Psychology

Identity is the highlight of adolescence in ones life. The search for, confusion over, crisis and commitment to identity amidst radical physical changes is what defines the period of adolescence. Erikson (as cited by Papalia, Olds  Feldman, 2004) points out that resolving the crisis of identity versus identity confusion, so as to become a unique adult with a coherent sense of self and a valued role in society is the chief task at the time of adolescence (p.425).

Part I
Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy), Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) and John Bender (Judd Nelson) were all high school students brought together by Saturday detention for their own different reasons. Each were from a different stereotype as the film so conveniently put it, they were each a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal all subject to a certain biases attached to their stereotypical profiles. Each had a preconceived notion or idea about every other person and found that though they are all different, they did not expect to find that every single one of them goes through some sort of pressure from peers and family.

Principal Vernon was first to pass judgment on them making them write an essay asking Who do you think you are For Brians case, he is labeled a nerd or a brain. Everyone believes he is at a stage of identity achievement where, as Marcia puts it, one has gone through a decision making period and is pursuing self-chosen occupation and ideological goals (as cited by Adelson, 1980, p. 111). As for Andrew, while Brian is driven to achieve academically, Andrew is driven to excel in sports. He is seen as a popular jock with nothing to worry about. However, he describes himself as a racing horse which signals that he fits into the state of foreclosure where Marcia (as cited by Papalia, Olds  Feldman, 2004) characterizes the level as commitment without crisis and it is where choices are made for the person. Like Allison said, he cant think for himself. Allison, however, receives no other judgment but is labeled a weirdo. She is constantly ignored by her parents she came to detention because she had nothing better to do.  Claire is portrayed as the typical popular girl, a princess even. Like Andrew, people think she has everything as it looks like she gets everything she wants. Finally, Bender is seen as a trouble-maker, a rebel who wont answer to authority. People think he doesnt care about anyone but himself and that hell never achieve anything in life.

Part II
At the beginning of the movie, each of the five main characters already had some sort of prejudice against each other. Each thought that all there was to the other person was their stereotype and nothing more. There was a striking point where Claire made a remark on how Brians clubs were academic clubs and werent the same as other clubs. Another scene depicted Bender being told that he doesnt count and that he could disappear and no one would care. Because of Benders trouble-maker image, everyone meets him with a biased, negative air.

Because adolescence is marked so much by identity, cliques are an unavoidable feature. We see discrimination due to that during the scene where Brian asked what would happen when Monday comes along. He wondered if they were all still friends and would treat each other as such. Claire answered an honest no. They all argued on it. Brian and Allison said that they wouldnt do that because it was wrong but Claire claimed that it was different for people like her and Andy because people looked up to them. Brian replied by saying that Claire was so conceited and Claire answered back saying that she hates having to go with everything her friends say and wrongly judged that Brian doesnt understand pressure.

Part III
Towards the end of the movie, the five adolescents find that they arent as different as they thought. Everyone thinks Brian has a brilliant home life because of his stereotype as a geek-figure. However, Brian disproves that his life is as perfect as his fellow detention-mates claim. He doesnt get along with his parents, he doesnt like what he sees when he steps out to reflect on himself, and the pressure to achieve is intense on him. Andrew is thought to be a big-shot jock but actually only did what got him into detention to live up to his fathers expectations.  Bender shares a category with Allison, somewhat, as his parents dont really see a future for him and his home life is very chaotic. They both fall within Marcias identity diffusion where there is no commitment, no crisis, parents arent so involved and personality problems arise. Benders defining moment is when he sacrificed himself so that his new found friends wouldnt get caught. As for Claire, someone thought to have everything, she proved that she didnt. At home, she feels that her parents only use her to get back at each other. She is going through moratorium where shes finding herself but just hasnt found that commitment yet (Adams  Berzonsky, 2006, p.208). She is unsure with how to deal with parental authority and fits well with the personality trait attached to  moratorium as one who has high levels of ego, development, moral reasoning and self-esteem (Papalia, Olds  Feldman, 2004,  p.428)

Moral Reasoning, according to Adelson, accompanies identity development. Those high in identity tend to exhibit postconventional levels of moral reasoning while those lower in identity are at the preconventional or conventional levels. Such is true for Brian and Claire. As for autonomy, Adelson is right in saying that those classified as foreclosures or diffusions are low on self-directedness. This applies to Andrew, who cant think for himself, and to Allison and Bender, who seem to have no direction in life.

Across the board, different authorities seek to settle for a common ground on the issue of abortion. This is mainly between pro-lifers and pro-abortionists. In deed, both camps have got very valid arguments such that it is not easy to make a fair judgment between them. However, basing their arguments on fundamental moral principles, one would take sides. Theories on the sources of morality, for this matter, can help in deepening the understanding on the intricacies of abortion. The three sources are the act in itself must be good the intention must be good and lastly the circumstances must be good and favorable. All the three conditions must be kept constant such that qualification of one of them is not enough. The principle of double effect, on the other hand, re-emphasizes the elements of the sources of morality mentioned above. Morality is full of relativistic conditions, not excluding abortion. As such, abortion is a controversial issue due to its pluralistic nature. In such a situation it is never easy to settle for a common ground. Law should always adhere to the supreme moral structures since any law devoid of this is null and void and with no substance. Therefore, in this paper, there is an attempt in giving a synthesis on abortion and mainly basing on fundamental moral principles.

Introduction
Should abortion be legal This is a question that is been greatly considered all over the world. Different opinions have been advanced right from the clerics, politicians, and moralists just to mention a few. It is in deed a tag of war with no absolute judgments or absolute conclusions. Again, abortion is a moral issue with so many ethical theories in place and with different moral interpretations. Due to this, the debate about abortion continues to be subjected to relativistic approaches and in such circumstances it is very hard to settle for a common ground. This study therefore, attempts to attain a common ground by comparing the yes for abortion and the no for abortion.  In this respect, the thesis shall contain the yes for abortion and the anti-thesis shall contain the no for abortion. Eventually, a synthesis shall be developed that will critically analyze both aspects basing on fundamental principles of morality and legality. To reiterate, the synthesis shall deduce from fundamental moral and legal principles.

Therefore, ethical theories such as Moral Objectivism Divine Command Moral Subjectivism Relativism Utilitarianism and Consequentialism to mention a few shall be considered. Contemporary examples and case studies will also be incorporated in the study. In general, the study aims at confirming that abortion is illegal and further to that unacceptable no matter the circumstances.

Pro-Abortion Campaign
As stated earlier, abortion as a moral issue has got diverse approaches. In other words, people view it from different moral standpoints. In this regard, a majority of people are of the opinion that abortion is acceptable and justified. Convictions dominate in the pro-choice system of thought. They frown at any attempts that seek to de-legalize abortion. In fact, the arguments advanced in defense of abortion are very strong and valid, very convincing arguments. For instance, like the case of a young girl who decides to undergo an abortion for the sake of her education or a medical doctor who decides to carry out an abortion for the sake of saving the mothers life. In deed, considering the circumstances that the young girl or the mother whose life is in danger are in, a right thinking person would allude to the decisions made in each case. Largely, couples or ladies go for abortion as a major solution to practical problems or better still, as the better option in solving their crisis as a result of unwilled pregnancy.

Considering that the number of couples is raising everyday then it is expected that the inclination to sexual intercourse is also on the rise. Such situations may lead couples in getting untimely or unplanned pregnancies. It is true that a couple can engage in sexual intercourse with no intention at all of getting a baby. Could be that they are not ready for it or it could be that they are not economically stable or other circumstances of this kind. Societal norms or customary practices add a lot of influence on how couples may deal with unplanned pregnancies. For example, when a fianc has not yet proposed to the fiance through proper preparations with the parents and say a Christian wedding. The fianc will feel that his reputation in the community may deteriorate. What is left for him is contemplation of how he can safeguard his reputation in the society therefore, by dealing with the pregnancy in its very early stages becomes the better option. Here, the only option is abortion getting rid of the pregnancy without looking back. See that, the fianc has dissuaded his fiance into abortion for the sake of their reputation and lowering their chances of getting into a financial mess.  The end qualifies the means used Moreover, a majority of families are very serious in controlling not only the size of their family but also the timing and the range-period between one child to the next. Some couples wish that their children space-out with a range of two years or three or ten and so on and so fourth. It is clear that if they happen to get children contrary to their plan as illustrated above, the next and better option would be abortion. Again, getting rid of the unwanted pregnancy in its very early stages so that they can safeguard their marital interests and aspirations becomes the way forward.

It is important to note that the issue of abortion varies from one continent to the next from one country to the next from one region to the next and from one individual to the next. As noted earlier, abortion is a discussion with so many opinions and different opinion shapers just like a conference hall with different delegates with different opinions. Such a situation is rather chaotic as no common ground is arrived at.  Legality of abortion does not derive more from the legal structure of a given state but depends largely on whether they are situated in developed countries or developing countries. For example, the understanding of abortion for a woman in the United States is different from the understanding of a woman in Ethiopia or Botswana. The following charts are a representation of the case of abortion in different countries especially in the context of developed countries and developing countries. The developed countries cover the entire Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States developing countries are signified by the rest.

Fig. 1 Source (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1999, pp. 21-22)
From the above figure it can be argued and justifiably so that abortion is justified since the end in mind is for the good of the mother or woman. It is practiced so that some thing good may be achieved. To echo what had been stated above, the end justifies the means

Fig.2 below is a survey in the U.S. in regard to the rate of abortion and its trends in the years 1960-2005. The survey takes into account estimated or identified legal abortions in the United States ratio of abortion in every 1000 live births percentage of abortions in every total pregnancies, that is, births plus abortions ratings per 1000 females between 15-44 years and ratings per 1000 population. Also take note that the data is scaled in relation to 1990 whose value is equal to 100.

