Cognitive Effects of chess on the human brain (characteristics)

Annotated Bibliography

Fattahi, F., Geshani, A., Jafari, Z., Jalaie, S., & Mahini, M. S. (2015). Auditory memory

Function in expert chess players. Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 29, 275.

 This article reviews the effect of chess on auditory memory.  Fattahi et al. (2015) conducts a cross-sectional study and selects 30 chess players aged 20 to 35 years.  The purpose of the study was to compare the auditory memory of long-term chess players and non-chess players.  The study found that expert chess players had high levels of auditory-verbal memory than non-chess players. The findings suggest that chess playing is associated with cognitive processes, including working memory.  The cognitive process and in specific the auditory-verbal memory is reinforced.  It plays a significant role in improving language skills and keeping information.

Lillo-Crespo, M., Forner-Ruiz, M., Riquelme-Galindo, J., Ruiz-Fernández, D., & García-Sanjuan, S. (2019). Chess Practice as a Protective Factor in Dementia. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(12), 2116.

            The purpose of this article is to explore whether chess practice improves the cognitive capacities of patients who have dementia. Lillo-Crespo et al. (2019) conducted a literature search and examined information related to a chess game, dementia, protective factors, and other keywords.  They used systematic reviews, descriptive studies, and other papers. After conducting extensive research, they found that mental activity stimulates the neurogenesis process.  Activities such as chess strengthen cognitive functions and prevent dementia.  The findings suggest that chess acts as a protective factor and cognitive therapy.

Lane, D. M., & Chang, Y.-H. A. (2018). Chess knowledge predicts chess memory even after

controlling for chess experience: Evidence for the role of high-level processes. Memory & Cognition, 46(3), 337–348. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-017-0768-2

 This article aims to examine whether chess improves memory performance.  Lane & Chang (2018) used 79 chess players from different chess clubs.  The participants were given a chess memory test.  The authors wanted to investigate the cognitive abilities by reviewing chess knowledge.  The findings showed that chess players have recognition of patterns.  The article states that chess improves cognitive functions. Chess players with long-term experiences of the game have an accurate recall. For example, in thousands of chess games,  a chess player can learn and recalls the templates. This indicates that chess contributes to high-level memory processes that enable the chess players to recognize patterns.  The articles present strong evidence that the ability to recall chess is position and pattern influenced by the high-level of memory.

Jerrim, J., Macmillan, L., Micklewright, J., Sawtell, M., & Wiggins, M. (2018). Does Teaching Children How to Play Cognitively Demanding Games Improve Their Educational Attainment? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial of Chess Instruction in England. Journal of Human Resources, 53(4), 993–1021. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.53.4.0516-7952R

 The purpose of this article is to examine where cognitively demanding games such as chess help children improve educational attainment. Jerrim et al. (2018) subjects that chess games have a positive effect on educational attainment.  The authors use a randomized controlled trial and used 4,000 pupils. The article states that children who received chess instruction and tuition on chess games had an improvement in their academic test, especially mathematical test scores. This finding shows that cognitively demanding games improve cognitive development, visual perception, working memory, and other development. The article states that chess and other cognitively demanding games should be provided to children to improve educational achievement.

Bühren, C., & Frank, B. (2012). Chess Players’ Performance Beyond 64 Squares: A Case Study on the Limitations of Cognitive Abilities Transfer. Talent Development & Excellence, 4(2), 157–169. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=87368283&site=ehost-live

            The article argues that chess hinders cognitive abilities transfer. The authors state that there is no evidence that chess players transfer their abilities to other areas that need a  high level of expertise.  The article argues some abilities correlate positively. For example, ability in task X and ability in task Y may correlate, or in other words, an individual can be good in task X and Y.  This means that there is a cognitive transfer between the two tasks.  However, chess players do not have rational choices.  For example, other professionals have cognitive abilities that enable them to transfer to other areas. However, there is no evidence that chess players will be good at different tasks.

 Stress Risk: Concept Analysis

Introduction

In today’s society, individuals are subjected to the pressure of creating a balance between work, education, and social life. The situation leads to stress as the body is unable to respond and accommodate the stressors fully. According to Lagraauw, Kuiper & Bot (2015), stress mainly entails the pressure, tension, cognitive, psychological, and physical strain that deprives the body of its rightful functioning. Stress is, therefore, a force that leads to structural destructions, thus creating room for adverse health defects to prevail. The literature widely suggests that there is a positive link between stress, and psychosocial life and physical health of a person. However, there is uncertainty about its health meaning and use. The objective of this report is to provide an in-depth concept analysis of stress as a risk factor for stroke and provide an operational description of stress. Using the concept analysis framework described by Walker and Avant (2005), the paper identifies the characteristics and attributes of stress, its practical and theoretical application to stroke prevalence among individuals below 50 years, and model cases for further uncover the concept.

Defining Attributes

According to Walker & Avant (2005), attributes entails the qualities of a given concept which contribute to the acknowledgment of an event of a specific phenomenon. Thus, with respect to stress risk, the attributes include multidimensionality, and this integrates the physiological and psychological impacts that it causes on an individual. Fatigue and extra stressor cause burnout, which triggers the risk of producing a particular response and impact on the body. Another attribute is perceptual antagonism, which determines how an individual perceives his or her responsibilities in relation to their abilities. Stress is associated with emotional, cognitive, social, and physical effects that affect the ability of a person to make meaningful or healthy choices.

Definition

Stress has several definitions and descriptions. According to Butler (1993), stress is the tension or pressure that is applied to a material object. In addition, stress is also defined as the state of experiencing emotional and mental strain due to demanding or adverse situations. Stress creates distress, which evolves to burnout once the body can no longer accommodate the stress. Stress is an end product of increasing and progressive process that is prompted by elongated, intense as well as continuous interactions with demanding activities (Schneiderman, Ironson & Siegel, 2005). Stress originates from the inability to create a balance between one’s social life, professional, and academic demands. It is furthered by the lack of adequate rest, and the pressure goes above the endurance state. Stress manifests through emotional, cognitive, physical, and physiological changes that intensify with the condition. Stress destroys the structural formation of the body and is, therefore, a risk since it leads to harm. With distress, the ability of individuals to make rational choices with regard to their health is additionally destroyed. Thus, stress is a risk factor for chronic conditions such as stroke.

Model Case

A case model based on Walker & Avant (2005) refers to a life-based example that incorporates all the serious attributes of a concept. With respect to stroke prevalence among young adults below 50 years, the model involves an adult who relies on cigarettes, alcohol, and fast foods to cope with stress.

Jane is a 45-year-old female medical staff who works for at least 8 hours a day and is undertaking a part-time advance nursing course. She mainly deals with elderly patients with special needs, a role that she has mainly played for the last 16 years. She works in a rather busy department, and she is under intense pressure due to the shortage of nurses at the institution. However, she ensures that she satisfies her obligations by administering equitable and compassionate care to all her patients. Jane is a single mother of three kids, and two of them are still in the university, and she lives with her elderly mother, who helps in taking care. She barely gets time to interact with her friends or other members of her extended family. She was diagnosed with hypertension six years ago, and her weight has been increasing rapidly in the last few years. Jane feels physical, emotionally, and mentally drained, and she relies on sugary products, cigarettes, and alcohol as her way of relieving the pressure. Jane is stressed by the overwhelming pressures.

Related Case

According to Walker & Avant (2005), related cases in this context do not have to include the critical attributes of the concept, but careful examination is needed to establish the missing attributes. For example, Chris is a 43-year-old male, working as a truck driver. He is attending a drug recovery program following his long-term heroin addiction. He is also a regular cigarette smoker. He uses the substances because he feels as though his body needs them to recover from stress. Without taking them, he suffers from restlessness, body aches, and severe discomfort. The treatment has been crucial, although he is suffering mainly from withdrawal symptoms.

Borderline Case

A borderline case refers to a concept example that lacks one or more attributes. For example, John, a 39-year-old male, is a primary caregiver in a childcare institution. He is the only caregiver at the institution, and he goes to work every day, expecting a rough time. He feels pressured schedule and his exams and is therefore unable to pay attention to his clients. He is looking forward to consuming two or three packets of cigarettes during his work breaks, which relieve her from stress and emotional strain. He understands, however, that the habit is not good for his health, and he intentionally leaves the cigarettes at home.

