"How does anxiety affect performance, during a competitive football match; researching the difference between University and Professional players."

. Research question "How does anxiety affect performance, during a competitive football match; researching the difference between University and Professional players." 2. Introduction "Football is played at a professional level all over the world, and millions of people regularly go to football stadia to follow their favourite team, whilst billions more avidly watch the game on television. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_(soccer)) The purpose of this investigation is to unfold the many factors during a game of football that could affect a player's level of performance. This topic is significant because when watching a competitive football match as the viewer one must wonder why performances of players in the team range differently on a scale of high or low. The answer to the question that is stated above will make people realise what players think in a game situation and can offer assistance. The study will observe the relationship between University and Professional players due to main difference of ability levels and the difference in the venues where they perform. University players tend to play in more casual playing fields and pitches that are set out without any stands and hardly any supporters. At professional stadiums, normally thousands of people watch the game from the stands. This is

  • Word count: 3850
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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"Is Our Reaction To Stressful Events Innate or Learnt?"

"Is Our Reaction To Stressful Events Innate or Learnt?" To be blunt the answer is both, but to different degree's. Everybody has a pre-ordained response to stress on a purely physical level. When we are put into a stressful situation are body goes through a whole host of changes that aid in dealing with stress, or rather physical stress. The so called flight or fight response is useful when you suddenly need a lot of energy but if you are at work and this response activates you have no need of sudden energy. This then becomes a problem when the stress becomes chronic. The pioneer of stress research was Selye. In 1936 he conducted experiments on rat's attempting to discover a new sex hormone. During the procedures he noticed a physiological reaction but he knew that no known hormone produced such effects. Therefore he assumed he had discovered a new hormone but when he injected another substance the same reaction was observed. Selye did not give up there though, he changed his direction. "It suddenly stuck me that one could look (at the experiments) from an entirely different angle. (Perhaps) there was such a thing as a non-specific reaction of the body to damage of any kind" (Selye, 1976, Psychology: A New Introduction, pg 68). Selye later confirmed that when rats are exposed to adverse conditions such an electric shocks, cold and surgical procedures the same reactions took

  • Word count: 1701
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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"From your knowledge of the ethical issues involved in social influence research to what extent can such research be justified?"

"From your knowledge of the ethical issues involved in social influence research to what extent can such research be justified?" Social Influence research considers issues such as conformity, obedience to authority and minority/majority influence. However, some of this research has been criticised as being unethical. The ethical issues that arise from this type of research are informed consent i.e. that all participants are aware of all aspects of the research; that participants should not be deceived, the right to withdraw from the research at any time and protection from psychological harm. One of the most controversial pieces of research was undertaken by Milgram (1974) who was studying obedience to authority. He created a study to see whether participants would obey an experimenter when ordered to give another person electric shocks if they answered a question incorrectly. No electric shocks were actually administered and the learner was an accomplice of the experimenter. The main finding was that 65% of the participants gave a lethal electric shock of 450 volts if told to do so. Milgram concluded that most people would obey orders if someone in authority issued them. The ethical issues arising from Milgram's experiment were protection from harm and deception. Participants could have been psychologically damaged and they were not aware that the learner was an

  • Word count: 591
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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"Language change is too diverse to be susceptible to generalised analysis." Discuss.

"Language change is too diverse to be susceptible to generalised analysis." Discuss Change affects all aspects of language and can occur in a variety of ways. Meaningful analysis must depend on detecting patterns in these changes; some of these aspects can be easier to measure and therefore submit to analysis more easily than others. It must also be noted that language change can only be truly assessed retrospectively, and therefore in this essay I will make a distinction between the study of the historical facts of language change, which can be viewed in context, and that of recent and ongoing changes in language, a more precise science, relying on prediction and making patterns difficult to discern. An area in which it is at least partly possible to attempt analysis of language change is in the clear patterns that govern the differences and similarities in the vocabulary, grammar and sound changes in the descendants of Proto-Indo-European. These regularly occurring similarities can be most easily discerned between Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages: Latin Spanish French Portuguese pater padre père pai candela chandelle candeia It was however from the Latin of the common people and not classical Latin that these Romance languages developed. Such similarities are not confined to the Romance

  • Word count: 2029
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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"Later adulthood is characterised by a gradual, inevitable loss of cognitive capacities." Evaluate this statement.

"Later adulthood is characterised by a gradual, inevitable loss of cognitive capacities." Evaluate this statement. What is cognition? It is the general term given for mental activities. In cognitive psychology, it is the study of higher mental processes; memory, attention, language and reasoning. In contrast to behaviourists; cognitive psychologists are more ready to posit mechanisms and processes that are not directly observable, such as memory stores and switches of attention. Cognitive research includes several different facets of mental life, such as the use of imagery in representation, processes of decision-making and problem solving and reasoning (A First Course in Psychology, Nicky Haynes, 3rd edition, Harrap Ltd, London, Page 202). It is a common belief that cognitive capacities do decline with age. However what aspect of cognition is affected by age? Cognition is all to do with the memory. The memory is the ability to access information in the mind relating to past experiences and events. The theories of the memory deal with the causes of forgetting; pure decay or interference from other material, and the possibility that there are two or more distinct stores from which the information is forgotten at different rates, short term and long term memory. They also analyse the distinction between episodic memory; the memory of specific events experienced by the

