and is a time when the feelings about adoption become more intense and questions about the past increase." Unless the adopted child has the answers to these arising questions, identity formation can be altered and somewhat halted. McRoy. (1990) agrees with this point: Adolescence is a period when young people seek an integrated and stable ego identity. This occurs as they seek to link their current self-perceptions with their 'self perceptions from earlier periods and with their cultural and biological heritage' (Brodzindky, 1987). Adopted children sometimes have difficulty with this task because they often do not have the necessary information from the past to begin to develop a stable sense of which they are. " By the very institution of adoption, guilt, shame, and rejection may shape the adolescents emerging sense of self and identity" (Wegar. 1995). They often have incomplete knowledge about why they were relinquished and what their birth parents were like, and they may grieve not only for the loss of their birth parents but for the loss of part of themselves. In essence, it seems that the adolescent's identity formation is impaired because he holds the knowledge that his "roots" or his "essence" have been severed and remain on the unknown side of the adoption barrier. For example, adopted persons might feel that they are missing a crucial piece of their personal history because of lack of knowledge about their birthparents and consequently might find the process of identity development longer and more complex" (McRoy.1990). The identity struggles of the adolescent are "part of a human need to connect with their natural clan and failure to do so may precipitate psychopathology" (Wegar, 1995). In most of the studies surveyed, the researchers are in agreement about one fact. Vital to the adopted adolescent's identity development is the knowledge of the birth family and the circumstances surrounding the adoption. Without this information, the adolescent has difficulty deciding which family (birth or adopted) he resembles. During the search for an identity in adolescence, the child may face an array of problems including "hostility toward the adoptive parents, rejection of anger toward the birth parents, self-hatred, transracial adoption concerns, feeling of rootlessness . . .." (McRoy. 1990). While searching for an identity, adolescent adoptees sometimes are involved in a behavior which psychologist's term 'family romance.' This is not a romance in a sexual manner, but rather a romance in the sense of fantasizing about birth parents and their personal qualities. Horner and Rosenberg (1991) stated that "the adopted child may develop a family romance in order to defend against painful facts." Often times, adoptees wonder why they were adopted, and because closed-adoptions are common, the adoptee is left with many unanswered questions about the circumstances of the adoption. The adoptee may have a tendency to harbor negative feelings about himself, feeling like he was unwanted, bad, or rejected by the birth parent. These feelings can be quite powerful, so the adoptee will engage in this family romancing behavior in order to offset the negative feelings and try to reconcile his identity crisis. This point is stressed by Horner and Rosenberg (1991) when they write, "The painful reality to be confronted by adoptees is that their biological parents did not want, or were unable, to find a way of keeping and rearing their own child. The children feel that they were either 'not meant to be' or 'intolerable' . . .." Finding an identity, while considering both sets of parents is a difficult task for the adolescent. The adoptee does not want to hurt or offend his adoptive parents, and he also does not want to ignore what is known about his biological roots. Horner and Rosenberg (1991) write: Adoptive status may represent a developmental interference for children during adolescence. Instead of the usual struggles over separation and the establishment of a cohesive sense of self and identity, the adopted child must struggle with the competing and conflictual issues of good and bad parents, good and bad self, and separation from both adoptive parents and images of biological parents. If all adoptions were open, the adoptee would have the ability to know about the traits of each family. He would have an easier task of forming an identity for himself, rather than struggling with the issues of to whom he can relate. If the adolescent has some information about his birth parents, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion, Horner and Rosenberg (1991) believe that the following can happen: "From the bits of fact that they possess, adopted children develop and elaborate explanations of their adoptions. At the same time, they begin to explain themselves, and they struggle to develop a cohesive and realistic sense of who they are and who they can become." It appears that if the adoptee has even a minimal amount of information about his birth parents and adoption, he will have an easier time with identity formation than an adoptee who has no information about his adoption. The adoptive parents can also play a key role in aiding in identity formation of the adopted adolescent. Much of the research I surveyed at least touched upon the role of the adoptive parents. "Kornitzer stated that the more mysterious the adoptive parents make things for the child the more he will resort to fantasy" (Baran. 