Contrary Case

A contrary case refers to the situation where the concept does not exist. Mark, a 40-year-old ambulance driver, has been granted temporary leave for two weeks, based on his commitment to the provision of quality services despite the tight schedules. Mark is looking forward to partying during the period as a way of thanking himself and relieving all the stress. Mark’s family unexpectedly returns from their tour on the same day the leave was granted. His wife is very strict about unhealthy diets, cigarettes, and alcohol consumption. She ensures that Mark, who has hypertension and diabetes, sticks to healthy choices. Mark has no opportunity to enjoy as he had initially planned. Based on the case, there is no harm to stress, no potential, and no action is likely to trigger stress.

Antecedent(s)

According to Walker & Avant (2005), antecedent identification might be helpful in focusing a concept in the direction of the contextual setting and further defining the identified attributes. In this case, the capability of controlling an occurrence might be the antecedent to the potential hazard. Antecedents refer to the factor or incidences that take place prior to the stress risk, and this implies that a stress risk might not take place in the absence of an antecedent. In addition, antecedents are responsible for affecting the overall health state of an individual. Antecedents of a given risk rely on the mental capacity to make rational choices as well as make decisions before an experience. It is a decision that usually precedes any given action, and therefore informed choices must occur prior to the activity taking place.

Based on this investigation, three antecedents with respect to stress risk have been identified. The antecedents include exposure and cognitive ability. It is exposure to pressures that creates the potential for stress as a risk-taking place. In that, in the absence of this exposure to stress, it is not likely for the person to be exposed to the risk. Stress normally destroys the structural state of the body after the distress outweighs the general ability of the body (Renzaho et al., 2013). The pressure originates from the need to attend to different roles and activities and in the absence of stress, and the person has the capability of making rational and healthy choices that would not, therefore, create the vulnerability of chronic conditions. Cognitive recognition with regard to exposure has to be present and to make the decision, and an individual mainly relies on past knowledge or experience. Cognitive abilities, therefore, enable individuals to respond to the exposures adequately.

Consequence(s)

Walker & Avant (2005) defines consequence as an outcome or incident that results from the concept taking place. The consequence of stress risk is adverse health impacts ranging from emotional, cognitive, mental, and spiritual effects. The consequence of stress is a disruption of the ability to make rational decisions or creating an opportunity to combine stress with risky behaviors. In the case of stress, the consequence is to either cause harm or no harm to the individual’s health. Stress risk mainly leads to adopting other risky behaviors such as smoking cigarettes, unhealthy diets, and lack of physical exercise, which therefore promotes bad outcomes on an individual’s health (Lee et al., 2015). In other words, stress risk has a significant impact on health promotion and clinical prevention through the creation of awareness, particularly as it related to young adults below 50 years who are overwhelmed by social and economic pressures. Thus, in this regard, the implications of stress on health might not be immediate as changes such as weight gain and hypertension might develop in the long run after prolonged exposure to stress. While young adults might not believe that stress might intensify the risk, the exposure ultimately results in negative health consequences.

Empirical Referents

According to Walker & Avant (2005), empirical referents refer to the classification of incidences that are measurable and quantifiable and might illustrate the occurrence of the concept. The empirical referents of stress risk might, therefore, include a set of health measurements. The health measurements might incorporate epidemiological statistics of the prevalence of stress and its impacts on health as a risk factor for chronic illnesses such as hypertension and mental illnesses such as depression. In addition, observed health habits and results from self-administered surveys might provide empirical evidence of the concept. The prevalence of mental illnesses, increasing suicide reports, and drug abuse as a way of coping with stress serve as the empirical referents for stress, and these risk behaviors are responsible for growing stroke cases among young adults. Obesity, cardiovascular conditions, and hypertension are the consequences of bad lifestyle choices that provide evidence for the prevailing stroke cases. Tobacco use as a risk factor for stroke reflects the behaviors that individuals adopt and are directly linked to unhealthy lifestyle decisions that facilitate the development of stroke.

Application to Practice

The findings of this investigation reveal that stress results in negative consequences on health. While healthcare practitioners continue to adopt different clinical and non-pharmacological measures to prevent stroke among young and older adults, there is a need to understand how stress as a risk factor contributing to the situation. Thus, the findings of this study show that most people tend to make unhealthy lifestyle changes such as smoking and consuming unhealthy meals because stress can be used in planning for lifestyle changes intervention. Providers should recommend lifestyle adjustment and create awareness about making healthy decisions. The health impacts of stress are far spread beyond just the physical changes as they also affect the individuals’ emotional and cognitive health as well. Learning how to cope with stress in a healthy manner can, therefore, promote positive health outcomes and reduce the causes of stroke among young adults.

Conclusion

The report presents the findings of a concept analysis following the framework described by Walker and Avant (2005) into the concept of stress as a risk of stroke among young adults below 50 years. The main defining attributes of stress risk are physiological and psychological impacts and perceptual antagonism. Young adults between 35 and 45 years are at the highest risk of stress risk, which results from the pressure to create pressure between social, academic, and economic life. Change of risk behaviors within this age gap, therefore, leads to the highest possibility of long-term alterations in both physiological and psychological health. Thus, a better understanding of this concept will be useful in guiding planning interventions for treatment and prevention as well as implementing the required measures that will promote healthy behaviors. As young adults continue to be subjected to stress, they need to make rational decisions with regard to adopting either healthy or unhealthy choices.

References

Butler G. (1993). Definitions of stress. Occasional paper (Royal College of General Practitioners), (61), 1–5.

Lagraauw, H. M., Kuiper, J., & Bot, I. (2015). Acute and chronic psychological stress as risk factors for cardiovascular disease: Insights gained from epidemiological, clinical and experimental studies. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 50, 18-30.

Lee, M. S., Shin, J. S., Lee, J., Lee, Y. J., Kim, M. R., Park, K. B., ... & Ha, I. H. (2015). The association between mental health, chronic disease and sleep duration in Koreans: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 1200.

Renzaho, A. M., Houng, B., Oldroyd, J., Nicholson, J. M., D’Esposito, F., & Oldenburg, B. (2013). Stressful life events and the onset of chronic diseases among Australian adults: findings from a longitudinal survey. The European Journal of Public Health, 24(1), 57-62.

Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). Stress and health: psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annual review of clinical psychology, 1, 607–628. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144141

Walker, L. O., & Avant, K. C. (2019). Strategies for theory construction in nursing (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall

Psychology/Child Development

Introduction

 Parental loss affects children's physical and mental health. Thwala (2012) states that orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) whose parents have died of HIV/AIDS experience psychosocial problems. Children are overwhelmed by emotions during the grieving period but recent research and studies find that they are not provided with emotional support during the grieving process. In other words, no one assists children to cope with grief and they end up having emotional problems such as distress and depression. The articles assert that it is important to provide children with psychosocial support and help them cope with shock, anger, depression, among other responses. The article explores the cultural practices and asserts that community members have practices and beliefs that benefit members whereas others are harmful. For example, some people believe that HIV/AIDS is associated with promiscuity and ignores other nonsexual practices such as the use of shared instruments. However, the articles point out that there are cultural practices which are beneficial or which can provide psychosocial support. In general, the HIV/AIDS epidemic impacts the well-being of the children in that when they lose their parents, they suffer from psychosocial problems yet they rarely receive mental care. It is important to implement the traditional belief system to help the children cope with loss, and promote their emotional development and well-being.