  • Word count: 2423
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) the developer of psychotherapy had originally trained to be a doctor.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) the developer of psychotherapy had originally trained to be a doctor. He became interested in explaining and curing things such as paralysis with no known medical cause and phobias. The theory that he developed expanded and he eventually developed a therapy used to cure these illness' his theory also started of what is called the psychodynamic approach in psychology. He developed his theory by looking at his life and childhood experiences and at case studies such as that of 'Little Hans.' His practices are still widely used today and his terms used by many psychologists. Freud believed that there were three levels to the human mind; the unconscious, conscious and pre-conscious. * The conscious - every action thought or feeling which we are aware of. * The pre conscious - things we are aware of only at certain times when they are made readily available * The unconscious is the underlying part of our psyche that we are not aware of and is difficult if not impossible to retrieve. He believed that all these levels are active at all times and that we are very much affected by what lies in our mind at these levels. He stated that the most important of the three was the unconscious. Freud believed that there were two innate drives that play a big role in everything we do and those are; * Eros- the urge to carry on the species and

  • Word count: 2454
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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To What Extent Are Our Memories Accurate Reconstructions Of Past Events?

Attention & Memory To What Extent Are Our Memories Accurate Reconstructions Of Past Events? Papadopoulos Sotirios University of Lincoln Level II, Tutor: Gogousi Melina The memory used to store information and events experienced in life, either trivia or important is called autobiographical or episodic memory (Eysenck & Keane, 1998; Hampson & Morris, 1997; Mayes, Gooding & Van Eijk, 1997; Payne, Klin, Lampinen, Neuschatz & Lindsay, 1999; Smyth, Collins, Morris & Levy, 1996). Conway and Bekerian(1987) stated that the structure of episodic memory has three distinct levels: a. lifetime periods : substantial time periods defined by major ongoing situations and more effective cues than most other cues when it comes to memory retrieval, b. general events : repeated and/or extended events that occurred for a period of days to months, c. event-specific knowledge : refers to images, emotions and details concerning general events covering time periods of seconds to hours. It is some psychologist's belief that autobiographical and episodic memory should not be regarded as the same and that autobiographical may exist without episodic memory and vice-versa (Eysenck & Keane, 1998). The research into autobiographical memory is being held "in the field" and without the use of lists of words or nonsense syllables, (Hampson & Morris, 1997). Our ability to recall events and information

  • Word count: 1726
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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What factors can lead to a problem being relatively easily solved?

What factors can lead to a problem being relatively easily solved? "A problem exists when a living organism has a goal but does not know how this goal is to be reached." (Dunker 1945 cited in Green and Gilhooly, 2005, p.350). The very definition of a problem suggests that there are two sides to the equation of what makes problem solving relatively easy; the problem and the solver. Whilst both are inextricably linked, how problems are structured and their relative features have an enormous influence on how they are solved. Equally important is the information processing systems of the problem solvers themselves which consist of, but are not limited to, knowledge of heuristics, memory confines and relevant . Thus by breaking down and combining various elements of both; the problems and the solvers, this essay intends to develop a framework of ideas that explain how some problems come to be relatively easily solved. Problems can be grouped into two main categories; knowledge lean problems (also known as 'simple' problems) and knowledge rich problems (also known as 'complex'). The former requires little background knowledge from the solver whilst the latter requires extensive background knowledge (Green and Gilhooly, 2005). Since many of the factors that make problems easier to solve in one actually overlap into both categories, it is worth detailing them individually within

  • Word count: 1698
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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"Critically review some of the recent findings regarding the influence of our hormonal system and/or ANS on cognition and discuss the overall implications"

Cognitive Neuroscience "Critically review some of the recent findings regarding the influence of our hormonal system and/or ANS on cognition and discuss the overall implications" 2COG609 Catherine Loveday Zukreat Majeed 00109029 "Critically review some of the recent findings regarding the influence of our hormonal system and/or ANS on cognition and discuss the overall implications" The human brain has often been closely associated with the digital computer. However, research within the field of psychendocrinology have illustrated that it is more like an endocrine gland, producing and secreting molecules of neuropeptides, neurotransmitters, and hormones, which influence its own functions as well as functions of distant target organs. Research in humans and animals has shown that key brain regions involved with cognition including the cerebral cortex,? basal forebrain,? and hippocampus, all contain estrogen receptors.? Likewise there is also strong evidence which suggests that estrogen boosts a variety of brain abilities including memory (Birge 2000)? So far the mechanisms of this action and the mental processes affected by estrogen remain the subject of current investigations. However, from studies in animals and humans, it has become apparent that estrogen has substantial effects on the action of the Central nervous system (Maki et al 2001).? Previous studies have

  • Word count: 2539
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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How Do Babies Learn To Communicate Before They Can Talk?

How Do Babies Learn To Communicate Before They Can Talk? On average, children say their first word at around twelve months of age, with a range of eight to eighteen months (Berk, 2000). Nevertheless, preceding this is a period of communicative development which has led to an array of research (Keenan, 2002). Research into the phenomenon of language acquisition is grounded on the assumptions that communication is useful for all animals living in social groups, primate communication is adaptable rather than a fixed pattern and that change from infancy to adulthood requires an advanced capacity for learning. The preverbal period of infant development is hypothesised to last from birth to approximately one year, and it is primarily nonverbal communication that takes place in this period which sets the stage for language development and is characterised by the development of early communicative and cognitive abilities (Berk, 2000). These include the development of attention, gestures, gaze, turn-taking, causality, intentionality, relating to objects and the development of vocal patterns, for instance, babbling (Fogel, 1993) and, crucially, the experiencing joint attention with a social partner, which often speeds up language development (Berk, 2000). For the purpose of brevity the current piece will focus on the roles of gestures and early vocalisations to illustrate how babies

  • Word count: 2418
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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