Biological & Psychological Explanations of Schizophrenia March 23, 2009

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health condition that can cause a range of psychological symptoms which include hallucinations and delusions. A delusion is something which a person believes to be true yet is untrue and a hallucination is hearing or seeing something that is not there or doesn’t exist. These are psychotic symptoms, with psychosis being the inability for a person to distinguish between reality and imagination. There is no exact cause of schizophrenia and no current cure yet is one of the most common serious mental health conditions with one in one hundred people experiencing an episode of schizophrenia within their lifetime.

There are two main explanations of schizophrenia, biological explanation and a psychological explanation. The Biological explanation suggests that behaviour can be related to changes in brain activity and its physiology. If behaviour is associated with changes in brain function then schizophrenia could then be caused by relative size of brain structures (areas) or brain neurotransmitters and hormonal activity. Another cause could be due to genetics. As the development of the body, including the brain is heavily determined by genetic, biological psychology assumes that most behaviours whether seen as ‘normal’ or not are considered to be inherited to an extent in gene form from parents. However no all symptoms could be created by genetic influence, as other factors such as social influences have been shown to change certain physiology such as hormonal and neural-activity. This gives the possibility that environmental and genetic factors could both influence schizophrenia.

Genetic factors can be researched using twin studies, especially those who have been reared apart (to try and prove whether environmental factors have an influence on schizophrenia using studies with adopted children or other cases.) and looking at the differences between monozygous and dyzygous twins. Evidence so far shows that concordance rates for schizophrenia in monozygous twins is much higher that the concordance rate for dizygous twins, providing support for genetic factors. Identical twins (monozygous) who share a one hundred percent gene share, have a forty eight percent chance or risk of both developing schizophrenia, this is much lower in non-identical twins (dizygous) where there is only a seven-teen percent chance or risk of them both developing into sufferers, these only have a fifty percentage gene share.Family studies using biological relatives can also account for research into schizophrenia, with the health condition being more common in biological relatives of a schizophrenic and the greater genetic relatedness the higher the risk of getting the condition.

Schizophrenia is seen to be affected largely by the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is a neurohormone which is produced in several areas of the brain one area being the substantia nigra. Dopamine is released by the Hypothalamus and its main function is to inhibit the release of prolactin from the pituitary. Schizophrenia has been linked with high amounts of dopamine within the brain. This was discovered after phenothiazines which block dopamine receptors, blocking the transmission of nerve impulses (D2) where shown to lower the symptoms of the health condition. schizophrenia sufferers have been found to have an abnormal amount of ‘D2′ receptors on their receiving neurones. Also the knowledge that drugs such as amphetamine and cocaine which largely increase dopamine levels have been noted for the cause of psychosis. This could explain the problems of attention and thought found in people suffering from schizophrenia as the dopamine neurons play a large role in guiding attention. Alternatively Parkinson’s disease sufferers have a abnormally low number of dopamine activity and increasing the dopamine level within the brain by drug consumption develop signs of schizophrenic-type symptoms.

Brain imaging techniques have helped to discover that many sufferers of schizophrenia have enlarged ventricles and cavities within the brain which supply areas with nutrients and remove waste products such as carbon dioxide. Schizophrenia sufferers ventricles are on average fifteen percent larger then that of a non-sufferer. Sufferers with the enlarge ventricles tend to show signs of the negative symptoms and cognitive disturbances rather than the positive symptoms. It has been suggested that the large ventricles have restricted the growth of brain development or allowed for tissue damage, possibly being the cause of schizophrenia. Brain imaging can also help for research within schizophrenia. Techniques involving PET an other scans have helped to show that the prefrontal cortex shows signs of reduced neural activity within patients suffering from schizophrenia.

Another area within the biological explanation which could explain schizophrenia and brain abnormalities may be caused by exposure to viral infections before birth. These can be dormant until puberty when hormonal changes could then cause the symptoms of the health condition. This can be shown with the evidence that more suffering people with schizophrenia are born within winter months. schizophrenia is most common in people born between December and April, when viral infections are at the highest within the year. When exposure is at its highest, the person will have a larger chance of becoming infected before birth. Evidence for this can be taken from twin studies with schizophrenic twins having fingerprint abnormalities compared to their identical twin. Finger prints are developed during the second trimester of pregnancy, this is when the foetus is at its highest risk of viral infection. Viral infections could have been contracted from the mother. If the mother were to become infected this would increase the chance or risk of the foetus also becoming infected whilst developing in the womb.

