Psychology

This paper seeks to demonstrate the distinction that exists between two-factor theory of avoidance and one-factor theory of avoidance. In the former, the subject, say an animal converts the warning stimulus into the aversive situation. Or better still, the real cause of harm that the subject seeks to avoid or conquer is replaced by the reaction it triggers in the subject. The subject, therefore, regards the warning stimulus as the cause of harm instead of the aversive stimulus. In the latter case, the avoidance is negatively reinforced by the decrease in aversive stimulation.

Behavioral momentum is the consistency in behavior amidst changing environmental contingencies. Changeover of teachers impedes a stable time flow in classrooms and punishment can enhance and strengthen the behavioral momentum in students. In addition, capitalizing more on the students greatest potential and inclinations and less on the weakest inclinations play a significant role in enhancing the students behavioral momentum.

Introduction
In the general sense, avoidance of any kind involves restricting oneself from an object that is likely to cause harm or disgrace. Avoidance therefore becomes a kind of defense mechanism used by the subject towards the object perceived to be the cause of harm.  By and large, it involves use of excuses for not doing this or that.  For example, a case where a boy pretends to be very ill and fails to attend a talent show because he does not want to stand in front of his schoolmates and narrate a story. The boy, in this matter, blames his failure on his feigned illness. In this study an analysis of two-factor theory of avoidance and one-factor theory of avoidance will be elucidated. In this regard, similarities and differences on the two theories will also be considered. The study will also define the behavioral momentum situations that can catalyze behavioral momentum and the analysis of the situation when behavioral momentum is stronger.

Theories of Avoidance
Notably, the avoidance process becomes an orthopraxis reaction since it affects the subjects feelings and emotions leading to action. At first there is a warning to the subject whenever confronted by an unpleasant situation. Here, the subject turns the warning alarm taking place in itself to become the cause of the harmful situation. The avoidance response is geared towards the primary cause of danger or harm which is actually the aversive situation. In the long run, what the subject is really avoiding is not the real situation causing harm or risk but the stimulus associated with this aversive situation. The above assertion is the understanding of two-factor theory of avoidance.

Anxiety and fear are much involved in situations of avoidance responses or fear responses where these responses are not easily conquered. In a bid to shed more light on the reduced rate of extinction in avoidance responses, both one-factor theory of avoidance and two factor theory of avoidance have been used. Both theories base their explanations within the framework of psychological learning principles.

Two-factor theory of avoidance emphasizes on two factors which are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. This theory regard the two factors mentioned above as condition sine qua non for any avoidance responses to take place (Mowrer, 1947, cited in Mazur, 2006173)

As can be noted in two-factor theory, the object causing fear creates in the subject a conditioned response of fear which derives from the foreseen shock.  In turn, the conditioned response becomes the avoidance response. On the contrary, Mazur notes that one factor theory bases its explanation on the operant conditioning principles in its bid to elucidate on the slow extinction of avoidance (2006175). It holds that once the avoidance response is learned, there is failure to discriminate between trials where punishment takes place and those where punishment is given (Mazur, 2006176). In addition, in one-factor theory of avoidance, the avoidance is negatively reinforced by lessening the aversive situation.

Two-Factor Avoidance Theory has been used to elaborate more on avoidance behavior vis a vis One-Factor Theory of Avoidance.  Two-Factor Theory is still a feasible explanation for avoidance behavior over the years not excluding its defects (Mazur, 2006180). Whenever the subject is confronted by a situation that causes anxiety it will immediately react. This reaction aims at avoiding any possible harm or risk to the subject.

Behavioral Momentum
It is not easy to make students adhere to instructions or assignments given to them especially if they do not like it. In such instances, interventions to motivate them or lure them would be a choice for improving the students in their response. These interventions act as rewards that encourage the students to undertake their tasks or instructions enthusiastically. Behavioral momentum is an example of such intervention.

Behavioral momentum interventions enhance the students momentum in carrying out the task or instructions. Just like a cyclist cycling down a steep slope will gain momentum so do a behavior the more a person indulges in it. Plaud et al. (19981) define Behavioral momentum as the incessant state of behavior amidst changing environmental contingencies.

The behavioral momentum of intervention creates a stable state of compliance. In such a state and with such a momentum the student will persistently maintain a stable zeal and enthusiasm in responding to the tasks and instructions regardless whether they are difficult or unpleasant. As indicated above, the behavioral momentum accelerates the students rate of compliance. The procedure involves identifying at least a trio set of behavior in which the student is more likely to comply. Then, in every given situation that a student is least likely to comply three requests for high probability responses are put in place. The teachers play a significant role in the behavioral momentum of the students. Notably, the switching or changeover of teachers impedes a stable time flow in classrooms. Transitions disrupt time flow and that disruption in students behavior raise during the unstructured transitions.

Punishment is believed to be one of the best mechanisms in shaping behavior. It can take various forms, for example, corporal punishment, deterrence, and retribution just to mention a few. As illustrated in Mazur (2006184), punishment impact on behavior is opposed to positive reinforcement. Their effect on behavior is inversely proportion. Whereas reinforcement augments behavior punishment, on the contrary, weakens behavior (Mazur 2006184) an assertion was not acceptable to Skinner and Thorndike. Skinner, therefore, argues that the impact of punishment is merely of a transient nature.

In a bid to investigate the relationship between punishment and motivation to respond, Azrin et al. (1966, cited in Mazur, 2002187) assert that there exists an inverse relationship between punishment and the force of the subjects inclination or motivation to respond. In this sense it can be argued that the more a subject is punished the less it will respond and the less the punishment the more the motivation to responding. Therefore, by logical implication, a strong behavioral momentum derives from a decreased structure of punishment. Note that this conclusion derives from the hypothesis as per Azrin.

Behavior decelerators refer to all mechanisms that lessen or reduce illaudable behavior. In this case punishment and omission are largely, the avenues which undesired behavior is eliminated. It is important though to note that there are not the only mechanisms (Mazur, 2006190). Overcorrection response blocking time-out, reinforcement of an optional behavior stimulus satiation and extinction or close monitoring the agents are therefore, further aspects that can decelerate behavior (Mazur 2006195).

Conclusion
As we can see avoidance theories are subject to criticisms since none theory offers a comprehensive investigation to the concept of behavior and its characteristics. No doubt that harm avoidance is founded on certain faculties of an animal or to a large extent a human being. In my opinion, both theories have very convincing points in their quest to address the avoidance behavior and again due to reasons mentioned above, for instance the insufficiency in each theory, we cannot 100 regard any of them as absolute truth.

Majority of authorities allude to punishment as the better option in shaping behavior. It is important to note that, punishment takes different forms say, retribution, deterrence, corporal punishments and incapacitation just to mention a few of them. I strongly believe that punishment can alter the behavior of a subject both positively or negatively. In my opinion, it all depends with the subject being punished. This is because response to a certain behavior or avoidance in behavior is a rational process. The subject retains the discretion to behave in the manner it deems appropriate especially in the case of a human being who is endowed with a rational mind.

Punishment in itself cannot confer to the subject interest or submission in how it behaves to a given situation simply because it can resist punishment or take punishment but fail to respond in behavior. For example, in the case of time-out punishment where the mother orders the child to go to bed early for failure to do her homework on time the child can decide to take the punishment but still in the future days repeat the same mistake out of defiance.

The Optic Nerve
The optic nerve is the second cranial nerve. It is a purely sensory nerve containing nasal and temporal fibers subserving the temporal and nasal fields of the eyes respectively. It is a very important nerve responsible for vision. Lesions in the nerve can result into a variety of visual abnormalities. However, such abnormalities which include total blindness, heteronymous hemianopea, homonymous hemianopea, etc. can be detected using appropriate tests.

Sensory Tests for Optic Nerve
Test of visual field - This is a very common and important test of assessing the function of the second cranial nerve. Various methods exist for carrying out this test, all of which have their merits and elements (Swash and Hutchison 249).

Confrontation test using a finger - This method maps the whole visual field. It compares the examiner s visual field with that of the client assuming the examiner s own visual fields are normal. The patient sits comfortably facing the examiner at a distance of 1 meter. Each failure is tested separately. The patient is instructed to cover the left eye with the left hand while the examiner covers his own right eye with the right hand.

