Feminine Psychology: Hysteria

Feminine Psychology emphasizes the role of environmental and cultural factors in the development of neurosis. In her view, men and women were equal outside of the cultural limitations often placed on being female. Karen Horney, that biologically women and men were equal.

Male psychologists believed that women were inferior. The concept of hysteria emphasizes that males viewed women as weak, inferior, and susceptible to insanity. Hysteria is the concept of the “wandering uterus.” Male doctors believed that women who had paralysis in their arms or legs were the cause of the uterus disconnecting itself and moving around the body. Women were treated as inferior because they were susceptible to womb wandering.

However, that concept changed in a positive way for women psychologists like Karen Horney when “womb wandering” appeared in men who were in combat. To be less disgraceful, men who suffered from hysteria were said to be suffering from “shell shock.”

Horney also believed that Anatomy is not Destiny. Contrary to Sigmund Freud, the Oedipal Complex does not apply to most men and to no women. Penis envy, to her, was not really envying the penis in its literal sense, but envying men’s social status and role. She believes that there is something wrong with society and not women.
Misdiagnosis of women happens a lot in our society. Women today, even though we are supposedly equal, still get stereotyped. A woman is more likely to be diagnosed with depression than males. While this is a fact, there is another factor that is not taken into consideration. For women, it is okay to visit a therapist and seek help. Women talk and therapy is “the talking cure.” It is socially acceptable for women to express their emotions and feelings and seek support from others. For males on the other hand, they are supposed to not be emotional or expressive. They are manly, and don’t cry, and think emotions are women’s business. Males, even when depressed, do not seek help as often as females. Females have a greater chance of misdiagnosis because they express sadness, but not necessarily are always clinically depressed.

Carl Jung: The Collective Unconscious

Analytic Psychology was started by Carl Jung. His theory focuses on the personal experience and the forces and motivations of underlying human behavior. Jung’s Analytic Psychology deals the unconscious, the collective unconscious, and archetypes.

The collective unconscious is common experiences that connects everyone. According to Carl Jung, each person not only has their own unique unconscious mind, but also shares some elements of unconsciousness with all other people. He called this shared unconscious: the collective unconscious. Jung also suggested that there are archetypes (images and memories of important human experiences) that are passed down from generation to generation. These archetypes can be common designs, shapes, colors, and figures seen over and over again throughout time.
While Freud did not distinguish between an "individual psychology" and a "collective psychology," Jung distinguished the collective unconscious from the personal unconscious particular to each human being.

And no other theory has developed archetypes. Archetypes are defined as an inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience and present in the individual unconscious. Basically, archetypes are different models of stereotype of characteristics that every single person can identify with by having someone in their life represent that specific archetype. Some examples are the shadow, the self, the anima or the animus, the great mother, and the old wise man.

Karen Horney: Feminine Psychology

Karen Horney brought about Feminine Psychology. She disagreed with Freud’s view of women. She countered Freud's concept of penis envy with what she called Womb Envy, or man's envy of woman's ability to bear children. She argued that men compensate for this inability by striving for achievement and success in other realms.

Horney was also known for her study of neurotic personality. She defined neurosis as a maladaptive and counterproductive way of dealing with relationships. These people are unhappy and desperately seek out relationships in order to feel good abut themselves. Their way of securing these relationships include projections of their own insecurity and neediness which eventually drives others away.

Horney also developed three Neurotic Coping Strategies. Her first neurotic coping strategy is Moving Towards people. These people are compliantly neurotic. Some children who feel a great deal of anxiety and helplessness move toward people in order to seek help and acceptance. They are striving to feel worthy and can believe the only way to gain this is through the acceptance of others. These people have an intense need to be liked, involved, important, and appreciated. So much so, that they will often fall in love quickly or feel an artificial but very strong attachment to people they may not know well. Their attempts to make that person love them creates a clinginess and neediness that much more often than not results in the other person leaving the relationship. Their neurotic solution is “If everyone likes me, then no one will want to hurt me.” Or one could be Moving Against people. These people are power hungry and crave social recognition and prestige. Another way to deal with insecurities and anxiety is to try to force your power onto others in hopes of feeling good about yourself. Those with this personality style come across as bossy, demanding, selfish, and even cruel. Horney argued that these people project their own hostilities (which she called externalization) onto others and therefore use this as a justification to 'get them before they get me. Once again, relationships appear doomed from the beginning. Their neurotic solution is, “If I have power over everyone, than no one can hurt me.” And finally one could be Moving Away from people. This type of people likes independence and Isolation. The final possible consequence of a neurotic household is a personality style filled with asocial behavior and almost an indifference to others. If they don't get involved with others, they can't be hurt by them. While it protects them from emotional pain of relationships, it also keeps away all positive aspects of relationships. It leaves them feeling alone and empty. Their neurotic solution is, “If I don’t let anyone close to me than no one can hurt me."