There are many different explanations for schizophrenia that take a psychological stance. These contain psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioural and other sociocultural factors. Biological explanations have recently in modern times gained the most research support however psychological explanations still have an influence on understanding schizophrenia. There are two main areas within psychological explanations, those on the psychological side, taking basic psychological perspectives and socio-cultural in where the role of family and in society.

Cognitive explanations acknowledge the role of biological factors for the cause of initial sensory experiences of schizophrenia however further features of the disorder appear as the individual attempts to understand them. It also suggests that schizophrenia is characterised by profound thought disturbance. This could be down to cognitive deficits which can impair areas such as perception and memory. This could form cognitive biases and explain the misconceptions and the way schizophrenic sufferers interpret the world. Schizophrenics usually first discover symptoms of voices and abnormal sensory experiences, this then usually makes them turn to friends and family to confirm the experiences. Those that cannot confirm the reality of the sensory experiences and voices start to believe that they must be hiding the truth. This can then lead to rejection of support and feedback from peers and others around them and so disillusioned beliefs and ideas that they are being manipulated and persecuted that are not true start to be formed. This shows that the basis of schizophrenia is biology based, whether this genetic or not, then other symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions are formed after the failure to not accept the reality, these of which are cognitive.

The behavioural explanation suggests that schizophrenia is a consequence of faulty learning. Children who do not receive small amounts or little reinforcement early in their lives will put larger attention into irrelevant environmental cues. For example: taking attention to the sound of a word rather than its procedural meaning. This behaviour will eventually appear ‘weird’ or strange to others and so will generally be avoided. These strange behaviours may be rewarded by attention and sympathy and so they are reinforced. This can continue until the behaviour becomes so strange that they are then labelled as schizophrenic. This can eventually the behaviour and psychological state deteriates into a psychotic state.

Stephen Freud developed the Psycho-Dynamic approach. In terms of schizophrenia it suggests that the health condition is a results of regression to a pre-ego state and attempts to re-establish ego control. If the life experiences of a schizophrenic sufferer are harsh, for example uncaring parents, then the child may regress to a stage of development before the ego and realistic awareness of the world is properly formed. Schizophrenia is seen as an infantile state and symptoms such as delusions can reflect this primitive condition. Other symptoms such as hallucinations and voices reflect the attempts of the person to re-establish its ego control.

Socio-cultural explanations stress the role of social and family relationships. This can include social labelling, family relationships and life events. A major link in this health condition is the high risk of schizophrenic episodes being linked to the occurrence of stressful life events. These can be discrete stressful experiences such as: deaths of close relatives, brake up of intimate relationships or even job losses. Although the mechanisms of schizophrenia being caused and triggered by stressful experiences has not been identified, high levels of physiological arousal has been seen to be associated with neurotransmitter charges, possibly explaining stressors as a cause.

This explanation can be supported by research that shows that schizophrenic episodes seem to occur fifty percent of the time within three weeks of a major stressful life event such as marriage, house buying or death of a close family member. With twelve percent who suffered having a major life experience within 9 weeks of the episode. This suggests that major life changes can trigger schizophrenic episodes. Other research shows that schizophrenic episodes are more common after a more concentrated period of stressful events.

The family relationship theory suggests that children who frequently receive contradictory messages from their parents are more likely to develop schizophrenia. For example a mother telling a child that she loves them and is proud of them, but at the same time turning away in disgust. This will lead the child to receiving confused and conflicting messages about their relationship, conflict between verbal and non-verbal. A continuum of these contradictions can develop into an abnormal internally coherent construction of reality. Chronically this can develop into schizophrenic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations.

It also suggests that negative emotional climates or a high degree of expressed emotion can lead to schizophrenia. Expressed emotion is a particular family communication style that involves criticism, hostility and emotional over-involvement. A patient with a family containing high expressed emotion is more likely to relapse or have a schizophrenic episode. The expressed emotion tends to arouse the patients stress levels and so worsens the condition.

Social labelling however was popularised by Scheff. This states that social groups create a concept of psychiatric deviance by constructing rules for group members to follow. Schizophrenic behaviours are seen to ‘deviate’ from the ‘norm’ and so are considered ‘abnormal’ Once the deviating people are labelled schizophrenic, it opens gates and promotes the development of schizophrenic symptoms.

