Psychology

Erik H. Erickson lived from 1902 to 1994 and was best known for social development theory of human beings. He coined the phrase of identity crisis which described the various stages that a human being must undergo throughout his life development cycle. Eric was a well known German American psychologist and psychoanalyst who made strides in child development and came up with eight stages of development (Richard, 24).

In his theory of childhood development, he focused on how the society has influenced an individuals growing sense of identity and self ego. Every human being is raised up in a given society and according to Eric society is considered as a positive force that helps an individual to develop his or self positively. The eight stages as a re theorized by Eric represent crucial moments in ones life that are faced by certain problems.  Each stage of development is associated with specific problems that should be resolved to allow the individual gain maturity.

The theory of psychological development by Erickson maintains that development of children is in a predetermined order. The outcomes of the development theory have two possible outcomes (Aage, et al, 9). First outcome is related to resolving of crisis in each stage of development. A second possible outcome is accumulation of problems from one stage to the next that results from failure of certain provisions in each stage of development.

Resolving developmental crisis in ones life in a satisfactory manner makes an individual to pass comfortably from one stage of development to another. This helps to build self ego that fosters a strong feeling of competence and confidence. Self ego is the conscious sense of self identity that is developed through interaction with other people. Competence in individual results to motivation of behaviors and actions and this leads to ego equality.

Failure to resolve conflicts associated with human development hinders individual ego and prevents an individual from growing in a health manner. This results to problems in mental health and other body complications. The person in such circumstances emerges with a sense of inadequacy (Fiscalini, 74).  Erickson is a good example who went through an identity crisis because his parents split up before he was born. While he was three years old his mother re-married a pediatrician in Germany. His life was miserable and he performed poorly in college. Being a Jew he was teased by other children and he experienced hard life while he was young.

Eric was granted American citizenship in 1939 and this was the turning point of his life. Erickson was influenced by five theories of Sigmund Freud and worked to improve some of the ideas. He believed that culture and society are two important aspects in an individuals development life cycle. However, he deviated from Freuds assumptions in four particular ways.

Firstly, his development theory was based on ego which he described as an autonomous system. The autonomous system related to reality in the aspect of thought, perception and attention. A second way in which Erickson differed with his mentor Freud is that he stressed on the historical and cultural setting upon which a persons ego is formed (Palkovitz, 23). Erickson compared influence of different times and culture on ego development.

Thirdly, Erickson in his theory covered the entire lifespan of an individual and his major concern was the development an individual undergoes from infancy to old age. The fourth and final way in which Erickson deviated from the provisions of Freuds theory was that he emphasized on the possibility of triumph over crises in life. All these concepts were different from the basics of Freud who concentrated mostly on the ill effects of early crises.

Accordingly, Ericksons stages of life development were based on eight principles that is hope, will, purpose, competence, fidelity, love, caring and wisdom. The eight stages covered these principles and each stage is characterized by certain life crises. Erickson believed that people in each stage experience conflicts that act as the turning point in development of an individual.

The conflicts experienced in each stage are centered towards development of quality or failure of quality. The society and culture are therefore considered to balance the strengths and weaknesses of the theory. The eight psychological  stages as per Erickson include trust versus mistrust, autonomy versus shame and doubt, initiative versus guilt, industry versus inferiority, identity versus role confusion, intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation, and ego integrity versus despair (Paular, 23).

Stage 1 Trust versus Mistrust
This is the first stage of psychological development according to Erickson and he refers it as the infant stage or oral sensory stage. He bases this stage of infant development with hope. According to Erickson, this stage of development occurs between birth of a child and one year of age. It is considered as one of the most fundamental stages in an individuals life.
The psychological crisis in this stage of development is trust and mistrust. The infant depends entirely on its caretakers and begins to learn the ability to trust other people depending on the consistency of the caregivers. When the child develops trust in a successful manner, he or she gains confidence and security in the surrounding area of growth. The purpose of this stage is to develop trust without doing away with the capacity for mistrust in the life of the growing child (Miner  Mertz, 231).

The parents or caregivers of the child are supposed to be close to the infant and any thing that can harm the child should be avoided. Mistrust in this stage is developed when the parents turn away from the infant, are unreliable or inadequate and when the parents do not provide for the needs of the child. The parents are supposed to provide all needs to the infant so as to develop trust. Once the infant develops a sense of mistrust, he or she will have fear and believe that the future or world is unpredictable or inconsistent. All these consequences of mistrust are carried with the child the next stage and life of the infant becomes complicated.

Stage 2 Autonomy versus shame and doubt
This is the second stage of psychological development according to Erickson which he refers it as toddler stage. Erickson bases this stage on will because the child is in a position to explore the world through interaction with objects around him or her. The age at this stage is usually from two to three years. The early childhood development stage focuses on the ability of a child to develop a sense of personal control. The purpose of this stage is to develop a sense of body control such as discharge of waste. The parents are supposed to build a strong bond so as to develop a sense of independence.

The  child at this stage of development include gaining more control over toy preferences, selecting clothes and making choices on which particular food they are supposed to take (Aage, et al, 12). The child starts to asset for their independence by walking away from their mother to explore the world.  When parents provide full support in relation to a childs independence, they become more secure and confident in the ability to survive on their own.

On the other hand, when the child is controlled or denied the opportunity to assert themselves they feel inadequate and often become dependent on others. In addition, the child lacks self-esteem and develops a feeling of shame or doubt. It is a very critical stage in an individual life cycle development because once the child losses focus in this stage he or she becomes a problem to the entire society (Richard, 32).

Stage 3 Initiative versus guilt
A third stage in psychological development according to Erickson that occurs around age three to six years. This stage is based on purpose and is also known as preschooler or kindergarten. The child in this stage is in a position to do things on his own such as dressing. The children start to plan for their own activities, initiate activities with others and make up their own games. The success of this stage ensures that the child develops a sense of initiative, makes their own decisions and feels secure to lead others. It is a genital-locomotor stage which involves a child learning initiative without too much guilt (Aage, et al, 16).

The child develops a strong mechanism for responding to challenges in life. In addition the child learns how to take responsibilities learns new skills and feels purposeful. Parents in this case are supposed to develop the child to successfully undergo this stage by encouraging them to try out their own ideas. The concept of fantasy, curiosity and imagination should be encouraged at this stage. The child is considered at developing his or her own skills so as to achieve certain goals in life. According to Erickson too much initiative and too little guilt leads to a maladaptive tendency he calls ruthlessness (Palkovitz, 29). Parents are responsible for initiating self initiative among children because unsuccessful development in this stage makes the child to feel guilty about his or her feelings.

Stage 4 Industry versus inferiority
This stage of psychological development covers early school years from age five to eleven. It is the latency stage that aims at developing capacity for industry while an excessive sense of inferiority is avoided.  The child starts to develop a sense of social interactions with other children and he or she becomes pride in their accomplishments and abilities. The children initiates projects, sees the projects go through to completion and feels good of their achievements. Teachers in this stage are the most important aspects in the life of the children (Pauler, 67). The teachers are supposed to encourage the children through reinforcement of their efforts.

The children in this aspect develop a sense of being industrious and feel confident to achieve their own goals. A good way in which a teacher or parent can differentiate a child in stage three and stage four is by looking at the way they play games with others. The teacher is supposed to be friendly to the child because he or she sends more time with the child than the parents (Richard, 41). Harsh teachers who control children from engaging with their peers makes the child to be develop a sense of inferiority and incompetence. Successful children from this stage are supposed to have a sense of competence and belief in their own skills.

Stage 5 identity versus confusion
This is the adolescence stage between ages 18 and 20 whereby a child in this stage aims at achieving ego identity and avoids confusion. The individual at this stage is considered as an adult who is in a position to make concrete decisions. Ego identity according to Erickson means exploring an individual to know who he or she is and how such an individual fits in the society (Jeannie, 114). This stage encourages individuals to engage in society activities because most of them are usually through with high school education.

The stage according to Erickson involves taking all that an individual has learned in the various stages about life. The individual is supposed to mould a collection of learned experiences and then mould them into unified self-image that is acceptable by the society (Fiscalini, 76). The person at this stage is usually preparing to venture into adult life and he or she should be well versed with requirements of being an adult. A successful individual from this stage should be aware of what he or she should be in future.

Stage 6 Intimacy versus isolation
This is a stage of young adults at the age of early and late twenties when individuals start to engage in intimate relationships. The principle that shapes this stage is of love where individuals in work place, schools or family start to engage in intimate relationships (Jeannie, 112). Erickson had a strong feeling that it is important that people engage in close and committed relationships.
The young adults are concerned with the type or character of a person they want to engage in relationship. A strong sense of personal identity is necessary to develop long lasting intimate relationships. Studies show that individuals with poor sense of self have less committed relationships. Such individuals are likely to suffer loneliness, depression and emotional isolation (Paular, 28). It is the role of parents, teachers and guardians to ensure that a child goes successfully through this stage for better family life.