            Thwala (2012) says that parental loss due to HIV/AIDS leads to long-term effects on their children. It is important to note that children experience the most stressful event due to parental loss. In most cases, children develop psychosocial distress such as a feeling of sadness, anxiety, and grief (Thwala, 2013). Although both children and adults experience the mourning process, children deal with the immediate pain in different ways such as detachment, anger, among other explosive behaviors. During this time, children need psychosocial support so that they can gain adjustment and improve their well-being. In addition, the psychosocial support will help these children cope with stress and trauma and overcome the many challenges that they may encounter in the future (Thwala, 2013). Currently, children whose parents die due to HIV/AIDS are not provided with psychosocial support or in other words, there is no program for psychosocial needs.  For example, in 2002, Makarem and McGregor conducted a study in Tanzania and found that children who were orphan had internalizing problems and suffered from mental problems than non-orphans (Thwala, 2013). Another study done in 2005 found that traditional healers helped the children cope with grief using traditional methods such as herbal remedies, prayers, and stories. This shows that the reason as to why the majority of orphans develop psychosocial problems is that modern communities have overlooked the traditional cultural practices, and as a result, children continue to suffer from the psychological burden (Thwala, 2013). Therefore, the article recommends that it is important to incorporate the cultural practices in the grieving process to promote the psychological health of orphan children.

The author asserts that psychosocial support in child's development is a concept that emerged in the past but there is no accurate research on the concept. The research on psychosocial support is growing in that researchers have incorporated the cultural norms and behaviors in psychosocial development, but the issue research is experiencing challenges due to the lack of psychometric tools (Thwala, 2013). The article supports the study of cultural practice in psychosocial support and states that culture play a significant role in child development as it strengthens the children's identity, it helps children gain knowledge and values, and develop a sense of belonging. It is also important to note that culture plays an important role in a child's psychological well-being (Thwala, 2013). For example, during the hard times, culture helps the children develop a sense of security, express their fears, and develop a sense of belonging. Family practices such as family rituals are very important in that they have a special meaning about the event and it helps the family members develop thoughts and feelings, and more important acknowledge that there are life and death (Thwala, 2013).  However, children are excluded in the family rituals but it is important to allow them to take part in the process so that they can gain healing.

 The article conducts a study using an exploratory design and qualitative analysis, and quantitative procedures to evaluate the experiences of vulnerable children. The study finds that orphan and vulnerable children suffer from psychological problems and show symptoms of anger, anxiety, depression, and other problems (Thwala, 2013). The study also finds that grandparents act as a powerful social resource of psychosocial support. However, there is a challenge in that grandparents may not have the necessary psychosocial skills. Therefore, it is important to implement interventions that should support the young people especially the orphans (Thwala, 2013). The religious institutions should offer emotional support such as food and clothing so that the orphans can develop hope in life. The study also reports that since there are several cases of AIDS-related death, it is important to tell the children the truth through supportive counseling so that they can have relevant knowledge about death and how to cope with grief (Thwala, 2013). Teachers in school should also help the students understand the need for building an inconclusive community free from discrimination and stigma.

Implications

 The article states that orphan and vulnerable children require long term care for them to recover from depression, sadness, unhappiness, among other emotional problems (Thwala, 2013). It is important to understand that these children not only need physical care but they also need psychological support so that they may develop self-confidence and a sense of belonging. The religious community should be the source of happiness to the orphans and also the professional institutions such as the schools should focus on values and priorities and ensure to meet the psychosocial needs of the children. In addition, the community and the family should reintroduce the traditional practices since the study finds that they are effective interventions for helping children cope with grief (Thwala, 2013). Practices such as polygamy-currently, some cultures perceive polygamy as illegal since the many numbers of sexual partners may lead to an increase of HIV risk whereas other cultures argue that polygamy is important in that the children whose biological parent have died will gain psychosocial support from the second parent. The extended family is also a traditional practice that plays a significant role in providing psychosocial support to children. Note that in the past, children belonged to the entire community but today, children belong to the nuclear family and children depend on their biological parents. The extended family finds it hard to accommodate the children due to the higher number of HIV/AIDS death (Thwala, 2013). The article argues that it is important to incorporate the traditional practices such as polygamy and extended family in that the love that comes from these members enhances healing and helps the children develop a sense of identity. The surviving parent and the members from the extended family will provide the children with warmth and protection and more importantly, they will console and comfort them during the mourning process. As a result, the children will reduce stress, cope with stress, become resilient, and develop a sense of belonging.

 Conclusion

Parental loss affects the psychological well-being of children. Children are likely to develop internalizing behaviors such as anxiety, sadness, and anxiety. The findings from the study support that children whose parents have died need both physical and psychological support but the caregivers have concentrated on meeting their physical needs and ignored their emotional needs. The article asserts that it is important to improve the psychological well-being and employ traditional methods such as supportive counseling, involving them in family rituals, supporting polygamy, and include them in the extended family. This will enable the children to develop a sense of belonging and more importantly help them cope up with grief and have a bright future. When children lose their parents, it is important to focus on improving their psychosocial well-being so that they can have the strength to cope up with daily challenges. Psychosocial support will also enable them to develop social relationships with other people. Manage their emotions, and more importantly overcome difficulties. Thus, it is the role of the family and the community to protect and provide support to ensure that the children come out of the difficult situation. In specific, the community should create a supportive network to ensure that children gain not only physical support but also psychosocial support and develop a sense of identity.

Reference

Thwala, S. L. K. (2013). The role of culture in psychosocial development of orphans and

vulnerable children. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 18(2), 105-121.

Personal construct theory (PCT)

In Personal Construct Theory (PCT), Kelly asserts that personal construct system is made of four emotions namely; threat, guilt, anxiety, and fear (Chiari, 2013). These emotions are as a result of a variety of construction that occurs in everyday events. Kelly says that these emotions help one make a sense of personal experiences. PCT is a constructivist theory that abandons traditional psychological conceits and tries to show the difference that exists between her theory and other theories.  For example, Kelly says that there is no ego, no consciousness among other things that she highlights and this shows that PCT is cognitive theory (Chiari, 2016).  Kelly indicates that people create personal constructs with respect to the external world and the constructs help make sense of observations and experiences. In other words, people experience the world differently or and they tend to interpret things differently. Similarly, people have different mental constructors and these constructs are used by individuals to make a reality.  Another important point about Kelly's theory is that people have constructive alternatives which mean that people use multiple interpretations towards an event, and cognition and emotion allows a person to construct things (Chiari, 2016).  It is also important to understand that personal construct changes and the changes occur as a result of personal constructs or clinician constructs. In the construction system, the common elements in human disturbances are;

 Threat

 During the personal construct process, people think that their stability will be shaken and there will be a comprehensive change. During the process of creating identity, one may experience an identity crisis and long-term psychotherapy is required to help make core constructs (Chiari, 2013). In real life, people can be physically and emotionally threatened and this makes them feel unsafe.  Concerning threat, the scripture says that the Lord will provide peace and safety against threat (Psalms 4:8).

 Fear

 This means that a person feels like an incidental change may occur in the construct system.  In life, people experiences fear especially when one is involved in new situations (Chiari, 2013). Biblically, the scripture addresses fear in Isaiah 41:10 which says that no need to fear for the Lord will provide strength and help.

Guilty

 In the construct system, a person feels that he or she is not behaving in the right way or in other words, their actions do not align to their core role structure. Note that people develop identity but at some point, one realizes that he is not the kind of a person he wanted to become.  The desires conflicts with the ego and conscience and one feel that he has not met the expectations (Chiari, 2013). In life, people develop a sense of wrongdoing and feel like they are worthless.  The scripture address the issue of guilty in Matthew 11:28 which says that one might feel that he is a sinner but one can release the guiltiness by taking the heavy burden to Jesus.

Anxiety

 In the construction system, one fails to understand the situation or rather one fails to make a sense of the situation and this leads to anxiety. The latter may occur due to lack of appropriate behaviors which may lead to ineffective decisions making. Life is full of stressful situations which arise from work, school, families, health, among other issues (Chiari, 2013). These factors make one develop worry and apprehension due to the fear of not knowing what will happen. However, Philippians 4:6-7 advice people not to be anxious in times of challenges and difficulties but instead they should trust in God.

References

Chiari, G. (2013). Emotion in Personal Construct Theory: A Controversial Question. Journal of

Constructivist Psychology, 26(4), 249–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720537.2013.812853

Chiari, G. (2016). To Live Is to Know, to Know Is to Change: Change in Personal Construct Psychology and Psychological Constructivism. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 29(4), 340–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720537.2015.1134364 Chiari, G. (2016).

