Using the Biological Approach to Explain Lottery Addiction in Children :: essays research papers fc

Using the Biological Approach to Explain Lottery Addiction in Children Britain is producing a generation of child gamblers hooked on the Lottery and fruit machines. Disturbing research by two eminent academics shows that hundreds of thousands of children-some as young as 11- are now addicted despite the supposed legal restrictions. The findings will fuel warnings from lottery critics that the country is storing up social problems and is likely to trigger pressure for a uniform age limit of 18 on all gambling." (Reproduced from AQA A specimen material.) In the A level examination you will be required to explain a target behaviour using any approach. The aim of this activity is to offer you, the candidate, the opportunity to express your true understanding of the approach by your ability to use it in a novel situation. How would you explain lottery addiction in terms of the biological approach? The currency of the biological explanation is brain activity or brain anatomy, nervous impulses and neurotransmitters, hormones, and various organs in the body. A possible explanation could be as follows: (a) Why are young people hooked on the lottery and fruit machines? A psychologist might use the biological approach to explain this behaviour. Such a psychologist would explain the behaviour in terms of brain activity and the action of the central and autonomic nervous systems. The psychologist might also mention hormones. An answer like this would attract relatively few marks as it does little more than sketch out the possible elements of a biological explanation and has not demonstrated a true understanding of the approach. In order to do this you really need to try to put together an explanation of the target behaviour. (a) An explanation of lottery addiction using the biological approach would focus on how biological systems can be used to explain and understand this behaviour. When an individual stands in front of a fruit machine the flashing lights are physiologically arousing, creating a sense of excitement and probably pleasure. Physiological arousal causes the body to produce certain hormones that prepare the person for fight or flight. We can also understand the individual's behaviour in terms of nervous impulses. The eyes watch the pictures on the fruit machine go round and send impulses to the brain where they are interpreted and further messages sent to the hands to press a button at an appropriate moment to stop the machine. In the A level examination you will be given an opportunity to evaluate one of your explanations so you can take the opportunity, as below, to indicate in what way the explanation offered in the first part of the question is lacking.