Stage 7 Generativity versus stagnation
This stage is concerned with the principle of caring in relation to adulthood life that builds individuals life focusing on career and family. During this stage of middle adulthood, an individual establishes careers of their dream, settle down within relationship, begin family and develops a sense of being in a group of the entire society. People in this group are considered to be parents whose main role is to raise children, concentrate on their work and become involved in community activities and organizations.

Stage 8 ego integrity versus despair
This is the final stage according to Erickson based on the principle of wisdom and occurs during old age. It reflects back to how life has been in the past especially in the aspect of development.

Individuals who were not successful in the previous stages feel that their life has been wasted and experience many regret (Aage, et al, 19). Those who have accomplished their life mission will be proud and have a sense of integrity.

Analysis of cross-cultural psychology

Cross-cultural psychology is a comparative analysis of the differences in human behavior as a factor of different cultural backgrounds. This paper focuses on cross-cultural psychology seeking to outline how different it is from cultural psychology as well as how they relate. Cross-cultural psychology comes out as an empirical approach on cultural psychology. It uses critical thinking to explain variations and universalities in behavior across different cultures.

Introduction
Human behavior is influenced by many factors including cultural factors. Differences in cultures therefore imply that behavior is bound to vary among individuals. While psychologists have studied influence of a particular culture on behavior, they have also gone ahead to determine whether and how these variations exist among different cultural settings. This is the basis for cross-cultural psychology which is an empirical scientific approach of human psychology.

Cultural versus cross cultural psychology
Cultural psychology is the study of how a particular culture influences an individuals mental life. In essence, cultural psychology tries to identify meaningful relationships between a culture and the psychology of individuals living in this culture (Shiraev  Levy, 2006). In cultural psychology, the notion is that a persons mental life is shaped by the interaction the individual has with the culture they are in. As such, a cultural psychologist will try to identify whether a person or certain persons take up the qualities of the culture in which they are brought up in. It is important to point out that the definition of culture may differ considerably but certain variables remain the same. In this case, culture entails a collection of attitudes such as political or religious beliefs among other values, behaviors as well as symbols upheld by a large group of people. These are usually passed from generation to generation. Cultural psychology will therefore also determine when and how these aspects of culture are internalized by individuals.

Cross-cultural psychology on the other hand differs from plain cultural psychology in that comparison of cultures comes in. As such, Shiraev  Levy (2006) defines cross-cultural psychology as the comparative study of cultural effects on human psychology. In a cross-cultural psychology study, there has to be at least two samples from two different cultures which must be compared. Core to cross-cultural psychology is that differences in human behavior are studied with the cultural influence of each behavior being put into consideration. This brings in the concept of critical thinking while studying cross-cultural psychology. Not only is the diversity in psychology examined in cross-cultural studies but the reasons leading to these variations are looked into. Cross-cultural interactions are also studied with an effort to know whether and how individuals psychology is affected by interactions between different cultures. It should also be noted that it is also the endeavor of cross-cultural psychology to identify common psychological processes across different cultures. In this case, a common behavior may be studied in different cultures. It is also important to mention that cross-cultural psychology must be studied using modern scientific methods as it involves systematic comparisons (Shiraev  Levy, 2006).

From the above definitions of cultural and cross-cultural psychology, it is no doubt that these two areas of psychology have several things in common. In cultural psychology, efforts are devoted in understanding a particular variable that characterizes a society in depth. The study of cultural psychology becomes enhanced not only by taking a considerable sample size but also getting deeper understanding of the interrelationship of the particular variable and human behavior. Using this deep understanding of a single cultural regarding a certain behavior, it is possible to get a well grounded comparison when individual cultural psychology studies are pooled for comparison purposes. The comparison portion of individual cultural psychology studies brings in the concept of cross-cultural psychology (Berry, 2002).

Critical thinking and methodology in cross-cultural research
While carrying out a cross-cultural research, it is possible to take several approaches. Taking an evolutionary approach, the role of biological factors in shaping human behavior is analyzed. The biological fate is then subjected to social forces which complete the behavior of the individual. In a society or a certain group of people, an individuals behavior will tend to be shaped by what the society upholds or demands of them. On the other hand, cross-cultural psychology may take the ecocultural approach. Here, the environment in which the individual is brought up is brought into the scene. As such, it is theorized that there is a continual interaction with the environment resulting into a two-way impact that is also impacted on by the environment. Taking a cultural mixtures approach in cross-cultural research, one bears in mind that cultures do not exist exclusively but instead there are interconnections and cultural mixtures which must be considered (Shiraev  Levy, 2006). Perhaps a more elaborate approach that is intensive as far as critical thinking is concerned is the integrative approach. In this case, human behavior which is partly shaped by the environment is taken to be inseparable from human activity. Human activity is then viewed as a factor of the environment whether individual or socioeconomic. All these are part of critical thinking in cross-cultural psychology as they try to unearth the reasons behind differences or universality in human behavior across cultures (Berry, 2002).

For excellent comparison of human behavior in different cultures in cross-cultural research, critical thinking is an important ingredient. This helps in determining whether a certain behavior can be generalized across cultures. The reliance of cross-cultural research on contemporary scientific methods where empirical data is generated for comparison is a unique feature. Even with application of contemporary scientific methods, the indigenous approaches of psychology are not excluded. This presents cross-cultural psychology as one that in addition to acknowledging variations in cultures, it also appreciates that cultures are unique in their own way. This exclusivity as found in indigenous psychology is taken as an assumption in cross-cultural research. While recognizing such views as ethnocentrism, cross-cultural studies are important in reducing the same. This is achieved through comparing data from a single cultural with those from a different culture. The ecocultural approach of cross-cultural studies is effectual in critically understanding why differences or similarities exist in different cultures. This is not as exclusive as ethnocentrism thus it makes cross-cultural studies superior (Berry, 2002).

It is important to note that comparison is the central aspect of cross-cultural research this is achieved through ecological-level studies, individual cultural studies or through linkage studies. In effect, it becomes possible to interpret any variations or universalities as far as mental life and behavior thereof is concerned.

Conclusion
Cross-cultural psychology is strongly based on comparing human behavior with differences in cultural background in consideration. As such, cross-cultural research in psychology presents as a scientific approach to cultural psychology that critically compares variations and commonness in human behavior across different cultures. Critical thinking in cross-cultural psychology is an important aspect that helps in explaining whether, how and when differences occur in human behavior due to cultural differences.

 Service learning has been found useful in enhancing the learning of concepts by students in class in recent times. Moreover, service learning has been found instrumental in producing attractive results in students like enhanced self esteem as well as an increased desire to know social causes. The psychology of learning is beneficial to all in the learning process as seen with trainers of dogs in the animal shelter. Generally, this article highlights the importance of teaching and learning operant principles of a member of faculty, the student and also the member of staff.

Significance of Service Learning
Service learning helps students to actively participate in class as well as model the learnt concepts and techniques. This also includes the ability to show the applicability of what is being taught in the world we live in. Moreover, students can perform significant social-work as a lot of satisfaction is realized through experiences of education in service learning. However, the administration of a service-learning component in a large class could be somehow hard.  Having established the benefits found herein, the article presents a method where instructors in psychology can permit their students to learn as well as practice very crucial psychological principles in the process of doing socially-beneficial work through using students in developed courses as operant trainers in animal shelters.

Perspectives
The perspectives of the value of teaching and learning operant principles in animal shelters have been shared by a faculty member (TM) in coordination, a student (RC) who has actively taken part in a shelter learning experience an administrator at a Humane Society Branch (DF) where the shelter learning experience is being provided. All this have been integrated together to establish the importance of using a service learning experience in class.

Important Information
Every year in the United States, many dogs have been abandoned at animal shelters. Despite, efforts of organizations like the Humane Society to offer shelter to the animals, many animals remain unsheltered because of their relatively big number. Consequently, most of them get killed to provide room for pets which are incoming. The reason for abandonment is that the animals develop some behaviors that the owners cannot cope with. All the same, after being adopted in these shelters, the problems may become more pronounced or even develop other behaviors owing to the conditions of crowd and noise in the shelter. The need to correct these behaviors prompts the implementation of the shelter training program.

Faculty Perspectives
During the Fall 2000 academic semester, psychology of learning students was used as dog trainers in animal shelters. This led to offering opportunities for students to develop better knowledge of operant principles as well as making unwanted shelter dogs adoptable in an easy manner. This was a session for the trainer to model the things learnt in class. These are ideal courses in getting trainers for dogs because the learning course specifically focuses on the use of operant condition steps in increasing the likelihood of desirable behaviors and decreasing the likelihood of the undesirable ones. Moreover, they are very beneficial to students who are enrolled in the courses. However, some students may not find it easy in learning these topics.

Examples of Operant Procedures
The operant procedures are as discussed below. Shaping is one of the operant procedures which aim at producing the desired character in an animal. Reinforcement on the other hand is the increment of a future likelihood of a desired response through an environmental consequence. Another one is punishment which could involve such things like withholding attention from a dog with undesirable character.    