1975). This is yet another argument for open adoptions. Again, if the child knows the circumstances of his adoption and other pertinent information about his biological roots, he will have an easier time forming an identity in adolescence. It is also noted that, "young adoptees are vulnerable to feeling 'different' or 'bad' due to the comments and actions of others" (Wegar, 1995). This is to say that the child will feel more accepted, and that his adoption is not a stigma if his adoptive parents have the conviction that being adopted does not make the family 'bad', and it does not mean that the adoptive parents are failures because they could not have biological children. Sometimes the negativity of adoptive parents about the circumstances of the adoption can be sensed by the adoptee, thus causing the adoptee to believe that there is something wrong with being adopted. Once again, this can cause identity development problems, especially if the adolescent believes that he is inferior or bad because he is adopted and not raised in his biological family. "The literature on adopted children has long documented particular and sometimes intense struggles around identity formation, and suggests that in many ways adopted children follow a different developmental course from children who are raised by their biological parents" (Horner and Rosenberg, 1991). In conclusion, it is difficult to say who is right in their beliefs about adoptees and identity formation. The research here mostly proves that adoptees do have quite a bit a difficulty forming an identity during adolescence, and that this difficulty can be due to a number of factors. Negative parental attitudes about adoption can have a negative affect on the adoptee. The issue of open versus closed adoptions will forever be a debate, but the research does show that the more an adoptee knows about his birth family and the circumstances surrounding his adoption, the easier it will be for him to form an identity during adolescence. Family romance, I believe is the ability to fantasize about the birth family which may be a healthy option for the adolescent who is the victim of a closed adoption. It allows him to construct a view of what his birth family is like, and it also allows him to relieve himself of some of the internal pain, which is caused by closed adoptions. Overall, most of the literature supported the notion that adoptees do indeed have identity formation problems. Works Cited Baran, A., Pannor, R., & Sorosky, A. (1975). Identity Conflicts in Adoptees. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 45(1), 18-26. Benson, P., McGue, M., & Sharma, A. (1998). The Psychological Adjustment of United States Adopted Adolescents and Their Nonadopted Siblings. Child Development, 69(3), 791-802. Cote, A., Joseph, K., Kotsopoulos, S., Oke, L., Pentland, N., Sheahan, P., & Stavrakaki, C. (1988). Psychiatric Disorders in Adopted Children: A Controlled Study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 58(4), 608-611. Horner, T., & Rosenberg, E. (1991). Birthparent Romances and Identity Formation in Adopted Children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61(1), 70-77. McRoy, R., Grotevant, H., Furuta, A., & Lopez, S. (1990). Adoption Revelation and Communication Issues: Implications for Practice. Families in Society, 71, 550- 557. Myers, David G. (1999). Exploring Psychology Fourth Edition. New York, New York. Wegar, K. (1995). Adoption and Mental Health: A Theoretical Critique of the Psychopathological Model. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65(4), 540- 548. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\WHY ARE INDIVIDUALS AGGRESSIVE.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHY ARE INDIVIDUALS AGGRESSIVE? Aggression is difficult to define, it is a complex phenomenon, and depending upon the context the term can be made to carry either positive or negative connotations, it can be attacking behaviour that may be either self-protective and self-assertive or to the infliction of injury toward oneself or toward others, to the total destruction of others. Is aggression biological determined or the product of learning and environmental influences.? This essay, will consider instinctive theory, the frustration - aggression hypothesis, and social learning theory. It should then be possible to draw a conclusion to see if any or all of the theories discussed are the cause of aggression. Brain disorders, hormonal and chemical imbalances, environmental factors, such as heat, noise, air pollution and overcrowding, although contribute to the causes of aggression will not be discussed during the course of this essay. No universally adopted definition of aggression exists, for the purpose of this discussion, the definition of Gross will be used. Gross defines aggression as :- "The intentional infliction of some form of harm on others" (Gross page 444) Freud proposed that aggression is an instinctive biological urge. According to Freud this instinct, is made up of the libido (pleasure) and "Thanatos" (the death wish) (pain). This basic instinct is present in the Id from birth, at first the aggression is relatively uncontrolled, but with the development of the Ego and superego it becomes channelled into socially acceptable behaviour If these impulses are not released periodically in safe ways, they soon reach dangerous levels capable of producing acts of