Conflict Family

Ordinary People by Judith Guest is the story of a dysfunctional family who relate to one another through a series of extensive defense mechanisms, i. e. an unconscious process whereby reality is distorted to reduce or prevent anxiety. The book opens with seventeen year old Conrad, son of upper middle-class Beth and Calvin Jarrett, home after eight months in a psychiatric hospital, there because he had attempted suicide by slashing his wrists. His mother is a meticulously orderly person who, Jared, through projection, feels despises him. She does all the right things; attending to Jared's physical needs, keeping a spotless home, plays golf and bridge with other women in her social circle, but, in her own words â€Å"is an emotional cripple†. Jared's father, raised in an orphanage, seems anxious to please everyone, a commonplace reaction of individuals who, as children, experienced parental indifference or inconsistency. Though a successful tax attorney, he is jumpy around Conrad, and! , according to his wife, drinks too many martinis. Conrad seems consumed with despair. A return to normalcy, school and home-life, appear to be more than Conrad can handle. Chalk-faced, hair-hacked Conrad seems bent on perpetuating the family myth that all is well in the world. His family, after all, â€Å"are people of good taste. They do not discuss a problem in the face of the problem. And, besides, there is no problem. † Yet, there is not one problem in this family but two – Conrad's suicide and the death by drowning of Conrad's older brother, Buck. Conrad eventually contacts a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger, because he feels the â€Å"air is full of flying glass† and wants to feel in control. Their initial sessions together frustrate the psychiatrist because of Conrad's inability to express his feelings. Berger cajoles him into expressing his emotions by saying, â€Å"That's what happens when you bury this junk, kiddo. It keeps resurfacing. Won't leave you alone. † Conrad's slow but steady journey towards healing seems partially the result of cathartic revelations which purge guilt feelings regarding his brother's death and his family's denial of that death, plus the â€Å"love of a good woman. Jeannine, who sings soprano to Conrad's tenor†¦ † There is no doubt that Conrad is consumed with guilt, â€Å"the feeling one has when one acts contrary to a role he has assumed while interacting with a significant person in his life,† This guilt engenders in Conrad feelings of low self esteem. Survivors of horrible tragedies, such as the Holocaust, frequently express similar feelings of worthlessness. In his book, â€Å"Against All Odds†, William Helmreich relates how one survivor articulates a feeling of abandonment. â€Å"Did I abandon them, or did they abandon me? † Conrad expresses a similar thought in remembering the sequence of events when the sailboat they were on turned over. Buck soothes Conrad saying, â€Å"Okay, okay. They'll be looking now, for sure, just hang on, don't get tired, promise? In an imagined conversation with his dead brother, Conrad asks, â€Å"‘Man, why'd you let go? ‘ ‘Because I got tired. ‘ ‘The hell! You never get tired, not before me, you don't! You tell me not to get tired, you tell me to hang on, and then you let go! ‘ ‘! I couldn't help it. Well, screw you, then! ‘† Conrad feels terrible anger with his brother, but cannot comfortably express that anger. His psychiatrist, after needling Conrad, asks, â€Å"Are you mad? When Conrad responds that he is not mad, the psychiatrist says, â€Å"Now that is a lie. You are mad as hell. † Conrad asserts that, â€Å"When you let yourself feel, all you feel is lousy. † When his psychiatrist questions him about his relationship with his mother, Calvin says, â€Å"My mother and I do not connect. Why should it bother me? My mother is a very private person. † This sort of response is called, in psychological literature, â€Å"rationalization†. We see Conrad's anger and aggression is displaced, i. e. vented on another, as when he physically attacked a schoolmate. Yet, he also turns his anger on himself and expresses in extreme and dangerous depression and guilt. â€Å"Guilt is a normal emotion felt by most people, but among survivors it takes on special meaning. Most feel guilty about the death of loved ones whom they feel they could have, or should have, saved. Some feel guilty about situations in which they behaved selfishly (Conrad held on to the boat even after his brother let go), even if there was no other way to survive. In answer to a query from his psychiatrist on when he last got really mad, Conrad responds, â€Å"When it comes, there's always too much of it. I don't know how to handle it. † When Conrad is finally able to express his anger, Berger, the psychiatrist says to Calvin, â€Å"Razoring is anger; self-mutilation is anger. So this is a good sign; turning his anger outward at last. † Because his family, and especially his mother, frowns upon public displays of emotion, Conrad keeps his feelings bottled up, which further contributes to depression. Encyclopedia Britannica, in explicating the dynamics of depression states, â€Å"Upon close study, the attacks on the self are revealed to be unconscious expressions of disappointment and anger toward another person, or even a circumstance†¦ deflected from their real direction onto the self. The aggression, therefore, directed toward the outside world is turned against the self. † The article further asserts that, â€Å"There are three cardinal psychodynamic considerations in depression: (1) a deep sense of loss of what is loved or valued, which may be a person, a thing or even liberty; (2) a conflict of mixed feelings of love and hatred toward what is loved or highly valued; (3) a heightened overcritical concern with the self. † Conrad's parents are also busily engaged in the business of denial. Calvin, Conrad's father, says, â€Å"Don't worry. Everything is all right. By his own admission, he drinks too much, â€Å"because drinking helps†¦ , deadening the pain†. Calvin cannot tolerate conflict. Things must go smoothly. â€Å"Everything is jello and pudding with you, Dad. † Calvin, the orphan says, â€Å"Grief is ugly. It is something to be afraid of, to get rid of†. â€Å"Safety and order. Definitely the priorities of his life. He constantly questions himself as to whether or not he is a good father. â€Å"What is fatherhood, anyway? † Beth, Conrad's mother, is very self-possessed. She appears to have a highly developed super-ego, that part of an individual's personality which is â€Å"moralistic†¦ , meeting the demands of social convention, which can be irrational in requiring certain behaviors in spite of reason, convenience and common sense†. She is furthermore, a perfectionist. â€Å"Everything had to be perfect, never mind the impossible hardship it worked on her, on them all. † Conrad is not unlike his mother. He is an overachiever, an â€Å"A† student, on the swim team and a list-maker. His father tells the psychiatrist, â€Å"I see her not being able to forgive him. For surviving, maybe. No, that's not it, for being too much like her. † A psychoanalyst might call her anal retentive. Someone who is â€Å"fixated symbolically in orderliness and a tendency toward perfectionism†. â€Å"Excessive self-control, not expressing feelings, guards against anxiety by controlling any expression of emotion and denying emotional investment in a t! hing or person. â€Å"She had not cried at the funeral†¦. She and Conrad had been strong and calm throughout. The message of the book is contained in Berger's glib saying that, â€Å"People who keep stiff upper lips find that it's damn hard to smile†. We see Conrad moving toward recovery and the successful management of his stage of development, as articulated by Erikson, â€Å"intimacy vs. isolation†. At story end, his father is more open with Conrad, moving closer to him, while his mother goes off on her own to work out her issues. Both trying to realize congruence in their development stage (Erikson), â€Å"ego integrity vs. despair†.