The patient is further constructed to focus his gaze at the examiner s left eye while the examiner also looks on steadily at the patient s right eye. The examiner holds up the left index finger in a plane midway between the patient s face and the examiner s face, initially at full arm s length to the left side and subsequently from up down.

The index finger is gradually moved towards the midline while ensuring that the patient s eye is fixed on the examiners left eye. The 4 quadrants right, left, downward, and upwards are tested separately while the patient signifies when he first observes the moving finger in his field of vision. This is hence compared with when the examiner observes the moving finger in his field of vision taking the examiner s visual field as the standard (Swash and Hutchison 325).

The same process is repeated for the right eye. Its advantages include being rapidly executed fairly accurate, being reproducible, and requiring no sophistication. Its demerits include the fact that taking the examiner s own visual field as the standard may be misleading because the examiner may have an undiagnosed visual field defects. Similar methods for assessing visual field include the red pin confrontation test in which a red head pin mounted on a eraser base of a pencil replaces the use of the inhere finger. It is a very sensitive test of the central tailed of vision, and it allows the patents visit field inclusions the physiological blind sport to be prcising compared with that if the examiner (Swash and Hutchison 325).

Other methods of visual field assessment include perimetry and test of visual acuity. In perimetry, the visual field is quantitatively mapped using different kinds of perimeters from the simple mechanical perimeter to the more sophistical automated ones. The range of visual field is measured in  degrees and each examination is tested separately. The accuracy of the method is very high (Swash and Hutchison 252). Test of visual acuity is another very important test of the second cranial nerve, though it can also be used in detecting refractive errors of the eyes such as short sightedness, long sightedness, etc. This test is useful in grading blindness which is the gravest outcome at all disease of the second cranial never (optic nerve) (Swash and Hutchison 252).

The test of visual acuity is carried out using the Snellens chart in a well-illuminated room with the patient standing at a distance of 6m (20 feet) in front of the chart. The Snellen s chart is a plastic table containing rows of progressively reducing alphabets. Each eye is tested separately with the untested eye covered with a cardboard paper to enhance the sensitivity of the test. Visual acuity is recorded as dD in which d   distance of patient from the Snellen s chart and D is the arbitrary distance awarded for each of the 8 rows. From rows 1   8, the D is respectively given as 60, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9, 6, and 5. Normal eye will see that row of alphabet that is seen at 6m. For example, VA  612 means that the row of alphabet that is being seen by the patient at 6m will be seen by a normal eye at 12m. The patient stands at 6cm in front of the chart with one eye covered, and then reads out the rows of alphabet as far as possible and the visual (VA) is recorded. If the VA is 65, it suggests that the individual can see at 5 meters what normal eyes can see at 6m. If the individual cannot see the topmost row at 6m, he is moved gradually forward, i.e., 3, 2, 1 cm towards the chart. If the individual cannot still see the topmost row at 1m (VA  160), this means that the individual cannot see at 1 meter what a normal eye can see at 60m. The next step will be for the examiner to stand at 1m in front of the patient with one finger raised. If patient can then see the fingers, this is thus represented as  counting fingers  (CF). If the patient cannot see the fingers, the examiner moves the hand several times at the same distances in front of the client, and this is represented as hand movement (HM). If the individual cannot still see the movement of the hand, the examiner shines bright light from a pen touch still at the same 1 meter from the examiner and this is represented as light perception (LP). Visual acuity below 360 is regarded as blindness according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Other methods for testing visual acuity include  illiterate E chart  for people who cannot read and the Sheridan Gardiner chart for illiterates and pre-school age children.


Clinical Anatomy (Ellis 385)
Seventh Cranial Nerve (Facial Nerve)
The seventh cranial nerve is the facial nerve, the embryonic nerve of the second pharyngeal arch which gives rise to the muscles and deep structures of the face. The facial nerve is hence the nerve of facial expression in its supply of motor nerve fibers to innervate these muscles. The facial nerve also subserves the sense of taste on the anterior 23 of the tongue via group nerves fibers called the  Special Visceral Efferent  fibers. Invariably, the facial nerve contains both sensory and motor fibers. The various tests available for assessing the state of the seventh cranial nerve are fashioned towards their sensory and motor functions. Taste sensation on the posterior 3rd the tongue is subserved by the glossophargngeal nerve (CNIX) (Ellis 379) .

Sensory test for facial nerve - Test for sense of taste in the ant 23 of the tongue is done using strong solutions such as sugar, common salt, citric acid, and quinine to respectively test for sweet, salty, sour, and bitter taste. A small quantity of the solution is added to the surface of the protruded tongue with the aid of a small swab on a spatula. The solution is now spread on the tongue to test other parts of the tongue. The patient is instructed to identity the type of taste sensation on the tongue. Having identified the taste, the mouth is properly rinsed so that other solutions can be tested and subsequently assessed (Ellis 379).

Motor test for facial nerve   The facial nerve has numerous methods of evaluating its motor functions.
The patient is instructed to shut the eyes as tight as possible while the examiner tries to open them. If the eye opens without any resistance, then there is facial nerve abnormality of lower motor type (intramuscular facial paralysis) (Ellis 379).

The patient is encouraged to open the mouth and the mouth is deviated to the healthy side if there is abnormality of the facial nerve (Ellis 379).

The patient can also be instructed to inflate his mouth with air, thus blowing out the cheek. Air can be made easier to escape while applying pressure on the cheek with the tip of the index finger when there is facial nerve abnormality causing paralysis of the Buccinator muscle (Ellis 379).

The patient is asked to whistle with the mouth, but this is impossible to do as a result of paralysis of the orbicularis oris, one of the muscles of facial expression supplied by the 7th cranial nerve (Ellis 379).

Fifth Cranial Nerve (Trigeminal Nerve)
The fifth cranial nerve is the trigeminal nerve which arises from the brainstem via a small motor nucleus and a bigger main sensory nucleus. It is therefore a mixed nerve containing both motor and sensory fibers. It is the embryonic nerve of the first branchial arch, the biggest cranial nerve in the body. It is the major sensory nerve of the face and the motor nerve to the muscles of mastication (chewing of food) (Ellis 379).

Sensory Test for the Fifth Cranial Nerve
Test of corneal reflex   This is one of the various tests that exist for assessing the sensory state of the fifth cranial nerve. It is a very sensitive but equally dangerous test, so the test should be carefully carried out. With the patient comfortably seated in front of the examiner, having explained what the test entails to him or her, a light wisp of soft cotton wool is twisted into a fine strand and lightly used to touch the lateral edge of the cornea, having initially instructed the patient to fix his or her gaze at a distant midline object or at the ceiling. If the corneal reflex is intact, the patient blinks and will not allow the wisp of cotton wool to touch the cornea. If the reflex is absent, there will be no blinking and the cotton wool can be used repeatedly to touch the cornea. This is however dangerous because of the risk of corneal ulceration with its accompanying complications. In view of the above, this test is sometimes carried out by gently blowing a puff of air into each eye. In turn, there will be blinking of the eyes if the corneal reflex if intact if not, there will be no blinking (Ellis 379).

Test of motor function of the fifth cranial nerve
The motor function of the fifth cranial nerve is usually assessed using the state of the muscles of mastication. The patient is instructed to clench the teeth the bulk and contraction of the muscles of mastication are subsequently assessed through palpation. With an intact motor function on both sides, the massetter muscles below the ear on each side and the temporal muscle (on the side of the head) become prominent and can be palpated. If there is an abnormality with the nerve on any side, the massetter and temporal muscles on both sides will not be prominent. Subsequently, if the patient is instructed to open the mouth, there is deviation of the jaw to the affected side. This is due to the pushing effect of the lateral pterygold muscle of the normal side on that of the paralyzed side, since these muscles on each side are supposed to be pushing each other with equal force such that any reduction in the pushing power on any side tilts the direction of push to the relatively weak side. It is worth to note, however, that the fifth cranial nerve paralysis is not the only condition that can elicit this test (Ellis 379).

Eighth Cranial Nerve
The eight cranial nerve is vestibulocochlear nerve, a purely sensory nerve which subserves hearing and balancing. It is a two-in-one nerve consisting of the cochlear component which mediates the hearing pathway and the vestibular component which is involved with body balance, equilibration, and sensations of bodily displacement.