Student and Shelter Staff Perspectives
Many students have been found taking courses in psychology because the areas of study are interesting. However, a lot of challenge has been when it comes to research work. On the other hand, the shelter staff is of the opinion that, the presence of student is very crucial to dogs even without performing the operant conditioning task.  However, the operant skills of training brought by students as perceived by the staff seem to be an authentic bonus and the training received by dogs while with the students produce satisfactory results.

Conclusion
From all that has been found of benefit through service learning, many authors have been seen to promote the importance of such approach in the learning of the student. Service learning has is an important tool used to relate the kind of material learnt in class to the practical world.  Operant conditioning is a method whereby humans as well as animals get to learn to behave in a manner to get rewards as well as evade punishment.  It refers to a pattern in experimental psychology through which such action and learning are learnt. As seen here, the behavior of individuals is directed through the consequences.

For instance, while a dog can beg for a bone, the politician will be found reading the polls to guide him in his campaign. The operant conditioning process is goal-oriented behavior performance. The operant procedures are therefore very crucial in the production of such desired behavior in both animals and humans. The information contained in this article generally supports the importance of employing service learning with students as it improves their understanding levels.

Essay Assignment
Joshua Wolf Shenks article, What Makes us Happy, is a deep and somewhat complicated look into one of the most important and comprehensive studies on the human condition in the history of psychology. Complete with analysis of the study, its participants, and most importantly the studys curator, Shenks article provides a depth of analysis that is both useful and intriguing on many different levels. The article would fit perfectly in the curriculum of a course on the pursuit of happiness for many reasons, including its take on the complicated human condition, its understanding of the things that contribute to human happiness, and its ability to tie together real life themes with themes of psychological study. For those reasons, Shenks article should not only be a part of the new courses curriculum, but it should also be an important part of what the course teaches.

One of the things that would make this article an effective teaching tool is the vast number of ways in which a course could go with it. While many articles might provide one days worth of analysis before moving on to the next piece, What Makes us Happy is an article with much more potential than that. The first way that it could be used in the course is as a piece of deeper analysis into the mind of the Grant Studys chief curator. Dr. Vaillant is a complicated and interesting character, as his own experiences have shaped not only his involvement in the study, but also his ability to analyze certain aspects of the study. In the article, Shenk writes of Vaillant, The seed of interest in longitudinal research had been planted it germinated decades later in Vaillants psychiatric residency and then in the ultimate vein of data he discovered at Harvard. It was 1967, and the Grant Study men were beginning to return for their 25th college reunions. Vaillant was 33. He would spend the rest of his careerand expects to spend the rest of his lifefollowing these men (Shenk, 2009). It is clear that Vaillants special passion for the material involved in the grant study has both helped him and shaped him, which could be an interesting thing to study in a course. Students could study how ones past experiences change his or her outlook on happiness as a whole. Using Vaillant as an example would be an excellent place to start.

Additionally, it is clear that this article takes a deeper look into what happiness actually means. While many articles provide something of a cursory glance at happiness and talk of it in unrealistic terms, Shenk, by function of his meetings with Vaillant, writes of happiness in very real terms. Shenk writes, Vaillant brings a healthy dose of subtlety to a field that sometimes seems to glide past it. The bookstore shelves are lined with titles that have an almost messianic tone, as in Happier Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment. But what does it mean, really, to be happier (Shenk, 2009). The article brings about many questions of just what happiness entails, which could foster excellent discussion in class. One of the problems with the study of happiness is that too many people mask their true feelings and happiness is sometimes veiled. By digging deeper into what it means to truly be happy, the goals of the class could be achieved. This article speaks of that in very certain terms.

One thing that the article very interestingly touches on is just how important our own perceptions and expectations are in terms of happiness. It references the country of Denmark, where people are characteristically blunt and realistic. That country, despite its harsh realism, is constantly listed as one of the happiest nations around. This could bring about an interesting debate on the role of expectations to human happiness. Is it best to lower ones expectations in order to get the most out of a happy life Does this strip away some of the other joys of life, including optimism These are all interesting questions that can and must be answered in a class that seeks to uncover the truth on happiness. For this reason, the article is a good item to get students started.

One of its strengths also acts as one of the possible objections to using this article in a course of that nature. It is relatively light and easy reading, and does not dive into the technical aspects of psychology. Though this is one of the things that might make it a good introductory article for a course on happiness, one might argue that this holds it back in terms of academic usefulness. The course would not need to rely solely on the article as a teaching point, though. Its best attribute is its light nature, as people who are just learning the subject would be able to get their feet wet and enjoy the article. Students are always looking for things that are not only of academic merit, but are interesting to read. The more interesting something is, the more likely students are to really get excited about digesting and understanding the material at hand.

Another possible objection to using this article in a course would be the inherent biased that seem to exist for the author. He is quite obviously a fan of Dr. Vaillants story and his work, which might have led him to prop up the studys curator a bit more than necessary. He makes many comments within the article about the overall depth and importance of Vaillants role in the psychological world. Some might feel as if this article has too many portions that are not useful for course study. Though that might be true, the article itself is long enough to provide plenty of worthy class material even when the other portions are removed. It could also be argued that the authors takes on Vaillants psychological study are important for the total understanding of what is going on with the Grant Study. Since Vaillant and the study are so intertwined, it is difficult to understand one without understanding the other.

Joshua Shenks article could play a key role in a course entitled The Pursuit of Happiness. Though there are a few objections that might be raised, it offers more than a few interesting academic talking points that could be the beginning of healthy dialogue within a class. The study of Dr. Vaillant could make for interesting course material, as it might lead to a deeper understand of some of his other work on the subject. The depth at which the article addresses important questions about happiness makes it inherently useful. Additionally, the article could be used as a springboard for new, interesting discussion on many other topics directly relating to the pursuit of happiness. It goes in so many directions that students would be able to take their own meaning and start their own interesting discussions. These things make it clear that Shenks article would serve a purpose in a class of that nature.

Essay Question 1 Erickson
Erickson describes eight stages of human development. The first stage is Trust vs. Mistrust and it is in this stage that the main developmental task is to learn how to trust. The second stage is Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, in this stage the toddler learns how to control bodily functions, and how to remain independent from their parents for longer periods of time. This stage occurs from around the age of one and a half to age three. Stage three is that of Initiative vs. Guilt, children in this stage are learning how to initiate play with other children, and learning to confront and deal with psychological issues of toddlerhood including the oedipal conflict defined by Freud. Industry vs. Inferiority the childs main task is to learn to follow rules, and the value of hard work. It is at this age that the child begins to explore the neighborhood and expands their social circle outside of that of family members.  (The Learning Place .Com, 2009).

As a child enters adolescence they confront the stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion. During this stage an adolescents main task is to develop a sense of self that is independent of their family and friends. Stage six is that of Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation, in this stage the young adult is trying to build lifelong relationships, and seeking to create a family on their own. In stage seven, Generativity vs. Stagnation, the adults main task is to work to leave a legacy to the next generation whether it is ones values or a fine work of art. The final stage is that of Integrity vs. Despair, in this stage the final developmental task is to learn to accept the fact that ones death is possible in the near future (The Learning Place .Com, 2009).

These stages can be helpful to psychologist in that they offer the psychologist a perspective on what is going on with a person emotionally. For instance, if an adolescent comes into the office and is having emotional problems in terms of conflict with ones family, anxiety, and mood swings, the psychologist will be aware that this may be an identity related issue due to the adolescents current stage of development. These stages are also helpful for psychologists in that they help psychologists to pinpoint specific problems that occur during specific points in the lifespan.

(added paragraph)When dealing with clients, I would be most comfortable in dealing with clients in the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage of development. There are several reasons for this including (a) the fact that I have been through this stage of development, and have confronted many of the things that adolescents are dealing with, and (b) how adolescents deal with this stage affects whether or not they will successfully navigate future developmental stages. The developmental stage that I would have the most difficulty with would be the Integrity vs. Despair stage, since it is very difficult to understand the issues faced by the elderly when one is only in ones 20s.

Essay 2 Physical Changes
There are specific changes that occur physically as we age. People may develop problems with hearing and eyesight. Wrinkles develop, and hair grays. People may develop rheumatoid arthritis, or other muscular, nerve, or joint disorders. Older people may have a stooped gait, and they often slow down physically.  Weight gain is common, and older people may have a more difficult time keeping physically fit due to physical limitations. People who have not taken care of themselves physically may in terms of smoking, drinking and overeating, may develop serious illnesses. They are also less muscular and physically strong than a younger person. Reactions and responses may slow (Growing Old in a New Age , 2009).

These physical changes may also impact a person socially and intellectually. An elder that cannot see well is likely to read, or watch television less, and thus will not receive the intellectual stimulation they once did. An elder who cannot hear very well may be excluded socially because they cannot participate actively in conversations and they may miss out on important cues or information when talking to people. Finally, physical changes can also influence a person emotionally. People may become depressed, or suffer from low self esteem and anxiety when they realize that they are no longer young.