Rates of Abortion in the United States in the period 1960-2005

Fig. 2, Source (Johnston, R. 2008)
Turning now to U.S President, Barrack Obama and his view on abortion, it is believed that he is more of a pro-choice than a pro-life. However, he has been careful in this issue and the most laudable thing is that he recognizes the moral principles in it. According to President Obama, establishing the beginning of life is not an easy task. It is not easy to determine whether it begins at conception or at birth. He, however, believes that there is more about potential life and more importantly the moral intricacies involved. He states categorically that the moral dimension of it must be taken into account whenever such debates are advanced (Democratic Compassion Forum, 2008). In his other remarks, he states that the mother cannot be barred from making a choice to abort her child (Jerome Corsi, 2008). There should be a provision safeguarding the health of the mother (Presidential Series, 2008).

In general, it can be noted that abortion derives its justification from convincing reasons, very convincing and practical reasons. Surely, looking at a case whereby a pregnancy is terminated for the sake of saving a mothers life is rather appealing. In addition, looking at abortion as an act committed for the good of the subject not only appeals but is a rule of life. Again, the intention of the mother or the doctor is good because it seeks to realize a certain good here the doctor or the mother is said to act with non animo nocendi meaning with no malicious motive to harm. To reiterate, the intention of the subject to abortion is good

Pro-Life approach to Abortion
As stated above, the topic on abortion takes different shapes from one school of thought to the next. It happens to be one of the social issues with no possibility for a common ground. Just as how there are many arguments for abortion so are there arguments against abortion, and in deed very convincing arguments. In fact, if one acts as a judge between a pro-choice and a pro-life she would end up declaring both correct. Just as how there are many arguments for abortion so are there arguments against abortion, and in deed very convincing arguments. In fact, if one acts as a judge between a pro-choice and a pro-life she would end up declaring both correct.

Life begins at conception In Latin it is said that nasciturus pro jam nato habetur, meaning that one still to be born is considered already born. Therefore, abortion undermines the sanctity of life and for this matter it warrants no moral justification whatever the circumstances. In any civilized society, malicious intention to harm the life of another person without punishment is not acceptable, not excluding abortion. This is contrary to what most pro-abortionists believe in that life begins at birth.
People think that the impact of legalizing abortion narrows only to few individuals for instance, the mothers or women or couples, mention them. Its effects adversely affect the economic framework of a given society especially considering the economic future trends. Its adverse effects on the economy may not be realized immediately, but gradually and eventually they start appearing. For every aborted European and American, it deprives their economy of an amount equal to  1 5000 000. On average, an American or European spends over  1 177 000 in meeting the basic needs. She gets to pay a tax fee of over  440 000. Even though the doctor gets paid for carrying out the practice evidently other sectors are affected.  

As indicated above, the arguments advanced by pro-abortionists are not only strong but valid and in deed very convincing arguments. However, it is important to note that in every reasoning process and particularly syllogistic reasoning, validity and soundness are very distinct as well as strength and cogency (Copi, I.M.  Cohen, C. (1999). So, when an argument is said to have valid judgments or strong judgments it is not the same as saying it is a sound argument or cogent argument. In this regard, an argument should not only be valid but also sound since it should possess true premises. On the other hand, an argument should not only be strong but also cogent again because it should draw from true premises (Kryche, J.R. 1970). Consider this argument

All women in U.S. believe that abortion should be legalized in a bid to safe a mothers life.

United States has got a population of 3,000,000 women

Therefore, the 3,000,000 women believe that abortion should be legalized in a bid to safe a mothers life.
Looking at this argument, no doubt that the conclusion necessarily draws from the premises with mathematical certainty and without the fear of contradiction and such an argument is valid. The next step is to establish its soundness. It cannot be true that all women in the U.S. support abortion whatever the circumstances and therefore such an argument is not a sound argument, period. Such an argument actually alludes to the fallacy of division where what is said of the whole is said of the parts.
Relativism simply is when one party defends hisher position on the mere fact that what is true to himher is so and what is true to the other is so. It is important therefore, to note that relativism is logically untenable. It is a fallacy or better still, an error in reasoning In this sense, debates in abortion inclined towards relativism can and to a large extent are considered as debates with no logical basis.

Evidently, pro-choice solemnly support abortion if and only if it is for the well-being of the mother. For example, in the case where a mothers life is in danger and by the way it is a principle in law that necessitas non-habet legem which means that necessity knows no law. In practical terms, in a critical situation where a serious consequence involving ones life for example, a mothers life is in danger, the law may be ignored. Hence, the famous phrase, the end justifies the means This belief also features in the utilitarianism or consequentialism standpoint on ethics or morality in that man,s actions are justified if they are useful for himher (Flugel, J.C., 1945).

On the contrary, there are certain principles to be considered as far a morality is concerned. In line with this, morality has got three sources namely the act itself the intention of the act and the circumstances. These three sources, therefore, become the frame within which morality is determined in all human acts, not excluding abortion. Remember that the three aspects must be morally good at all times. That is, the act must be inherently good, the intention must be inherently good and the circumstances must be good and favorable. And, to consider one of the aspects living out the rest is morally wrong, period
Therefore, the Latin maxim acting with non animo nocendi to mean with no malicious intention has no moral justification. A person, who commits abortion because she wants to save her life or a couple that gets rid of an unwanted pregnancy as illustrated above, is morally wrong. Yes, the intention is good, very good in deed, but the act of abortion is inherently evil together with the circumstances.  The point here is that the consideration given by the doctors is only the intention and somewhat the circumstances in the case of a mother whose life is in danger living out the act of abortion. So what the pro-abortionists do not know is that they involve themselves in a moral contradiction and further to that, fail to give a phenomenological reflection on abortion per se.

The perception that abortion is viewed differently form developed countries compared to developing countries is rather misguided. This is because there are universal principles in morality that are acceptable globally. This universality of fundamental moral principles is what guides United Nations today in its quest to establish a common framework among nations like in the case of International Law Courts. To reiterate, this is a demonstration that UN as an institution recognizes universality of morality and due process of the law that cannot be limited to developed countries or developing countries. In this light, abortion can be approached from a common ground among states and still it is possible to settle for common policies across the international realm concerning abortion.

A Synthesis of Pro-Choice vis a vis Pro-Life
In morality, it is said that virtue is in the middle. This compares to the  Latin expression which states that in medio stat virtus literally translated that virtue is to be found in the middle. It is a caution to avoid extremes or extreme positions. Therefore it is possible to find a balance between pro-choice and pro-life. This is only possible if both camps consider the moral dimensions to abortion. It was stated earlier long that abortion is a moral issue therefore, its legal dimensions must conform to the moral dimensions and not the vice-versa. Logically to assert that all laws must be in conformity with morality is not equivalent to the assertion that all morality must be in conformity with laws or legality. Note the conversion of statements as indicated above. In simpler terms, to affirm that all s is p is not logically the same as to say all p is s.  Therefore, any law legalizing abortion should adhere to the generally accepted definition of law.

Law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, decreed by the authorities in charge of the community. The natural law should be the basis for civil law (Aquinas, T. 2008). John Hittenger states, The natural law is a participation in the wisdom and goodness of God by the human person, formed in the image of the creator. The natural law expresses the dignity of the person and forms the basis of human rights and fundamental duties. John Hittenger (2008) states, The natural law is a participation in the wisdom and goodness of God by the human person, formed in the image of the creator. The natural law expresses the dignity of the person and forms the basis of human rights and fundamental duties. Therefore, whenever lawmakers seek to legalize abortion, they should compare notes with Aquinas assertion and John Hittenger. On the other hand, as noted earlier necessity knows no law. Therefore, in those circumstances that the life of the mother is in danger, doctors should do what in their discretion is appropriate to safe her life. Well, it could be that the only option is termination of the pregnancy hence killing the fetus.

The act must never be intrinsically evil. It must symbolize ones deep commitment and identification with God and neighbor including the person himself the undesired effects should never be directly intended. The agent must avoid the undesired effects as much as possible the beneficial effects must not be as a result of the evil act. Or better still the desired results should never derive from the bad course of action the desired results must be proportionate to the harmful effects and finally the desired effects must follow from the harmful effects immediately and simultaneously (Ashley, B.  ORourke, K. 1997, PP.191-195).

In the light of the principle of double effect, abundant caution should be exercised in cases where abortion is carried out in the case when a mothers life is in danger. First and foremost, doctors and all moralists should consider abortion in itself as an act. This calls to mind what was observed earlier long that pro-choice need to give a phenomenological reflection on abortion per se. Abortion involves the termination of a pregnancy and consequently the death of the embryo or fetus (Merriam Webster, 2010). Clearly, abortion is intrinsically evil. Termination of a pregnancy is morally evil especially if all factors remain constant. Therefore, when pro-choice argue that abortion is permissible when the life of the mother is at stake, they engage in a moral contradiction. This was mentioned above. It would be good that they dont use the word abortion since it evokes the concept of termination of pregnancy and killing of the fetus andor the embryo. There should be another word to replace abortion because what the pro-choice fight for is something different and very far from abortion.