Test of hearing
There are many methods for testing the state of hearing of an individual which can be a reflection of the state of the cochlear component of the 8th cranial nerve or the whole nerve itself. Such tests include Webers Test, Rinne s test, and Schwabach s test. Weber s and Schwabach s tests are particularly important in evaluating an individual for sensorineural hearing impairment which is a direct reflection of the state of the cochlear component of the eight cranial nerve.

Webers test is carried out using a tuning fork with a frequency of 512 Hz. The patient is comfortably seated after the whole test has been explained to him or her. The tuning fork is set into vibration and its base is subsequently placed on the patient s forehead in the midline (Swash and Hutchison 308). The patient is then asked to identify on which side the vibration is louder. Normally, the vibration is supposed to be heard in the midline and should not be louder in any of the two ears. However, in a lesion of the 8th cranial nerve damaging the cochlear component and hence the hearing pathway, the vibration is louder in the normal ear. Hearing is thus said to be lateralized to the normal side in the absence of a conductive hearing impairment in which the vibration of the turning fork will be louder in the affected ear. This is due to abnormality of the middle or external ear (pus, wax, foreign bodies like bean seed, pencil, etc.) causing obstruction to the passage of sound generated by the vibration and hence prolonging its stay in the affected ear. The setback to this test is that it cannot distinguish two normally functioning right and left ears from a case of symmetrical bilateral affectation of the two hearing pathways.

Schwabach s test of hearing compares the patient s hearing state with that of the examiner s with the use of vibrating turning forks with frequencies ranging from 128Hz, 512Hz, to 2048Hz. The tuning fork is set into vibration and then placed close to both the examiner and the patient at the same distance. If the total duration of hearing the tuning fork vibration by the patient is shorter than that of the examiner, the patient is said to have a sensorineural hearing impairment, and this points to impairment in the hearing pathway subserved by the cochlear component of the 8th cranial nerve. If the duration of hearing the vibration by the patient is longer than that of the examiner, the patient is said to have a conductive hearing impairment which is usually due to obstruction to the transmission of sound.

Other methods of assessing the state of the hearing pathway subserved by the cochlear component is the use of special investigation such as pure tone audiometry which measures the threshold for pure tone sounds introduced into each ear at different frequencies.

Test of Vestibular Component of the Eight Cranial Nerve
Caloric test   This test of vestibular function is performed with the patient lying comfortably on a couch at 300 to the horizontal. The patient is encouraged to fix his or her gaze upon a midline object and the ear is irrigated with cold water at 300C and subsequently at a temperature of 440C for about 40 seconds. This causes a conventional current within the endolymph of the inner ear (Swash and Hutchison 305).

In normal individuals, the cold water in the left ear causes a jerky movement of the eyeball with the fast movement to the right. Warm water in the left ear causes jerky eyeball movement with the fast movement towards the left. The right ear gives a response which is opposite to that on the left ear.

In diseases or damage to the vestibular apparatus, there is decreased or absence of jerky eye movement. This is a very sensitive test and should be done under specialist supervision.

Romberg s test   This is also a sensory test of the 8th cranial nerve that tests the vestibular function by assessing body balancing and equilibration. The individual is instructed to stand up with the two feet brought together and with the arms stretched out. The  patient s eyes are initially open but later on, the patient would be instructed to close them. In abnormality of the vestibular component of the vestibulocochlear nerve, the patient sways (shows postural instability) to the side affected, i.e., if the left vestibular component is affected, the patient shows instability to the left. The same applies to the right (Swash and Hutchison 237). It is worthy to note that the postural instability is more with the eyes shut and that this test can also be positive for some other central nervous system abnormalities.

The main purpose of this research is to examine the relations between early attachment and romantic relationship styles and attitudes. The aim of this research is also to find out if the romantic relationship of the parents of an individual plays a huge role in the way a person may behave in a romantic relationship. For instance, a person brought up observing the parents fighting regularly might lead a person to be physically aggressive in a romantic relationship. The order of birth positions, such as youngest and oldest might also influence how a person can think and behave in a relationship. The goal of this research is to investigate the relation between self-esteem and adult romantic attachment styles. The participants involved in this research filled out some questionnaires assessing their self-esteem levels and an assortment of life domains such as social skills and athletics. The results of the study showed participants in a secure romantic relationship reported higher self-esteem than the fearful or preoccupied participants.

Introduction
Competence is extremely vital in a romantic relationship as it is the set of behaviors that enables a person to form a romantic relationship that lasts and that is mutually satisfying to each of the partners. However, family relationships have a major influence on the life of a person. A persons siblings and parents can teach a person how to relate with other people, how to deal with situations like jealousy, how to love, how to share and so forth. Distinctive family perceptions and experiences, for instance, birth order, shape a persons character and cultivate certain qualities more than others cultivate. When individuals seek romantic relationships, there is a likelihood that they will apply what they have learned in their family relationship to the romantic relationship that they are involved. Therefore, will a persons early family experiences predict competence skills and self-worth in romantic relationships This research will attempt to answer this question.

Do early family relationships influence later romantic relationships
The marital relationships of parents are the first romantic relationships that a person first monitors and which a person is more personally connected. According to (Ashford, LeCroy  Lortie, 2009) adolescents study the way their parents handle and manage conflict and anger in their marital relationships and use their behavior as a way of how they will handle quarrels or disagreements in their romantic relationships. For instance, the violence witnessed in a parent relationship by children may lead them to be physically aggressive towards their partners in their romantic relationships (Bylsma, Cozzarelli  Summer, 1997). Additionally, marital conflicts witnessed by adolescents may contribute to clashes later in romantic relationships. Nevertheless, adolescent boys who grew in a violent home, are more likely to be aggressive, hostile and abusive in a romantic relationship and might even view it as justifiable. Therefore, adolescents experiences of disputes with their parents are more likely to be depicted in their future romantic relationships. The attitude of a child towards violent behavior, affect dispute resolution skills and this develops within the parent-child relationship and this may in the future contribute to hostility in a romantic relationship (Bylsma, Cozzarelli  Summer, 1997).  

Another factor that may influence the way a person behaves in a romantic relationship is the birth order in a family. For instance, children who are firstborns in a family are frequently viewed as leaders who follow the rules (Bouchey, 2007). Firstborns in families are typically more compliant, enterprising people, have a closer recognition with the parents authority and are inclined to have a higher self-esteem than the children who are later born in a family. People born in the middle birth order situation could feel out of place, slighted, and may take a longer period to find their position in the family. These people may attempt for equality in their effort to be ahead of their younger siblings and compete with the older siblings. Usually, people born in the middle birth position are harmony makers in the family. The people born in the last birth order are often viewed as spoilt. They are inclined to be more social, accommodating than the firstborns, free-spirited than the people who are firstborns. People who are the only children are out looked as spoilt because they tend to be the only focus in the family. In some cases, the lastborns may imitate some firstborns and middleborns character traits. Therefore, a persons birth order position and its related personality characteristic and the attention from the family may influence the way a person thinks and behaves in a romantic relationship.

The birth order of an individual may be vital in comprehending the development of attitudes toward love, attachment, love styles, similarity and jealousy in romantic relationships. For instance, when jealousy is applied to a romantic relationship, entails the fear of losing a person who is valued and cared about. Initially, jealousy starts to occur family relationships and friendships. Some behavior traits acquired from childhood can make individuals more inclined to jealousy, for instance, low self-esteem, emotional dependency and attachment style. According to Engels et al (2001), people who are middleborns, are more likely to be more jealous in a romantic relationship, followed by the lastborns. The people who are the only children would be the least jealous in a romantic relationship.

Review on past research
Previous research proposes that infant attachment theory (Simpson, et al, 2007) provides a vital framework from which to comprehend many dynamics of adult romantic relationships. The infant attachment theory focuses on the nature of an attachment bond between a baby and its parents. The parents responsiveness and accessibility to the baby is a critical element of the relationship. As the babys interaction with the mother proceeds, the baby develops secure expectations and beliefs concerning the parents accessibility and responsiveness and about them been unworthy or unworthy of love (Harvey  Wenzel, 2001).  Therefore, secure children may view their parents as dependable and trustworthy and the self as laudable of care, while the insecure children may expect their parents to be untrustworthy or unavailable and this may lead them to think that they are not worthy at all of love.