Both biological and psychological explanations try to explain how and why schizophrenia is developed in a hope to try and control or cure the condition. The biological explanations try to explain the health condition in terms of biochemistry and physiology in terms to try and adapt new drugs or techniques to overcome the problems, whereas psychological explanations try to take into account how the behaviours are developed and how environmental factors can be controlled to try and stop the condition. Although both are considered to contradict each others research, in my own opinion schizophrenia seems to be a development of both biological and psychological abnormalities.

schizophrenic Brain Scan

Differences & Similarities between Ozone Depletion and the Greenhouse effect problem. March 16, 2009

Similarities between the ozone problem and the greenhouse problem	Differences between the greenhouse problem and the ozone problem
Both can absorb Solar radiation. Both can be manipulated by man, Ozone being increased due to fluoro-carbons being released into atmosphere, greenhouse problems due to burning fossil fuels. Depletion of Ozone layer can lead to larger amounts of radiation entering atmosphere and so an increase in both effects. Flourocarbons + bromine will lead to change in ozone levels. Can both eventually lead to an increase in the earth’s temperature.	Greenhouse problem – greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide becoming increased within the atmosphere can lead to absorption of more infrared radiation and so increasing the heat of the planet. Most radiation is absorbed when reflected off of the Earth’s surface however UV light usually directly hits oxygen molecules. Could potentially lead to rising sea levels, melting ice, land and polar. Change in climates, death of many different species due to not being able to adapt and many other natural occurrences could change due to increase in solar absorption increasing temperature. An example of Positive feedback Absorbs the radiation and radiates it out as heat energy.
	Ozone depletion – Nitrates contribute to ozone breakdown. UV light causes breakdown of oxygen into O1 which then can react with oxygen to form Ozone. Will lead to more harmful UV radiation entering the atmosphere and potentially creating more ozone, however could be harmful to many living things. i.e – cancer to humans. An example of negative feedback unless manipulated by humans or other cycles help to increase depletion of ozone. Radiation causes oxygen molecules to split.

An Investigation into the effects of Conformity in a socially influenced task March 4, 2009

An Investigation into the effects of Conformity in a socially influenced task

The aim of the research was to create a study which was similar to that of Jenness’ study in 1932 in which a number of students were asked to estimate how many number of beans were in a jar, after discussing in a group, he found estimates converged towards a group estimate.

Jenness had participants individually estimate the number of beans in a jar, and then do the same as a group. He found that when the task was carried out in a group, the participants would estimate similar values (even though they had previously reported quite different estimates as individuals).

The study shows that majority influence was successful within a group; this proved that individuals’ behaviour and beliefs tended to lean toward a group mean.

The participants were all students therefore not giving a fully justified representation of the population. Meaning this could only be true for students of a certain population.

However our investigation will be slightly different and involve questionnaires instead of a jar of beans, two questionnaires where participants will be asked to tick the ‘correct’ answer; however one questionnaire will be rigged to see if people are more likely to conform.

Abstract

The area of chosen study was conformity and to investigate whether participants are likely to conform to the majority on a relatively unambiguous task. This investigation is related to many studies in which people have been shown to conform to the majority in both ambiguous and unambiguous situations.

The Hypothesis for the study was that participants will conform to the majority on answering unambiguous questions.

The null hypothesis for the study was that participants do not conform to the majority on answering unambiguous questions.

The research method was an experiment, using two questionnaires to collect results from participants. The design of the experiment was repeated measures, where 24 participants (12 male/female) where chosen using opportunity sampling taking the ‘dirty’ questionnaire and a following 12 (6 male/female) opportunity sampled again taking the ‘clean’ questionnaire. The participants sampled were between the ages of 16-20 and were all students.

Introduction

Background

Social influence is the effect of how an individual’s actions or thoughts are changed by others or a group. Conformity is the result of social influence, when an individual’s beliefs/actions/thoughts/behaviour has changed. Perception can be changed by both minority and majority influence as seen by investigations by Asch and Moscovici.

Conformity is a change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure. There are three types of conformity; compliance, identification and internalization. Compliance being publicly agreeing towards the social pressure but privately disagreeing, this is mainly seen in people who are motivated to gain reward or to avoid punishment. Identification is when particular behaviours are adopted to be in an appropriate or satisfactory role within society. Internalization is both acting and believing in accord to the social influence.