It is laudable when doctors rescue the life of the mother during labor pains. Only to this extent can they be morally justified. But if they directly and voluntarily intend evil for example, voluntary termination of the pregnancy and the success in saving the life of the mother is as a result of abortion, then the whole practice becomes morally flawed. Also in the case where a girl undergoes abortion for the sake of her education or fear of the parents, it will never be morally justified. First and foremost, her education or fear of her parents is not at all proportionate to the life of the fetus.

Conclusion
We can all bear witness that abortion is a complex issue and yet very simple to handle. I strongly believe that following from principles of morality, abortion will never be justified. Even if law makers across the board pass laws legalizing the practice, it remains an offence in law and any law recognizing abortion, therefore, becomes null and void. These are bad laws in making and it is a pity to have them in the social system since they will destroy the society moral consciousness. I have heard instances where couples or women confess that after they underwent abortion, they never enjoyed peace of conscience. Please note peace of conscience.

Conscience is the subjective guide of the human person. Conscience is a manifestation of the natural law to the subject since the natural law acts as the objective guide of the human person. The two moral concepts are therefore interrelated in fact, they are just two sides of the coin. We have seen the role of the natural law. Therefore, if natural law is interrelated with conscience and that people confess that they have been haunted by their conscience after acts of abortion then by logical implication we can conclude that their being haunted is an indication that what they have done, in particular abortion is morally evil. To sum it all the sources of morality, namely the act itself the intention and the circumstances are in principle better reasons why pro-choice cannot be tolerated with their liberal views on abortion. In addition, the principle of double effect also elaborates very clearly why abortion can never be legalized or accepted.  Therefore, any defense in de-legalization of abortion will make sense and prevail if addressed within the framework of the above principles.

Sigmund Freud is considered as a pioneer in the field of psychodynamics which is the study of the human behavior based on the conscious and unconscious psychological forces. Freud emphasized that there is a psychological energy existing in the brain which underlies the psychological processes. Freud applied the law of dynamics to the human personality which he considered similar to an energy system. The theory is based on the belief that human personality is a function of the transformations, exchanges, modifications and conversions of energy within the personality. Freud has particularly stressed on the role of unconscious in influencing human behavior though humans are unaware of that. This unconscious refers to the thoughts, drives and feelings which influence his behavior and shape his personality. It is on this concept of unconsciousness that his theories are mostly based (Jarvis, 2003).

Freuds drive model is based on the belief that there are certain drives and motivations which force humans to exhibit certain behavior in order to satisfy the need. He considered man as an animal which is motivated by drives and instincts. The drive model says that there are two basic drives shaping human behavior sex and aggression and the source of these drives is mainly the unconscious.

According to Freudian theory there are three distinctive parts to a human personality which give rise to the psychological processes in the brain. The first part is id which represents the physical or biological needs whose fulfillment provides energy to the human body. Examples of this need include hunger, thirst, sex etc. Freud describes this part to be selfish and amoral since it aims to attain maximum pleasure and avoid pain.

The second part is Ego which represents the conscious mind of the human personality governed by his thoughts, judgments and memories. Ego is at the heart of the human personality since it enables one to make sense of the world around while balancing the desires of the id, superego and external world. It strives to attain a balance between passion and reality. The ego makes use of the defense mechanisms to overcome the conflict between id and the superego. For example, denial is used for denying the source of conflict or anxiety, repression is used to make the anxiety dormant by banishing it, reaction formation is thinking the opposite to overcome the conflict and displacement occurs when the anxiety is moved from one object to another. Other mechanisms include regression, projection, rationalization, sublimation, intellectualization etc (Cervone  Pervin, 2007).

The last part is the Superego which represents the society ideals and conscientious behavior. It is also called the voice of conscience. This is in contrast to id which emphasizes pleasure over society rules while superego emphasizes social acceptable behavior and often stands against the desires of id (Jarvis, 2003).

These three parts to a human personality are interrelated and govern the psychological processes in a human mind. The psychic energy underlying these processes converts itself from one form to another as one progress through the stages of development. Freud stressed the fact that childhood experiences play a critical role in shaping ones personality where he undergoes through different psychosexual stages from birth to puberty. If the needs of a child are unmet or overindulgence occurs during any of the stages then it affects his or her personality.

The first one is the oral stage which lasts for about 18 months deriving satisfaction by focusing on the mouth. This need is satisfied when the mother feeds a child through the mouth. A child becomes frustrated if this need is not satisfied or may become extremely optimistic and gullible if the need is overly satisfied. Next is the anal stage which lasts for another 2 years where the focus is on the erogenous zone of the anus and satisfaction derived through expulsion or retention of feces. The child who derives satisfaction from expulsion becomes careless and disorganized while the one deriving satisfaction from retention of feces becomes orderly and organized. From the age of 3 to 6 is the phallic stage where the child derives pleasure by focusing on his genitals. During this stage the child feels love for his opposite sex parent which also becomes sexual. Those who deal with this conflict successfully at this stage become resilient and assured while those who are incapable of doing so become afraid and lose confidence. This is followed by the latency period in which sexual drives are repressed. Finally puberty is reached with the genital stage and once again the sexual instincts are aroused and the child desires relationship with the opposite sex. A child develops normal relationships if he devotes less psychic energy to the unresolved conflicts.  Conflicts arising during these stages affect a childs personality that is also shaped for his adulthood (Cervone  Pervin, 2007).

Thus, the psychodynamic theory of Freud helps a person to understand his personality which is basically a function of the psychic energy and unconscious desires acting within the personality. To sum up, Freud believed that human mind is a place of conscious and unconscious wishes, desires, motivations and needs whose satisfaction determines human personality.

The society is made of various kinds of people. These people take up different orientation. This makes them to be perceived differently by the society. There are certain groups which are behind stereotyping. These groups are stereotyped by the society due to their deeds. Some of the groups which are stereotyped include Senior Citizens, tattooed persons, Politicians and Feminists. The mention of such grounds renders some concepts in to the mind of many people. This is because of the way these groups are perceived in the society. Stereotypes are none other than such thoughts of configuring certain groups with certain perspective. Stereotypes are generally ideas which are directed to individuals in a particular group. Stereotypes can either be negative or positive depending on where they are introduced. Stereotypes are misleading ideas since it blocks the reality. Discussion of real issues is barricaded by stereotyping.

Politicians are accorded with negative qualities. Some of the negative qualities directed towards politicians include corruption, political power seekers, liars, financial power gainers (Kaufer David, 1996). They are also perceived to be out in search of social gain. The political area in the modern society is full of attacks in one way or the other. The political picture is tainted with argument which blocks real issues. The discussion of real stuff is sidelined with the intake of stereotypes. Politicians are perceived to be hasty generation. It is not a must that all politicians are corrupt as pointed out by many.

There may be few who are corrupt in their mission to satisfy their mandates. This does not call for generalization of the political arena. Others are involved in negative qualities to satisfy their own agenda or the agenda of their party. There are also other groups which are stereotyped apart from politicians. Media and the entire society direct bad rhetoric to feminists.

Tattooed persons increase their popularity because of stereotyping. Tattooed individuals are associated with negative qualities such as trouble makers. They are also perceived to users of drugs. The reason for piercing has not gotten to the minds of people who stereotype tattooed individuals. Tattooing in its own is just a form of art which is used for body modification.

Stereotyping may be carried out unintentionally or deliberately. The deliberate generation of a particular group defines stereotyping. It involves assigning attributes which may be positive or negative to members within a particular group. Stereotyping acts as a tool for giving way to the cause of something. It is a mechanism which offers persuasion to a cause. Politicians are a unique group when it comes to stereotyping. Politicians are believed to stereotype themselves in quest for vote hunting. A politician may stereotype hisher fellow politicians in order to woo for votes. This is normally the case in influencing votes towards a certain individual. Politicians introduce fallacies for their personal gain.

There are specific fallacies through which politicians are stereotyped. Such fallacies include democrat and personal attack. Politician stereotyping stirs argument which trigger biased emotions. This is mostly directed to an issue. Legitimacy is provided by considering the biased emotions. The same scenario happens even when arguments in a traditional setting. The claims toward a particular group such as politicians have far reaching consequences. The good picture of politicians is tarnished through stereotyping.

Stereotype is the generalization which is directed to group of individuals within a specific group. Groups are generalized despite of taking different orientations. It is the trend of people to generalize characteristics of certain members in a society without getting in to the real issue. There are various forms under which stereotypes can be expressed. This does not take in to consideration the profession of someone. Tattooed individuals are associated with deceitful behavior. They are perceived to be outlawed. Tattooing is a form of identification and may not mean one has malicious behavior. Tattooed persons are perceived to participate in crimes such as being thugs. Such individuals take the perception from the society in proving their weird behavior.  Not only do people get tattooed due to criminal records but also a way of independence. A gang may identify himselfherself as a gang. It enables people get to know what kind of people they are associating with. Individuals are out to have tattoos removed from their bodies to avoid misquote. Body art has been stereotyped making many people get away from this practice. It is normally associated with crime.

Tattooed persons and mostly girls at strategic places in the bodies have been easy to capture sexual partners. This is a stereotype which has cropped in the minds of many. The location of the tattoo is the back of girls. This is usually the case since it is a way of expressing one self. This should be taken to divert to sexual promiscuity. Tattoos are never shouting in nature. It denotes the point when one had something done such as birthday. It acts as a reminder of unfolding issues.