As a result, Ohannessian (1998) recommend that a persons behavior, thoughts and feelings in romantic relationships ought to be administered by attachment developments and might be related to those distinguishing their attachment developments to their parents during childhood. As a child experiences the availability of its parents or their unavailability, this can affect the child and his self-image is likely to develop in ways similar to its parents behavior. Thus, a child can feel later in his life that he or she justifies what he or she gets from the parents and that he or she may provoke the reactions of the parents. Therefore, this child may think that his or her security in a romantic relationship depends on this way of being in a relationship and any facts that contradict this belief may be discounted (Laursen et al, 2006). This mechanism is known as defensive exclusion.

According to Reis  Rusbult (2004), there are two situations that may give rise to this defensive exclusion. One situation is where the child might be ridiculed, or maybe punished by a parent. The second situation is when a child learns something about the parents that he is not supposed to know, and the parent might punish him or her for example a situation like sexual abuse. On the other hand, attachment bonds that are established through this type of exclusion are only secure for the parent and not for a child. Therefore, defensive patterns and attitudes of insecure attachment in childhood continue to be apparent in later romantic relationships. Such children might show others exaggerated care or may attempt to hide their bond needs in certain ways, and they will be very susceptible at a time when someone may notice this particular needs (Ashford, LeCroy  Lortie, 2009). Thus, a goal of an adult romantic relationship is to eradicate the early forms of insecure bonding in ways that loosens up the restraint on reality testing.

According to Hazan  Shaver (1987), the enhancement of an intimate romantic relationship tests whether falling in love will result in a mutual rejection or acceptance, in where in the rejection case, the partners in the relationship give up on their unconscious effort to use their affiliation to heal a negative self image. However, this conversion can prove to be tricky if the two partners in the relationship are both insecure. This is because it requires innovative ways of regulating behaviors linked with negative experiences such as deception and betrayal, suffered by people whose parents were not able to reshape the relationships with their own guardians, whereby they were also victims of betrayal, abandonment and betrayal (Donellan et al, 2005)

Therefore, when children leave such parents, they may feel as if they are been betrayed and abandoned and they make their children feel as if they are wrong and that they are unthankful to their parents (Columbus, 2006). As a result, when these children are old enough to be involved in a romantic relationship, they are often compelled with the notion that if I commit to you, I am betraying my parents (Dinero, et al, 2008). So when they are encountered with their own needs in this new bond, they are often inclined to feel blameworthy. For example, these people might tend to feel too difficult and demanding, just like their parents, who were not attentive towards them in their childhood. For this reason, these people may hide feelings of inadequacy, betrayal and unworthiness behind a mask of conceited exaggerated control and insensitivity to their partners in a romantic relationship.

Hypothesis
Early family attachment and competence skills can influence better competence in adult romantic relationships and self worth

The nature of the relationship between a child and its parents may influence the romantic relationship of that child. This is because, the interactions between a child and its parents are linked with attachment security throughout childhood and these interactions may predict bonding security in children, adolescents and adults (Erzar, 2008). Therefore, I predict that the virtues derived from a good upbringing and early competence skills can influence better competence in adult romantic relationship as well as self worth.

Data collection methods
The methods used for data collection in this research were the use of questionnaires, focus group interviews and observation. The participants of this research were given some questionnaires to fill out. There were group interviews where the participants actively participated and they were also observed for this research.

The questionnaires asked the participants of the study several questions. These were like
Age of the participant
Gender of the participant
If the participant had any girlfriend or boyfriend
If the participant possessed social skills
If the participant was athletic
If the participant had a happy or gloomy early childhood
If the participant had a happy or gloomy middle adolescence
If the participant was either a firstborn, middle born or lastborn
If the participant related well with the parents Alternatively, were there conflicts with the parents
If the participant related well with any siblings
What time did the participant have the first romantic relationship
If the participant has ever been involved in a romantic relationship break-up.
How many relationship break-ups has the participant been involved in
What were the reasons for the break-up
The frequency of the romantic break-ups
If there were other parties involved in the relationship for it to break-up
If the participant is in good terms with the parents

In the focus group interviews, the participants were then put in groups of ten with five men and five women in each group. They were each asked several questions varying from the kind of people they were attracted to. For instance, if they were attracted to persons of the opposite sex, because of their looks or personality traits.

Participants of the research
The participants of the research were one hundred undergraduate psychology students from the Chico State University. Fifty of them will be females and fifty others would be male students. They were both middle class and upper class students in the University. To be eligible to participate in this research, a student had to be involved in a serious romantic relationship at point in their life. Most of the participants were Caucasian, and the rest were Hispanics, blacks and 3 Chinese Americans. The age bracket of most of them ranged from twenty to twenty-seven years old. In the study, 3 were married, 47 were currently in a serious romantic relationship and 47 were single though they had been involved in a romantic relationship earlier.

Longitudinal study
This study examined longitudinal predictors of traits such as jealousy and hostility in romantic relationships. The target participants were 100 psychology students who were going to be studied for a period of four years. An adult attachment style model was used to test the participants on the scales of avoidance and anxiety.

Procedure of the study
The procedure of the research study would entail the participants to congregate in one lecture room, read and sign an informed consent form. They would then need to sign an agreement contract in which they shall promise to stay actively participating in the study for a period of four years. The participants will then be issued with the packet of questionnaires in which they will the necessary information. After completing filling out the questionnaires, the participants would give back the questionnaires, as well as give out their personal information like phone number, e-mail address, physical address and full names. This personal information is for the sole purpose of staying in contact with the participant during the duration of the study and making sure that they are serious about participating during the whole duration of the study, which will be four months.

After four years, another set of data will be collected over the internet. Each participant will log in to a particular website that has been put up for the research to complete some more questionnaires. The website would be strictly confidential and no one will be able to access any filled questionnaires apart from the administrators of the website, who are involved in this research.
Measures taken during the study

ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE
The multiple-item measure of adult romantic attachment (MIMARA, cite) is a two dimensional, four category adult attachment measure that is based on the self-model (Donellan et al, 2005) and is made up of 18-item subscales, anxiety and avoidance. The subscale of anxiety reflects fear of abandonment, jealousy and dread of rejection. The subscale of avoidance reflects levels of discomfort with closeness, avoidance of intimacy and self-reliance (Donellan et al, 2005). In this study, cluster analysis was applied using the two dimensions that is avoidance and anxiety too describe the clusters. The solution was limited four clusters and the effect was constant with the four-category model of (Donellan et al, 2005). This category comprised of fearful (high on anxiety and avoidance) secure (low on anxiety and high on avoidance) preoccupied (high on anxiety and low on avoidance and dismissing (low on anxiety and high on avoidance). Therefore, the cluster investigation categorized 30 participants falling into the secure category, 29 participants were put in the fearful category, 30 of them fell into the preoccupied category and 11 participants fell into the dismissing category
The participants were then asked how they felt in their current romantic relationships or how they considered their previous romantic relationships, for the ones who were not currently involved in a romantic relationship. They were then asked to put the relationship in center of attention when responding the questionnaires.

Discussion
Quarrels in romantic relationships affect a persons well being and this might have a long-term proposition for functioning as well as adjustment in future romantic relationships and even in marriage. The objective of this research was to find out if hostility in family relationships as well as friendships forecasted hostility later in a persons romantic relationships. Aggression in the marital relationship of a person was linked with later aggression in a persons romantic relationship. This is because of the fact that parents marital relationships are the first romantic relationships that most people are familiar with, therefore, it stands to reason that they might use these relationships as models of their future romantic relationships that they will be involved in.

The study found out that the quality of parental bonding is not really related to things like financial support or the regularity of communication. Although the participants of this study tended to communicate well with their parents, the study found out that the frequency of contact with the parents is not a first-rate pointer of the value of the bond between the parent and the child. In this study, the participants observation of parental bond was linked positively with professed self -esteem and negatively with stages of depressive symptoms. Additionally, it was found out that parental bond leads indirectly to depressive symptoms through negative self-esteem. It shows how young adults feel regarding themselves, though in relation to their perception of bond, is more crucial in determining if they will experience misery signs than their current opinions of the parental bonding relationship. The findings of this study insinuate that parental bonding is important further than childhood as they it may be indirect through the internal self-working model rather than through mechanisms like financial support (Reis  Rusbult, 2004).