Psychology/Child Development

 Introduction

According to Heary et al (2017), stigma has an extensive effect on children and adolescents who have mental health problems. Yet, the field of the developmental science and mental health has not done diligent inquiry and investigation on this topic, and this has made it difficult to adopt measures to address the stigma and meet the development needs of children and adolescents. Children and adolescents with a mental illness feel socially discredited when other people develop a negative feeling about them. They are prejudiced and discriminated and this affects their development in that they fear to disclose their status, they experience unequal treatment, they avoid seeking care support, among other issues of great concern.  In this article, Heary et al (2017)  state that there is a need to propose a theory of prejudice and stereotype in an effort to understand the mental health stigma, and more importantly implement interventions for reducing stigma. Even though the research on mental health stigma is limited, there is evidence that children have a negative attitude towards those with mental illness and they tend to create social distance and peer rejection toward them. The article proposes that the Developmental Inter-group Theory will help understand the developmental origins of stereotypes and prejudice towards children and adolescents with mental illness and the theory will help implement stigma reduction interventions.

Article review

Heary et al (2017) state that current research and studies on mental health stigma have found that children and adolescents aged 12-25 experience negative stereotypes from their peers (Heary et al, 2017).  The researchers have also found that peers believe that children and adolescents with mental illness are ‘weak not sick' and they are more violent.  Children and adolescents with mental health problems experience exclusion and unfair treatment. The peer's impulsive behaviors make the victims of mental illness feel embarrassed and frustrated.  It is also important to note that the stigma varies with respect to the type of diagnosis and personality of the stigmatizer. For example, children and adolescents with depression and psychosis condition are more stigmatized that patients with ADHD. Age is also a factor that affects the rate of stigmatization in that recent research found that older children are stigmatized as ‘weak not sick' than younger children (Heary et al, 2017). The article states that it is important to consider all these factors in order to understand the nature of the problem and help the victims.

Developmental Inter-group Theory

 The development inter-group theory focuses on the emergency of prejudice during childhood and adolescent and in specific, it focuses on cognitive factors, social factors, and cultural factors (Heary et al, 2017). On cognitive factors, the development inter-group theory states that prejudice is influenced by a psychological salience. This means that peers develop negative emotions and negative behavioral responses to patients with mental problems. Peers analyses the behavior descriptions and this influences them to develop negative attitudes (Heary et al, 2017). For example, peers may identify aggressive behaviors and withdrawn behaviors and develop negative responses to these behaviors.  On social factor, the developmental inter-group theory states that peers may develop prejudice and stereotype towards children with mental illness through the influence of society. For example, mental illness labels such as ‘psycho', ‘insane', and other generic labels such as ‘problem child' create shared characteristics in people with a mental disorder (Heary et al, 2017). Note that when peers learn that some children and adolescents have behavioral problems, they develop negative expectations and negative responses and treat them as different.

 Another thing that influences stigmatizing responses is that in providing special assistance to the children with a mental disability,  service providers place the children in different settings and this influences the peer to construct a hypothesis that people with a mental disorder are ‘abnormal' (Heary et al, 2017). The theory states that in social and family settings, family members, teachers, peers and people in the community provides implicit stigma to people with mental illness. Implicit bias means that the community members hold an unconscious belief towards mental illness. In other words, there are hidden biases in the family and society that people associated with mental conditions are not worthy and are helpless (Heary et al, 2017). Note that when children receive these implicit messages, they develop stereotypes and prejudices that affect the victims throughout their life. On cultural factors, the developmental inter-group theory states that group size influences stereotypes and prejudices. For example, minority groups suffer from mental health diffuses and peers refer to these people as weak and damaged. The developmental inter-group theory states that children use these factors to categorize members (Heary et al, 2017). Thus, it is important to understand that environmental experiences and cognitive processes allow children to use the terms ‘Us and Them’ and this leads to segregation in various activities including care and treatment.

 Intervention

 The primary role of the intervention should be to encourage integration between children with mental health problems and those who are mentally fit.  In other words, interventions should focus on promoting healthy peer relationships and this will reduce stigmatization and mental health problems. The authors find that there are no interventions to address mental health stigma in school-age children (Heary et al, 2017). Many interventions have addressed mental health stigma in adults and the researches and studies have proposed education programmes and a contact-based model. The article states that the adults' models only yields greater effects in adults but not in children (Heary et al, 2017). The reason as to why there is lack of intervention to address mental health stigma in children is because the studies lack control group, they use small sample group, they lack follow-up, they lack developmental theory, and the studies have a high risk of bias (Heary et al, 2017). Thus, the article offers recommendations for resolving the issue of stigma and develop beneficial outcomes

 Recommendations

 The literature on adult mental health stigma states that stigma can be classified into different types like  public stigma- negative attitudes from the general public towards a particular group of people with a health condition, and personal stigma-  negative personal beliefs (Heary et al, 2017). There is a dearth of research on all aspects of stigma and especially the self-stigma. The article asserts that it is important to study the components of stigma and the potential consequences and this will help implement an effective intervention to help the victims of stigmatization.  Even though research and studies have researched mental health stigma in adulthood, the findings should not be applied in younger groups in that there is a difference in power and social status between adults and children (Heary et al, 2017). Secondly,   the social context in which the stigma is constructed differs. Thirdly, children and adults have different social and cognitive capabilities that influence them to develop negative attitudes toward social groups. Fourth, adults and children have different developmental needs. Regarding these differences, the article recommends that future research should focus on peer group since recent research has found that children and adolescents are more affected than adults (Heary et al, 2017). Given that the previous research and studies have concentrated on mental health stigma in adults and interventions, the article recommends that future research should develop anti-stigma interventions to help children and adolescents. The article proposes that the developmental inter-group theory should guide the research by providing them with knowledge concerning the salience of mental health, inter-group biases, and the role of cognitive, cultural and community level factors in influencing stigma.

Conclusion

 The article review finds that children and adolescents suffer from mental health problems yet the issue remained under-researched. The article finds that the topic is overlooked due to poor research design. Many studies and researches have concentrated on adults' mental health and the available interventions promote mental health in adults but not in children. The article asserts that future research should apply the developmental inter-group theory which has described factors that influence peers to develop negative prejudice and stereotype toward children with mental health problems. The theory has shed light on the development or the origin of the mental health stigma and it is important to integrate the theory in developmental science. This will help future researchers understand the environmental and developmental factors that influence stigma and as a result, they will develop a testable hypothesis and come up with effective interventions. The article also finds that since mental health stigma occurs between the children and their peers, the interventions should focus on promoting healthy peer relationships and this will reduce stigmatizing attitudes. Thus, intervention should target vulnerable groups such as young people and minority group. There should be community and school-based intervention in order to educate the families, community members, as well as peers about the mental health condition.  

Reference

Heary, C., Hennessy, E., Swords, L., & Corrigan, P. (2017). Stigma towards Mental Health Problems

during Childhood and Adolescence: Theory, Research and Intervention Approaches. Journal of

Child & Family Studies, 26(11), 2949–2959. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0829-y

What is Frost and Hartl′s model, or the Cambridge Gambling Task?

            The Cambridge Gambling Task is a model that is developed for the purpose of assessing decision-making as well as risk-taking behaviors outside the learning context. In the process of using this model, pertinent information is ultimately presented to an individual’s “up-front”. This implies that there is no need of learning or retrieving such information through consecutive trials. On the other hand, what this implies is the fact that during the exercise, it is acknowledged that increased brain activation is one of the things that is found on the reward system as well as in the regions that enhances impulse control decision-making. During the losing stage, it is also acknowledged that brain activation is ultimately increased in regions that foster risk aversion as well as the management of uncertainties.

            In the process of using this model, it is clear that pathological gambling is one of the disorders that are taken into consideration. The reason for that is because it is one of the diseases that are always distinguished by recurring patterns of uncontrollable gambling behaviors which are linked with various psychosocial burdens. On the other hand, regardless of the increasing rate of co-morbidity, the established significance of the Cambridge Gambling Task takes into account reward based decision making. It is, therefore, important to understand the relationship that exists between risk taking behaviors and decision-making in an individual.