Elements Of Chivalry In The Knights Tale - 1078 Words

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, the author encapsulates chivalrous characteristics in his telling of a battle for love. In its fundamental form, chivalry idealizes a knight’s conduct, both on and off the battlefield (Gregory-Abbott). Chaucer employs this â€Å"heroic code [of] bravery, loyalty, and service to ones lord† to illustrate the idillic knight throughout the narrative (Rossignol). Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, exhibits the ideals of chivalry in the form of two knights, desperately in love with the same woman, and a wise Duke who embodies the voice of reason. Each knight upholds honor through compassion, troths, and heroism on the battlefield, despite their afflictions with each other. A so-called perfect knight†¦show more content†¦Palamon, weak and unprepared for a duel, receives Arcita’s mercy which gives him an honest opportunity to fight for Emily’s love. Arcita’s chivalrous natur e allows him to suppress his impulse for combat and instead â€Å"[pledge] his honour to return† the next day with armor and weapons for Palamon (Chaucer 42). An honorable knight mercifully insures a fair battle against his weaker enemy, as Arcita does in regards to Palamon. Once returned with armor for Palamon, the fighting ensues amidst the feuding cousins. Before their dispute concludes in death, the wise knight, Theseus, along with his wife and Emily, the cause of the knights’ quarrel, happen upon them in the grove. Although both former prisoners, and one forever exiled from the land of Athens, Arcita and Palamon truthfully reveal their identity and the motivation behind their duel as â€Å"chivalry [requires] knights†¦to swear loyalty to their superiors† (Thierry). Arcita and Palamon, with all loyalty to the Duke, unveil their true identities, a brave act of chivalry that nearly results in the execution of the devoted knights. Theseus, moved with com passion at the plea of the two women, pardons both Arcita and Palamon, knowing that only those in love â€Å"can be called a fool† (Chaucer 46). Theseus’ amnesty emulates the â€Å"ideal chivalric knight,† one who â€Å"[is†¦] compassionate [and] just†¦to those in distress† (Thierry). InShow MoreRelatedThe Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an1600 Words   |  7 PagesThe Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an anonymous author, are both sophisticated fourteenth-century examples of medieval romance. Medieval romances captured the heart of their audiences as narratives and stories that featured a protagonist, often a knight, and dealt with religious allegories, chivalry, courtly love, and heroic epics. 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Each knight had to swear that he wou ld defend â€Å"the weak, the poor, widows, orphans, and theRead MoreA Hero s Comedic Tale879 Words   |  4 PagesA Hero’s Comedic Tale The epic poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, presents the typical medieval hero going on a ridiculous quest. Gawain exemplifies the five principles of chivalry as he addresses each challenge on his journey, making him a true hero. However, the tale places this serious hero in an absurd situation, illustrating the comical elements the poem holds as well. The measure of an honorable hero in medieval romances is his ability to follow the chivalric code. Five characteristicsRead MoreThe Sincere Hero And His Comedic Predicament936 Words   |  4 PagesPredicament The epic poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, presents the typical medieval hero going on a ridiculous quest. Gawain exemplifies the five principles of chivalry as he addresses each challenge on his journey, making him a true hero. However, the tale places this serious hero in an absurd situation, illustrating the comical elements the poem holds as well. The measure of an honorable hero in medieval romances is his ability to follow the chivalric code. Five characteristics are typically namedRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Sir Gawain And The Green Knight804 Words   |  4 PagesThere are many elements that are used to classify medieval literature. Beside the obvious association to the medieval time period, the writings contain unique aspects that create the iconic medieval tale. Characters within medieval romances are larger-than-life, courageous, and noble. The people of the Middle Ages openly received each of these traits, because of the importance they put on acts of nobility and chivalry. The themes of medieval stories were based on beliefs or ideas, expressed by theRead MoreEssay about Chaucers Use of Courtly Love856 Words   |  4 Pageswill never be accepted by his love; therefore, she is worshiped at a distance. Elements of courtly love can be seen in both The Book of the Duchess and The Knights Tale. In The Book of the Duchess the Black Knight represents the courtly love character, who falls hopelessly in love with Lady White. Following the courtly love tradition, Lady White becomes the most important thing in the Black Knights life. He describes her as the one true love that struck his eye with utter beauty.Read MoreThe Heroic and Honorable Knight in The Canterbury Tales Essay1060 Words   |  5 Pagesand over exaggerated fiction novels. When medieval knights roamed the earth, it was known that they were only human and, like humans, had faults. These knights did not always live up to the standards designated by society. However, in The Canterbury Tales, the knight is revealed as a character that would now be considered a knight in shining armor, a perfect role model in how he acts and what he does. Modern day people see them as chivalrous figures instead of their actual role as mounte d cavalry soldiersRead More Chaucers Canterbury Tales - Idealism in the Knights Tale Essay1663 Words   |  7 PagesIdealism in the Knights Tale      Ã‚   Despite its glorified accounts of the chivalrous lives of gentlemen, the Knight ¹s Tale proves to be more than a tragically romantic saga with a happy ending. For beneath this guise lies an exploration into the trifling world of the day ¹s aristocratic class. Here, where physical substance is superseded by appearance, reality gives way to disillusioned canon and emotion is sacrificed for honor. Naà ¯ve idealism emerges as the dominant characteristic of the