The view of individuals in a particular group can be distorted by beliefs and expressions. A woman may be taken to be a butch in case she is a feminist (Darlington Patricia, 2002). It denotes women relationships. The stereotypical thinking for this group includes short hair. They are believed to avoid the use of a razor in removing body hair. Although this is the phenomena of feminists, it may not apply to all. Women may get away from the ways of men. They do so by protecting their rights. A woman can be independent on her own without getting support from man in terms of meals amongst other major issues performed by men.

It is not a must that stereotypical thinking comes in form of expressions. It may come in a way such that it is not avoided. Another group which is mostly stereotyped is senior citizens. Seniors citizens may be perceived to be burden within a society. They are directing towards getting money through taxation without reverting the same. Senior citizens are viewed to take out money without contributing. This is not usually the case since there senior citizens who contribute to taxes.

There exists some truth within the groups which are stereotyped. The qualities accorded to these groups are true. There are extreme feminists, tattooed people who are criminals, Senior citizens who drive slowly as well as politicians who are bound to lie. This makes some of the stereotypical thinking true. Despite of having highlighted the deeds of these groups, it does not mean that everyone in the group is bad or practices weird behavior. There are politicians who get along with the truth. It is not obvious that tattooed individuals have criminal records. The same applies to feminists. There are feminists who are good in nature. Senior citizens do not look forward to being burden to the society. They do all they can to avoid the perception instilled by the society on them.

Stereotyping thinking may be taken to refer to ignorance in getting to know an individual.

There is a negative effect accorded to the society as a result of stereotyping. A negative stereotype remains to be negative and can not be changed to sound positive. Arguments are affected by negative information which renders in the minds of people. Groups which are stereotyped do all they can to reshape the bad image. They work extra miles to have negative stereotypes fade off their way. The qualities associated to politicians include dishonest, self serving, liars and hypocritical. The qualities associated to feminists include lesbians and man-hating. Senior citizens are accorded negative attributes because of their nature of hearing, forgetful and slow in driving. Tattooed individuals are perceived to be criminals, rebels, sadist amongst other bad attributes.

In conclusion, the various groups which are stereotyped invoke different images to people. A different stereotype exists for each of the groups. The stereotypes produced by politicians can be good. This depends on the viewpoint of the person. Politicians are liable of producing both positive and negative stereotypes. In the case of feminists, they are liable to disseminate positive stereotypes. This is because they work the equivalence of men. Senior citizens produce both positive and negative stereotypes. This is because they are hard headed as well as informative. Truth dominates in the stereotypes of each of these groups.

Stress is a normal life process which is associated with positive and negative outcomes. It is possible to link stress with illnesses, a phenomenon that occurs in case of chronic stress. Stress initiates illness by via the fight or flight response resulting to mid-term and long term effects. Short-term effects include headache and muscle ache as well as flu whereas long-term effects include cardiovascular diseases among other life threatening conditions. This paper discusses the relationship between stress and illnesses. It is identified that stress can cause illnesses but it is not always the sole determining  factor in disease development.

Introduction
Although sometimes stress is not the sole factor that leads to disease, the stress factor is a major one in development of various illnesses. Many times individuals link their emotional well being with physical well being. Emotional conditions such as stress are speculated to have an effect on the health outcomes as some people will tell. As such, it is pertinent to explore whether and how stress can cause illnesses i.e. how stress affects a persons health. Stress affects the physical well being of an individual as it has the potential to lead to cardiovascular diseases, headaches, and asthma among other illnesses (Elliot School, nd). The impact of stress on human health may be best illustrated by the many stress-related visits Americans have. It is for instance estimated that stress-related illnesses contribute about 80 percent of all the doctor visits in the U.S. with stress making a contribution of fifty percent of all the illnesses encountered in the U.S (Weber, 2010).  This paper presents the link between stress and illnesses by providing several examples of illnesses that are related to stress. Research findings are presented to support all the arguments.

Stress
Stress is an everyday component of life. Despues (1999, para 2), defines stress as a process in which environmental demands strain an organisms adaptive capacity resulting in both psychological as well as biological changes that could place a person at risk for illness. Stress can arise from a variety of stressors among them being natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, daily experiences of life as well as family related issues among others. Despues (1999) argues that, the magnitude of stress usually depends on how important the personal goal that is interfered with by the stressor is.  As such, interference with more important goals leads to more stress experience. It is important to note that every person experiences stress despite the magnitude and the frequency of stress. Stress is not always a bad experience since many times stress has been associated with helping individuals adapt to various conditions. It is however harmful to experience chronic stress.

Effects of stress on the body
The biological effect of stress varies with the magnitude of stress. However, the body generally responds to stress via a fight or flight response. The parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system are important components of the autonomic nervous system whose interrelationship is significant during stress. The parasympathetic system functions reciprocally to the body state following emotional activation of the sympathetic system.

The parasympathetic system is a calmer of the sympathetic system which controls the fight or flight reaction. Following a stressful trigger, the sympathetic system responds by causing the release of adrenaline and cortisol among other hormones in preparation for the fight or fight response. Heart beat increases to supply blood and glucose to the muscles.  In addition, blood pressure rises as the bronchi dilates such that breathing rates goes up to provide sufficient oxygen. In readiness for action, the sympathetic system also ensures that the pupils are dilated such that more light enters the eyes thus ensuring increased acuity. Moreover, the body begins to sweat. Since the above reactions are the most urgent at the stressful time, the sympathetic system lessens some less important functions like digestion to allow for the most important functions to utilize available energy (Caroll, 2001).

The above responses as mediated by the sympathetic system require to be brought back into normalcy after the fight or flight response has taken place. It is at this point that the parasympathetic system comes in to initiate opposite responses. The parasympathetic system causes muscle relaxation, normalized heart rate and blood pressure as well as normal breathing rate. Digestion goes back to normal as the pupils constrict (Caroll, 2001).

When does stress become harmful
It is no doubt from the above fight or flight reaction that stress can be beneficial. Nevertheless, stress becomes harmful if the parasympathetic is unable to restore normalcy to the triggered body systems. This usually happens if an individual is exposed to chronic stress such that the biological stress response system remains alert and the body becomes exhausted. Chronic stress emanates from many episodes of acute stress or prolonged presence of a stressor. Looking at the fight or flight response, it is evident that uncorrected action of the sympathetic system means that some of the vital biological process such as digestion remains halted. In addition, muscles remain tightened as the pupils of the eyes remain dilated. Consequently, an individual is prone to developing tension and pain of the muscles.

Tightening of the muscles of the head may for instance lead to headache while muscles in general become fatigued. Stomach upsets are also common whereas sleeping difficulties may be experienced. Sleeping difficulties arise because stress raises the brainwave activity. Worse about this is that failure to sleep due to stress results to poor stress coping ability. Chronic stress also predisposes an individual to development of infectious illnesses such as cold. This is due to a compromise in the immune functioning since the immune functioning is halted during the fight or flight response. The low immunity means that disease causing organisms can easily gain their way into the body thus causing disease (Weber, 2010).

The above effects of chronic stress occur in the mid-term period. It is however possible to have long-term effects and these are more serious as they are more likely to cause major illnesses, some of which are fatal. The cardiovascular system is among the body systems that are highly affected by chronic stress in the long-term. When a person is under a stressful condition, heart rate and blood pressure increases. Oxygen demand is also raised especially in case of mental stress. Also associated with mental stress is a decrease in the flow of blood to the heart muscle. This is because there is increased vascular resistance whereas the coronary artery constricts. The reduction in blood flow to the heart is a potential factor in leading to blood clotting in the coronary artery. Blood clot in either the vessels supplying the heart or the brain leads to increased blood pressure and eventually a heart attack or stroke. Angina pectoris as well as ischemia are also stress-associated heart conditions (Esch et al, 2002). Macleod et al (2002), found out that prevalence and incidence of angina pectoris increased with increased exposure to stressors among Scottish working men in a prospective study of 21 years of follow up (2.66, 95 CI 1.61 to 4.41P0.001). It is important to note that stress also brings in other factors such as high cholesterol levels and smoking, which exacerbate the likelihood of cardiovascular conditions.

Immune system also suffers a great deal from long-term effects of chronic stress. The bodys defense mechanism is highly suppressed by the production of the fight or flight hormones (epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol). Psychoneuroimmunology has shed much light into role of stress in altering the immune system and subsequent development of disease.

Asthma is associated with stress in that when the immune system is suppressed as a result of catecholamine release, the bronchioles constrict thus exacerbating the asthmatic condition (Razali, 2008). Diabetes mellitus is also likely to develop with stress since the body produces large amounts of insulin leading to excessive release of glucose into the bloodstream. Peptic ulcers are also likely to result due to altered stomach acids during the fight or flight response. Chronic stress is also associated with neuroses in the long-term which may also lead to depression and the schizophrenic condition. It is important to note that even if stress does not cause the psychiatric illnesses, it always exacerbates the psychiatric conditions such as it happens in schizophrenic cases (Better Health Channel, 2008). It has also been identified that stress worsens cancer development since stress-coping mechanism suppresses natural killer cells which have the role of tumor suppression (Reiche, Nunes  Morimoto, 2004). Devito (1994), reports that soar throat and flu-like illnesses increase among students as they approach their exams. This is due to the tension and stress associated with exams in some people which results to impaired immune system.

Stress seems to have an effect on the psychological as well as the mental health of an individual. The way a person handle their feelings determines whether they achieve an emotional balance. Being mentally health means that a persons mind can handle the internal and the external environment competently. An individuals personality is therefore recognized as an important determinant into whether stress results into illness. A hardy personality as characterized by being committed to what one is doing, taking control and being ready to be challenged is associated with a stress-buffering effect (Weber, 2010). Among other factors that influence the effect of stress on disease outcome are an individuals genetic predisposition, the coping style of the individual as well as the availability of social support (Razali, 2008).