Previous Research

Apart from Jenness study with the beans and a jar, one of the first to show conformity and majority influence, Asch’s study in 1956 is also a significant one. Asch found that 37% of the time participants agreed with the group, even if the answer given was clearly wrong. He also found that the conformity effect increased when the amount of confederates increased from 1-3 to 3-16. However when there was a supporter of the participant conformity only decreased by 5%.

Another study that is relevant research into my own investigation was a study by Sherif in 1935. In a similar study to Asch, but unlike Asch’s investigation, Sherif tested conformity in an ambiguous task which used the autokinetic effect. This is when a stationary light appears to move. Sherif asked a series of participants to estimate how far a light had moved. The participants where then grouped and again asked to judge the light movement, with the use of two participants whose answers were similar and one that was not. He found that participants were more likely to conform and change their answer when in a group situation; this also shows that majority influence was present. This shows that individuals are more likely to conform within a group rather than keep their individual judgement.

In this investigation, Asch tested an unambiguous stimulus in which participants were asked which line was the longest when looking at a drawing of a few lines. This investigation consisted of a group of confederates and one ‘real’ participant.

Crutchfield (1954) also studied social influence, with his investigation aiming to see if people conformed when other people were not physically present. Crutchfield used a series of participants and got them to sit in individual cubicles and then asked questions. However each participant was shown what other ‘participants’ had answered. Crutchfield found that 30% conformed to Asch’s line test, 40% on an area question and 37% conformed to the statement ‘I would make a good leader’.

All of these studies look at social influence and conformity to a majority influence, with Cruthfield’s, Asch’s and Jenness’ studies all using an unambiguous task. My aim is to see whether people will still conform to the majority in an unambiguous task like in the shown studies.

This researched was used to create my own investigation. The ideas of majority influence and conformity especially with a lot of thought taken from Jenness’, Crutchfield’s and Asch’s investigations. The investigation will not be a repeat or replication but an alteration to Asch’s study to see if participants will conform to the majority influence within an unambiguous task. My investigation will involve a series of participants who will be asked to fill in two random questionnaires on a certain subject; however the participants will need to be deceived so that accurate results can be gained, on the other hand all participants will be debriefed after taking part. Although this may arise ethical issues it is important in the sense that it gives accurate results. Participants will be asked to fill in the questionnaires leaving a tick next to the correct answer. However one questionnaire will show the answers that others have left, however these will be rigged and not true, to see if the participants conform. Previous research allowed us to create this investigation. All investigations were taken into consideration and I decided that the investigation chosen would be the best suited to receive the best results, as the participants would be made up of students of similar age and culture.

Methodology

This study was a lab experiment because it was conducted within an artificial environment; one which doesn’t resemble a real life situation (lacks ecological validity). Even though it was a lab experiment, it was important that participants didn’t know of the real reasons for taking part in the experiment as they may have deliberately conformed, this took into account experimenter bias and demand characteristics. However they were aware that they had taken place in a psychological experiment. An independent variable was manipulated in order to receive a dependent variable. The study involved a questionnaire to collect data to see if participants would conform.

For this study, participants were deceived about the true nature of the study, believing that it was a simple Geography quiz and that we were geography students. However this was not the case and to overcome this, all participants were debriefed after and a debriefing form was given out. This could be due to participants believing one answer to be correct, but believe they could be wrong, causing minor stress and possible psychological outcomes(in this experiment, the wrong answers were deliberately ticked to see if participants would conform to the majority).

There were 36 participants, with 18 being female and 18 being male. 6 from each of the groups were used as controls and were not participating to see if they would conform and the other 12 were used for the actual collecting of the conformity data. All participants were between the ages of 16 and 20 and were opportunity sampled from around a college campus. (Presumably all students). The researchers were two male and one female all whom are studying psychology within the six forms.

The study was done using a questionnaire as the main source of data. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions (all multiple choices) in which two of the questions answers were being tested on for conformity. (Question 5 & 9). All questions were relatively unambiguous, although there is much debate as to whether they are. There were two questionnaires, one being ‘fake’ and the other being clean. The clean questionnaire was for the use of the control group only and was a plain questionnaire in which the participants were asked to tick the correct answer. (this was to see whether the questions were too easy/hard and showed whether or not participants were actually conforming within the ‘fake’ questionnaire). The fake questionnaire consisted of the same questions yet it had been made out as if there was only one copy, which other students had answered before. This included ticks next to answers which ‘previous’ students thought were correct. (however they were faked) On questions 5 & 9 one wrong answer was deliberately ticked the most times, this was to see if participants would conform to this wrong answer.