To the level that self-esteem imitates, as percept ionized for this study, it is true that emerging peoples view of the attachment relationship would contribute to a persons self-esteem as reliance on the origin of a family as a source of defense that weakens with maturity (Engels et al, 2001).

Limitations of the study
Although the participants of the study were from several cultures, they were not enough to study specific cultures. This study was limited by the inclusion of only psychology students of a certain age group.

How future researchers could improve the study
Despite some limitations, this study provided an overwhelming support for the role of parental bonding as it led to depressive signs, intervening the relationship linking depressive symptoms as well as parental bonding. The evidence from this study showed that the adults perception of the parental bonding also supports the use of insight-oriented involvement that aims to amend the understanding of the parental relationship. According to this study, the advantages of secure parental bonding are not obtained from nearness to parents of monetary support, though some proof for the advantages of regular communication with parents was discovered. Therefore, research that aims to identify some more factors that contribute to the defensive value of parental bonding could additionally inform counseling and preventive involvements.

Additionally, future research may also aim to methodically observe the immense array of causes of security that may diminish a persons reliance on his or her parents as a resource of self-esteem or aim to reimburse for insecure parental bonding relationships among the budding adults. The kind of research that evaluates the characteristics and value of parental bonding across the life track for specific cultural groups is required to enable fully understanding of the functions of parental bonding in various contexts such as multicultural ones.

Future research may be vital in methodically examining the situations whereby parents are used by their children as a way of promoting adoptive development among emerging adult and when financial assistance and parental contact are developmentally counterproductive (Laursen et al, 2006). Future research may also try to look out for family-based involvement if they are warranted for the treatment and prevention of depression during the adult period of a person. Throughout the current study, the function and role of parental bonding has been identified as the next challenging steps in meeting long-term procedural drawbacks and increasing the theoretical model in ways that update the counseling practice.      

Schizophrenia as a neuropsychological condition has been linked to various abnormalities of the brain. The understanding of the disease presentation and prognosis is an important means of unearthing these brain abnormalities. This paper presents the case of a 26-years-old schizophrenic woman named Carol. The development of the schizophrenia when Carol is in late adolescence and the presentation of various signs such as stress are utilized to help understand the impaired brain parts. This case study identifies that schizophrenia is a brain developmental disorder mainly associated with developmental anomalies in the cerebrum. Introduction

Schizophrenia is a psychological process that results from various impairments in brain structure and hence their functions. The disease is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, apathy, social withdrawal and anxiety. Case studies on the presentation and treatment of schizophrenia can be very beneficial in understanding the likely relationship between impaired brain structure and function and disease presentation. This paper presents a case study of a woman (named Carol) with schizophrenia with the signs and prognosis of the disease forming a basis for brain involvement.

Carols background
Bradshaw (1998) presents a case of a 26 years old Carol who is not married. Carol is a White who in addition to completing high school, she has also been in college for one year. Carol was brought up in a family where among the most emphasized things were academics, career as well as a conservative Christian faith. She was a third born in an upper-middle class family of five children. In school, Carol was a hard working student with good conduct but she was self-critical to some extent. Although she was shy, Carol had a number of friends and she dated sporadically. After completing high school, Carol joined college in a different state where her first year was successful as she was performing excellently. Upon completing her first year her status changed with auditory hallucinations and delusions taking over her life. Carol also became socially withdrawn and when she was 18 years old, she was hospitalized for one month. Eventually, she dropped out of college and since then, Carol has been hospitalized for twelve times with working being impossible for her. As such, SSI stepped in to support her.  Financial support was always available from her family. Although Carol was presenting with these symptoms, there was no known family history of a psychiatric disorder.

Case description
As Bradshaw (1998), was carrying out this study, Carol had just been released from a two months hospitalization where she had been receiving the services of a psychiatrist. She was diagnosed with undifferentiated chronic schizophrenia and during her time of discharge, she had a Global Assessment of Functioning (GAP) of 30. After being discharged, Carol went to live with her parents and continued to get SSI support in addition to compliantly taking 500 mg of thorazone once per day. Carol was not just discharged and left to take the medication but she maintained contact with a psychiatrist who was to help her in assimilating into the community and adapt to the challenges of the illness.  Some of the cognitive impairments that she experienced include auditory hallucinations with persecution thoughts, delusions with a low self image. In addition to the cognitive problems, Carol also experienced flat feelings accompanied with anxiety. The anxiety was mainly as a result of her impaired interpersonal relationships in addition to the contribution of hallucinations and delusions. Carols coping methods included avoiding other people and tasks. She also had negative symptoms such as apathy which she developed in an attempt to cope with stress. These however seemed to worsen anxiety and psychosis presentation. From the above coping strategies, Carol experienced considerable psychosocial dysfunction.

There were several assessment measures used by Bradshaw (1998) in Carols case. These measures were addressing presentation of symptoms in Carols case, the psychosocial function in this condition, whether the treatment goals were achieved and frequency of hospitalization. To measure symptomatology, Bradshaw (1998) used the Global Pathology Index (GPI) of the Hopkins Psychiatric Rating Scale which has eight points that help in assessing how severe the symptoms are. The psychological functioning measure was carried out using the Role Functioning Scale (RFS) which contains four other scales that address work functioning, social functionality, family as well as how independent the individual can manage life. These subscales are each made of seven points which address behavior. To measure the hospitalization variable, the number of times in which Carol was hospitalized as well as the total number of days she spent in hospital. To measure how well the treatment goals were attained, Bradshaw (1998) used the Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) which provides attaches various scores of according to how the client responds to various measures of goal achievement. In this case, scores ranging from -2 to 0 showed a progression from low goal attainment to attainment of the goal. If the score ranged from 0 to 2, then the attainment of the goal was considered to have exceeded the standards for the particular goal. A case manager who was assigned to Carol obtained data on GPI, RFS and hospitalization after every nine months for a period of three years through which Carol was receiving treatment. The same data was obtained later during a one year follow up at intervals of six months.

Carols treatment began with a therapist-client joining phase whereby a rapport was created over a period of almost three months. This was done by having the case management worker familiarize with Carols situation and genuineness as well as self disclosure. The relatively long period of about three months was taken as consistency had to be maintained for Carol to cope effectively. After establishing a relationship between Carol and the social worker, a socialization phase was started which was aimed at helping Carol understand cognitive-behavioral treatment. During the phase of almost two months, treatment goals were also clearly made known to Carol. This phase was like an educational for phase enlightening Carol on schizophrenia in terms of its presentation and the associated complications thus preparing her to cope with complications such as stress (Bradshaw, 1998).

In the initial phase of treatment which took around twelve months, addressed Carols difficulties of dealing with stress and anxiety. Her poor stress management strategy of social withdrawal and apathy were addressed. At the same time, she was also helped to integrate into the home environment which was different from the hospital condition where she came from. She was also helped in getting involved in activities starting with daily living skills and then progressed to a number of other activities. Carol was helped through stress by being taught meditation which addressed prevailing stress as well as anticipated stress. To deal with low self efficacy graded task assignments were used and with time, Carols status of self independence improved to a point where she stayed in her own apartment with her self efficacy also improving (Bradshaw, 1998).

The cognitive-behavioral treatment entered the middle phase which spanned about sixteen months. This stage focused on helping Carol cope with habitual stress through cognitive strategies. Her interpersonal abilities were enhanced by encouraging her to get involved in social activities. She was specifically encouraged to stop generalizing views about others and to collaborate with others as a means of coping effectively. Carol progressed to appoint where she went back to school in a community college as she also appreciated outings with friends and volunteer roles. As Carol was progressing positively, she would develop fears of relapse. These were effectively addressed making her understand that anxiety and stress were a normal part of her sickness. In addition, she was also helped in coping with these by reviewing her cognitive strategies with the things she feared most being addressed through effectively answering her questions. By this far, Carol had improved tremendously even in her self esteem. Since ending the treatment was thought to lead to stress due to fears of relapse, the worker provided Carol with guidelines on how to address the fears including ways of handling emergencies (Bradshaw, 1998).