Conclusion
Stress is an unavoidable experience in life which has both positive and negative effects. While stress may help a person to cope with challenges, sustained stress is a pathway to a number of illnesses including cardiovascular diseases, diseases related to the immune system and worsening of psychiatric illnesses. The way to developing the illnesses begins by exhausting the body due to non-reverses fight or flight response. The many studies that have been carried on the role of stress in various diseases leaves no doubt that stress is a major factor in disease develiopmemt and progression. Despite the role of stress in illness, it is also no doubt that it is not the only factor. Other factors such as personality, coping style and genetic predisposition also determine the role of stress in disease development.

One of the recent developments in biology has been cloning technology. Cloning technology has made it possible to preserve the genetic component of a species and it is argued that the technology comes with many advantages.  Cloning technology is likely to be applied in different areas especially in preservation of desired species. Cloning technology mainly use the process of creating copies of DNA fragments.

This means that the person and the clone share a similar DNA framework (Pence, 1998).  Hence, both are similar to identical twin and are likely to exhibit similar personality traits.  The copies of DNA sequences gives rise to identical genetic influence and therefore a person and clone are likely to share similar genetic characteristics like sex, and others.  However, personality traits differ with different levels of influences.  Personality traits are influenced by different factors including genetic, psychological, and social factors (Myers, 2007).

This implies that personality traits are influenced by nature and nurture. In this regard, nature influence refers to traits that are influence by innate factors like genetic factors. On the other hand, nurture influence refers to influence on individual that can be attributed to the environment (Meaney, 2001). This includes cognitive and social factors that are found on the environment.

However, there have been arguments in light of nature and nurture influences of a cloned human. Studies looking at similarities and differences in identical twins, who are genetically the same like a person and a clone, have found out that there is variability between two twins which can be attributed to environmental factors.  These studies have looked at non-genetic influences and how they attribute to the final human characters.  Evidence from these studies indicates that there are many biological, psychological, and social cultural influences, which contribute to differences between the two (Myers, 2007).  The differences have been explained using proposition of the biopsychosocial theory of development.

However, it should be noted that there is no empirical evidence which can allow assessment of similarities between two or more identical twins. This means that the same case may apply to clone, especially where one or both of them show extreme characteristics. Genetic changes which can be attributed to development has also raised question whether findings on identical twins can really be generalized to a person and a clone.

Biopsychosocial theory of human development gives a concrete explanation of biological, psychological, and social culture factors and how they influence human development.  This theory explains not only genetic, cognitive, and emotional influences, but also cultural influences which can be attributed to social relations (Myers, 2007). Social psychologists have shown that family, peer, and other groups have a lot of influences on personal growth and development.

The influence of the three levels interacts to account for the variability between individuals (Myers, 2007). This means that although individuals are likely to bear similar genetic components, they are will exhibit different personality traits due to influence of the three levels.  This means that a clone is similar to a person according to the influence of the first level of influence, the biological level.  In this case, identical twins are essentially clones because they exhibit similar biological influence. However, the two may develop different traits owing to the influence of the other two levels.

Genetic identity accounts for identical characteristics like sex. It can also influence other personality traits in identical twins.   However, influence means that the genetic components interacting with the other two levels of influence, brings about differences in individual traits.  If biopsychosocial influence is to be attributed to clones, then it has to be accepted that evidence based on identical twins will be generalized to clones. Studies on between-individual variability in personality traits, even between identical twins shows that it can be attributed to genetics although the percentage of variability depends on characteristics that are being studied (Myers, 2007). For example, genetics and IQ scores  provides concrete evidence  showing that genetics can be attributed to large percentage of between-individual variability although the results may be mediated by other  factors like social expectations (level three influences) and cognitive factors (level two influences) (Myers, 2007).  This means that apart from considering level two and level three influences, genetic factors,  which constitute level one influence, is also likely to contribute to between-individual variability. This implies that even in clone, genetic factors are likely to lead to between-individual variability.

Therefore, though clones share identical similarity with the person, they are not likely to exhibit identical personality traits. According to biopsychosocial theory of growth and development, personality traits are influenced by the three levels of influences including genetic influence, psychological influences, and social influences. The three levels of influence interact to define personality characteristics. As has been discussed above, even genetic factors attributes to between-individual variability. It implies that the person and the clone will exhibit different personality traits based on the there levels of influences.

Summary of Bens History
Ben is a 52-year old male working for a postal company for 22 years. Ben was an only child. His father, a janitor, died when he was 18, while his mother was a homemaker. Ben got lots of attention from them, but claims that they were  different and weird  like him. He even mentions that his aunt was institutionalized several times. Ben is unmarried and never developed permanent relationships with women because making social advances with them is a thing that he avoids. However, he fulfills his sexual needs with the use of prostitutes. Ben directs his energy into walking every night for at least five hours. Ben attends church and participates in community activities though others find him a bit  odd.

Despite this, they have appreciated Ben and find no problems with him. However, for the past two years, Bens co-workers noticed a gradual change in him. His social interactions is inappropriate and confused Ben smiles when angry, and feels agitated and distressed when others are happy. One day, when Ben makes a delivery for a store, he accidentally hands a box over a pedestrian on the street, saying that  This is a gift from Jesus -- please keep it with you always.  Ben is unable to recall the incident the following day. Soon after, Bens co-workers teases him, weakening his self-esteem and ability to perform well. Since then, Ben is cautious to avoid errors he routinely double-checks the deliveries in every stores and confirms that the right box is delivered. Ben admits that sometimes he hears voices telling him that he is making an error.

Ben also spends spare time watching TV and building plastic military models. For the past six months, Ben has been cautious. At night, he double checks the locks on his house, saying that his neighbors dislike him and want to break into his house. To avoid potential threatening phone calls, Ben disconnects his telephone line. He also stopped walking recently and claims that the streets are dangerous. Ben insists that he suffers from liver cirrhosis, although medical tests prove negative. He claims that he can feel his liver rotting inside his body - a thought that seem to originate after watching a TV program regarding alcohol side effects.

Diagnosis
Based from the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV-TR, Ben has a paranoid schizophrenia, a common type of schizophrenia (Axis I). For a person to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, heshe must exhibit at least two of the following symptoms catatonic behavior, negative symptoms, grossly disorganized, delusions, disorganized speech or hallucinations (APA Diagnostic Classification, n.d.). The disturbances in thought processes and behavior should last for six months, and each symptoms should be displayed for a period of one month. However, the APA Diagnostic Classification (n.d.) claimed that if an individual has recurring auditory hallucinations or strongly held delusions, it is enough to make the diagnosis.

People with paranoid schizophrenia, on the other hand, experiences auditory hallucinations and delusions, while other symptoms are not prominent. Ben has auditory hallucinations since he hears celebrity voices telling him he is commuting errors. According to Leo  Chiu (1989), hallucination is a perception that appear when internal events are mistakenly perceived by an individual as an external one. Aside from hallucinations, Ben is also seen to have delusions, including persecution and grandeur. Bens delusion of grandeur are evident when he said to a pedestrian This is a gift from Jesus -- please keep it with you always, and when he avoided several events that he thought was threatening showed his delusions of persecution. According to Morrison  Baker, (2000) Delusion of persecution is the result of an individuals inability to comprehend with others, and thus, thinking that others want to harm himher. Accordingly, when delusions are strongly held by an individual, it can already confirm a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia (Morrison  Baker, 2000). Another form of delusion that Ben manifests is somatic delusion, which is evident when he said that he is suffering from liver cirrhosis. Somatic delusions is a false perception of having strange occurrencesperceptions toin the body. However, in cases such as paranoid schizophrenia, somatic types of delusions are not as prevalent as grandeur and persecution (Morimoto et al., 2002).

Aside from paranoid schizophrenia, Ben can also be diagnosed with SPD or schizotypal personality disorder. SPD belongs to Axis II of the DSM-IV-TR multiaxial system. As stated in the APA Diagnostic classification (n.d.), SPD has a diagnostic criteria including ideas of reference, odd beliefsmagical thinking with effect on behavior, odd speech and thinking, unusual perceptual experience, odd appearance, flat inappropriate affect, excessive social anxiety and lack of primary support group.

Taking a look at Bens history, he had problems in building relationships with the opposite sex. He also has an odd behavior as stated by his neighbors. Ben even claimed that he and his parents was  weird and different.  In regards to having inappropriate affect and ideas of reference, Ben, according to his co-workers,  smiles when angry, and feels distressed and agitated when everyone is happy.  Bens social interactions are also confused and inappropriate, indicating ideas of reference.

There are many similarities in the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia and SPD. In a study conducted by Bergman et al., (1996), the subjective experiences of individuals with SPD and schizophrenia are similar in many ways, but there are some inconsistencies and differences between the two. In Bens case, his ideas of reference are associated with delusion of persecution   a criteria that does not belong to SPD (Bergman et al., 1996).  Also, SPD symptoms do not occur when episodes of schizophrenia is present (APA Diagnostic Criteria, 2000). Bergman et al. (1996) stated that the onset of SPD appears during childhood, while Bens symptoms appeared during middle adulthood. Although Ben had a difficult time with women, his ability to interact with others can be positive. His neighbors did not report any problems with him, and he was also active in church and community programs.  Therefore, Ben cannot be diagnosed with SPD since he do not manifest excessive negativism, odd speech and thinking, and immobility. In addition, Ben is positive of delusions of persecution and grandeur, and auditory and somatic hallucinations.