violence. Sometimes it is released in the form of physical or verbal abuse against another, (where the anger is displaced onto another). Sometimes the aggressive impulse is turned inward and produces self - punishment action, even suicide. The best that can be hoped for, according to Freud, is that aggressive impulses will be "channelled into socially acceptable forms." such as football, sport etc. (Bernstein et al page 715). However, this theory does not explain why some people are aggressive and others are not, and if aggression is dissipated into sport, why is there football violence and violence at other sporting events? Lorenz, like Freud believed that aggressive energy builds up in the individual, and eventually has to be discharged in some way. Lorenz's states that aggression is the "fighting instinct" in man, and that man is naturally aggressive. This instinct developed during the course of evolution because it yielded many benefits, for example, fighting serves to disperse populations over a wide area, ensuring maximum use of resources. "Such behaviour often helps to strengthen genetic make-up of a species by assuring that only the strongest individuals manage to reproduce", ( Baron/Byrne page 328) This fighting instinct is both present in man and animals, and that aggression in animals is do with 'Ritualization and appeasement' and through these rituals and series of appeasements animals avoid destroying each other, but aggression in humans, is 'no longer under the control of rituals, and it has become distorted in man" (Gross page 445). However nearly all the evidence of Lorenz's theory comes from research with animals, and many psychologist "doubt whether the results apply to humans, because in the animal world instinct plays a more significant role than with humans". ( Berstein et al page 716). Further It is generally agreed by looking at present day Eskimos, Pygmies, and Aborigines, that man is a 'hunter - gatherer'. and that there is a powerful human tendency to cooperate which is a legacy from our ancient hunting past, when we had to co-operate or starve. People then lived in small tribal groups, were warfare did not exists, there were no armies, and if conflict did occur, from time to time, casualties would be avoided or limited. Mead argues that man is "not naturally aggressive" and points out many societies, such as the Apraesh of New Guinea where 'aggression is rare, and "peaceful coexistence and cooperation is the norm" (Bernstein page 715) Megargee (1966) , supported the theories of Freud and Lorenz, Megargee reported that studies of "people who commit brutal aggressive crimes, are often over-controlled individuals, who repress the anger and over a period of time the pressure to be aggressive builds up". (Gross page 450). Support for instinct theory has also come from Psychologist who study serial killers, they believe that there is genetic pre-disposition to be aggressive, and combined together with other factors, can aggravate a pre-disposition to violent aggressive behaviour. The psychologist also pointed out, that more evidence for this theory comes from studies of twins reared together or apart, which suggest that there may be a genetic link to aggression in humans. (Channel 4 Television ). Other psychologist emphasised frustration as a potent cause of why individuals are aggressive. Dollard and Miller developed a "frustration - aggressive hypothesis" they put forward the view that aggression was an inevitable consequence of frustration. The 'occurrence of aggressive behaviour always presupposes the existence of frustration and the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression' If an individual is prevented from reaching a goal, they are frustrated by not getting something they want, or suffers "deprivation" where something they want is taken away from them, they will experience an increase in aggression. (Hardy/Heyes page 171) This view has been criticized, psychologist point out that it does not explain aggressive behaviour in all circumstances. Frustrated individuals do not always respond with aggressive action, they may show "resignation and despair" (Baron/Byrne page 329), and there are many occasions when aggressive behaviour can be explained more by a breakdown in social norms. Berkowitz suggested "external conditions, serve to arouse a strong motive to engage in harm producing behaviour," (Baron/Byrne page 329) and that frustration produces not aggression, but a "readiness to respond aggressively". Once this readiness exists, cues in the environment, that are associated with aggression, will often lead a frustrated person to behave aggressively. "Cues such as guns, knives, violent television scenes. Neither the frustration alone or the cues alone are sufficient to set off aggression, but when combined however, they do." Berkowitz went on to say that "unexpected failure at some task tends to create a more intense negative reaction then a failure that is expected". Support for Berkowitz theory is very strong. Studies have found that "frustration may facilitate aggression. and experiments have supported this". (Berstein et al page 718) On the other hand, several experiments have reported that frustration sometimes may actually tend to reduce the level of aggression shown by the individual. Existing evidence points to the conclusion that whether frustration increases or fails to enhance aggression, depends on whether the frustration