On measuring the various outcomes regarding the cognitive-behavioral treatment that Carol went through, the results were encouraging in all the variables that were being assessed. On psychological functioning by the end of the therapy, Carols RFS score was 27 indicating that she improved in all areas including in her work, her independent living and being involved in social and family activities. Carol could also reliably continue with education successfully. On the area of symptomatology, Carol had moved from severe symptoms at the beginning of the study with a baseline score of 7 and progressed to a baseline score of 1 where only a few symptoms presented. Even the few that presented, she was able to successfully handle them. Regarding attainment of treatment goals, Carol showed a tremendous improvement as she started with a GAS score value of 19.85 and by the end of the treatment, her GAS score value was 80.15. This was way beyond the expected level of the measure (50.00).  In specific, Carol was able to get on with daily living successfully to a point where she became independent and eventually went back to school. She also successfully secured employment showing successful goal attainment. On the last measure regarding rehospitalization, there was no psychiatrist rehospitalization in a period of four years which was a major improvement considering the many rehospitalizations she had prior to treatment (Bradshaw, 1998).

The role of brain anatomy and physiology in Carols case
It is important to look at how Carols schizophrenic presentation is a determinant of abnormalities in the structure of the brain and hence its function. According to images of the brain as per magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies and computerized tomography (CT) studies, schizophrenia is associated with a wide range of brain abnormalities among them being decreased cerebral volume, and an increase in the brain ventricles. (Lawrie and Abukmeil (1998) identified that in schizophrenic individuals, overall brain volume reduces by 3 with the amygdala and the hippocampus reduced by an average of 6.on the other hand, the lateral ventricles were observed to increase by 36 to 44 percent.

A decrease in the cerebral volume is due to the increased brain ventricles. Since the cerebrum is responsible for various functions including regulating emotions, the above case study affirms a dysfunction in this brain region. This is more so with the Carols dominant symptom i.e. stress which is regulated by the amygdala in the frontal lobe. Carols reasoning and planning abilities are poor as se is unable to work or even continue schooling. This also shows impairment in the structures of the frontal lobe. Carols state was characterized by inability to plan poor attention and dysfunctional memory such that she had to drop out of college are in line with findings that schizophrenic patients have reduced frontal lobe which executes these functions. Carol was also not motivated as characterized by her apathy state a situation resulting from impaired frontal lobe.

In schizophrenic individuals, the brain amygdala is usually reduced while hippocampal fissures are enlarged. The hippocampal fissures are thought to be enlarged as a result of failed fusion of the anterior and posterior hippocampus. This is thought to happen during developmental stages of the neurons. The corpus collosum of schizophrenic persons is also found to have abnormalities such that interhemispheric integration is compromised. The reduction in corpus collosum and the subsequent of interhemispheric communication means that the patient cannot effectively shift the functions to either side of the brain. The posterior temporal gyrus is reduced in volume on the right side with a further decrease in this volume resulting to severe psychotic conditions as in Carols case.

Carol seemed to have developed schizophrenia at late adolescence (18 years) a finding that is consistent with speculations that schizophrenia is usually dormant until during adolescence (Rajarethinam, Prasad and Keshavan, 2005). It is speculated that individuals are born with the brain abnormalities but these explode during adolescence since the brain undergoes major structural changes at this stage of life. As such, the impaired brain structure translates to the poor functioning of the brain parts. Lack of a psychiatric illness history in Carols family signifies that Carol is less likely to have inherited the condition hence leaving abnormal development of the brain during adolescence as the only likely possibility.

By applying cognitive-behavioral therapy, the biological causes of Carols schizophrenic condition were not addressed. It is for this reason that Carol would experience relapses of schizophrenic symptoms. This finding asserts that schizophrenia can possibly be addressed through addressing the biological cause and not merely addressing the presentation of symptoms. The understanding the above brain dysfunctions interfere with two main neurotransmitters (glutamate and dopamine) has been utilized in the past to treat schizophrenia (Seeman, 2009). This gives more weight to brain involvement in the development of schizophrenia.

During the early phase of treatment, Carol was noted to have difficulties in coping with stress and anxiety. As such, she would get into smoking most of the times in addition to watching TV for long hours. Carols smoking condition is in line with the finding that mental illness patients are more likely to indulge in smoking compared to people who have no mental illness (Forchuk et al, 2002). Forchuk and colleagues found out that most schizophrenic patients smoked with the aim of getting sedated and eventually control the negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia. Carols case therefore affirms a deficiency in important neurotransmitters such as dopamine that are supposed to provide a sedative effect to the brain.

Although Carols case is presented in form of how cognitive-behavioral therapy can be effective in treating schizophrenia, it also helps in understanding the neuropathological basis of schizophrenia. The presentation of symptoms and prognosis is in tandem with deficiencies in the brain anatomy which then affect its physiology.  Relapses even after cognitive-behavioral therapy particularly show that there is a likely biological process in this disease which must be addressed.

Conclusion
Carols case study highlights important signs and symptoms in schizophrenia which are linked to brain abnormalities. MRI images indicate reduced brain volume specifically in the frontal cortex. Since Carol presents with poor reasoning and emotional instability, it is no doubt that her frontal cortex has some abnormities. In addition, Carols development of schizophrenia in a family that has no psychiatric illness history rules out the possibility of inheriting the disease leaving brain developmental abnormalities as the only possible cause. This case is therefore an enlightening work in the understanding of the neurological basis of schizophrenia.

Through the movie, Good Will Hunting, I understand that psychotherapy is therapy through psychology. Simply, Sean, the therapist assists Will in organizing again his personality as they talk. Psychotherapy therefore can be defined as the study of an individuals behavior and personality in order to provide a solution to the problems affecting the client. There are three major concepts that Will goes through. These concepts are repression, trauma as well as repression.

Type of therapy
All through the entire movie, therapy through talking has taken a center stage. The power realized in talking has been used as an example of changing lives through studying the psychology of people. Will talks more with Sean than he does when with other individuals. Will finds comfort probably in talking more concerning his past than with his close associates including Gerry. Transference is most obvious in the movie. Through psychoanalysis, transference can be described as a way in which emotions as well as desires formerly associated with a specific person like a parent or else a sibling are involuntarily shifted through to another individual and more in particular to the one making the analysis. Moreover, transference can take two forms positive and negative. Positive transference includes all forms of attachment to as well as confidence in the analyst a very important aspect for successful therapy. On the other hand, negative transference describes unfriendly cathexes or the excess of it which could make the patient to do away with the relationship of therapy. Will has transferred a lot of personal details to Sean as he is amongst the few people concerned about Will presently and in the future. The talking process produces positive transference as they converse with Sean.

Will is in a position to tell Sean everything in his mind. The relationship that results in between Will and Sean is very strong and full of trust. This indeed enhanced the concept of transference. Wills life would not have turned around were it not for the positive relationship as well as transference. Will is now able to forget about his past and begin a fresh through the help that has been offered by Sean. Repression has also worked out so well for Will. This is the unconscious elimination of agonizing impulses, desires and fears coming out of the conscious mind.  Will has several repressed memories though he found difficulties with the fact that his parents abandoned him while he was still a child. Moreover, Wills traumatic encounter of his parents leaving him took a heavy toll on him. In the scene with Skylar, the argument shows how Will was affected by the traumatic experience as he fears to be abandoned the way his parents did.

Reflection on the Movie Concerning Psychotherapy
The movie provides a sound meaning to the whole concept of psychotherapy. This is true because we see the personality of Will being changed and his life coming round. Through well established strong relationship, Will has confided in Sean to the point of telling him about his past which Sean uses to study the issues affecting him. This is what real psychotherapy takes into consideration or rather entails. The movie has unfolded the hurdles experienced by psychotherapists in their practice. This is because the issues affecting Will have been dealt with amicably through psychotherapy despite their complexity. Generally, it is worth noting that psychotherapy has found its real meaning and application in the movie. Work has been simplified for Sean through the talking they have with the client, Will. It has not been possible for Will to share his misfortunes with any other person other than Sean. Psychotherapy has really come out clearly as Wills life is never a puzzle to him.