However we did not make all the answers wrong within the fake questionnaire, as this could have made the participant suspicious as to the real nature of the experiment.

Before the study the questions were selected carefully & a pilot study was used to see if participants felt that the questions were not too difficult or too easy, otherwise this would not show conformity in its true elements.

Discussion

My investigation was to see if people will conform with the majority even if they feel that the answer may not be correct. To ‘conform’ is to follow a groups ‘norm’ however it is possible for the minority to also influence.

In this study, the results support the hypothesis, which was that the majority of the participants would conform to the unambiguous questions. In fact in 30 out of 42 questions conformity was found. The results show that females conform on a more likely basis than males. However looking at the data it seems as if there was more conformity for question 2 than question 1 with 8 more conformed answers for question 1 than question 2. Also the reasoning between the differences in conformity between each sex could be due to sampling method or the viability of how unambiguous the questions actually were. From the control groups it was found that all girl participants answered question 2 wrongly, this shows the possibility of the question not being unambiguous and actually generally hard, however the male group shows that this is not true to their findings as all answered correctly. On the other hand more females in the control answered question 1 correctly than males, suggesting that knowledge within sexes could be different. On average the control for question 1 shows that it was unambiguous enough to be used within the method however the control for question 2 produces mixed results between sexes.

These findings relate to earlier research such as Sherif’s research finding that people conform to unambiguous tasks and situations as well as Asch, who found that a large amount of people conform to incorrect answers although they may be unambiguous. Along with Crutchfield’s research which shows that people are more likely to conform in ambiguous situations and Jennes research, it shows that the majority of people do conform in both ambiguous as well as unambiguous situations. It tends to be that participants are more likely to conform in situations where they are not face to face with other participants.

Asch’s investigation was seen as a culturally biased sample as it only used male American’s, therefore this could show that American’s may be more conformist than others, as this does not give a larger sample of a population and may only be true for this certain culture or sex. Although it does show that people are willing to conform even if an answer is obviously wrong, many psychologists have different reasoning’s behind this happening.

However Sherif’s investigation lacked ecological validity as it was not similar to a real life situation and therefore may not be true in a lifelike situation. Others believe that his research is related to conformity is more relevant to ‘norm formation’ instead of conformity and social influence itself. Also another investigation by Jacobs and Campbell (1961) found that there was strong evidence of conformity when using all but one participant giving the same judgement.

These studies can be taken into account with this investigation, as the results are different for both sexes. This may be due to bias in the sampling. The sampling was random; however the researchers may have chosen participants on availability rather than perfect random sampling of the population. This could have led to participants having similar knowledge, culture which could affect their answers or level of conformity. For example the female findings showed that majority conformed, especially on question 2, however the control shows that none of them new the correct answer, possibly showing non-understanding or knowledge within that area which may seem unambiguous to other people. This may of occurred where the sample was taken from one area of the college, and so only certain students from the same area could have been chosen.

One limitation of the study may have been that the participants did not participate the questionnaire seriously and may have deliberately given wrong answers. This could have been because the questionnaire took place in a relaxed environment within a classroom where other students were nearby. Even though the design of the investigation was controlled as much as possible, it was almost impossible to eliminate the free choice of answer from the participants taking place.

Age range is also a problem; with most if not all of the participants taking place within the investigation being between the ages of 16-20, this gives a biased sample as it does not replicate an understanding of conforming to unambiguous tasks within the whole population. The sample size could also be criticised as only 24 participants took part, with another 12 acting as a control. This does not give a fair reflection of the population of students within the college let alone the whole human population.

Cultural differences were also not taken into account and only people from South-East England took place. This does not give a fair reflection of conformity within other cultures as all the participants have been brought up and share many of the same cultural beliefs.

Ways to improve these could be to isolate each participant within a stricter lab environment. With extraneous factors being contained such as demand characteristics, experimenter bias and others interacting, to find more accurate results. A larger age range and a larger diversity in culture would also produce more accurate findings for the whole of the population. Alternatively repeats could be done but using different circumstances, such as different cultures or age groups, which could then be compared, to report factors such as culture, gender and age effecting conformity.

A suggestion for future research could be to see how people decide which political groups they decide to vote for. As each vote is anonymous, will this increase the conformity rate for which political party wins votes, as there is no face to face conforming. As this area is widely discussed with opinions and within the media excessively it may be that the public will conform to the majority.