Knowledge of the physical changes that occur in old age may help psychologists in that physical changes can impact cognitive and emotional health. The symptoms of many common health problems experienced by the elderly such as Alzheimers or cancer may have related psychological problems that must be treated in order for the elder to continue functioning. Often it is merely the physical changes alone that cause emotional problems. Someone who has spent their life focused on physical capability, or physical appearance may become depressed because they are no longer as strong or as physically attractive as they once were. Someone who spent their life caring for others may become anxious and depressed when they can no longer physically care for themselves and must be helped by others rather than helping others. By understanding physical issues psychologists can help elders confront the tasks of the final stage of life.

The  major positive physical changes may include losing the gawky appearance of adolescence, becoming more physically fit, and more comfortable within our own bodies. Other domains that may be affected by aging include, social, emotional and intellectual. What surprised me the most about these readings was that many people did not report the drastic physical changes that age is stereotyped as bringing.

Essay 3 Personality and Intellectual Development
The development of ones personality and intellect does not cease as we age. As adults we can develop new interests, and continue to explore new avenues of academic study. People think that as we age memory and intellect tends to decay, but this is not the case. As adults we take up new hobbies, and interests. Adults and elders also have a better sense of what they are interested in. For instance they will study history rather than math or science because that is what they are interested in. According to Learning.Org (2009), one key to remaining intellectually healthy as we age is to maintain outside interests and to continue to explore and to learn new skills. Verbal skills tend to can increase as one ages as can ones mathematical skills and reasoning skills because one has greater experience and practice in using those (Growing Old in a New Age , 2009).

Personality also changes as we age. We develop new interests, and as we age we also change how we interact with others socially. An adult that was shy as a child may be more extroverted as an adult because they have learned to cope with other people. Personality wise, adults also change over time because we become more entrenched in habitual behavior bad, and good. Flexible people tend to remain flexible in attitudes and beliefs as they grow older, but those with rigid personalities tend to grow even more right in attitudes and beliefs as they age.

There are many things that can interfere with intellectual and personality development as we age.  Health problems may prevent people from maintaining an intellectually and socially active lifestyle. People may also experience emotional problems as they age that interfere with intellectual and personality growth. There are things that can be done to enhance personality development as we age. First, maintain intellectual and social pursuits. Second, we can stay active intellectually and socially by developing new interests and hobbies.

Essay 4 Personal Journey Paper
I found out many things about myself in the process of writing this personal journey paper. First, I found out that I am not as different from my peers as I thought I was. Most of the other people in the class seemed to have many of the same problems that I did while in high school. I also found that that the process of self discovery isnt always easy. I had to admit some things about myself that I didnt really want, and talk about some issues that I wasnt really ready to deal with.

I began this paper by sitting down and really thinking about my childhood. How was I different from anyone else Was I different from anyone else I also began to chart out various social, emotional and intellectual changes that I have gone through in my life. As I did this I began to see the different influences on my development as a complex web or chain. My life would have been completely different if even a single thread or link was changed.  I finally sat down and began to right out the paper chronologically in terms of my social, emotional and intellectual development.

I think that this paper could be very useful when working with clients in the counseling field. Only by understanding how people have changed over time, and what has influenced them to develop in the way that they have, can we help them to resolve their problems. In other words much like in history you have to understand the past to change the future. Clients can use a paper such as this to explore changes in their lives that have had a positive or a negative impact. They can also use the personal journey paper as a tool for understanding how and why they have developed negative behaviors. In terms of whether or not I would be willing to share my own journey, I think that I would be very specific about what I shared, and I would ensure that it pertained to the persons own personal journey.

Essay 5 Stress Management and Loss
There are many different strategies for dealing with stress as adults. One can seek psychological counseling. One can also use diet and exercise the manage stress levels. Meditation techniques and relaxation techniques have also been used successfully to manage stress. Another coping strategy is to have a non-stressful activity planned into your schedule such as a hobby in order to alleviate ones stress levels during a busy working week.

The stress management technique that I use most frequently is diet and exercise. I find that when I eat properly and avoid the diet pitfalls such as too much caffeine, or too much junk food that are common amongst college students that I am less stressed overall. I also find that going to the gym and spending an hour on the treadmills may be physically stressful but, when I am on the treadmill all the cares of my school and work day kind of just disappear.

Adults face many losses during their lifetime. Adults may lose their jobs by being fired or laid off, or through retirement. Adults must also face the deaths of aging parents and older relatives. This can be stressful because even as adults we still need our parents. Some adults have to face losing their children as children grow up and start their own lives (empty nest syndrome), or if their children become terminally ill. Adults may also lose spouses and romantic partners as they age as well as friends. Physical and mental health may also be lost as we age and find we are no longer as strong, or as healthy as we once were.

The most difficult aspect of working with clients in these areas is that often they would be issues that I am experiencing myself. It would be very difficult for instance, to distance myself from a mother or father experiencing problems with Empty Nest Syndrome if I was at an age where my own children had just moved out on their own. Stress management would probably be easier for me to deal with than loss because teaching people to manage stress merely involves giving them the tools and helping them to find out which tools work best for them.

Essay 6 Self Reflection
Helping clients to find meaning in stressful experiences is critical in helping them to overcoming problems. Stress can do one of two things, if one overcomes it, one will learn and grow. If one allows it to overcome them, than they will become psychologically defeated and unable to handle the problems of daily life. This is related to resilience in the sense that resilient people are more likely to develop the tools that they need to successfully overcome stressors. They have a more positive outlook and life, and better stress management and coping skills than people with more rigid personalities.

My own values and ethics have influenced my career choice in several ways. First, I was brought up to value helping others. This has changed my understanding of my career choices in that I no longer make career choices or employment choices based on money, or esteem of my peers. I expect that these values will influence how I treat clients because my values will make me more likely to treat them in an ethical manner than someone who was in counseling for the wrong reasons.

How many different MRI pulse sequences do they use Give the types and names of pulse sequences.
In the study, there were actually 65 different MRI pulse sequences used in direct coherence with 303 sentences.  These sentences were classified into three namely motion, static, and fictive.  In the motion part, a motion verb is being described with movement.  For example, participants will be prompted with sentences such as The deer jumped over the brook.  On the other hand, static sentences are describing motion with little or no movement at all.  A sample sentence of this category would be The bridge jumped over the brook.  And finally, fictive motion sentences contain a motion verb used non-literally so that it will appear similarly to the static sentences.

What is the spatial resolution of the fMRI scans From this information, what FOV are they using if we assume that the point resolution is 64x64

For this experiment, the researchers used a 3-T GE Signa EXCITE scanner equipped with phased-array head coil.  For every participant, the fMRI data has a spatial resolution of 1 x 1 x 1.3 mm anatomical scan. These were actually collected in the middle of the scanning session.  From this information, if the researchers have used a 64 x 64 spatial resolution, then it would have been possible that B0 filed maps were no longer collected to correct the image distortions in the functional images.

What is the spatial resolution of the structural scans Using the same FOV as the fMRI images, what would be the point resolution How long would these structural scans take to acquire

The spatial resolution of the structural scans was recorded to be 2 x 3 repeated measures ANOVA. The main experiment which is consisted of three runs of 273 volumes each takes about 9.1 minutes all throughout.  All of the subjects except one have completed 131 volumes for the MT  localizer and it took about 4.4 minutes.  There was a repetition time of 2000 msec and echo time of 30 msec.  For this experiment, there were nine sentences and nine blocks for each run.  The researchers used a block design of 30-sec blocks of sentences and 15-sec blocks of baseline.

Draw a time line of the experiment. How many images are taken on each block

15 sec     15 sec       15 sec       15 sec         15 sec      15 sec          15 sec       15 sec

1    2         3  4         5               6                7                8                9

30 sec         30 sec        30 sec         30 sec       30 sec       30 sec        30 sec        30 sec

Child development is a process that every child has to undergo while growing up and it involves mastering as well as learning different skills in life for instance walking, sitting, tying shoes and talking (Uttal, ODoherty, Newland, Hand  DeLoache, 2009).

A developmental milestone is a skill acquired by a child within a specified period, for instance learning how to walk (Uttal, et al., 2009).  Developmental milestone occurs in sequences in that one skill has to be fully developed before another one can be learned.

COURSEWORK
Theoretical Advance
It has been observed that children tend to learn mathematical knowledge in a number of ways (Uttal, et al., 2009).  However, theory has it that it is not enough to use manipulation of concrete objects as a way of giving children the ability to understand symbolic representations of mathematical ideas or abstract (Uttal, et al., 2009).

Theoretical challenge for Future Developmentalists
Developmentalists have discovered that even though learning algebra can prove quite helpful in creating a gateway for future science and mathematics achievement in child development, there is a challenge involving understanding the figurative nature of algebraic representations (Uttal, et al., 2009).

Research Methods Advance
The concept of dual representation can prove as an advance in understanding the symbolic nature of representations (Uttal, et al., 2009).

Research Methods Challenge for Future Developmentalists
Unlike in the case of adults, dual representation is a developmental challenge to children since they are required to pay more attention to what exactly is represented by a symbolic object and not its inherent properties (Uttal, et al., 2009).

Advance in Understanding Milestones
Prevention of interaction with the model as an object by children actually enhances their use of it as a symbolic representation (Uttal, et al., 2009).  In the process, a strong support for challenges experienced in the course of dual representation is provided.