is intense and whether the aggression is seen as 'just' or 'illegitimate'. However, few researchers currently hold the view that "frustration always leads to aggression", frustration is simply one of many different causes of aggression (Baron/Byrne page 329) When you look at the frustration hypothesis, it seems that practically any incident of aggression can be ascribed to frustration of acquisitiveness or "assertiveness. Gentry 1970 said that "frustration does not always produce aggression, sometimes it produces depression and withdrawal, and not all aggression is preceded by frustration" ( Berstein et al page 718) According to Leaky and Lewis (1977), "cultural influences are far more important determinants of human aggression than biological factors." Any potential for aggression that man has, is "culturally overridden and re-packaged into behaviour which fits current circumstances. In most cases, cultural forces teach or support non-aggression, but when pro-social aggression is necessary (disciplining children, and wrong doers,) cultural process teach and sustain it". (Gross page 446) Bandura, Baron, and Zillmann argue that aggressive behaviour is a "learned form of social behaviour, acquired and maintained" in much the same manner as other forms of social activity. (Baron/Byrne page 362) Elicitors of aggression such as personal insults, status threats, and the presence of weapons are all learned sources of aggressive behaviour. Many responses are learned by watching others, further, aggressive actions are often followed by rewards and are therefore likely to be repeated. Bandura said that children were capable of learning aggressive behaviour as a result of being exposed to it, because children tend to imitate what they see. Bandura exposed school children to a film of an adult behaving aggressively toward an inflated doll, ( "Bobo Doll ") Following exposure the children tended to imitate the aggressive behaviour. These finding, Bandura believed, showed that young children learn to be aggressive against others, and that aggressive acts would be imitated. In contrast, critics pointed out, Bandura's experiments were too artificial, that the Bobo Doll was designed specifically to be hit and that the children were aware of this, so maybe they were just expressing the behaviour that was expected of them. Although Bandura was has been criticized, his findings has led to considerable research into the influence of violence in the mass media, especially television, on promoting aggressive behaviour, and there is a growing body of research evidence which indicates that watching violent television is linked to increased tendencies towards subsequent aggression. Support for the modelling and imitation theory comes from Patterson (1976) who found that "aggressive behaviour is frequently reinforced in the home". (Biechker/Hudson page 415) A young child who finds that anger and aggression are more effective in gaining what they want and which can enable them to control resources such as toys and parental attention, is having his aggression reinforced. Further, "aggressive parents who discipline with physical force act as models for their children and are likely to encourage aggression in their children towards other people" (Hardy/Heyes page 163). Children learn aggression by observing others behave aggressively, and this is supported by a recent national survey by the N.C.H. Action For Children which found that in families where there has been domestic violence, children imitate the aggression they witness between their parents, and "33 per cent of children in homes where the father was violent, became aggressive towards their mothers themselves". (The Guardian Newspaper). To summarise, ethologists treat aggression as an evolutionary determined instinct, which was necessary for survival. The frustration-aggression model looks beyond the individual, seeing the tension as being triggered by factors in the environment which prevent the individuals attempts to reach a goal. Both the instinctive and the frustration -aggression models suggest that it is something about the individuals psychological make-up which causes aggression, and individual aggressive impulses are triggered by personality dynamics, such as ego, need or frustration, and in which the aggressive drives/impulses build up, and must be dissipated in some way. On the other hand, Social learning theorist view aggressive acts as responses learned through observations and imitation of others and by positive reinforcement for the behaviour. Also, mans cultural heritage and his experience of socialization, and the many traits or characteristics possed by the individual is an important factor in determining his aggressive behaviour. In conclusion,, the reason as to why the individual is aggressive, has many possible sources. It has been suggested that aggression springs from basic drives. However, there is little evidence that supports the catharsis view, that aggression depends on a build up of energy which must be released in some way. On the other hand, there is a large body of research evidence that supports the view that exposure to aggressive models can stimulate similar behaviour among observers. People who behave aggressively act as aggressive models, and through such action can influence others to act in a similar manner. So it can be seen, that there are views that point towards a pre-disposition towards