With regards to Axis III of the DSM-IV-TR, also known as the acute physical disorders and medical symptoms (APA Diagnostic Classification, n.d.), Ben cannot be diagnosed in this criteria. This can be evident when the medical results revealed that his liver is normal, although he insists of having liver cirrhosis.

For Axis IV, or the psychosocial and environmental  problems contributing to the disorder, there were no definite problems presented by Ben. Also, it was not mentioned in Bens history if he is living with some friends or relatives. On the other hand, Ben said that he was an only child, unmarried, and that his father died when he was 18. With these factors, it can be considered that the lack of support from primary groups (eg. friends, relatives, parents) may have contributed to the occurrence of Bens paranoid schizophrenia.

Brief summary of Bens case based from DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria
On Axis I, it was evident that Ben suffers from schizophrenia, particularly paranoid subtype. Ben does not fit in Axis II, though his alternative diagnosis can be SPD. Also, Ben cannot be  diagnosed in Axis III, and it was proven with his medical results. With regards to Axis IV, lack of support from primary groups can be considered.

Treatment
Two forms of treatment for paranoid schizophrenia appropriate for Ben are biological therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Biological therapy uses pharmacological drugs, particularly antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia. Two types of antipsychotic drugs are first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) and second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) (Jones, et al., 2006). FGAs, such as chlorpromazine and haloperidol, are known to treat positive and negative symptoms, but has adverse effects like extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) and sedation. SGAs (eg. Clozapine), on the other hand, are more prescribed than FGAs since it has little or no known adverse effects, but is more expensive than FGAs (Jones, et al., 2006).

SGAs can be prescribed for Ben since it treats positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia with no adverse effects. Ben shows positive symptoms (hallucinations and delusions), but his financial income should also be considered before the prescription of SGAs because it is said in the history that Ben worked as a postal company driver for 22 years. Although it is not said if he had allergic reactions to certain type of drugs, his medical history should be assessed prior to the prescription. In a certain study (Falkai et al., 2006), it is said that patients with schizophrenia must adhere to the biological treatment regimen given to himher since non-compliance may aggravate the condition. Therefore, Ben must follow the treatment plan after the prescription of SGAs to him.

Another form of treatment advisable to Ben is the CBT, which is used to treat positive symptoms (hallucinations and delusion) as well as improve social functioning and self-esteem (Turkington et al., 2006). According to recent studies, CBT along with antipsychotic drugs, is now considered as an appropriate treatment regimen for schizophrenia (Turkington et al., 2006). It is obvious that Ben has delusions and auditory hallucinations, and his social functioning and self-esteem was also aggravated after a particular incident in his job. Therefore, CBT combined with antipsychotics (SGAs) is the best treatment regiment for him.

At the time of birth the human eye is almost half the size and weight of a mature eye in an adult. Although the infants eye is grossly similar to that of an adult, the only difference is that the way the parts relate to one another is quite is not the same. The different parts of the eye also develop at different rates. For example, at birth the cornea is almost completely developed as compared to iris which is still crude at birth. Retina is also well developed at birth as compared to other parts of the eye.

This does not imply that retina does not continue to develop after birth. At birth macula which is a part of retina and contains fovea, the area of clearest vision in adults is partially developed at birth. They only achieve complete differentiation at the age of four months, but macular continues to develop until early childhood. At birth, the systems which reconcile brightness and color vision are functional (Arterberry, 2008).

The optic tract which connects the eyes to the vision center in the brain is not fully myelinated at the time of birth. Myelin is the protective sheath which covers the axon of a nerve cell. It functions by insulating the axon from the structures around and improves the conductivity of the nerves. When myelin is absent, conductivity of the nerve is reduced and the electrical activity is spreads to the tissues around. Absence of myelin sheath around the optic tract would mean that there will only be diffuse flashes of light. The myelin surrounding the optic tract is fairly thin in infants as compared to adults (Allison, Gillam,  Vecellio, 2009).

The visual system of an infant is anatomically and physiologically functional at birth and it is capable of responding to stimuli except that it is still immature. This ability gratifies the condition for getting environmental information, although the condition is not adequate enough. In order to achieve adequate extraction of information from the environment, the organism should be in a position to concurrently accustom both the eyes towards the origin of stimulation, concentrating on the source, deciding on the details of the stimulus, and being able to perform compensatory eye movements should the stimulus move a bit. Mature adult eye is capable of making these adjustments suddenly (Allison, Gillam  Vecellio, 2009).

Depth perception can be described as the ability to see objects in three dimensions and to estimate the spatial distances of objects from you and from one another. Depth perception is very useful for organisms survival, since it is vital to effectively explore the surrounding and function in the world. Without depth perception, it is not possible to tell the distance between us and the objects, and what distance we need to cover so as to reach or even to avoid the object. It is also not possible to tell the difference between stepping down from a stair and from a tall building (Arterberry, 2008).

Depth perception also includes space perception which is the ability to distinguish the difference in distances between objects in space. Depth perception is a product of vision, but hearing also plays a crucial role in perception. There are two wide classes of cues which are used to assist visual depth perception, they include monocular and binocular. In monocular cue, only one eye is required while binocular cue, working of the two eyes together is required. There are cues which only require one eye for their perception. They give information that aids in estimation of spatial distances and perception of three dimensions. Interposition is a situation where objects appear to partially block or overlap each other. When an object appears as being partially blocked, the object which appears full is perceived as being closer and this is usually true. Here below are some studies which have been conducted on monocular and binocular views in infants (Arterberry, 2008).

Infants sensitivity to the depth cue of height in the picture plane
The research was aimed at assessing sensitivity to the pictorial depth cue of height in the plane in five and seven month old babies. Infants were given two objects with one being placed higher than the other. The ability of the infants to reach the objects was recorded under monocular and binocular viewing conditions (Arterberry, 2008). The results indicated that both the age groups reached the lower object more than the higher one. The lower object was under monocular view while the higher one was under binocular view. This shows that both ages are sensitive to depth information provided by height in the picture plane (Allison, Gillam,  Vecellio, 2009).

According to the study, seven months old infants are sensitive to the depth cues of shading, linear perspective, interposition, texture gradient, familiar size, relative size, and surface contour. In the study, reaching was used as the measure. Infants of this age will always reach for nearer objects even if the difference between the two objects is very small (Arterberry, 2008).

A longitudinal study was also carried on the same infants. The assessment was done after every two weeks to ascertain sensitivity for depth cues in linear perspective and texture ingredients. This made it possible to analyze the emergence of sensitivity to pictorial depth information both within and across children (Arterberry, 2008). The final results showed a variation in sensitivity to pictorial depth. It was realized that in most children, the start of pictorial depth sensitivity occurs between the ages of 22 and 32 weeks, and full development may be achieved in 2 to 8 weeks (Arterberry, 2008).

The study also included the cue of height in the picture plane also referred to as relative height in the field and relative upward location in the field. This cue is normally found together with other cues in the picture. The main part of height in the picture plain is the position of the object in relation to the horizon. In a picture, objects that appear to be close to the horizon are usually far away (Arterberry, 2008).

There is always an assumption linked to all pictorial depth cues in accordance to the regularities in the environment. The assumption states that light comes from above, texture elements are uniform in size, parallel lines converge with distance, objects that overlap others are near, and objects size do not change (Arterberry, 2008). For infants to achieve height in picture plain, they need to view objects in relation to the horizon, and getting the horizon is not a difficult task provided that the ground has been identified. This suggests that sensitivity to the height in the picture plane develops earlier as compared to other pictorial cues (Arterberry, 2008).

Sensitivity of infants to height in picture plain was done solely. In this research, infants were provided with a trapezoid shaped board where the information on surface slant was mad available by linear perspectives and texture ingredients. Both the objects were placed on the board with one being raised higher than the other. When adults viewed the objects monocularly, the lower object appeared nearer as compared to the higher object. Random texture was used in this study (Arterberry, 2008).

In assessing the infants sensitivity to pictorial depth information, within objects and between objects design can be employed. Within objects design carries out both monocular and binocular testing on the same infant. This design allows for cross comparison across viewing, although the numbers of reaches are limited and cannot exceed six since infants become bored with repeated activities (Arterberry, 2008). Between subject design is used to test different infants under both conditions, and does allow many trials per an infant per a condition. Between subjects design was used in this study because it does not limit the number of reaches per infant per viewing condition (Allison, Gillam,  Vecellio, 2009).

The study involved five and seven month old infants who were tested both monocularly and binocularly and their abilities to reach the objects were put down. In monocular viewing conditions, the relative distance between the two objects was distinguished by height in the picture plane, which showed that the object which was lower was the nearer (Arterberry, 2008). It was envisaged that infants who would reach to the lower object under monocular viewing condition are sensitive to the available depth information. It was also foreseen that all the infants would reach the two objects equally under binocular view. This was the case because stereopsis supersedes pictorial information for depth, and this information is developed in infants at the age of 4 months (Allison, Gillam,  Vecellio, 2009).
Development of infants surface contour information for spatial layout

The aim of the study was to investigate the development of sensitivity to static monocular depth cue to shape and surface contours. The study was done with about sixty infants distributed equally in three groups of 5, 512, and seven months. It showed that frontoparalell cylinder is slanted away in depth such that one end appears nearer than the other end. Better reaching was recorded in both conditions. There was more reaching to nearer end in the monocular conditions as compared to binocular conditions. Infants aged 7 months old demonstrated sensitivity to surface contour information, while infants aged 5 and 5  did not show any sensitivity (Richards,  Rader, 1981).  A control study using approximately twenty 5 months old infants, most of them reached for the closer end of cylinder which was rotated in depth. Other studies with static monocular depth information indicated that infants sensitivity to surface contour information develops at about 6 months of age. Surface contours can be described as surface markings that are understood to be inhibited by the three dimensional shapes of the surface on which the objects lies (Richards,  Rader, 1981).