What functions to the mesial frontal, right polar or anterior cingulate do?

            The following are some of the main functions of the anterior congulate

1. a) Conflict monitoring and error detection – In conflict monitoring and error detection, anterior cingulate, it is realized that more competitive stimuli is the one that enhance its activation. The end result of this is that it makes an individual to respond effectively to the surrounding environment.
2. b) Social evaluation– according to research, the activities that transpires within this region is the ones that enhance error detection as well as other social processes. For instance, when an individual is exposed to recurring social evaluation tasks, he or she will have exhibited repetitive activation. It is this activities that have the ability of reflecting enhanced rumination regarding social evaluation and arousals that come as a result of repetitive social evaluation.
3. c) Reward based learning – In the process of detecting and monitoring errors, the anterior cingulate also aid in evaluating errors as well as suggesting the suitable action that ought to be implemented by the motor system. The reward that a person receives is the one that is also realized to have the ability of affecting its evaluation capabilities.
4. d) Controlling individual consciousness – the activities that the anterior cingulate handles are perceived to have the ability of correlating with conscious experience. For instance, it has been acknowledged that the activation of this region ultimately relies on the emotions of an individual, especially women. Therefore, efficient emotional awareness in an individual is an attribute that is linked with the recognition of the existing emotional targets or cues which in return reflects its activation.
5. e) Pain regulation – the anterior cingulate involves in registering physical pain which is always increased by signal intensity. Due to the fact that it is associated with controlling pain, it is also involved in registering the emotional reactions and the perception of the pain a person migh be experiencing.

Deductive and inductive reasoning

Response 1

It is correct to argue that common rules such as Pythagorean theorem were once based on inductive reasoning despite the fact that they are currently deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is responsible for coming up with a hypothesis that is tested. For example, looking at pairs of triangles that are different in size. Through inductive reasoning conclusions will be made, that the triangle that are similar in size have angles that measure the same, this will act as a hypothesis which will further be tested. Conclusions that are arrived at using inductive reasoning can be true or false but then inductive reasoning is the starting point in forming a correct conclusion (Alcocer, n.d).

Response 2

It is correct to say that an assessment is equal to the use of inductive reasoning. As assessment draws its conclusion from a generalized point of view and so does inductive reasoning an example is all tornados seen in the USA rotate clockwise therefore all tornados likely to occur will rotate clockwise. An assessment draws conclusion that are based on statistics and so does inductive reasoning for example 96% of tornados rotate clockwise therefore the next tornado will likely rotate clockwise. (Farnam Street, n.d). Inductive reasoning is a probability, and the chances of being right or wrong are equal, therefore, when inductive reasoning is used to come to a conclusion that is true it can be regarded as deductive reasoning and is another way of improving inductive reasoning (Alcocer, n.d).

Response 3

Deductive approach involves making specific conclusions from information. A researcher using deductive reasoning will use a top- down approach of using the data that has been gathered to come to a conclusion based on the analysis derived from the data. Inductive reasoning bits of data are gathered in order to reach a general conclusion. Mostly researchers using inductive reasoning uses bottom up approach to make conclusions. It is advisable to carry out scientific research that need specific conclusions using deductive reasoning, while it is advisable to use inductive reasoning to carryout historical research on a certain period. The type of reasoning depends on what is being researched and what the researcher is trying to achieve.

References

Farnam Street. (n.d). Deductive Vs Inductive Reasoning: Make Smarter Arguments, Better            Decision, And Stronger Conclusions. Retrieved from; https://fs.blog/2018/05/deductive-       inductive-reasoning/

Alcocer, Y. (n.d). inductive and deductive reasoning. Retrieved from;             https://study.com/academy/lesson/inductive-and-deductive-reasoning-in-geometry.html

Free will

             Free will is having control over choices and actions. People believe that free will is part of cultural life and it is crucial on how people interact with each other and how they view the world. In addition, free will exist due to the moral responsibility justification. Individuals believe that since they are morally responsible agents, they must have the free will or rather the ability to choose actions and be accountable and responsible for one's actions (McKenna & Pereboom, 2016).  Free will also allow individuals to make decisions in a reasoned manner and control their thoughts. If there would be no free will, people would lack self-control over their thoughts. They would not have alternatives to the decisions and they would not make reasoned choices.  People would be under the control of others and thus, they would suffer from loss of self-control and loss of reasoning (McKenna & Pereboom, 2016). Vincent, van, & Hoven,  (2011) argue that in free will, individuals need virtue responsibility, role responsibility, outcome responsibility, causal responsibility, capacity responsibility, and liability responsibility. These types of responsibilities mean that in free will, people are expected to hold the responsibility tracks capacity.

            Taking the ethical position, I believe that our actions may be beyond our control. Thus, I would like to introduce the word ‘determinism' and argue that individuals do not act freely.  This is because the universe is controlled by the natural laws and thus individuals not have free will.  People do not have control over anything including choices and decisions but rather, they act according to the laws of nature (McKenna & Pereboom, 2016). Thus, individuals actions are not free since they do not choose the actions and the consequences are not up to them. It is important to understand that ‘freedom’ is indefinite since people have political freedom,   freedom of speech, freedom of petition, among other freedoms. The kind of freedom that the paper is arguing about is the metaphysical freedom which encompasses the power to do one's activities (McKenna & Pereboom, 2016).People are not free to do something and thus, free will is just an illusion.  Another point is that if individuals do not have free will, they are not morally responsible. Note that to have a moral responsibility, individuals need to take their own desires and actions. However, nature does not allow individuals to have choices nor do they make decisions. They adhere to the law of nature and the actions are influenced by the determinate forces.

             Focusing on the free-will debate, I argue that all events are controlled by the universe and human freedom is an illusion.  Freedom and determinism is a debatable topic. Individuals regard themselves as free and responsible for their actions and this raise the debate on how individuals can control the inevitable events of the universe. The laws of the universe govern all things including human actions. Note that free will allows individuals to have alternative actions and take moral responsibility. Focusing on the law of the universe, individuals are not responsible for their actions since the actions are influenced by nature (McKenna & Pereboom, 2016).  Even though we cannot abandon the moral responsibility, it is important to consider the nature and existence. I feel that philosophers should study the topic of free will and determinism to evaluate whether generic and social conditions influence thoughts and actions or whether people have free will.  This will help individuals understand their actions; whether they are controlled by nature or whether they should responsible for their own actions.

 References

McKenna Michael., & Pereboom Derk (2016). Free Will: A Contemporary Introduction. Routledg

Vincent, N. A., van, . P. I., & Hoven, J. (2011). Moral Responsibility [recurso electrónico]: Beyond Free Will

and Determinism. Paises Bajos: Springer Netherlands.

Psychological aspects

            As far as individualism and collectivism affect the psychology of human being, interior architecture is much stronger. These terms are being used in wide range by people and have been given different elaborations. Collectivism is the social patterns comprising of individuals who have been closely attached. These individual have a feeling that they belong to one or more collectives like a nation, family, tribe and workmates. Those people get motivation from the duties and socio-cultural norms that have been implemented by the significant collectives. They usually have the interest of giving priority to the goals of the given collectives than their own. It emphasizes much on their connections with other people who are members of the collectives. On the other hand, the term individualism has been defined as a social pattern that is comprised of individuals attached together with links which are loose. These individuals are much concerned with their needs than those of the collectivity.  They emphasize on the benefits and shortcomings of associations. This paper shows that there are other dimensions that strongly affect the human beings psychologically. Human psychology is not only affected by individualism and collectivity but there are also dimensions which are much stronger.