aggression, while others would indicate either frustration, or a learned form of behaviour as to the cause of aggression. It is proposed, that it is more likely that an individual will be aggressive if all of these criteria are met to some degree or other, however, the greater emphasis should be placed upon learnt behaviour. It would seem strange if we, unlike all other mammals, were not genetically equipped to defend ourselves or our children when under attack, and it would be surprising if we lacked the urge to assert ourselves to some degree in competitive social situations. However, the claim that for man all is learned and nothing is genetically inherited, gives the impression that society can be moulded into any shape and a human being is merely a blank canvas in which anything could be written upon.. In answer to the question, why are individuals aggressive? It is clear that there is no single cause as to why an individual is aggressive, many factors contribute to the occurrence of aggression. and that aggressive behaviour has multiple, interlinked causes. BIBLIOGRAPHY Baron,RA, and Byrne, D, Social Psychology, Bernstein, D.A., et al International Student Edition, Houghton Miffin Company 1991, 3rd Edition Biechler, RF, and Hudson, L.M, Developmental Psychology, Longman Inc. 1972 Dobson, CB, et al, Understanding Psychology, Butler & Tanner Ltd 1993 Gregory,RL, The Oxford Companion to the Mind, Oxford University Press 1987 Gross Hardy, M, and Heyes, S, Beginning Psychology 3rd edition Butler & Tanner 1987 Mussen, P, et al, Psychology An Introduction, Heath & Company 1973 Channel 4 Television , To Kill and Kill Again, A Scientific Analysis of Serial Killers, January 4th 1995 The Guardian Newspaper, Violent Children, Tuesday January 24th 1995 f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Why IQ Tests Don.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Why IQ Tests Don't Test Intelligence The task of trying to quantify a person's intelligence has been a goal of psychologists since before the beginning of this century. The Binet-Simon scales were first proposed in 1905 in Paris, France and various sorts of tests have been evolving ever since. One of the important questions that always comes up regarding these tools is what are the tests really measuring? Are they measuring a person's intelligence? Their ability to perform well on standardized tests? Or just some arbitrary quantity of the person's IQ? When examining the situations around which these tests are given and the content of the tests themselves, it becomes apparent that however useful the tests may be for standardizing a group's intellectual ability, they are not a good indicator of intelligence. To issue a truly standardized test, the testing environment should be the same for everyone involved. If anything has been learned from the psychology of perception, it is clear that a person's environment has a great deal to do with their cognitive abilities. Is the light flickering? Is the paint on the walls an unsettling shade? Is the temperature too hot or too cold? Is the chair uncomfortable? Or in the worst case, do they have an illness that day? To test a person's mind, it is necessary to utilize their body in the process. If everyone's body is placed in different conditions during the testing, how is it expected to get standardized results across all the subjects? Because of this assumption that everyone will perform equally independent of their environment, intelligence test scores are skewed and cannot be viewed as standardized, and definitely not as an example of a person's intelligence. It is obvious that a person's intelligence stems from a variety of traits. A few of these that are often tested are reading comprehension, vocabulary, and spatial relations. But this is not all that goes into it. What about physical intelligence, conversational intelligence, social intelligence, survival intelligence, and the slew of others that go into everyday life? Why are these important traits not figured into intelligence tests? Granted, normal standardized tests certainly get predictable results where academics are concerned, but they should not be considered good indicators of general intelligence because of the glaring omissions they make in the testing process. To really gauge a person's intelligence, it would be necessary to put them through a rigorous set of real-life trials and document their performance. Otherwise the standardized IQ tests of today are testing an extremely limited quality of a person's character that can hardly be referred to as intelligence. For the sake of brevity, I will quickly mention a few other common criticisms of modern IQ tests. They have no way to compensate for cultural differences. People use different methods to solve problems. People's reading strategies differ. Speed is not always the best way to tackle a problem. There is often too much emphasis placed on vocabulary. Each of these points warrants individual treatment, and for more information refer to The Triarchic Mind by RJ Sternberg (Penguin Books, 1988, p18-36). It is possible to classify all the reasons that IQ tests fail at their task into two main groups. The first grouping is where the tests assume too much. Examples of this flaw are the assumption that speed is always good, vocabulary is a good indicator of intelligence, and that different test taking environments won't affect the outcome. The second