Further research may look into how public opinion can shift onto a majority in an area such as political voting and also look into how snowballing and conforming to the minority can be more effective than the majority.

Likely Consequences of Global Warming March 2, 2009

Likely Consequences of Global Warming

One noticeable consequence of global warming is the changing of energy balances on Earth which cause the steady and important conditions for life present. These balances are changing due to larger amounts of solar radiation being absorbed within the atmosphere. This radiation is absorbed by green house gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, an increase in these green house gases has and is contributing to global climate change.

Global warming itself could possibly affect many things; one of these changes could be a rise in sea levels. An increase in temperature causes water to expand and with rising atmospheric temperatures causing the sea temperature to also rise it could see the expansion in volume of ocean waters. The sea may also rise due to the increased temperature melting suspended ice which lies on land.

Another cause could be a change in climate. Some areas of the Earth will become warmer and some maybe even colder. For example it could change wind patterns, this could cause weather patterns changing and weather being seen in places it does not normally occur due to abnormal wind movements. Increased temperature will also increase precipitation as there will be more evaporation of water into the atmosphere. Climate change could also affect seasonal features such as harvest due to crops growing at different rates at different times of year.

As ocean currents are driven by atmospheric processes, an increase in temperature could change the atmosphere and so change the currents. It is determined by evaporation, wind, water density and salinity. These could then in effect cause; rainfall increase/decrease, habitat destruction.

All of these changes could affect life on Earth. Some will well to the changes (such as some plants, due to increased temperature increasing photosynthesis rates) and others could possibly become extinct. This could be due to their habitat changing, hibernation, breeding, migratory periods being altered, generally being disturbed by the change in conditions.

The Carbon Cyle February 25, 2009

 

The Carbon Cycle and  human intervention

The carbon cycle is a biogeochemical cycle in which carbon flows through the different components of the Earth, both biotic and abiotic. The exchange of the carbon can happen due to natural processes and due to exploitation by humans.

Carbon is present within all living organisms, whether it is within the molecules that make up the organisms structure or if it is within a useful molecule such as carbon dioxide for plants and glucose for all respiring organisms.

All photosynthetic organisms need carbon dioxide to help in the production of glucose and as carbon dioxide is present within the atmosphere, the easiest way for many photosynthesizing organism, such as plants, is to extract it from the atmosphere. The air within the troposphere is roughly made from 0.038 carbon dioxide. Although a low amount it is enough for plants to photosynthesize. Plants are usually the producers of the food chain; this is due to them being autotrophic. These are then usually consumed by primary consumers who take on the carbon from the producer’s molecular structure. The carbon can then be passed on further is the primary consumer is consumed by a higher level consumer. (i.e. – secondary/tertiary). However, although the carbon can continue to be passed through the different trophic levels of the food chain, all organisms eventually die. Once dead the organisms can be decomposed by detritivores and decomposers such as fungi and bacteria.

Decomposition is the process in which dead organic matter is broken down into simpler forms of matter. All organisms will give off some kind of waste product, whether it is carbon dioxide from respiring or waste materials from digested food. The waste from digested food may be consumed by some organisms, placing the carbon present back into this short cycle, however some organisms that get trapped under sediment and rock or in a space which is tight enough to almost create a vacuum, no decomposers or detritivores can get to the remains. Over long periods of time, the dead organisms under this pressure will slowly change into fossil fuels, a valuable source of carbon which is very a very important fuel for humans to exploit. If this happens to land organisms, the remains will usually turn into coal over millions of years, on the other hand, marine organisms, especially plankton will become trapped in the rock beneath the sea and eventually natural gas and oil sources beneath the ground.

Carbon dioxide will also dissolve in water and can be deposited into oceans by rock erosion into the water. The carbon dioxide within the water can then be evaporated from the water back into the atmosphere or be taken in by aquatic vegetation and photosynthetic organisms (such as some species of plankton) for photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis sees carbon taken into the light independent stage (calvin cycle), here it is used to convert Ribulose Bisphosphate in organic acids to eventually produce a carbohydrate molecule after 6 turns of the cycle. Respiration on the other hand gives out carbon as a waste-product also in the form of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is formed in the link reaction and the krebs cycle of respiration to convert pyruvate into acetyl coenzyme A and to help oxidise the different carbonic acids within the krebs cycle.