            The previous studies show that individualism and collectivism are considered to be equal with relational versus separate self perception, communal versus assistant and interdependent versus independent. However, there is a perspective of evolution of culture that these concepts do not necessarily characterize gender and culture differences (Binder, 2018). In the society, an aspect like division of labor may lead to differences in terms of gender but cannot give an explanation on differences in terms of culture. There are also several cultural aspects that are not affected by individualism or collectivism. These include; the language, environment, economics, believes, institutions, recreation and art. In every culture there is a given factor that influence the way of living of the people. For example, both men and women have adopted the culture of covering their heads to minimize the amount of heat reaching them in the Middle East. This is because the desert nature of the area. In every culture, there are a set of beliefs that are perceived to be real. These can the religion, moral values or customs. There is a means of communication in every culture. This can be through spoken words or by use of symbols. There are institutional orders in every culture like church, school or family. In every culture, there is economical structure through which the resources are distributed for example trade, transportation, forms of currency and communication. Every society has got narratives and artifacts which try to explain about the origin and development of the existing culture and lastly every society has holidays and ways of entertainment meant as recreation (Binder, 2018).There had been a study conducted in five different cultures, namely; Korea, Australia, Hawaii, United States and Japan. From the study, it has been possible to see clearly that the cultural differences between the listed cultures are based mostly by the scope at which people feel like they are independent creatures while differences in gender have been captured by the range that people feel that they are related emotionally with significant others.       

            From previous literature, there has been the usage of parallel terms. These include; curiosity, egocentric, autonomous, self-individualism and self-contained (Triandis, 2018). There had been also use of interdependent construal of an individual as being holistic, geocentric, relational, collectiveness and ensemble. Other researchers like Kolb and Guold view individualism as someone having the urge to cultivate self after realizing whom they are not being much interested in personal pressure. There had been reports given by San Antonio and Gudykunst. The report had been saying that Japanese preferred group-oriented aspects rather than collectively. This is because collectivism had been encouraging dictatorship in the society. In their report there had been inclusion of some terms like inter-individualism. They brought out an argument that individualism is a dimension that had been encouraging selfishness in Japan hence had been viewing it as negative aspect in the society. This shows that this dimension is in one way or another favoring some individuals in the society by encouraging selfishness. Therefore, interior architecture dimension is far much better as much as human psychology is concerned. An individual here is much interested in other people needs in order to satisfy them. There is no interesting self benefit too much as seen in the individualism and collectivity dimension. An individual in architecture is interested in constructing houses in the environment in order to satisfy the needs of the occupants

            Individualism and collectivism affects the behavior of an individual. The way someone behaves is much determined by the fact that the society is a collectivist or an individualistic. It is true that depending on the nature of the society, an individual can be able to assume a certain behavior. It is easy for an individual from collectivistic society to give much in charity work because they tend to think that people in their culture are expecting them to do so (Triandis, 2018). It is also possible to get an individual from individualistic society being in the position of giving much to help others because they tend to believe that they are expected to show high levels of generosity and responsibility. Basing this dimension, there are studies that have shown that several psychologists have been trying to estimate the tendencies in the individualism and collectivism. They have been able to come with complexity of which it should be an inclusion in the constructs. The psychologists also had been able to emerge with several theoretical studies explaining why the individuals behave in individualism and collective manner as well as the effects of the behavior. Through the theoretical studies, the psychologists have been able to get the knowledge that people are both collectivists and individualistic. These tendencies have been linked with the health of the society and the state of the individual at optimum level. However, in interior architecture is very important as the difference in experience, psychological and physical states of individuals determines the manner in which one receives and perceives things generally. (Durante, Rivers, Beane & Chau, 2017) Shaping of one’s’ needs is determined by socioeconomic class, gender, different ambitions, culture, age, physical status and education level. One might feel like something is guided by oneself. It is not necessarily that an individual acts according to the requirements or expectations of the society. Here an individual is not driven by the societal; norms, beliefs or religion. There is the issue of self-drive. If someone meets a situation, there is no need to think about how the society will perceive their reaction or basing the actions strictly on the laws of the society. One has the freedom to do things so long as they feel they are substantial and not harmful to both self and the society. This dimension gives individuals freedom to act in the manner they feel to be pleasant. This appears to be better than individualism and collectivism because it gives people the freedom of action. On the other side, one is bound by the norms of the society and there is restriction to carry out some activities regardless of they being helpful. The act of giving also comes from within and not basing the cultural guidelines. The characteristics of an individual and the approach of interior architecture design engages the interaction between the condition of someone psychologically and the interior architecture. This argument therefore shows that interior architecture is far much significant as long as human psychology is concerned.

            According to individualism and collectivism, people are either independent or interdependent. This is a very important assumption in the culture. Culture involves the activities that happened in the past. It tries to bring knowledge to the lives of people concerning what had been happening in the past years. It sometimes enables people to compare the present activities with past. Through the information gotten from the cultural aspects, one is able to come up with new ideas which are utilized for betterment of tomorrow. For example, a tool inventor might narrate about the invention to their kids. Some other people may utilize the already existing ideas and put them into practice (Triandis, H. C. (2018). Memory is one of the tools that have been in use by the societies. Tools are an addition to culture considering other elements of culture like roles, norms, beliefs, values and attitudes. The presence of the assumption that people are linked together as interdependent into tight strong groups is elementary to collectivism.  Elementary to individualism is the assumption that people are independent agents and are not too much close to the significant collectives. In most of the times, it happens that there is organization of the features of subjective culture.

             Basing individualism, there is a theme of cultural syndrome whereby there is the idea of human beings being autonomous and at the same time being viewed as analytical units. In terms of collectivism, the theme expounds that analytical units are the groups where human beings are joined together. Triandis have been relying on the meaning of individualism explained by Gould and Kolb to bring an argument that collectivism entails; common shared believes in the group, emphasis on goals, needs and views of the group instead of personal ones, emphasis on the way individuals behave as judged by the duties and norms instead of personal gain or pleasure. There is also the willing power to unite with other group members. This dimension shows that it is not necessarily for the needs of every individual to be met. Individualism is trying to show that one is interested in personal needs and less concerned with the others. This encourages selfishness as the individual do not mind about the welfare of the rest of the people. One is motivated to ensure that personal needs are met in order to have a satisfactory life. However, interior architecture deals with programming where it tries to figure out the needs, come out a draft proposal and suggestion of a favorable site according to the needs and the location of the building. Behavioral science leans on determining how the living and the non-living things are being utilized depending on the societal needs (Durante, Rivers, Beane & Chau, 2017). Since some years back until today, there has been consideration of the architectural frames effects on psychological and mental state of humanity. Physical space basing on the traits of people’s behaviors is important so long as their reactions take place in given spaces. The architecture has a role in providing environments consisting of buildings in order to meet the needs of occupants psychologically. This dimension implies that one is much interested in meeting the needs of the society in general. This is particularly through organizing on the favorable sites to construct the buildings. These buildings are important to all the people as there is no discrimination of any manner hence anyone is the position of acquiring shelter. From the above argument, it is therefore clear that interior architecture is more important than individualism and collectivism.

Binder, C. C. (2018). Redistribution and the Individualism–Collectivism Dimension of Culture. Social Indicators Research, 1-18.

Durante, A., Rivers, E., Beane, G., & Chau, R. (2017, July). Understanding the Effect of Architectural and Environmental Features on Human Behavior. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (pp. 521-531). Springer, cham.

Triandis, H. C. (2018). Individualism and collectivism. Routledge.                                               

Supportive Versus Interpersonal Psychotherapy

            Psychotherapy is a term used to explain the process of engagement in which the participants bond to change therapeutic venture. There are two therapies that are used to treat disorders which are related to moods, namely; interpersonal and supportive psychotherapy. Interpersonal psychotherapy is usually meant to help the therapist know level that the patient is suffering as well as improving their relationships with other people and takes a short duration. This therapy is usually focused on treating the depressed patients who do not present with other medical conditions (Mulder, Boden, Carter, Luty & Joyce, 2017). It mainly focuses to bringing change in interpersonal relationships and improvement in terms of the symptoms. It also focuses on enabling the patient to deal with interpersonal discomforts through helping to refine their social help. Supportive psychotherapy on the other hand is a form treatment that focuses on empowering the functions of the mind that are in short-term or long-term unable to deal with the requirements of internal and external world (David, 2014). It focuses to give the patient the essential insufficient or absent psychological constituents. This therapy has been on use by patients who are suffering from eating and dependency disorder. The therapist is in the position to understand the mental functions that the patient is lacking and how they can be nourished or offered if they are absent. This paper is going to outline the similarities and differences of the two. It is also going to give an explanation on how the role of a counselor in mental health will be affected by their sameness and dissimilarity.

