Discuss the key pathways that have been proposed to linking stress to physical illness and critically evaluate evidence in support of these links.

Discuss the key pathways that have been proposed to linking stress to physical illness and critically evaluate evidence in support of these links. It commonly accepted that stress can lead to illness, both psychological and physical, and there are numerous studies into the causative links between the two situations. Psychologists continue to attempt to establish exactly what makes humans succumb to stress, along with how this relates to illness and what preventative measures, coping methods and other treatments can be employed to relieve the negative effects of such situations. Stress can be considered one of many emotional responses to external stimuli or experiences. Since early psychology the various realms of emotional experience have been identified, defined and built upon. Wunt (1896) and Schlosberg (1941), among others, identified the states of pleasantness and unpleasantness (along with various activating factors) as key dimensions in emotional state. Ekman and Friesen (1975) compounded these theories and identified surprise, fear, disgust, happiness, anger and sadness as the six primary emotions (distinct from 'complex emotions') which were likely to be innate in humans as they crossed boundaries of culture, ethnicity and geographical location. Whilst Averill (1994) agrees with Ekman (1994) regarding the evolutionary approach, he asserted that basic emotions, rather

  • Word count: 2394
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Explain, with examples, how studies of brain damage or disruption to normal brain activity have informed us about the relationship between brain activity and behaviour in normal functioning.

Part I - Essay, Option B Explain, with examples, how studies of brain damage or disruption to normal brain activity have informed us about the relationship between brain activity and behaviour in normal functioning. The subject of brain damage and the effects this may have on behaviour is a complex topic to which many studies have been dedicated to, there are also numerous examples of how brain damage and abnormal brain activity impact on behaviour, therefore for the purpose of this essay I will focus on two areas of brain activity disruption, being physical impact and injury and also that of chemical effects. I will give examples where behavioural changes have been noted and therefore what this tells us about the relationship between a normally functioning brain and behaviour. In order to explain the relationships I will start by outlining the basics of how a normally functioning brain works, this can then show how we know when this normal activity has been disrupted or ceased. I will reference studies that have been conducted showing the impact the disruption has caused by my two chosen examples. I will also look at how advancements in medicine along with Psychological input enable us in some cases to minimise the disruption caused. Finally I will discuss how these studies have informed us and to what extent they can explain the relationship between brain activity and

  • Word count: 1093
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Describe the impairments typically observed in children with autism and compare the different cognitive theories proposed to explain them?

Describe the impairments typically observed in children with autism and compare the different cognitive theories proposed to explain them? Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder characterised by a range of impairments which vary enormously. Autistic spectrum disorder is a commonly used term to reflect the complex combination of symptoms that often arise before the age of three and continue through life. However there are three core features of the autistic spectrum that are fundamental in the diagnosis of autism set out by the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association 1994). The first of the features implicated is a deficit in reciprocal social interaction; at first glance the child may just seem aloof and uninterested in the social world, they may find it difficult to make eye contact and struggle to form relationships with their peers, which can make the life of an autistic child very lonely. This unsociability can be misinterpreted by others as wilful behaviour when in fact they have a neurological lack of ability in this area. The second impairment is communication, children with autism often struggle with early speech; however this only touches on the deficit with communication a child may encounter. Communication involves recognising another's intention to communicate and offering an appropriate response. Children on the autistic spectrum may have difficulty

  • Word count: 3073
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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A Qualitative Study: What factors contribute to a persons drug taking and the impact it has on them and their life experiences?

A Qualitative Study: What factors contribute to a person's drug taking and the impact it has on them and their life experiences? ABSTRACT Drug taking has become a widespread problem throughout society today, which can have various catastrophic effects to a person's physical health, mental health and even social life. In this qualitative analysis of the data gathered four main categories were identified and labelled: Ambition, Engaging Drugs, Dependency and Consequences. The results show that various psychological and social factors interact when determining the the impact it has on a person and their experiences of their daily activities. Introduction Illegal drug taking affects drug takers in a variety of different ways. Affecting the physical and psychological aspects of a person. It not only affects them physically and mentally but it affects the way they perceive the life and the way they are perceived in society. This can have an impact on the life of a drug takers, the choices they make and the people of which surround them. (Rutledge, 1997) The reasons why people use illegal drugs are similar to the reasons why people take part in other activities. Tillman (1974) identified 'leisure needs' of people, most of which relate to the reasons for why people take illegal drugs. He suggested that as humans we have a need to; seek new experiences such as relaxation,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Visual perception.

There is likelihood that people who see daggers in the air, as well as people who spot faces in the fire, question the validity of their visual perception. The justification behind this bears the same mark as the reason why people classify magicians as "illusionists" and not "saints". The world of knowledge and experiences that is stored in a healthy brain enable us to distinguish between a genuine phenomena and an illusion - essentially, the former may be inferred from information we know about the world, and the latter somehow contradicts or does not follow the rules we have acquired. This subconscious top-down processing that our brain employs when we come into contact with stimuli around us does at times distort our perception of things, as is shown obviously by the Hermann grid in figure 1 with the squares and dots. How many grey dots are there? If I am not mistaken, there are none at all. However, that is reason speaking, and my eyes tell me otherwise. Why is this so? The eye is often paralleled to a camera, but is this allusion valid? Firstly, we know from research that the eyes do not see the complete picture of the world. One snapshot taken from the eye-camera would produce a picture like figure 2. The other shocking fact is that the objects in the external world do not really have colour at all. All coloured objects around us are so only because the eyes are highly

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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: A quantitative study employed to find out whether interactive learining can enchance our memory recall process?