grouping comes because the tests gauge the wrong items. Examples of this are different culture groups being asked to take the same tests as everyone else, and the fact that the tests ignore so many types of intelligence (like physical, social, etc). These two groupings illustrate where the major failings of popular IQ tests occur and can be used as tools for judging others. IQ tests are not good indicators for a person's overall intelligence, but as their use has shown, they are extremely helpful in making predictions about how a person will perform in an academic setting. Perhaps the problem comes in the name intelligence tests when it is obvious this is not what they really are. The modern IQ test definitely has its applications in today's society but should be be used to quantify a person's overall intelligence by any means. f:\12000 essays\psychology (157)\Will Lowman.TXT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Will Lowman No one has a perfect life. Everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem as long as possible, while some attack the problem to get it out of the way. Willy Lowman's technique in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman, leads to very severe consequences. Willy never really does anything to help the situation, he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to happier times were problems were scarce. He uses this escape as if it were a narcotic, and as the play progresses, the reader learns that it can be a dangerous drug, because of it's addictiveness and it's deadliness. The first time Willy is seen lapsing off into the past is when he encounters Biff after arriving home. The conversation between Willy and Linda reflects Willy's disappointment in Biff and what he has become, which is, for the most part, a bum. After failing to deal adequately with his feelings, he escapes into a time when things were better for his family. It is not uncommon for one to think of better times at low points in their life in order to cheer themselves up so that they are able to deal with the problems they encounter, but Willy Lowman takes it one step further. His refusal to accept reality is so strong that in his mind he is transported back in time to relive one of the happier days of his life. It was a time when no one argued, Willy and Linda were younger, the financial situation was less of a burden, and Biff and Happy enthusiastically welcomed their father back home from a long road trip. Willy's need for the "drug" is satiated and he is reassured that everything will turn out okay, and the family will soon be as happy as it was in the good old days. The next flashback occurs during a discussion between Willy and Linda. Willy is depressed about his inability to make enough money to support his family, his looks, his personality and the success of his friend and neighbor, Charley. "My God if business doesn't pick up , I don't know what I'm gonna do!" (36) is the comment made by Willy after Linda figures the difference between the family's income and their expenses. Before Linda has a chance to offer any words of consolation Willy blurts out "I'm Fat. I'm very--foolish to look at, Linda" (37). In doing this he has depressed himself so much that he is visited by a woman with whom he is having an affair. The woman's purpose in this point of the play is to cheer him up. She raises his spirits by telling him how funny and loveable he is, saying "You do make me laugh....And I think you're a wonderful man." (38). And when he is reassured of his attractiveness and competence, the woman disappears, her purpose being fulfilled. Once again the drug has come to the rescue, postponing Willy's having to actually do something about his problem. The next day, when Willy is fired after initially going to ask his boss to be relocated is when the next journey into the past occurs. The point of the play during which this episode takes place is so dramatic that willy seeks a big hit of the flashback drug. Such a big hit in fact, that he is transported back to what was probably the happiest day of his life. Biff was going to play in Ebbets field in the All-Scholastic Championship game in front of thousands of people. Willy couldn't be prouder of his two popular sons who at the time had everything going for them and seemed destined to live great, important lives, much more so than the "liked, but not well liked" boy next door, Bernard. Willy's dependency on the "drug" is becoming greater by the hour, at this rate, he cannot remain sane for much longer. Too much of anything, even a good thing, can quickly become a bad thing. Evidence of this statement is seen during Willy's next flashback, when the drug he has been using for so long to avoid his problems backfires, giving him a "bad trip", quite possibly a side effect of overuse. This time he is brought back to one of the most disturbing moments in his life. It's the day that Biff had discovered his father's mistress while visiting him on one of his trips to ask him to come back home and negotiate with his math teacher to give him the four points he needed to pass math and graduate high school. This scene gives the reader a chance to fully understand the tension between Willy and Biff, and why things can never be the same. Throughout the play, the present has been full of misfortune for the most part, while the opposite is true for the past. The reader is left to wonder when the turning