Milestones that Need Greater Specification
Research on dual representation has been observed to highlight the importance as well as difficulty of being able to link a symbolic object to what its representation (Uttal, et al., 2009).  Even though it might appear simple to an adult, it can prove difficult for children under the age of 3 years.

Advance in Understanding Mechanisms
By learning a mathematical concept from either generic symbols or perceptually rich and concrete symbols described as written language, children are able to understand the mathematical symbols (Uttal, et al., 2009).  On the other hand, those learning from the concrete instantiations are less able to use what they have learned to the more generic symbols.  However, those learning from abstract symbols are in a better position to transfer their knowledge to new concepts (Uttal, et al., 2009).

Mechanisms that need Greater Specifications
Manipulatives that are computer-based being used on children need to consider use and design of concrete manipulatives (Uttal, et al., 2009). This is because it reduces the demands for the dual representation and in the end enables children to pay less attention to on-screen objects and more on the relationship between mathematical representations and the manipulatives (Uttal, et al., 2009).

Advance in Developing Applications
Simple manipulatives that facilitate abstraction as well as reflection enable children to focus and reflect on their actions, leading to more learning (Uttal, et al., 2009).  Therefore, as it has been observed, manipulation is best applied when children use them as tools for learning as compared to focusing on the objects properties (Uttal, et al., 2009).

Applications that need Further Effort
Majority of teachers assume that interesting or highly attractive manipulatives will further facilitate learning and transfer of knowledge in children (Uttal, et al., 2009).  However, it has been observed that children may not be able to link symbolic representations with what they learn from concrete objects (Uttal, et al., 2009).  Therefore, a balanced approach considering how interesting and attractive concrete objects hinder and assist learning should be considered.

There is a major belief that during the developmental process of a child they tend to asks more questions and are more inquisitive about almost everything they see and hear. At this stage it is always best, if as a parent or guardian you can figure the best way to reply. In the process of their growing up they encounter a lot of life experiences. Some they might understand adequately while some they might not. Children therefore have the general believe that their parents know it all thereby not hesitating to ask them any question they find too complex for them to relate to. The purpose of this paper therefore is to take a brief look into some of the most reputable researches in the history of child development and the theories on how our responses to childrens questions affect their growing process and philosophy of life.

Piaget was one of the most influential developmental psychologists and under the cognitive theory explained that assimilation and accommodation are the two complementary process of adaptation. He explained that the way we perceive the outside world affects our behaviors and attitude thereby making it internalized (ATHERTON).

A child can ask complex questions that you as an adult might become puzzled and wonder how he or she got to think of such. Imagine a five year old girl asking her mum if she can smoke a cigarette just the way her dad does. If you answer no you cant she will ask you why because at this age, children become naturally inquisitive about almost everything they see and hear. Through this essay I want to trash out issues related to answering strange and complex questions asked by children in their best interest. Answering this many complex questions require balancing as you are very conscious that your ward does not get the wrong perception.

Having a prior understanding of developmental psychology helps you choose and select the right word to utter when faced with any complex question. Why is it essential to have a good understanding of how your answers as a guardian can affect the developmental psychology of the kid It is that words spoken can not be erased. Once spoken, it either gives the wrong or right impression on the kids mind.

In the course of this study I consulted with a friend of mine who went through a lot while growing up as a kid, to hear his story. He said when he was growing up as a kid his parents were separated, so he and two of his siblings (boys) had to go and live with their paternal grand mother while their remaining two girls stayed with his mum. As the years pass by he became very eager to know the incident that made them separated as a family and the true person that his mum was. As a true kid growing up he began to ask questions about what actually made his dad leave his mum for another woman who he had no prior intimacy with. He was ready to accept any answer given to him at that period, so he was curious to know. To know why their parents all of a sudden decided to abandon them with their grandparent. Each time he directed the complex question to his grandmother, she never even thought twice about the implication of the answers she was gave him or may be she was just not knowledgeable on the effect her answer would have on his growing up.

My friend simply said she always painted the whole picture as if  his mum was a bad person who loved drinking alcohol more than water. She named her as an alcoholic nuisance who drinks to the point of disgracing the poor boys father in public. She explained how one day his dad came back from work with his long time buddy, only to see his mum on the floor with many empty bottles of beer. She had been drinking all day instead of staying at work that day. He said his grand mother told him how his dad felt so embarrassed that day in front of his friend that when his friend left he had to beat his mum up to the point of coma. His grandmother also explained how immoral it is to drink and how much he should hate alcoholics. As if that was not bad enough, his grandmother told him that the day his dad found out that his mummy had been relieved of her work in the office due to her drunken habit, he sent her packing from the house that night. She concluded that was how they started living with her. This answer did a lot of harm to my little friend while growing up as a little kid. He and his siblings thought their mum to be very uncaring about them and they started having deep distastes for their mum to the point that they  never wanted to see her again and I told her that. He said it was not like his grand mother just gave the answer that day and that was it but she kept on discussing about his mums bad attitude and why she is a bad mum every night with his uncle.

According to him the hatred lasted for years and affected his relationship with his mum. He also admitted that his mum used to drink but felt the story was exaggerated in an attempt to steer them away from the habit of drinking. He said his grandmother had a good heart and did not want the kids to imbibe the habit that their mum had but the answer she gave him made him hate people who drank alcohol. He said he hated them to the point that he felt they were evil, outcast and should not be associated with. Altogether he felt like they should be punished for their behavior. But does it really mean that drinking as an entity is bad or is it the quantity that matters

Before he was told the story of my mum he said he did not have any form of dislike toward people who drank alcohol. In short, he cared less until his granny painted a whole new picture to him. It was hard for him to accept that people with drinking habit should be forbidden because they are nuisance, he had to accommodate such. In accommodating external information like this, the childs internal world has to accommodate itself to the evidence with which it is confronted with and adapt to it, which can be a more difficult and painful process. (ATHERTON)

This life experience related by my friend has kept me on my toes during this research and has been the drive toward me writing this paper. It has given me a deeper knowledge on how our answers to little kids affect their psychology and their growing up altogether.

In this essay we shall be handling a couple of tough questions that children ask and the best way to answer them so as not to create the wrong impression and perception toward life. Below are the responses that I have given to children of different ages on a complex question.

In particular, we shall be looking at answering childrens questions about alcohol or alcoholism. Check out each scenario and the following answers I gave each kid to their complex questions below.
Scenario 1 As a health education teacher in one of the schools in the city. I was in my office one day when one of my pupils walked into my office, feeling troubled. I asked him what the problem was and he narrated how his father had scolded him the day before for drinking his fathers beer from his cup. I was stunned at his question but then I knew I just had to go about it in the right approach. I understood that development is in stages and that some answers only make sense to you when you are old enough to understand. I wanted to give the poor boy not just an answer that will deter him from drinking but also one that he would understand at his age. He did not understand why he could not drink the liquid his father was drinking after all they ate the same food. He simply asked, Uncle, why did daddy beat me. The first thing I did was ask him how old he was and he said five years old. I then asked if his daddy gave him any explanation and he said He said I will die if I took it. Since then he had been scared of dying.

I drew the boy closer and assured him that neither he nor his dad will die. I then told him that the reason why his daddy scolded him for drinking was because he was that the police would arrest and beat him up for drinking because of his age. Accommodating that simple answer was easy for him. The answer I gave him can be justified by Piagets theory which focused on how what we hear affects our behavior children. Telling your child that he will die someday for drinking alcohol is bad enough to scare him, therefore instead of correcting a behavior, you are giving your ward the nightmare of his life which could hunt him for a very long time and directly affect his mood. I did not make the mistake of making him feel alcohol is good because he would not understand why something good should be avoided.

As justified by Language theory I painted a bad picture for him but not an extreme case like that of his dad. I had to break my answer to his complex question in the simplest possible language I could.
When faced by a similar question from a 9 year old boy the answer I gave was not far fetched from the previous one. I simply told the little nine year old boy that daddy was only trying to protect him from destroying himself. He asked further, If taking alcohol will destroy me then why is daddy destroying himself. I simply told him that his daddy was not destroying himself because his dad was very much stronger than him. Saying the police will arrest him and beat him up will not make much sense to him because he is more intelligent than the five year old boy I analyzed earlier. He know there is no way the policemen will find out he drank from his fathers cup except someone told them.
Lastly, for the 13 year old boy I could afford to explain further in details because of his maturity stage and level of understanding. I couldnt just say the police will arrest you and beat you up as in the first case or that merely because his daddy was stronger, because I would get a lot of Why and Why not questions from him so I decided to explain in full details why his daddy had to beat him up- the health implications and how his fathers immunity is far greater than his own. Besides the immunity, I had to explain to him that because of his fathers age and maturity he could still have control over his drinking attitude while he is too young to control such hysteria which could lead to possession of far more damaging drugs. I made him understand that his father knew the spirit behind drinking and was only preventing his loving boy from starting what he cant have the power to control now due to his inexperience.