DZX222 EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT TITLE: A quantitative study employed to find out whether interactive learining can enchance our memory recall process? ABSTRACT Open Universitystudents conducted a qualitative study as part of a psychology course requirement. A between-participants design was employed in order to explore the issue proposed by Craik and Lockhart, the levels of processing theory, which states that the retention of information in memory depends on how deeply it is processed when encoded. 60 participants individually carried out three conditions. The independent variable was ?the condition that the participant took part in`. The dependent variable was ?the score measured for the amount of correct placement of country names`. INTRODUCTION This qualitative study was employed to find out whether interactive learning can enchance our memory recall process. Previous studies proposed by Craik and Lockhart1[1], the levels of processing theory proposed that deeper processing leads to more permanent memory, Several studies have been conducted on methods to force deeper processing of new information and in the area of reading, it has been shown that teaching words in the context of paragraphs rather than in isolation leads to greater retention and increased fluency in the language. The levels of processing framework was presented 2[2] as an alternative to theories of

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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To what extent has childhood been viewed as a social and cultural process rather than a natural process?

To what extent has childhood been viewed as a social and cultural process rather than a natural process? Illustrate your discussion with reference to Book 1, Chapter 1, 'Children and Development'. In this essay I will be examining the concept of childhood and outlining some of the historical approaches towards childhood and development, before discussing the influence that society and culture have on childhood itself. Childhood is a complex concept. It varies both between and within cultures and is in a constant state of flux. For this reason it is difficult to definitively describe childhood and we can only talk in very general terms. In the western economically affluent world childhood is generally seen as a time when children are carefree and cared for. In an ideal situation they are encouraged to play, have fun, learn and develop ideally at their own pace. Distinct from adults, they are viewed as having different needs and wants. In developing countries however, childhood is not commonly viewed in the same way. There is less distinction between adult and child, with children being taught useful skills from an early age. Children are encouraged to be contributory to the family unit in their own right. They are cared for but perhaps are less carefree than western children. This distinction will be discussed in more detail later in this essay. When we look at what

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Evaluate the working memory model introduced by Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch in 1974. It is a model of short term memory.

Evaluate the working memory model It was Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch who first introduced the working memory model in 1974.It is a model of short term memory. It was argued that the picture of short term memory provided by the multi store model was far too simple. The mulit store model shows short term memory to hold limited information for short periods of time with little or no processing. It says it's a single system (unitary) and has no separate parts that specialise in different things. To look at the working memory model, devised by Baddeley and Hitch it provides us with a much more complex and detailed picture of short term memory. The working memory model is not considered a unitary system and has lots of separate parts to it. The initial view of short term memory saw the information being held and rehearsed in short term memory and nothing else. The new, working memory model sees the information being analysed, evaluated and 'worked on' in STM. The working memory model takes a more active view of memory. It is concerned with the storage of information which is being used actively and about which we are currently thinking. This may come from two sources: . new sensory information 2. old information stored in long-term memory. Working memory model Primary Acoustic Store: This is of limited capacity and accepts material either directly as it is heard or via the

  • Word count: 834
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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An experiment to see if clustering of words improves word recall.

Title: An experiment to see if clustering of words improves word recall. Abstract This study tried to replicate the work of Cofer, Bruce and Reicher (1966), however the results of our data analysis for no significant difference between the groups, this may be explained choice of sample. Introduction Memory, one of the most important processes the brain conducts, it tells us everything about ourselves, what we know, how we do things. Much work has been done into the study of memory, its process and how to improve ones own memory. This side of psychology is of keen interest to cognitive psychologist. In the context of psychology memory is the capacity to retain and recall information. This in itself is further divided two main types of memory, long term memory (LTM) or short term memory (STM) Theories of memory processing such as the multi-store model, which is based on the assumption that there are three 'stores,' which make up human memory, these stores are the sensory register, short term memory and long term memory. The difference between them is how much memory is stored by each. The sensory register is a short acting memory store for the sensory record of the stimulus. There is no meaning to the stimulus at this point. From this store the stimulus information passes to the next store, the short term memory store. Peterson and Johnson (1971) showed that information

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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What evidence is there for cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease? What brain systems might be affected in these patients to cause these deficits?

What evidence is there for cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease? What brain systems might be affected in these patients to cause these deficits? Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease, characterised by resting tremors, rigidity, slowing of physical movements (bradykinesia) and reduced or nonexistent voluntary movement (hypokinesia) (Ramírez-Ruiz). Although depletion of dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra are predominantly the cause of these symptoms, the damage is not isolated as the peripheral, central, and enteric nervous systems are also affected (Braak and Braak 2000). The disease affects the neuronal cytoskeleton and as only selective cells can form this cytoskeleton abnormality, the damage caused by Parkinson's disease creates a particular pattern of lesions, making the symptoms and cognitive deficits roughly consistent between patients (Braak and Braak 2000). The dopamine depletion is continual, but for the symptoms to be sunstantial enough to be noticed the levels must have been reduced by around 90% (Gazziniga, Ivry and Mangun, 2002). Although Parkinson's disease has been linked to drug abuse and genetic factors, in most cases it is idiopathic (Gazzaniga et al, 2002). When Parkinson's disease was first described it was not appreciated that it had any affect on the mental state of the individual, with the original statement regarding

  • Word count: 3080
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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