The most developed theory to explain sex differences in humans, evolutionary psychology explains these differences as reflections of the demands of different social and physical environments on males and females in primeval times.  Evolutionary psychologists believe that males and females faced different demands from their environments, their respective reproductive statuses being the key elements of their lives (Denisiuk, 2004).  Thus, sex-specific mechanisms were evolved for humans to live with.  In fact, this is the reason for different behavioral patterns of the two sexes (Denisiuk).  Males and females developed differing strategies so as to ensure their success in reproduction and survival.  This is the reason for psychological differences between males and females.  After all, there are differences in social roles played by men and women (Denisiuk).
   
Thus, evolutionary psychologists claim that the differences between men and women are based on differing parental investment (Denisiuk).  The investment of women in reproduction outweighs the investment of men, hence females develop traits to help them improve their chances to reproduce offsprings that would survive (Denisiuk).  Males, on the contrary, happen to be less concerned with reproduction (Denisiuk).  Consequently, men are less choosy about mates (Denisiuk).  According to Denisiuk, Evolutionary psychologists view sex-evolved dispositions as psychological tendencies that have been built in genetically.  Environmental factors act as cues that interact with evolved predispositions to yield sex-typed responses This explains the difference in each sexs perspective on reproduction.    
   
Of course, evolutionary psychologists cannot scientifically prove that psychological differences between men and women originated in differing parental investment.  This is an assumption based on key concepts of the theory of evolution, that is, natural selection and survival of the fittest.

Evolutionary psychologists maintain that sex differences are based on differences in parental investment with the assumption that each human being is born to reproduce if, in fact, he or she is fit to survive.  This should explain sex differences in childhood as well as adulthood.  After all, male and female children, too, live with the ultimate goal to reproduce.  This goal is programmed or genetically built in.  Moreover, as reproduction requires parental investment, the theory of the origin of sex differences in parental investment claims that males and females develop psychological traits peculiar to their respective genders.  In other words, each male and female child is expected to develop traits peculiar to his or her gender in adulthood, so as to reproduce.
   
But, evolutionary psychology is not based on such assumptions alone.  In fact, evolutionary psychologists have conducted plenty of scientific studies on sex differences in parental investment.  Scientific research has shown, for example, that there are clear relationships between sexual strategies employed by individuals and their differing levels of parental investment (Geher, Fairweather, Mollette, Ugonabo, Murphy,  Wood, 2007, 19).  Denisiuk explains the relationship between mate selection and parental investment thus    
     
Evolutionary psychology indicates that characteristics that people seek in mates depend
on their sex and whether it is a short-term or a long-term mating. Women are limited in the
number of children they can have during their lifetime. Men have no restriction when it
comes to reproduction. Both men and women compete for their choice of mate. Women
will seek a mate who has resources to support their parental efforts, whereas men will seek
a mate for reasons different from wanting to be a parent. This establishes a difference in
views toward mating for each gender because each will have their own expectations A
 man has two possibilities for multiplying copies of his genes He can either aim for
quantity or quality of offsprings. With quantity, a man can impregnate as many women as
possible without staying around to help raise any of the children. With quality, a man can
stay with one female partner and have fewer children, but he will be present during their
upbringing Women have a limit on how many children they can have and a time limit on
when they can bear children. Because of these limits, women are strongly motivated to
ensure that the children they have will have the physical and psychological traits necessary
to survive and to be able to reproduce successfully. (Denisiuk)

Denisiuk sounds perfectly rational as this information on mate selection and parental investment she has provided must necessarily be part and parcel of the human belief system based on natural demands of reproduction.  Wang (2007) notes that the human mind is a collection of specialized mechanisms or computational algorithms, according to evolutionary psychologists (406).  The algorithms and mechanisms that the human mind comprises serve as tools to solve particular problems recurrent in hominid evolution (Wang, 406).  Like animals, human beings seek to satisfy their physical needs from birth until death.  Hence, some of the problems of survival that the human mind is programmed to resolve must include finding food, water, protection and mates.
   
The fact that the human mind is programmed to solve certain types of problems  according to evolutionary psychologists  does not mean that the human being is similar to a robot, designed to carry out some functions with built-in commands and instructions.  Rather, the theory of evolution refers to Homo sapiens or the wise man, gifted with the faculty of reason (Wang, 407).  Thus, females as rational beings are not only more emotionally expressive than males but also able to inhibit their emotional expression better than males.  This helps them to control their sexual desires before males who are not their sexual partners or spouses.  It also helps them to inhibit their aggression before their infants, thereby giving them an evolutionary advantage (Leigh, 2003).  Psychological stress is detrimental to brain development in childhood hence women who control their negative emotions before their children are better able to survive through their offspring (Barber, 2005, 144).
   
As a matter of fact, both men and women are rational when it comes to the question of survival through reproduction.  Geher et. al. consider whether males and females are always conscious of their decisions regarding reproduction, seeing that psychological sex differences in parental investment are said to be innate (18-29).  Although the question of conscious versus unconscious attitudes toward reproduction has not been completely resolved, the fact remains that there are tendencies peculiar to each sex.  Thus, Denisiuk writes that women tend to prefer males with symmetrical facial features, for example, unblemished and clear skins, as such features are indicative of good health.  Healthy people have good genes.  But, women also prefer males with masculine features, for example, facial hair and muscular bodies.  Such features are indicative of adequate testosterone required for fertility.  Moreover, women prefer older men who are intelligent and have high social standing.  They show preference for wealthy men, too, for the reason that they would like their mates to have sufficient power and resources to take care of their offsprings (Denisiuk).
   
Women search for mates to spend their entire lives with.  Males, on the other hand, are chiefly interested in impregnating mates to have offsprings.  They seek young women for this reason.  Females with full breasts and hips in addition to small waists are preferred as these features are indicative of adequate estrogen for successful reproduction.  Men also pay attention to facial features of women, showing preference for females with clear skins, etc. (Denisiuk).
   
Also according to evolutionary psychologists, males and females have different reactions to sexual infidelity (Denisiuk).  If a woman strays, her mate would experience sexual jealousy for the reason of uncertainty in paternity of their children (Denisiuk).  If a man strays, his mate does not experience such uncertainty.  The child belongs to the mother.  However, women experience sexual jealousy if their mates are interested in other females for the reason that their mates commitments to their children would be reduced if this happens (Denisiuk).  Men would expend less of their time, attention, energy and resources on their children if they are interested in other women, who too may reproduce with them (Denisiuk).  As men are traditionally the breadwinners of their families, women believe that their childrens survival is at stake if their mates are interested in other females.  Thus, women are expected to react with negative emotions whenever they or their offsprings are deprived of necessary support from their mates, including emotional support.  Males, on the contrary, are expected to show anger if their wives are believed to straying (Denisiuk).
   
Another difference between males and females is, of course, the fact that fertility of females declines with age but remains unchanged for males (Walsh, 2009).  Hence, Turner  McAndrew (2006) explain that young women tend to be choosier when it comes to mate selection (198).  Older females, on the other hand, may opt to invest in children who may or may not survive (Turner  McAndrew, 198).  As evolutionary psychologists assume that decisions about parental investment are largely unconscious, older women that choose to invest in children who may or may not survive may feel guided by the emotional state of love (Turner  McAndrew, 198).  Even men may feel that they are guided by such emotional states as they make parental investment decisions (Turner  McAndrew, 198).  In other words, the unconscious need to reproduce may or may not enter the human mind through the process of parental investment decision-making, which includes mate selection.
   
Wang notes that parental investment decision-making is based on the concept of utility maximization studied by economists (408).  In this framework, the expected utility of a choice option is calculated as the sum of expected values of the options outcomes weighted by corresponding probabilities of the outcomes (Wang, 408).  As parental investment decisions depend primarily on women who must choose between several men who court them, it is essential for females to estimate discrepancy between their expectations and actual investments made by their partners in the future (Wang, 408).  A male produces enough sperm to inseminate thousands of women through his lifetime (Kenyon, 2006).  A female, on the contrary, cannot produce as many children (Kenyon).  Hence, women desire great investment from their mates.  In fact, female expectations in this regard may exceed average investment made by males.  It is for this reason that a woman should estimate discrepancy between her expectations and actual investment made by her mate in the future as she makes her parental investment decision in the present based on the concept of utility maximization (Wang, 408).
   