All these answers are fully supported by Piagets theory which related philosophically the external responses we get with our internal perception about our questions (ATHERTON). He attributed external responses to the behavior and development of a young child.

Also the choice of language was also very essential according to the language theory. As stated earlier I had to give the full explanation to the 13 year old boy to erase any iota of doubt in him. But if I had given the same explanation I gave to the 13 year old boy to the five year old boy I would only be doing more harm than good. The language theory supports that the choice of language used when answering a small boys complex questions should be considered for the proper development of the child. The right languages need to be selected to adequately represent the event that you want to paint to the children according to their age and more importantly the level of their language understanding. Chomsky theory characterizes the growth of language as analogous to physical growth and maturation (Clibbens).

From the third theory which is Information Processing, it is obvious that you can not answer a young five year old childs complex question about alcoholism with a complex because of the level of his information processing. This theory introduces the concept of chunk which could refer to data, digits, words, faces of people and presented that the short term memory could only hold between 5-9 chunks of information for processing (Miller).

CONCLUSION
From my own basic knowledge of how a child develops I will simply say it was very essential for me to answer my little kids in ways that would fulfill the following

Must be logical for their ages Age is a factor when answering complex questions and your answers given to children must be logical enough for them to relate to. Due to their information processing unit it was necessary to weigh the answers I gave. Its of no use given a perfect answer to someone if he or she doesnt understand. That was the main reason why I decided not to give a full explanation to the five year old boy. I only gave a short one that would be easily remembered and I also made sure that as short and precise as my answer was, it did not project the wrong perception of drinking to the small boy.

Must not give the wrong perception You dont want to tell the little children that drinking alcohol is totally bad but that they are not in the right position to take part. You also dont want to do more harm to the development of the young kids by scaring or threatening their tender heart.

In summary I was guided by the three major child developmental and cognitive theories when answering the different kids.

The role of gender stereotypes continues to be observed in communities and in the workplaces. It is evident that individuals tend to choose their professions depending on the influences they have during the early stages of their development (Ogut, 2003). This paper will discuss some of these factors that have particularly affected women individuals from taking up male-dominated professions. The effects of self esteem and sex differences will also be discussed in the paper.

Gender stereotypes develop due to certain influences in the manner which individuals are brought up as well as their physique. When children are brought up, they learn from their parents, their siblings and the society at large, they tend to take roles assigned to them and assign themselves roles they view prevalent to them. For instance, girls will always want to be like their mothers while boys like their fathers.

In this view, a girl will take up all the roles assigned to her and the roles she believes will make her be like her mother. The same applies to boys. The society therefore tends to have mothers crafting their daughters to be like them and take up their positions in the future while men do the same to their sons (Ogut, 2003). The children will therefore take the roles they are taught to be fit for their sex and hence the stereo types.

It has been observed that some manual jobs require certain level of energy and fitness that tend to favor men who are physically stronger than women in most cases. This makes the society to assign more mechanical jobs like building and construction and mining to be a preserve for men. Women in the society shy away from jobs requiring more energy expense such as carrying heavy loads.

Due to this perceived job suitability, women will have varied esteems while performing some jobs or applying for the same. They will also have positive attitudes and self trust while applying to be trained for some of their preferred tasks and professions (Lippa, 2002).  For instance, women have positive attitudes towards being nurses as and therefore one will expect to find more nurses in a society than mechanical engineers.

In another observation, women have been found to perform exceptionally well in these fields or professions that do not require a lot of energy to effect. This is opposed to men who can choose to do any job such as being track drivers which needs more perseverance. Traditionally, track driving is a male dominated field which requires a greater energy input.

From these paradigms, it can be identified that women become slow to progress into entering male dominated professions because of gender stereotypes. There is a very low esteem of women towards some jobs as there is a great passion of women towards other professions. This might be explained as a satisfaction of their individual ego, aspirations and the need to measure up to their mentors and influencers.

Memory refers to the ability of an individual to recall or retrieve information already in store. One of the very common methods which have been used most commonly in school and learning includes aspects such as rehearsal through repetition of content over and over a period a long period of time. Therefore, repetition is defined as the act of repeating over and over an event for a number of times in order to master it clearly (Daniel, 2001).  For instance, if you are taught a new song today, you may not be able to grasp the verses or stanzas without having to sing over and over the stanzas so that you fix them in memory.

In human learning, there are several methods which can be applied in order to improve memory and recall of events from the long term memory. Repetition forms one of the basic methods used to improve memory in human learning.  The learning process in human minds is like the process of creating a path-way across a thicket forest (Morrow, 1999). The very first time you trod along the path, it is always very difficult to penetrate through because it is not yet clear and there are obstacles since you are not very conversant with the region. If left for a long time without use the path becomes overgrown and in future you might not even trace the path. That is how the human mind works.

Having learned a new skill it is important to practice through repetition of the steps involved in learning about the new skill in order to fix it and get it to the long term memory. It is believed that the human short -term memory is precisely short and is ability to recall and hold information in order to be stored in long term memory is short lived. Thus, the only way that a person can reinforce the process of information recording is through repeating over and over information severally until it is fixed in the long term memory (Daniel, 2001).

Evan Pavlov with his experience with dogs argued that repetition helps in the process of creating mental connections by establishing mental cues which trigger response over a selected action. Through repetition, it helps one to form associations such that when a particular stimuli strikes, the mind reacts by giving response. This can only be achieved through repetition. Repetition in learning is also seen as a very significant process. It enhances mastery and clarity of information such that the memory encodes each piece of information in its specific catalogue (Serena, 2006). Poor mastery of concepts leads to poor filing and cataloguing errors which again make the process of recall from memory slow and difficult.

Repetition is thus seen as an important process in language acquisition and mastery of concepts, attitudes and skills in language achievement which is also of necessity in the learning process. Repetition as a process therefore is significant in defining the nature of the storage strength and retrieval strength in the process of learning (Thodeck  Mathews, 2005). Retrieval strength is defined by ones ability to recall and drawback an item from memory right away. Repetition of information over and over a given period of time helps to increase retrieval strength and even improve the storage efficiency.

Memory refers to the ability of an individual to recall or retrieve information already in store. One of the very common methods which have been used most commonly in school and learning includes aspects such as rehearsal through repetition of content over and over a period a long period of time. Therefore, repetition is defined as the act of repeating over and over an event for a number of times in order to master it clearly (Daniel, 2001).  For instance, if you are taught a new song today, you may not be able to grasp the verses or stanzas without having to sing over and over the stanzas so that you fix them in memory.

In human learning, there are several methods which can be applied in order to improve memory and recall of events from the long term memory. Repetition forms one of the basic methods used to improve memory in human learning.  The learning process in human minds is like the process of creating a path-way across a thicket forest (Morrow, 1999). The very first time you trod along the path, it is always very difficult to penetrate through because it is not yet clear and there are obstacles since you are not very conversant with the region. If left for a long time without use the path becomes overgrown and in future you might not even trace the path. That is how the human mind works.

Having learned a new skill it is important to practice through repetition of the steps involved in learning about the new skill in order to fix it and get it to the long term memory. It is believed that the human short -term memory is precisely short and is ability to recall and hold information in order to be stored in long term memory is short lived. Thus, the only way that a person can reinforce the process of information recording is through repeating over and over information severally until it is fixed in the long term memory (Daniel, 2001).

Evan Pavlov with his experience with dogs argued that repetition helps in the process of creating mental connections by establishing mental cues which trigger response over a selected action. Through repetition, it helps one to form associations such that when a particular stimuli strikes, the mind reacts by giving response. This can only be achieved through repetition. Repetition in learning is also seen as a very significant process. It enhances mastery and clarity of information such that the memory encodes each piece of information in its specific catalogue (Serena, 2006). Poor mastery of concepts leads to poor filing and cataloguing errors which again make the process of recall from memory slow and difficult.

Repetition is thus seen as an important process in language acquisition and mastery of concepts, attitudes and skills in language achievement which is also of necessity in the learning process. Repetition as a process therefore is significant in defining the nature of the storage strength and retrieval strength in the process of learning (Thodeck  Mathews, 2005). Retrieval strength is defined by ones ability to recall and drawback an item from memory right away. Repetition of information over and over a given period of time helps to increase retrieval strength and even improve the storage efficiency.

At a time when global consumerism and lifestyle patterns have increasingly shifted to role modeling and application of ethical lessons in real life, drug addicted parents form the most influential platform towards maladaptive behavior and sociological disorders for their children.  To concur with many analysts conclusions, parents addicted to different drugs have reduced capacity for guiding their children and therefore leaving major aspects unattended and therefore creating a room for experimentation and peer pressure.  Notably, the current high numbers of children with addicted parents are worrying and therefore invoking the following questions. What are the actual effects and affects of children living with drug addicted parents Who should be blamed for the current mess How can the problem be addressed

It is from the above consideration that this paper intrinsically evaluates the effects on children with drug addicted parents.  The paper further explores the models that could be used to address the problem.