Carbon can also be released back into the atmosphere, artificially by humans. This is done by the exploitation and overuse of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels such as; coal, natural gas and oil, which is usually found in deposits beneath the ground, is combusted by humans to help produce energy.

The energy is used to help produce products that our ever changing world relies upon, from things such as aerosol cans to more complex items such as computers. The fuel can be used to power machinery or can be used to produce electricity and with the developing world continuing to grow, it seems as if more and more is needed. Fossil fuels can also be filtered down to produce other fuels which the human race is becoming increasingly dependent on such as; petroleum use in cars, kerosene used in aeroplanes.

These fuels produce a lot of carbon dioxide when burnt, the carbon dioxide gets released directly into the atmosphere and with more stocks of fossil fuels being burnt this can only increase the percentage of carbon dioxide within the atmosphere. This could have detrimental effects to not only climate change, but to geographical change, important ecosystems and could even lead to the extinction of certain species of wildlife, potentially altering the way the world works.

Carbon can also be placed into the atmosphere through other chemical molecules other than carbon dioxide. Methane is a greenhouse gas and one of these. It is produced by most animals as a waste product of the digestive system. The most notable releaser of methane is cattle. Cows produce lots of methane and with more and more cattle being grazed for human consumption, whether it is for meat or milk, more methane is being released into the atmosphere. This is indirectly down to human impact.

Another way in which humans are impacting the carbon cycle is by deforestation. Deforestation sees large area of forest being displaced for resources and to clear land. One of the reasons being cattle grazing, as was mentioned above. Deforestation doesn’t only impact in this sense, it also takes away the amount of plant life present and the amount of decomposition that takes place. These are two important stages of the carbon cycle and could potentially unbalance the carbon within the cycle.

A lack of plant life will see a lower rate of photosynthesis; this will therefore see less carbon dioxide taken in from the atmosphere. A lack of plant life will also mean that there is less life that will die, this will lead to a lack of organic material to be decomposed and so the carbon may not be recycled in this way. Large areas of forest also provide large carbon sinks, which can be vital in the balance of carbon between biosphere and atmosphere. Taking away vital ecosystems by deforestation could see a shift in carbon into the atmosphere and then therefore again increase the carbon dioxide levels within the atmosphere, which could potentially lead to global change.

Psychological Approaches – Behaviours. February 21, 2009

 

Psychological Approaches

Psychodynamic Approach

Suggests that the mind is made up of; the id (unconscious, demanding), the Ego (Conscious, modifies demands of Id), Superego (Conscious, sense of right and wrong). Personality and behaviours of humans can be determined by conflicts of the Id and Ego.

Strengths:

There is research to support some concepts of psychoanalysis. (Repression – studied by Myers & Brewin, anxiety-provoking childhood memories being repressed was linked with personality type), the study of Little Hans supports Freud’s Oedipus complex.

It is a reductionist explanation (understanding complex things by reducing them to simpler forms) and so can help us to understand the basic processes.

Other Psychodynamic theories help to explain more modern and other social influences. (Eriksson)

Recognises unconscious motivation.

Weaknesses:

Lacks support and is not falsifiable, as it cannot be proven wrong.

Research has used biased samples (Freud – mainly used white, middles aged Victorian, Venetian women), research also mainly on abnormalities.

Reductionist explanations can alternatively oversimplify the behaviours and theory.

Overemphasis on sexual influences, something which was important in the 1800’s and maybe not in recent times.

Takes a deterministic account.

Methodology

Early childhood experiences can account for the individual’s behaviour. Using the psychosexual stages, unconscious thoughts can be taken and used to see why the individual is acting in this way. Techniques can be used to reveal unconscious thought.

Free association – Clients feeling’s, thoughts and images analysed.

Dream analysis – dream content may be a way to access unconscious thought. Symbolism of dream analysed and understood.

Complex picture of human behaviour and experience can be built up

Low internal validity

Low external validity – generalizes

Behaviourist Approach

Suggests that all behaviour can be explained through observable stimuli and response. There is no such concept as free will and the mind and behaviour occurs without thought. Learning can take place via Operant, Classical conditioning or by Social learning.

Strengths:

It is a scientific approach and reductionist.

Can explain individual differences.

Social influences are explained by Social learning.

Limitations:

Is deterministic, has implications for moral responsibility and self-responsibility

Being reductionist takes away ability of the human mind being complex. Takes away multiple influences such as emotion and thought.

Most research is conducted on non-human animals

All findings are taken in a lab environment, which is not true to real life. Lacks eco validity and external validity.