The findings indicated that there was more reaching to the apparently closer ends of the cylinder in monocular viewing conditions as compared to binocular conditioning by 7 months old infants. This shows that they are sensitive to surface contour information for layout. The absence of sensitivity in 5 months old infant indicates that they are not responsive to this information. It can therefore be assumed that 5 months infants are sensitive to cue, but they reach both sides of the cylinder because of absence of motor control (Richards  Rader, 1981).

Development of human visual system monocular and binocular VEP latency
Visual evoked potentials to pattern stimuli have been employed in the study of development of the human visual system and to test visual function in young children and children who are unable to speak. It has proved very successful in testing visual functions in clinical environment, and even in the people with neurological disorders. Success has also been recorded in its use in acuity estimation in normal subjects (McCulloch,  Skarf, 1991).

P-VEPS stands for pattern visual evoked potentials. P-VEPS was recorded in 161 human infants aged between 3 weeks and 2 years of age. The latency of the first positive peak in the P-VEP was then measured monocularly and binocularly for about five sizes of phase interactions checkerboard stimuli (McCulloch,  Skarf, 1991). The study demonstrated a swift maturation in the first six months of life. Monocularly conditioning lasts longer as compared to binocular P_VEPS. The latency different of monocular P-VEPS is a bit longer and varies with age (McCulloch,  Skarf, 1991).

The results of this study showed that almost three thirds of the infants and young children managed to complete binocular and monocular P_VEPS recording series with not less than four pattern sizes. Binocular testing was successful of 95 visits. Eight of the binocular sessions could not be analyzed because they demonstrated poor reproducibility as a result of poor cooperation as a result of crying (McCulloch,  Skarf, 1991).

Crawling onset age predicts visual cliff avoidance in infants
The study was conducted to test the impacts of crawling onset age, the amount of crawling experience, and testing the age on avoidance of the deep side of the of visual cliff apparatus by human infants. The study involved two experiments. In the first experiment, the ages of infants used was ranging from 7 to 13 months. Discriminant results revealed that crawling onset age was used to differentiate between the infants who crossed and those who shied away from apparent drop off (Richards,  Rader, 1981). Those infants who crossed the deep side of the cliff had early crawling onset age. The second experiment involved testing infants on visual cliff apparatus. The first experiment was done at the age of 9 months and the second done at 12 months of age. Analysis of the experiment showed that the only way the infants could be differentiated depended on those who crossed and those who failed. Using age alone did not prove useful (Richards  Rader, 1981).

These results indicated that experience in crawling is important in eliciting guided avoidance behavior in infants. It is stated that crawling onset age effect happens because crawling during the tactile phase of infancy interrupts later visual control of locomotion. Other studies have also revealed that the locomotor experience is very significant in the development of avoidance response (Richards,  Rader, 1981).

Discussion of the studies
The first research was aimed at assessing the infants sensitivity to pictorial depth cue of height in the plane. The research involved infants aged five months and 7 months. The ability of the infants to reach the objects was then recorded under monocular and binocular viewing conditions (Arterberry, 2008). The results indicated that both the age groups reached the lower object several times than the higher object. The lower object was under monocular view while the higher one was under binocular view. It can therefore be concluded that both ages are sensitive to the depth information provided by the picture plane. It was realized that in most children, the start of pictorial depth sensitivity occurs between the ages of 22 and 32 weeks, and full development may be achieved in 2 to 8 weeks (Arterberry, 2008).

The second research was on development of infants surface contour information for spatial layout. The aim of the research was to find out development of sensitivity to static monocular depth cue to shape and surface contours. The infants used in this study were aged 5, 512, and 7 months old. From the study it was realized that the cylinder has one side which appears nearer than the other side. Reaching for the sides of the cylinder was recorded under two different views. Under monocular view, more reaching was made to the nearer side in all the ages. This is more or less the same to the first study where most infants preferred reaching to the nearer end. It implies that by the age of five months, infants have developed pictorial depth information under monocular view (Allison, Gillam,  Vecellio, 2009).

Infants aged 7 months old demonstrated sensitivity to surface contour information, while infants aged 5 and 5  did not show any sensitivity. This also can be confirmed with other studies which also indicated that static depth monocular depth information is developed at the age of six months in children. The first study also indicated that pictorial depth sensitivity starts to develop at the age of 512 to 8 months and full development is achieved in 2 to 8 weeks.

The third research was on the development of human visual system. The development was measured by monocular and binocular VEP latency.  The study involved 161 human infants aged between 3 weeks and two years and P-VEPS was recorded (McCulloch,  Skarf, 1991). The latency of the first positive peak was measured in both views (Richards,  Rader, 1981). The study showed that in the first 6 months of life, there is rapid maturation of both the views, but monocular latency period tends to last longer as compared to binocular view. This study also concurs with the previous ones which also showed that by five months of age monocular views are developed and binocular starts at the age of five and half onwards (McCulloch  Skarf, 1991).

The last study discussed was on the crawling onset age and cliff avoidance in infants. It was aimed at testing the age at which an infant starts avoiding the deeper side of the cliff with the use of visual cliff apparatus. The study showed that the infants who crossed the deeper side of the cliff started crawling at a tender age (Richards,  Rader, 1981). The second experiment was done on two different ages that 9 and 12. The results indicated that infants who had experience in crawling exhibited guided avoidance behavior. It is stated that crawling onset age effect are experienced because crawling during the tactile phase of infancy interrupts later visual control of locomotion. Other studies have also revealed that the locomotor experience is very significant in the development of avoidance response. In this study the age did not prove useful (Allison, Gillam,  Vecellio, 2009).

Future research areas
There is very scarce information on infants perception of depth from motion parallax despite the knowledge that they are both responsive to motion and depth from motion cues at a tender age. There is need to come up with a research to asses whether infants are responsive to definite depth specified by parallax motion and when the sensitivity is first developed (Nawrot,  Mayo, 2009). Although stereopsis has been found to emerge at the age of 13 to 14 weeks, there is another potent, definite depth cue that may also emerge at the same time or even earlier because it is based on motion cues that may be present to the developing visual system. Motion parallax can be defined as a monocular depth cue that develops from the relative motion of objects at various distances and is created when an observer translates plainly (Nawrot,  Mayo, 2009).

The rapid cognitive development that young children experience had been the focus of interest for many researchers of cognitive functioning. Mainly on gaining an understanding of how the brain develops and acquires the cognitive abilities that children need as they progress along the different stages of development. In terms of cognitive functioning, one that has fascinated most researchers is the study of attention and problem-solving. Children have limited attention span, they are easily distracted and they do poorly at tasks that require them to focus and pay attention for long periods of time (Huitt  Hummel, 2003). This has been considered a normal developmental challenge. On the other hand, the limitation of young childrens attentional skills has provided an understanding of how attentional flexibility is constrained in young children.

Attentional flexibility refers to the ability of the mind to focus on one object or task and shift to another object or task without losing attentional orientation on the first object or task (Wright  Ward, 2008). Attentional flexibility has been viewed as a hallmark of cognitive development, wherein children who demonstrate such skills are cognitively developed and can be able to work with more complex tasks (Guinote, 2007). By being able to shift ones attention, the brain is said to gain plasticity and be able to form additional neural connections (Ferlazzo, Lucido, Di Nocera, Fagioli  Sdoia, 2007).  However, attentional flexibility has not been studied in normally functioning children and outside of its neurological orientation,  and the need to study it further is based on the desire to gain a better understanding of cognitive functioning in normal children and in how it can be enhanced.

This paper explores the current empirical studies on attentional flexibility in young children and its relevance to the development of the child. A discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the presented literature on attentional flexibility provide a synthesis and critique of existing studies. An alternative point of view is also included to expound on how attentional flexibility can be studied more appropriately and with more relevance to the field of developmental psychology.

Summary of Empirical Studies
Stahl and Pry (2005) observed that attentional flexibility had been studied widely among children and adults with learning disabilities or with neurological conditions, but not much has been known about it in normal functioning children. The authors investigated the development of young childrens attentional flexibility by measuring perseverative errors as indicative of the lack of attentional flexibility. The authors used set-shifting tasks to measure attentional flexibility among preschool children aged 1 year and 5 months old to six years old who were enrolled in a preschool program in France.

The set-shifitng tasks involved visual and non-visual tasks that asked the participants to find the object in a series of patterns and shapes. The tasks demonstrated attentional flexibility in the manipulation and responses of the participants, such that when they are able to focus on finding the hidden or shifted object. Perseverative errors were measured in terms of the number of errors that the participant committed after the set task has been shifted. Perseverative errors were assumed to be indicative of the lack of attentional flexibility since the participant was not able to shift from the previous task to the new one.