Facts and statistics
Nicola, Johnson and Leanne (2009) report that about 10 million of the total American children have drug addicted parents.  By the year 2005, SAMHSA (2009) points out that about 4.3 million adults beyond the age of 50 years used illicit drugs between years 2006 and 2008.  Use of marijuana by this group was 6.1 while non-medical drugs abuse was 4.1 during the same period.  Nicola et al (2009) adds that among the children admitted as inpatients in the United States between 1995 and 2005, children of drug addicts were 29 higher compared to others.  In addition to that, 70-90 of states welfare spending on children is estimated to result from parents substance abuse (Nicola et al, 2009).
Shaffer and Katherine (2009) indicate that about 80 of homeless and runaway adolescents reported alcohol use in their homes to have contributed to their situation.  Shaffer and Katherine (2009) continue saying that among the unemployed adults, 17.1 were illicit drug addicts compared to 10.2 for those working on part time and 8.2 for permanently employed. Wells (2009) and Panos (2008) conclusions cohere by claiming that the 0.8 drop in the overall drug abuse between years 200 and 2005 was insignificant.

Resultant effects
Analysts indicate that drugs abuse in a family have great effects and affects that are reflected to other members of the family and indeed the whole society.  However, the implications to the children are enormous.

Greater risk of abusing drugs
According to Christopher (2004), children always look up to their parents as the immediate role models before extending the same considerations outside the family setup.  Notably, children consider their parents to depict the expected code of behavior and therefore directly take them up.  As a result, they consider taking drugs as being part of their families and interpreted to be the holistic expectations.  Why then would children want to be associated with drug addicted lives similar to their parents  According to Albert Banduras theory of cognitive development, young peoples minds have highly reduced capacity to make the correct decisions on the expected effects to their parents and most importantly to themselves (Barlow and Durand, 2008).  70 of drug addicted parents became addicted to drugs at early ages of their lives (SAMHSA (2008).

In his consideration, Panos (2008) argues that most of the drug addicted parents lack the necessary moral grounds to advice their children.  In his book, Panos (2008) reports that one of the respondents indicated that he could not stop taking alcohol because his parents were taking it.  As more children at their early ages get into drugs from their parents modeling, the fight against drug abuse might take much longer to be won.  

From their study, Amy et al (2009) concluded that many drug addicted parents are unable to effectively tell when their children start getting addicted to drugs.  As a result, corrective measures are either not employed or they are assumed very late to have any positive effect to the youths.  Amy et al (2009) concur with Haggerty et al (2008) conclusion that as parents fail in their duties, peer pressure often turns out to be the next option for the children and takes drug abuse to the next level.  It is from this concern that addressing drug abuse has been recommended from an early stage to create the sense of its negative impacts in the future.      

Maltreatment and neglect
While maltreatment and neglect has at times been hard to diagnose especially for the children at younger ages, Goldberg (2009) argues that they form some of the most intensive impacts to the children.  Drug addicted parents judgment is impaired and therefore either use their children consciously or unconsciously in dealing with their addiction.   To concur with Michelle et al (2010), it is indeed very hard for a drug addicted parent to stay clean.

a) Physical abuse
It is estimated that about 500, 000 children every years are victims of physical abuse by drug addicted parents a consideration that contributes to about 39 of the children getting to welfare states every year (Barlow and Durand, 2008).  Children of drug addicted parents suffer from major and minor injuries evident from bruises, fractures, burns and fractures among other types of bodily harm.  Most of the addicted parents often suffer from key personality disorders and therefore become either less tolerant and impose too high expectations to their children.  In this case, a parent is often tempted to use different objects to brutally discipline their children. In addition, children during their tender ages that are entirely dependent on their parents often get hurt during the persistent quarrels between their parents.  From the definition of drug addiction, the notion of going back for more leaves little of no time to attend to children affairs such as dietary, education and health (Nicola et al, 2009).

b) Sexual abuse    
Similar to other forms of maltreatment, sexual abuse take place largely from poor reasoning ability of the addicted parents.  However, as Goldberg (2009) reports, cases of sexual abuse are often lower compared to those of physical abuse in the society.  Parents under the influence of highly intoxicating drugs such as alcohol and cocaine have occasionally been reported to attempt raping their children.  Besides, Michelle et al (2010) report that of all the adult rape cases reported in the United States, about 60 of them are conducted when the culprits were under influence of the drugs.  Other forms of sexual abuse include, touching of the childs private parts such as breasts and buttocks or even exposing them to pornography.  In his view, (looked in details in the next section), Nicola et al (2009) argues that it is the threats and coercion that children get to keep their experience in silence that have greater mental impacts to them.  Other children as Goldberg (2009) continues to say are often given out for prostitution either to raise more money for the parents ever rising demand for drugs or because of their economic situation.

c) Emotional child abuse
Parents attachment to their children as Haggerty et al (2008) indicate is very crucial for their cognitive and psychological development.  Eric Ericksons theory of psychosocial development indicates that failure to achieve the correct development by any child at a particular stage leads to fixation (Michelle, 2010).  As a result, emotional abuse creates a major obstacle for the child to progress.  Like most of other drug abusers, parents behavior is uncontrolled and they often belittle, shame and humiliate their children.  This is often done through calling names while making negative comparison to others a factor that causes very low self esteem.  According to the theory of operant conditioning, calling a child names and negatively punishing them destructs their normal learning process and takes very long before restoration (Jos et al, 2009).  

For some parents, addiction makes them withdraw from their normal duties and therefore make minimal constant with their children.  As Albert Bandura indicated in his theory of cognitive development, children at their early ages require great support by their parents for normal growth (Ries et al, 2009).  Withdrawal from the children therefore denies them the normal kisses, hugs, smiles and ultimately creating poor confidence in their actions which greatly minimizes their personality and cognitive development.  

Depression and anxiety and other disorders
Parents drug addiction has been a major cause of psychological disorders among the children.  Indeed, psychological disorders occur alongside other forms of abuse and maltreatment and therefore mostly inseparable from them.  According to Panos (2008), children who undergo physical, sexual or emotional abuse suffer from higher levels of anxiety, aggression, hyperactivity and aggression.  Notably, repeated maltreatment results to children seeking alternative methods of coping and therefore developing oppositional defiant disorders (Barlow and Durand, 2008).  Scholars agree that with internalization of the disorder, it is reflected in all other activities that children are involved with in the society.

In schools, Jos et al (2009) argues that children are often isolated from others as they talk of how their parents treat them well for instance goodnight kisses, taking them out and good moments.  As a result, they have low self-esteem compounded on belittling, negative reference and other abuses.  Isolation and lack of support makes the children consider their problems as major obstacles towards any improvement and therefore causing major depression (Michelle et al, 2010).  Due to this depression, adolescents easily fall into the trap of negative peer pressure which ultimately results to drug abuse.

Amy (2009) agrees with Christopher (2004) conclusion that from the beginning of maltreatment, children develop major worries about their parents and their ability to support their effective growth.  Particularly, it is worth noting that children are entirely dependent on their parents and therefore consider themselves disadvantaged as they see other parents tenderly and carefully treating their children.  In one of examples cited from his research, Wells (2009) records that one child used to cry bitterly whenever an advert or a program brought images of a healthy family.  The child suffered from anxiety at advanced level because he could not see possible miracle to get to such status.  When not addressed effectively, this worry turns out to major anxiety that could lead to full depression.  
Poor education performance

A major concern that has persisted over the years is poor education performance by children of drugs addicted children.  Drug addiction in the family as Haggerty et al (2008) and Goldberg (2009) noted, causes poor performance through the following.  First, addicted parents lack the needed capacity to emphasize on cognitive progress of their children.  Indeed, the concern for most addicted parents is inclined to search for more drugs in bid to satisfy them.  Furthermore, most of their time which could otherwise have been used to assist children develop cognitively is used taking drugs and addressing the resultant hangovers.  Children are therefore left without the necessary support and easily underperform in their education.

Secondly, children of drug addicted parents suffer from key low self-esteem that creates the view of inferiority compared to others.  Particularly, negative reference creates a very negative image which Michelle et al (2010) argue that it becomes very hard to address as children skip major cognitive steps that could have been used to anchor their latter mental development.  According to the theory of cognitive development, a childs cognitive development is greatly dependent on the learning environment.  With home environment indeed being highly stressful for the child and the school assuming critical isolation from other children, Shaffer and Katherine (2009) argue that it is indeed very hard to perform as per the expectations.  Though teachers may try to address the situation, winning it often takes long or even fails to succeed due to lack of parents support.  

Involvement in crime
Following the lack of effective support especially at home by the addicted parents, children who develop deviant behaviors or get into negative peers often get themselves into conflict with the law.  Unlike other children who get consistent guidance both at school and at home, Wells (2009) explains that drug addicted parents indirectly misguide their children to breaking the law. By creating a drug using model as indicated earlier, the children are slowly introduced into the world of crime.  Like their parents, Wells (2009) adds that reasoning of the expected implications often goes down and they easily participate in criminal activities such as rape, assault and murder.