Methodology

All behavioural experiments are lab based. Will use human or animal participants. The aim is to identify the independent and dependent variables. All extraneous variables are controlled, so that only the independent variable is manipulated. This allows the technique to be replicated.

Can be replicated

Controlled and objective, cause and relationship found.

Low internal validity (bias/demand characteristics, not controlled variables, operationalisation)

Low external validity cannot be generalised.

Reinforces behaviours

Evolutionary Approach

Behaviours are developed through evolution – sexual, kin and natural selection. Behaviours can be passed on through personality traits that are determined by an organism’s genetic makeup. Genes and so behaviours are passed on to promote survival and reproduction, the best adapted are more likely to pass on their genes.

Weaknesses:

Deterministic – behaviour is not subject to free will

Undesirable

Doesn’t explain cultural differences

Research mainly carried out on non-human animals

Difficult to falsify

Strengths:

Determinism and reductionism allows for research to test the explanation

Theoretical reduction allows for complex behaviours to be broken down and easily explained

Can explain individual differences such as gender and abnormality

Can be applied well. I.e. – drugs

Ultimate rather than proximate causes.

Methodology

Evolutionary approach usually uses animal or human participants. Studies such as families (twins/adopted children) can be used to show genetic basis. Experiments or surveys are usually used to test a hypothesis, this could be something along the lines of … male/female preferences for mate selection. Cross-cultural studies can be used to show universal behaviours and so shows genetics/adaption.

Experiments operationalised and so are oversimplified.

Interviewer bias in surveys

Studies are well controlled and have high internal validity.

Exam questions

Procrastination can be explained by two different psychological approaches, the behavioural and the psychodynamic approach.

Procrastination itself could be down to conditioning (i.e. – operant and classical) it could also be explained using social learning. The behavioural approach can explain procrastination mainly through classical conditioning. This is when something is learnt through association. In this case associating procrastination with relief or getting away from pressure. If the case was getting away from something bad, i.e. – pressure, than this would be down to operant conditioning. Students may see the work as unpleasant and other things such as socialising as pleasant. Therefore the work may be delayed as procrastination is learnt to be associated with having a good time, whereas working can be tedious and so will become associated with not having a good time, therefore a student may keep delaying work due to the association. This can also be explained by the negative reinforcement. Students may strive to do other activities, such as chores to try and stop thinking about the negativity associated with doing the work.

The psychodynamic approach can explain procrastinating by using the theory of repression. Repression is the occurrence of unwanted thoughts to the unconscious mind. Thought about the work are repressed and so other activities are carried out to allow the conscious mind not the think about the unpleasantness of the work. This could also be explained by the student being anal-expulsive. This will be part of the student’s personality and due to the child withholding faeces in the anal stage of the psychosexual stage. This would make them disorganised and so will withstand the work.

The psychodynamic approach is reductionist and will help to explain more complex terms in simple steps, such as the procrastination being due to disruption during the anal stage. It can also help to recognise unconscious thought, the fact that the student may unconsciously not want to do the work and so the Id may conflict so that procrastination happens, this is not explained very well by many other approaches. However there is not much research or support to help explain this approach towards procrastination and is also falsifiable. This approach also suggests inappropriate things, such as an over justification of sexual influences (i.e – faeces withhold) which may not be true to today’s culture and time.

Procrastination may be investigated by taking in account of the students early childhood experiences. Psychoanalysis may also try to uncover what the unconscious mind is thinking to try and work out why procrastination is taking place. To reveal unconscious thought such methods as free recall – saying the first thing that comes to the mind, dream analysis and taking influences in speech which can be covered up unconscious thoughts during interviews and looking at past cases. This approach will use one on one situation and deal with the individual rather than a large group. This is due to everyone having a different personality. For example the reasons behind procrastinating behaviour could be found through dream analysis by looking for symbolic gestures from the unconscious mind through the dream content. This may be repressed thought about the work in this case.

This methodology allows us to build a large picture of the human mind and behaviour, however is lacks both internal and external validity. The external due to the method not being able to be generalised to the wider world, as each case is its own. However this could be said to be a strength as it can help the individual. This could be due to each case being able to be applied and suitable methods to change this behaviour can easily be found. On the other hand this application can be very costly. The psychodynamic approach has very little evidence to support it and most of the research was on abnormal, venetian, Victorian women, showing a bias. This methodology could also lead to interviewer bias.