point occurred. What was the earth-shattering event that threw the entire Lowman family into a state of such constant tension? Now that event is revealed and Willy is out of good memories to return to. With the last hit of Willy's supply of the drug spent, what next? The comparison between Willy's voyages into the past and the use of a narcotic is so perceptible because of it's verity. When Willy's feeling down, or life seems just too tedious and insignificant, or when things just aren't going his way, why not take a hit of the old miracle drug, memories. The way he overuses his vivid imagination is sad because the only thing it's good for is enabling Willy to go through one more day of his piteous life, full of bitterness, confusion, depression, false hopefulness, and a feeling of love which he is trying very hard to express to his sons who seem reluctant to accept it. "The Glass Menagerie" is set in the apartment of the Wingfield family. By description, it is a cramped, dinghy place, not unlike a jail cell. It is one of many such apartments in the neighborhood. Of the Wingfield family members, none of them want to live there. Poverty is what traps them in their humble abode. The escape from this lifestyle, this apartment and these relationships is a significant theme throughout the play. These escapes may be related to the fire escape, the dance hall, the absent Mr. Wingfield and Tom's inevitable departure. The play opens with Tom addressing the audience from the fire escape. This entrance into the apartment provides a different purpose for each of the characters. Overall, it is a symbol of the passage from freedom to being trapped in a life of desperation. The fire escape allows Tom the opportunity to get out of the apartment and away from his nagging mother. Amanda sees the fire escape as an opportunity for gentleman callers to enter their lives. Laura's view is different from her mother and her brother. Her escape seems to be hiding inside the apartment, not out. The fire escape separates reality and the unknown. Across the street from the Wingfield apartment is the Paradise Dance Hall. Just the name of the place is a total anomaly in the story. Life with the Wingfields is as far from paradise as it could possibly be. Laura appears to find solace in playing the same records over and over again, day after day. Perhaps the music floating up to the apartment from the dance hall is supposed to be her escape which she just can't take. The music from the dance hall often provides the background music for certain scenes, The Glass Menagerie playing quite frequently. With war ever-present in the background, the dance hall is the last chance for paradise. Mr. Wingfield, the absent father of Tom and Laura and husband to the shrewish Amanda, is referred to often throughout the story. He is the ultimate symbol of escape. This is because he has managed to remove himself from the desperate situation that the rest of his family are still living in. His picture is featured prominently on the wall as a constant reminder of better times and days gone by. Amanda always makes disparaging remarks about her missing husband, yet lets his picture remain. Tom always makes jokes about his dad, and how he "fell in love with long distances." This is his attempt to ease the pain of abandonment by turning it into something humorous. It is inevitable that the thing which Tom resents most in his father is exactly what Tom himself will carry out in the end...escape! Through his father, Tom has seen that escape is possible, and though he is hesitant to leave his sister and even his mother behind, he is being driven to it. Tom escapes reality in many different ways. The first and most obvious is the fire escape that leads him away from his desolate home. Another would be the movies that Amanda is always nagging him about. She thinks he spends too much time watching movies and that he should work harder and find a suitable companion for Laura. The more Amanda nags, the more Tom needs his movie escapes. They take him to another world for a while, where mothers and sisters and runaway fathers do not exist. As the strain gets worse, the movie watching becomes more frequent, as does Tom's drinking. It is getting harder and harder for Tom to avoid real life. The time for a real departure is fast approaching. Amanda eventually pushes him over the edge, almost forcing him out, but not without laying overpowering guild trips on him. Tom leaves, but his going away is not the escape that he craved for so long. The guilt of abandoning Laura is overwhelming. He cannot seem to get over it. Everything he sees is a reminder of her. Tom is now truly following in the footsteps of his father. Too late, he is realizing that leaving is not an escape at all, but a path of even more powerful desperation. Williams uses the theme of escape throughout "The Glass Menagerie" to demonstrate the hopelessness and futility of each character's dreams. Tom, Laura and Amanda all seem to think, incorrectly I might add, that escape is possible. In the end, no character makes a clean break from the situation at hand. The escape theme demonstrated in the fire escape, the dance hall, Mr. Wingfield and Tom's departure prove to be a dead end in many ways. Perhaps Tennessee Williams is trying to send a message that running away is not the way to solve life's problems. The only escape in life is solving your problems, not avoiding them.