Conclusion
It is from the above discussion that this paper concludes by supporting the thesis statement, at a time when global consumerism and lifestyle patterns have increasingly shifted to role modeling and application of ethical lessons in real life, drug addicted parents form the most influential platform towards maladaptive behavior and sociological disorders for their children.  It came out from the study that the current high number of children with HYPERLINK httpwww.essaywriters.netsysindex.phprate14docguidepageorder-structure-and-definitions l topic t _blankdrug addicted parents has great negative implications to them.  While it is almost certain that children with drug addicted parents will at one time in their lives abuse them too, physical, sexual and emotional abuse culminated to key psychological disorders in their lives.  Besides, they also result to poor education performance and involvement in crime.
 
To address this problem, there is need to identify those children whose parents are drug addicts and breaking the abuse cycle.  This consideration therefore requires great cooperation between the society, school and administration to identify the suffering children.  Besides, the parents should further be subjected to major counseling to bring bout the effects of drug abuse to them, their children and models of reducing it.   Finally, there is need to anchor greater economic growth and development to facilitate better employment and less reliance on drugs.

Criminal behavior can be defined as any act that breaks the already existing laws. The definition of criminal behavior can differ in relation to different domains. Socially, criminal behavior is any act that beaks the already existing social norms and such an act is punishable by the society while a moral criminal behavior is any act that goes against the norms of religion and it is punishable by a spiritual being with a higher supreme authority. Legally, criminal behavior is any act that violates the already stipulated laws of a country or state and psychologically, it is defined as any act that is performed by people to obtain pleasure while at the same time inflicting psychological pain to the victims. However, it is possible for criminal behavior to fall under one or more domain such that an act can be a social criminal behavior, while at the same time being a legal criminal behavior (Psychology Campus, 2004).
 
There are many reasons as to why people get involved in criminal activities. Several approaches have been employed while trying to understand the reasons behind the criminal acts like sociological and psychological approaches (Jones, n.d). For the purpose of this research, a psychological approach shall be considered in relation to homicide as a criminal behavior.

Homicide can be defined as an act whereby a human being kills another human being. It is a criminal behavior that is not only prohibited by law but also unacceptable both socially and morally.

Psychological approach employs psychological principles so as to understand why people engage in criminal behaviors such as homicide. In psychological approach, it is argued that the criminal behavior emanates from the personality of the person rather than the environmental factors.

Background Information
Several theories have been developed and all try to explain the reasons that lead people to committing behaviors such as homicide. Below are some of those theories that have been developed by psychologists to explain the reasons as to why people get involved in the criminal behavior like homicide.

Rational Choice Theory
This is a theory that was developed by Dr. William Glasser to describe why criminals commit crimes. The theory states that while committing the crime, the criminals are always aware of their acts and they are mostly driven by personal needs such as anger, lust, greed, jealousy among others (Dechant, 2009). The theory suggests that there are three different types of criminals in relation to what forces them to commit the criminal act .There are those who choose whether to commit the crime while there are also those who are controlled by the environment and therefore they cannot control the urge of committing a crime. The last model describes the victimized offenders who commit the crime just because of being the victims of the unequal society (Dechant, 2009).

Eysencks Theory of Personality and Crime
As recorded by Dechant, this theory was developed by Hans J. Eysenck and it states that the criminal behavior results from environmental factors and some features of the nervous system (2009). It is believed that every individual has got a neural psychological makeup which when mixed with certain environmental factors makes the victim to have no choice but to commit the crime. The theory further suggests that criminals are not actually born as such, but the personality as well as the neurobiological and the environmental factors lead people to committing different types of crimes. According to Dechant (2009), the type of the crime committed is determined by the personality trait of an individual. The theorists suggest that extroverts often engage in crime due to their personality trait of losing their temper quickly and becoming aggressive and their need of a high amount of stimulation.  The same theory describes individuals who are psychotic who are usually unemotional, rude and cruel as well as the neurotic individuals. According to the theorist, people are divided in two categories, the unstable and the stable types. The same study suggests that most the criminals belong to the unstable group.

Psychoanalytic Theory
According to the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, criminal behavior is a result of unconscious forces and drives. The theory suggests that individuals are mostly affected by their childhood experiences which eventually affect their personality. The theory states that personality is made up of three parts, id, ego and super ego. The super ego which is also referred to as the conscience is the one that judges the actions, as either right or wrong. Studies of Hunter  Dantzker (2005), record that criminal behavior results from overdeveloped or underdeveloped super ego. Moreover, a person with an overdeveloped superego may commit a crime such as murder and in order to ensure punishment, the criminal leaves traces of evidence. Such a person is believed to suffer mostly from anxiety and guilt. People with overdeveloped or underdeveloped super ego are considered abnormal and get involved with different kinds of crimes like murder or sex crimes (Hunter  Dantzker, 2005).

Cognitive Theory Approach
The cognitive approach was developed by Jean Piaget and it illustrates that people develop in an orderly process right from birth up to the age of about twelve years. During the early development of a person, moral development also takes place. The process of moral development is the one that is linked to the criminology aspect. According to Hunter  Dantzker (2005), most of the criminals are those people who fail to complete the moral development process. The theory suggests that all those people who do not involve themselves with criminal activities are those who fear punishment. There are many theories that have been developed under the cognitive approach to explain human behavior in respect to criminology.

In the expectancy theory, a person performs a particular act depending on the reward expected from that specific act. However, most people especially criminals generalize the reward expected from such situations. Hunter  Dantzker (2005) records that people often commit criminal behavior like murder so as to gain certain reward like power, material goods, security and status. The same studies illustrates this clearly as it states that a person may kill the immoral people in the society hoping that he would receive a reward from God.  Criminals, according to the expectancy theory consider their own interests and they can also be involved in a criminal act after observing that someone else benefited from the act. (Hunter  Dantzker, 2005).

Discussions
Psychological Reasons that Lead to Homicide
Homicide being a criminal behavior is usually as a result of many psychological reasons. Most of the studies that have been conducted on homicide cases illustrate that most of the cases result from arguments and in most cases the murderer and the victim are related by blood. Although most of these people are normal people without any psychiatric disorders, psychiatrics have observed that some are drug addicts and this leads to a mental disorder which makes such people unable to control their emotions (Cole  Smith, 2007).

Psychologists argue that most of criminals are characterized by lack of a properly developed conscience. According to Kohlbergs theory of moral development, individuals who fail to pass through the six developmental stages successfully end up with an undeveloped conscience. Such people can easily engage in crimes because they do not mostly care about the welfare of other people in the society. In cases of homicide, such a person may commit such a crime because he does not perceive it to be wrong (Bartol  Bartol, 2005).

The expectancy theory explains some of the reasons as to why people may be involved with such crimes like homicide by demonstrating that human behavior is influenced by the expected reward. This means that people are always aware of the consequences of their acts. In such a case, a person may commit homicide if he values the outcome of the same. Studies show that majority of the people who commit homicide do it either to get material things, popularity or even freedom. In cases where the act is committed to close family members or even spouses emphasizes that human behavior is highly influenced by the expected reward.

In some instances, homicide has been as a result of biased perceptions where people react aggressively to people or situations that do not necessitate or require aggression. This occurs due to previous influences on mental development. A good example of such a case is where the act is committed to an already familiar person. In some of these cases, the criminal behavior is not usually preplanned but happens instantly after the criminal is stimulated by either a specific situation or the behavior of the victim and hence commits the crime with the aim of self defense (Dechant, 2009).

Some psychologists suggest that the personality traits have got a lot to do with the behavior of a person. Personality traits are divided in to two main groups, the introverts and the extroverts. Introverts are the more stable while extroverts are mostly unstable. The reason as to why more extroverts engage in the criminal behavior is because they always look for stimulation unlike the introverts who are always over aroused and avoid at all costs engaging in criminal activities like homicide. Moreover, there some people who commit such crimes because of underdeveloped super ego as illustrated in the Freuds theory. Such people suffer from guilt and anxiety. Due to this, they commit crimes so as to get punished and relieve their guilt conscious.

Studies have suggested that some cases of homicide have been committed by people who suffer from mental disorders. Such people have got poor reasoning and their judgment capability is usually incapacitated. Due to such disabilities they can commit any crime including homicide even if the reason behind is not worth the act. There are also those who are usually unemotional, with basically no love for humanity .Such people are usually referred to as psychopaths. Due to the fact that they are unemotional they usually get involved in homicide and other criminal acts.

Conclusion
Homicide, as any other criminal act is multifaceted and it requires a lot of study as well as a lot of research to understand it fully. The current and the available research reveals that the main cause of such behaviors is mostly related to either the personality of a person which is usually affected by the development process of individuals. Failure to achieve a fully developed conscience is among the major contributing factors.   It is also well illustrated that people who engage in criminal activities have a problem with perceptions, judgment and reasoning. The early experiences especially during developmental stages unconsciously commit crimes to suppress their emotions. However, there are those people who commit homicide due to selfish desires while others just do it due to the fact that they cannot just control their emotions.

There is need for more research on the psychological causes of criminal behavior like homicide. This is more so because the available research does not explain fully how certain attributes lead to criminal behavior but only illustrates the relationship. Due to this, psychological approach has not only been criticized but also overshadowed by the sociological approaches.