If a woman is unable to accurately estimate such discrepancy, the survival of her future offsprings may be at stake.  After all, the female needs her mate to share his resources with her children so as to protect and nourish them.  But, the male who tends to have a higher number of friends than the female is more likely to get interested in other females at the same time as he is attached to the mother of his children (Evolutionary Psychology and Infidelity).  Therefore, a woman who knows that her mate is likely to get interested in other females would not place a high value on him.  She would estimate high discrepancy for such a mate, according to the economic formula already explained.  The laws of supply and demand say that the more a specific commodity is available, the cheaper it becomes and less valuable to possess (Evolutionary Psychology and Infidelity).  As the principles of economics are based on the behavior of humans, they must be applicable in evolutionary psychology (Evolutionary Psychology and Infidelity).    
   
Thus, parental investment decisions are rational, regardless of what males and females are consciously feeling or thinking as they go through the decision-making process.  Given that the two sexes have different types of investments to make in their children, men and women tend to think differently, not only as they go through the parental investment decision-making process but also otherwise.  In fact, evolutionary psychologists claim that sex differences are based in parental investment decisions.  In other words, all humans are genetically programmed with the need to produce offsprings.  Although biological differences between males and females result in psychological differences, the two sexes share the need to survive through their children.  

Compulsive hoarding is one type of mental disorders that is marked by an obsessive need of acquiring a significant amount of possessions (Murren, 2010). The condition is also known as pathological hoarding, Messie mindset or disposophobia. Mostly seen among individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or pathological collecting, the disorder is characterized by individuals acquiring and saving too many objects which may seem to normal humans useless or having no value(Steketee  Frost, 2009).

The items gathered by the individuals with OCD are usually useless, unsanitary and hazardous. The condition causes significant cluttering and impairment to basic activities such as cooking, cleaning, mobility, sleeping and showering (Steketee  Frost, 2009). People living with compulsive hoarding have always been referred to as pack rats because of the behavior that relates to the animals fondness for a number of material objects.

It has not been known whether compulsive hoarding is a condition on its own or a symptom that appears due to another condition such as OCD, dementia, schizophrenia, Alzheimer and anorexia (Steketee  Frost, 2009). The hoarding of useless possessions is called syllogomania. However, it is now agreed among most health providers and researchers that compulsive hoarding is one type of OCD. It has also been observed that compulsive hoarding shares may features that are observed in bipolar disorders, depression, social anxiety, impulsive control disorders and certain types of personality traits (Aardema  OConnor, 2007).

In the United States, the condition affects about 2 million people although the actual number may turn out to be higher than the approximated figure (Steketee  Frost, 2009). Although hoarding problem begins in childhood then progresses through adolescence, the condition does not get worse until one is an adult. It is in the adult age is when individuals present the severe effects of compulsive hoarding (Steketee  Frost, 2009). The condition may run in families which is a suggestion that some genetical causes may be blamed. The individuals with compulsive hoarding do not usually know how problematic their condition is it is the family members who experience problems coping with constant cluttering.

Research into the causes of compulsive hoarding has witnessed some positive results although the condition itself is poorly understood. The condition has been identified to be caused by a single or a combination of factors. There three main causes of compulsive hoarding may be related to information processing problems, beliefs about possessions and a number of emotional distress that arise from discarding (Rachman, 2007). In information processing, individuals have problems in categorizing their own possessions.

People with compulsive hoarding condition find problems classifying and differentiating between what is valuable to them and what is not. The afflicted individuals may also have problems in making decisions about what to do with their possessions and also have troubles remembering where their possessions are (Maidment  Saxena, 2007). As a result of this, they always want to keep everything in their sight to avoid forgetting.

Beliefs about possessions have been identified as one of the causes of compulsive hoarding. The individuals with compulsive hoarding often feel a stronger emotional attachment sense towards their own possessions (Steketee  Frost, 2009). Some objects are perceived by them a very valuable that they are regarded as part of them. Losing the objects means much to them hence they retain them leading to congesting their someplace.

Individuals with compulsive hoarding always feel that they want to sty in control of all their possessions and no one should be allowed to even touch them or move them (Maidment  Saxena, 2007). Because they worry of forgetting their things they make their possessions as their visual reminders uncase something is forgotten.

The last cause of compulsive hoarding is the emotional distress that follows after discarding something (Steketee  Frost, 2009). People with the disorder of compulsive hoarding often have problems with feeling anxious or sometimes getting upset especially when they have to make decisions about discarding their own possessions. They also feel rather distressed when they see something that they want and they tend not to feel happy until they receive the things they desire.

Another aspect of emotional distress is the control of the uncomfortable feelings by keeping away from making decisions until later times (Mayo Clinic, 2009). The individuals with compulsive hoarding condition do not always want to make their own decisions and as a result undesirable events happen.

Disposophobia or compulsive hoarding occurs in five levels although the levels have not been applied in clinical psychology. The guidelines for identifying the levels of compulsive hoarding have been set by the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganizations (NSGCD). The guidelines are now known as the NGSCD Clutter Hoarding Scale. The scale distinguishes five different levels of hoarding using the professional organizers perspective.

The levels are named according to severity with level I being the least severe while level V being the most severe (Steketee  Frost, 2009). There are some other subcategories between each level and these define the severity of cluttering and the hoarding potential. These subcategories include the zoning and structure, rodents and pets, household functions as well as the cleanliness and sanitation.

Levels of Compulsive Hoarding
In Level I compulsive hoarder the household is considered as a standard. There is no specific and special knowledge concerning the treatment that can be provided to individuals in this level. In addition, there is no specific knowledge required in working with the Chronically Disorganized individuals (Steketee  Frost, 2009).

Level II hoarders may require the services of a household in addition to the services which may be provided by a professional organizer (Murren, 2010). Other professionals may also provide substantial help to Level II hoarders. Knowledge of dealing with people with Chronic Disorganizations is highly required in Level II hoarders.

The household may need the services in addition to the professional organizers in level III hoarders. Other professional may also be needed to manage the problem of compulsive hoarding in level III. It is a requirement that the professional organizers managing individuals in Level III compulsive hoarding should have sufficient training in Chronic Disorganization and should have a sound helpful community network of resources particularly the mental healthcare providers (Murren, 2010).

A coordinated team of service providers is needed as well as the service of a professional organizer to help manage problems of Level IV compulsive hoarding. In this problem of Level IV compulsive hording, medical and financial issues should be solved. Issues to do with pest control and financial counseling should be addressed by handy people (Steketee  Frost, 2009).

The most sever of all levels is the Level V hoarder. Here, the household requires the interventions from an array of agencies. However, the professional organizers should not be involved directly in working alone when tackling this problem (Rachman, 2007). Level V household may as well be under the care of a conservator or still be an inherited estate of a mentally ill person.

A special form of assistance is needed in Level V household and a special team needs to be assembled. Before beginning any additional work, the members of the team have to be identified. The team may include members of social service providers, conservators, fires and safety team, landlords and legal service providers (Steketee  Frost, 2009).

Treatment
The treatment of compulsive hoarding is unclear and there is no treatment which can be said to be used in managing compulsive hoarding. However, some of the methods have been used to manage the symptoms in an effective way. The method that has been applied in most cases is the cognitive-behavioral therapy and some medications which increase the levels of serotonin activity in the brain (Mayo Clinic, 2009).

In cognitive-behavioral therapy, the therapist visits the afflicted individuals home and assists the patient how to make decisions about his or her possessions (Mayo Clinic, 2009). It is not known to what extent this strategy is effective since there have not been many studies of this form of treatment.

Although some studies have indicated that cognitive-behavioral therapy is more effective than the medications, medications strategies to manage the condition have also been successful. The use of antidepressant aims at increasing the levels of serotonin activity in the brain and a number of individuals with compulsive hoarding have responded well to antidepressants (Maidment  Saxena, 2007).

In general, compulsive hoarding is a condition that should be given good attention because the effects of the condition can be disturbing both to the individual and the people living with the person. Although the individual with compulsive hoarding does not realize that he or she has the problem, the people around the person suffer seeing the behavior and it may proceed up to the workplace. As a result, this problem affects the social relationship both in workplace and in the homes.