The results of the experiment showed that there was an observed developmental growth in the  increase of attentional flexibility performance  and a decrease in perseverative errors among the participants. Moreover, it was also found that the youngest participants were more inflexible and the oldest participants demonstrated better flexibility. However, evidence of the basic attentional flexibility abilities was observed even in very young children, such that the youngest participants was able to switch from one response set to the next when there is no long delay and they had visual cues to guide them. Lastly, the researchers found that errors were due to the lack of other cognitive functioning such as an undeveloped working memory and inhibition rather than a lack of attentional flexibility skills. The researchers concluded that there are different levels of attentional flexibility, and this becomes more complex as the child develops.

Young children are said to be experiencing rapid growth and development in their cognitive abilities and functioning, thus it is important to determine at what age such cognitive function begin to emerge and how it is manifested. Blaye and Jacques (2009) believed that higher cognitive functioning such as categorical flexibility occurs in young children and explores the said variable using match to sample tasks that asked children to choose a thematic or taxonomic associate for a given object.

They conducted an experiment to determine the role of conceptual knowledge and executive control in the performance of categorical flexibility. Three to five year old preschoolers were presented with an 18 item match to sample tasks wherein they had to identify the category in which the given object belonged. This was used to demonstrate categorical flexibility, which can only occur when conceptual knowledge and executive control are present.

Blaye and Jacques (2009) found that age is associated with the development of categorical flexibility in the preschool years, specifically between four to five years old. However, they also found that there is a competing developmental progression for conceptual and executive processes wherein younger children demonstrated cognitive flexibility but lacked conceptual knowledge. In order for categorical flexibility to occur, the child must first master the conceptual knowledge of categories and then acquire appropriate executive control skills mainly, cognitive flexibility. The researchers concluded that in order to develop categorical flexibility, the child must be presented with all the categorical concepts for a given object, since the manner of presentation of associates impeded the switch from one category to the next.

Young children acquire knowledge about individual characteristics of a given entity to distinguish it from others that are physically similar to the said object or character. Thus, young children would be able to differentiate one character figure from the rest through its spatiotemporal characteristics. Rhemtulla and Hall (2009) sough to explore whether young children are able to infer the categories of the character figure from its spatiotemporal characteristics. Such flexibility would indicate the presence of cognitive flexibility or the ability to think about one object in terms of its many characteristics and attributes.

The authors conducted three experiments with four and five year old children which accordingly correspond to the age when cognitive flexibility is manifested. In the experiments, the children were presented with a target character, a monkey called Boris and it is matched to a story with another Boris, and a distracter character called Fred. The children were to identify whether the Boris they saw and felt was the same Boris in the story. The series of matching and categorization helped determine the ability of young children to infer individuality of the character from other characters.

The authors concluded that children are able to identify the unique characteristics of the character and to set-aside the general characteristics of the object in order to understand its uniqueness. It was also concluded that children have a general reasoning ability to think about an object in varying conceptual information and categories.

Attentional networks are responsible for the focusing of human attention across separate events and objects. An efficient network would have better ability to focus and shift attention on several tasks without a decline in performance. Waszak and Li (2010) investigated attentional networks among a developmentally represented sample. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the progression of attentional orienting and conflict resolution across ages to find out the differences in attentional networks in young children and those in old age. Attention is a key component of cognitive development in early childhood while attentional deficits later in life causes a drop in performance. It has been found that not many studies have been conducted in this topic. This study specifically adopted a life-span perspective and used a large sample size, a cross-section of participants were selected and was stratified by age and sex. The participants were asked to complete a Posner-type orienting task for the orienting task and an Eriksen-type flanker task for measuring conflict.

Waszak and Li (2010) found that attentional orienting and conflict resolution had different age gradients corresponding to early childhood and aging. Attentional orienting is manifested at around 4 to 5 years old, and it is completed by 10 to 11 years old. Covert orienting was also found to be adult-like by 8 to 10 years old. However, conflict effect was observed to improve across the age groups. The researchers concluded that although attentional orienting declined later in life, the decline is not so much a function of aging but of the deficit of some other cognitive capacity.

Childrens problem-solving skills had been the focus of studies in cognition and learning, and although the old theory of readiness and accommodation says that children first learn and use basic problem-solving skills, nowadays, interests on the different problem-solving strategies children use dominate the field. A study examined the problem-solving skills of young children in different educational levels and age groups (Farrington-Flint, Vanuxem-Cotterill  Stiller, 2009). The researchers aimed to identify the differences in the choice of problem-solving strategies for literacy and arithmetic tasks of preschool children, and also to determine whether the choices change across ages and educational experience.
The participants were 50 British 5 to 7 years old children who were enrolled in level 1 and 2 classes in a suburban area. The children were asked to solve four tasks, addition and subtraction for the arithmetic tasks and reading and spelling for the literacy tasks. In each of the tasks, the accuracy of the response, response time and verbal report of problem-solving strategy was measured.

The researchers found that there are indeed demonstrable age-related progresses in the accuracy of the responses for all of the four tasks. It was also found that children used more problem-solving strategies in the arithmetic tasks than the literacy tasks. Of the most widely used were retrieval, finger modeling and counting for the addition and subtraction tasks and phonological and retrieval strategies were used in reading and spelling tasks. Lastly, the researchers observed that children who were more advanced in their problem-solving skills in reading and spelling were also better at addition and subtraction.

This study found evidence that supported the assumptions of the wave model of problem-solving, where adaptive choice in childrens problem solving strategies indicate that they have access to many strategies. It would also mean that they can shift from one strategy to the next in different problem-solving tasks. And those children often choose the strategies that are associated with greater success.

Discussion
The reviewed studies on attentional flexibility among young children have found one similar result, that is, even young children as early as 4 years old demonstrate attentional flexibility thereby indicating that there are developmental variations of the said ability. Stahl and Pry (2005) were able to observe attentional flexibility among very young children, but it is more evident at the 4 to 5 years of age. It was also observed that very young children committed more perseveration errors in that they had difficulty shifting their attention to a new set or task but that these errors decreased as children grew older. Blaye and Jacques (2009) also found that categorical flexibility or attentional flexibility was evident in the performance of categorization tasks among 4 and 5 year old children. The other researchers also place attentional flexibility in about the same age range (Farrington-Flint, Vanuxem-Cotterill  Stiller, 2009 Rhemtulla  Hall, 2009 Waszak  Li, 2010).

However, this is where the similarities end. The researches on attentional flexibility presented in this paper has inherent conceptual and methodological issues, first is that, there is no single definition of attentional flexibility, second, behaviors that are assumed to manifest attentional flexibility are chosen by the researchers based on their own conceptualization of attentional flexibility which does not form any consensus. Moreover, measuring attentional flexibility through the use of tasks and problem-solving activities have called into question the extent to which such behaviors are influenced by other factors other than attentional flexibility.

In the reviewed studies, attentional flexibility was measured in terms of categorization tasks, set matching tasks, character identity, and problem-solving which involved complex and elaborate experiments and procedures which were taxing to young children. Moreover, the choice of which task will measure what is not clearly discussed in all of the studies.  Thus, it would be difficult to pinpoint what is attentional flexibility and how it is manifested in actual behavior. For example, the study on problem-solving strategies does not explicitly talk about attentional flexibility, but from the process of shifting from one problem-solving strategy to the next can be assumed to be an expression of attentional flexibility.

In the same light, it was also observed that the research on attentional flexibility was more concerned with identifying individual differences, age differences and comparing one group from the other. This are all elementary and basic research designs, and belie the fact that attentional flexibility is a vague concept that is worthy to be studied and investigated but is difficult to quantify and observe.
Also, some researchers reported that a decline in the correlates of attentional flexibility can be explained more fully by the effects of other executive functioning skills such as memory, retrieval, cues and practice-effect. Lastly, there is a need to go back to the conceptualization of attentional flexibility and be able to delineate a more objective and measurable definition of the issue, so that more robust studies and experiments can be conducted.

Future Research
The potential of the human mind remains to be a fascinating subject for most experimental and cognitive psychologists, however, since it has been demonstrated that cognitive development is tied to the biological, physical and psychological development of the individual from birth to old age, it is also important to study the mind along these lines. Children before the age of seven undergo such rapid growth and development that providing the best learning environment and nurturance contributes to optimum development (Santrock, 2008).

Attentional flexibility according to cognitive psychology is a cognitive functioning which allows the mind to focus and shift from one task or object to another and absorbing and processing its characteristics. If a child is able to focus on the identity of the characters on the movie and be able to process information aside from the characters show attentional flexibility. But, attentional flexibility is not only limited to varying tasks but also on making decisions, choosing strategies and evaluating choices. Thus, future studies on attentional flexibility should focus on what it is and how it is manifested.

Young children are difficult to study especially that they have limited vocabulary and understanding of their environment, thus, it is not always possible to observe them unobtrusively while they are performing the tasks or activities designed to measure attentional flexibility. Future research should consider designing a more child-appropriate experiment, where the possible effects of learning, priming and practice would be controlled.

Lastly, future studies on attentional flexibility should take into account that it is a construct that can easily be influenced by other cognitive functions, for example, if the absence of perseveration errors indicated high attentional flexibility, it can also easily be explained by a sharper memory on memory tasks, or a better recall or retrieval of information in set-tasks. In the future, attentional flexibility should be studied as it occurs in daily tasks such as playing with a doll and a playmate at the same time.

Studying attentional flexibility is not a futile exercise, although the vagueness of the concept may be disheartening, there is still the need to understand a phenomenon and a human one at that. Attentional flexibility is real, it is there, but the tools which are used to study it still needs to be refined. The information that attentional flexibility brings to the greater understanding of the working of the human mind and the implications it has on learning and education is reason enough to continue studying it.