Similarities

            In both of the therapies, the therapist and the patient are expected to be active participants in order to come out with positive results. Both of the methods are applied to treat behavioral traits presented with by the patient (Robertson, 2012). The therapist is supposed to engage the patient in every week to facilitate faster healing in both of the therapies. Another way in which these therapies are similar is that they have been both given approval by the philosophers as impacting positively to the patients as well as being evidence-based. Both of the therapies are meant to treat the patient in order to improve their relationships with significant others. Lastly, both of the therapies are directed into enabling that the patient to establish proper brain functions, reassure and assist to patient to gain positive expectations with life (Wheeler, 2014).

Differences

            Interpersonal psychotherapy aims at enabling the patient to deal with interpersonal discomforts whereas supportive psychotherapy is meant to give the patient essential or the lacking psychological constituents. Interpersonal psychotherapy is meant for the patient who present with no other illness apart from depression while supportive psychotherapy mainly focuses on the psychotic patient (Scott &Michael, 2012). Another difference is that interpersonal psychotherapy takes a short period of time while supportive therapy may either be short-term or long-term depending on the presenting symptoms of the patient.

Supportive Psychotherapy and Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Daily Practice

            The choice of the type of method to be used will depend on the understanding of the therapist about the effectiveness of the methods. It will also depend with the nature of the client’s problem. Therefore, I would apply both methods but selectively depending on the nature of the conditions of the patients. On patients with interpersonal problems like depression, I would choose to use interpersonal method while for the psychotic patients, I would use supportive method.

Conclusion

            Interpersonal and supportive psychotherapy are two types used in treatment of the patients who have disturbed mental conditions. They have several similarities like participation of patient and therapist, application of both in treatment of treat behavioral traits and weekly engagement in the practice. They are different in that interpersonal psychotherapy aims at enabling the patient to deal with interpersonal discomforts whereas supportive psychotherapy is meant to give the patient essential or the lacking psychological constituents. Interpersonal psychotherapy is meant for the patient who present with no other illness apart from depression while supportive psychotherapy mainly focuses on the psychotic patient. They are both effective depending on the way they are applied by the therapist on the clients. What is important is that there is the need to comprehend both methods in order to utilize them effectively.

Reference

David S. Werman,2014,  Practice Of Supportive Psychotherapy ,Routledge

Mulder, R., Boden, J., Carter, J., Luty, S., & Joyce, P. (2017). Ten month outcome of cognitive    behavioural therapy v. interpersonal psychotherapy in patients with major depression: a            randomised trial of acute and maintenance psychotherapy. Psychological medicine,    47(14), 2540-2547.

Robertson, S. (2012). Interpersonal psychotherapy: A clinician's guide, 2nd Edition. London,

Edward Arnold (Oxford University Press), 2012

Scott stuart, Michael Robertson, 2012 Interpersonal Psychotherapy 2E A Clinician's Guide, CRC             press

Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A

how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company

 The weirdest thing that a person can meet in their life. Born with blue blood or wearing black lipstick on campus every day are some of the things that people win society would consider weird. Other than the weird nature of such tendencies, wearing black lipstick and having blue blood are some of the various features that may be considered as deviant behavior hence can bring out ethos and pathos (Miller 123). To be specific, being deviant can be separated to two different kinds including being and doing, so blue blood is being, and black lipstick is doing. According to Patrick Buchanan and John Curra, a hematologist from the University of Kentucky, deviance can be a seen not only in the things that people do but also through the traits that people are born with. In his paper, Being Deviant, John did a lot research on the topic of deviance. The author provides a definition of deviance, a matter of being or being doing. He further states many examples to show the behavior of deviance, which helps audience, understand the definition. According to John, being born with deviant traits is similar to choosing to be deviant. In addition, his research further demonstrate that deviance often has little to do with the person engaging in deviant acts because in most cases, these acts are only seen as deviance when judged by society.

Patrick Buchanan is a professor, political commentator and employs the use of ethos in some of his works. Before he wrote the book about deviance, he did a lot of research on this topic, combated with his background He was advisor to President Richard Nixon and hosted Crossfire show. From the information above, he has full confidence to write about various political topic because he has accomplished a great deal on this. According to courses that he taught, most of them are related to society (Miller 101). He cared about and focused on social problems, and through his own research, he also found social problems that led to these conclusions. Deviance is a hard topic to explain to readers, he used his own knowledge to recombine some stories and true examples in real life. In addition, he received some important awards, which can prove he has strength to make his writing more convincing. In this chapter, he used own words to explain the definition of the word deviance, and then used a research on a child with a blood disorder to spread out the topic. Deviance covers ordinary subject matters, applicable to an average person’s life. He contends that the minor decisions people make each day, build up character and ends up defining an individual’s destiny and finally shaping their future. This may sound usual or secondary but the authors gives it a new dimension and unique perspective hence a fully balanced picture of the situation.

Most of his works highlights the plight of the society and blood disorder. It also uses blue blood condition to introduce the reader to the meaning of the term deviant. The blood disorder makes the child deviant as he was borne with blue blood. After examination of blue blood condition by medical experts, the researchers found a sustainable solution to the condition. According to the author, people with the disorder had to take a pill each day for the effects of blue disorder to subsidize and for them to live a normal life frees from the effects of the disorder. To the residents of Kentucky, methylene blue fail to meet all the requirements of a disorder since it is common within the area (Fishman 159). Hence, it seems like a normal phenomenon but they were ignorant of the effects of the condition. Furthermore, the author utilizes ethos while discussing about intriguing stories. For example, Karle Chapman exemplifies engaging in deviant issues. The author narrates the story of a young woman who wears black lipstick at her elementary school, which is against the school rules and regulation governing the institution. The school principle warns the student multiple times but she holds her ground. Later, the school takes action against the girl faces disciplinary actions for her disobedience. Even after the punishment, she continues to put on the prohibited lipstick. At the end of the story, if the student had nature black lips, the principle would still find her deviant of the school rules and regulation but expelling the student would be difficult and uncalled for. More so, from the story, the reader can gather that the principle of the school thinks that wearing black lipstick is suitable at a school going age. More so, the principle prohibits black lipstick to distinguish her students from the rest of the academic institutions. The author notes that if the student had no option with the lipstick, then the elementary had no choice either.

The author uses logos to talk about interesting stories an example being his focus on what he refers to as Doubting Lips. The main character, Karle Chapman, is a good example of doing something deviant. The story tells audience about a girl who wears black lipstick at elementary story, which is not allowed, and continues to do so even after being cautioned by the principle (Fishman 155). The girl continues to use the shade of lipstick even after being suspended from school and this is when true deviance is seen. From this story, Karle is trying to go against the authority, she knows the story rules, but she chooses not to follow. She chooses this way to show the difference between her and other students in the elementary school. The principle of the school thinks this is not a right age for wearing discrediting lips color.  In  the event that a principles fails to take shape and suit application, one would not throw it out completely but gain favor on any similar aspect of the entire  standard gesture.

In terms of facial interpretation, some experts mentioned that Karle has a choice on what color of lipstick to use but the principle has no choice but to punish her for being deviant. Here readers can see that someone is choosing to be deviant but other has no choices. Another story is a baby born with blue skin (Hargreaves 345). The baby was born with blue blood because of the genes from his mother and therefore did not have any options in the matter. When he grows, he might be very sad why he is different from other people, but he cannot change it. This is possible lead to a very different life in the future for him. From the research, Curra demonstrates that deviance has more to do with opinions held by people in society rather than the type of actions a person engages in or the traits they are born with. The author gives a good example of the Fugate boy born with blue skin. Despite being a common occurrence in Kentucky, people still consider blue skin to be a deviance despite it having no effects on the individual or the people around him.

Similar to the act of being born deviant, choosing act of deviance is also mostly determined by what society deems normal and appropriate. In most scenarios, wearing black lipstick is considered a fashion choice and accepted society (Rubington 56). In However, when Karla Chapman wore the same shade of lipstick to school, she was suspended as it was seen as deviant behavior. While the same act is acceptable in society, it is treated as deviance by the principal on the belief that it distracts other students even if this is not what Karla intended. In conclusion, the author uses rhetorical appeals ethos, pathos and logos to persuade readers the facts, people who are born to be different to other people are seen like freaks, and they probably will not fit into their group. Nevertheless, some people set themselves apart in order to show that they are different from others or to fell that they belong to another group. Normal people will express and make different opinions about these two kinds of deviant people. Deviance is therefore not a matter of being or doing but rather what society classifies as deviance depending on personal opinions, experiences and other factors.

References

Fishman, Joel. "Bunkum as History: The Revisionist Quest for Lost Innocence." (2009): 153-161.

Hargreaves, David H., Stephen Hester, and Frank J. Mellor. Deviance in classrooms. Vol. 213. Routledge, 2011.

Miller, Eric C. "Patrick Joseph Buchanan, “Culture War Speech: Address To The Republican National Convention” (17 August 1992)." (2013).

Rubington, Earl, and Martin Weinberg. Deviance: The interactionist perspective. Routledge, 2015.

Ethics in psychology

Aristotle and Plato are considered to be among the most influential figures in the field of philosophy. Although they had similar philosophical concepts, their ideologies differed as Aristotle started to develop his own philosophical concepts. After being Plato’s students at the Academy, Aristotle started to venture into different areas of philosophy and science that his Teacher, Plato, had not given attention to and this could have attributed to their difference in opinions. While Aristotle’s philosophies had relevance, Plato’s philosophies had a more compelling argument as they offered a better understanding regarding what drives human decisions and actions.

            Like most philosophers, Aristotle and Plato sought to explain the role that happiness plays in guiding an individual’s moral compass. Happiness in this case was not a representation of people’s state of mind or the good human life and prosperity that people seek but rather the happiness brought about by achieving a state of virtue (Duignan 1). According to Aristotle, happiness could be achieved if people engaged in the right kind of actions aimed at bringing about happiness. He further argued that human beings employed reasoning when determining what actions would bring about happiness and therefore issues such as morals were determined by the actions that people considered to be human. Like Plato, Aristotle believe that the soul contributed to achieving a state of happiness (Duignan 1). However, the soul was not solely responsible as this happiness could only be achieved if the soul engaged in rational activities whose rationality was determined by the virtues that people held.

            Aristotle was of the opinion that; people were driven by intellectual virtues such as wisdom that brought understanding; and practical virtues like courage. The decisions that people made were therefore determined by these virtues as people sought to balance the practical and intellectual virtues (Duignan 1). In order to be happy and moral, people needed to cultivate these virtues over a duration of time as this was the only way to get the knowledge and understanding needed to discern right from wrong as well as attaining true happiness. Although Aristotle’s argument does make sense, it is less convincing compared to Plato as it does not explain how people are happy even when they engage in the wrong kinds of actions. The practical and intellectual virtues mean that people have the wisdom and understanding to know what the wrong kind of actions can do to other people and engaging such actions is immoral and therefore cannot bring happiness (Kontos, 227). However, Aristotle overlooked the negative actions that people engage in and therefore failed to account for the fact that people can be happy regardless of what virtues drive them.

            In contrast, Plato believed that morality was determined by the soul and that true happiness could be achieved if one understood how the soul works. In his moral philosophies, Plato was of the opinion that wisdom was the main virtue that tied all other virtues together and through it, people could discern moral actions from immoral ones (Duignan 1). Unlike Aristotle who believed that different virtues worked together to influence the soul into making decisions, Plato believed that wisdom was the only significant virtue as it brought understanding on how everything else works (Duignan 1). Aristotle’s error in regarding the virtues as different entities led to the misconceived idea that a person’s decision could determine what virtues one could possess and which remained out of reach. Plato however overcame this query by establishing wisdom as the only virtue needed to lead a happy and moral life. 

            In addition, Plato believed that a moral and happy person is one who has reached a point where the three parts that make up the soul are in harmony. The three parts comprised of reason, spirit and appetite and they all worked together to bring about what is good for the soul as well as ensuring that the soul, and therefore the individual, acted in a moral and ethical way (Duignan 1). The reason part of the soul, for example, only sought to achieve the human good as well as good in general. For this to occur however, the individual must have gone through a lot of training in relation to the dialectic disciplines as well as going through various educational programs to gain knowledge.

            Plato also had a better argument concerning ethics compared to Aristotle. Since Plato believed that knowledge was a virtue on its own, he associated acts of good with the assumption that only those that knew right from wrong would behave in an ethical manner (Leszl 8). In line with this argument, since knowledge could be taught, it then meant that a virtue could be learnt since knowledge was, according to Plato, a virtue. Aristotle on the other hand believed that knowledge was not enough because human actions were determined by both knowledge and the desire to do what was right. He therefore believed doing good was more of a habit formed over various decisions where an individual choses to act in a proper manner (Duignan 1). Therefore, Aristotle considered knowledge to be a goal that could only be achieved through effort and constantly choosing to do the right thing. His argument was however unsatisfactory especially because he believed that some virtues would be unattainable by people who did not form a continuous habit.

            The shortcoming in Aristotle’s argument that some virtues are unattainable to people that do not form a habit to do good is seen in the number of people who do wrong yet can still possess virtues. People who do not practise ethics for instance can possess other virtues such as knowledge and patience despite Aristotle’s assumption that such virtues would remain hidden (Duignan 1). There is the possibility that people with a habit of engaging in unethical acts can still possess virtues associated with ethical acts. Criminals for instance can exercise patience despite having lived a life of crime thus discrediting Aristotle’s argument about ethics.

            Plato on the other hand attributed virtues and ethics to the soul which controlled the functions of the body as well as making ethical decisions. He was of the opinion that the soul is eternal and originally exists out of the body. The soul is however aware, even out of the body and it prepares for the experiences when it is put into a body (Duignan 1). On its own, the soul is pure and therefore ethical and moral. However, its purity is reduced once it becomes part of the body because it is divided into three parts that have to respond to various factors among which are the desires of the body. As part of his argument, Plato compares the soul to a person in control of two horses, one which is generous and obeys the commands issued while the other is rebellious and does not follow instructions with the same ease (Duignan 1). Although free will can be used to criticize the argument about the soul being in control, Plato points out that knowing what is good involves input from free will and the decision to act on it ensures that, as much as the soul is in control, knowledge is used to determine what actions a person will engage in. It is this ability to counteract arguments against Plato’s arguments that make his ideology more convincing.

            Free will is a good example of what Plato means when he refers to the body as a hindrance to the soul. Plat believes that the soul is perfect on its own and would therefore always do the ethical and moral thing. However, when it becomes a part of the body, it has to account for issues such as free will and physical desires. The soul therefore pushes the individual to seek knowledge that will bring about the wisdom needed to discern right from wrong (Duignan 1). The knowledge helps people to know what is good and therefore ensures that the actions that people engage in are moral and just. Plato moves further to state that, while the soul strives to attain the outmost good, ignorance has the ability to prevent the development of knowledge. It is this ignorance that leads to the occurrence of vices in society.

            Both Plato and Aristotle make valid arguments regarding what drives people to discern right from wrong. Although they both attribute good morals and ethics to the quest for finding happiness and the intervention of the soul, they differ in regards to how the soul influences the attainment and utilization of knowledge. Out of the two arguments, Plato is more convincing as he not only makes his case but also counteracts most arguments questioning his belief. His ideology is more concrete and gives the best argument on what drives people to do the right thing.

References

Duignan, Brian, “Plato and Aristotle: How they differ” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018, retrieved             from, https://www.britannica.com/story/plato-and-aristotle-how-do-they-differ

Kontos, Pavlos, “Evil in Aristotle” Cambridge University Press, 2018

Leszl, Walter, “Plato’s attitude to poetry and the fine arts, and the origins of aesthetics” Open      Edition Journals, 2006, retrieved from,          https://journals.openedition.org/etudesplatoniciennes/997