Alfred Adler: Birthing Order & Fictional Finalism

Alfred Adler’s theory of Individual Psychology focuses on the social side of life. Alfred’s theory deals with the three Universal Tasks that he believes are familiar to everyone in every society. (1) The occupational task which excludes choosing a vocation which is useful to society. (2) Social tasks are next which include choosing a niche in society. And lastly (3) love tasks.

Adler’s theory differentiates between the concepts of striving for superiority and striving for success. According to Adler, Striving for Success (striving for one’s own personal achievement) is healthy. However, Striving for Superiority (striving to be better than others and measure your own success by comparing yourself to others) is neurotic. Adler also states that the more social interest one has the healthier they are and that friendship is not quantitative but qualitative. Social Interest is supposedly innate and moms and dads develop the skills for socialization.
An Inferiority Complex is the idea that a feeling of organ inferiority early in life can lead to feelings of intellect inferiority and can even lead people to compensate (in mostly negative ways) for feelings of inferiority.

Fictional Finalism (1) stands at the center of my existence, (2) is fictional, and (3) helps us to navigate the obstacles of existence. When I was younger, I wanted to be a model and an actress. I am fulfilling my Fictional Finalism by becoming a teacher because I get to be watched and show my personality to an audience!
Alder also touched up Life Styles (how you gain success or superiority) is determined by (1) Fictional Finalism and (2) the environment I was raised in.

Alder, however, is most known for his work with Family Constellations and how they affect lifestyle. Birth Order is a major factor in the behavior of the individual. The Only Child birth is a miracle. Parents have no previous experience. Only children love being the center of adult attention. However, they often have difficulty sharing with peers. Only children prefer adult company and uses adult language. They like attention from both parents. They are usually over-protected and spoiled. The Youngest Child has many “mothers” and “fathers.” Older children try to educate them. The youngest child is never dethroned. Many youngest children have huge plans that never work out. They have the privilege of always being the "baby" of the family. Youngest children, like the only child are frequently spoiled as well. Then, sandwiched is the Middle Child. The Middle child may feel shafted out of a position of privilege and significance. They are usually even-tempered with a "take it or leave it" manner. However, they may have trouble finding a place or even become a fighter of unfairness. The Oldest Child is usually dethroned by next child born. The oldest has to learn to share everything. Parent expectations are usually very high for their first born. They are often given greater responsibility than their siblings and are most-likely expected to set a good example. Also, the oldest child is more likely to have a successful marriage. And, in the case of Twins, one is usually stronger or more active. Parents may tend to see the more mature one as older. Twins sometimes can suffer from identity problems.

Sigmund Freud: Defense Mechanisms

Pioneered by neurologist Sigmund Freud, Psychoanalysis is a method of psychological therapy in which “the talking cure” (having cathartic release through emotion in words). Major contributions of Freud include free association (freely talking about what ever comes to mind), dream interpretation (what the underlying meaning of dreams is), psychosexual stages, the unconscious (what we are not aware of), defense mechanisms, psychic structures (i.e. id, ego, and superego).

According to Freud, humans have three main components to their personality. The id, ego, and superego cause us to behave the way we do and make us who we are. The id ego and superego are like an iceberg; the ego sits at the top of the iceberg half in the conscious and half in the preconscious. The superego is barely conscious and mostly preconscious and the id is completely unconscious.

The first component is the Id. The id is guided by the pleasure principal and is the part of the human personality that is made up of inborn biological urges. The id seeks immediate gratification; it wants everything and it wants it now. The Id is like a new born baby; when it is hungry it wants to be fed that second; when it needs to be changed, it screams until it gets changed right away.

The Ego is the part of personality that helps us deal with reality by having the ego mediate between the id and the superego. The ego prevents us from acting on every urge we have (produced by the id) and being so morally driven that we can't function properly. The ego works according to the reality principle which helps us direct our unacceptable sexual and aggressive urges to more acceptable targets. The ego is like a person with a devil and an angel sitting on their shoulder. The id is telling that he is hungry and should steal the pizza from the guy sitting next to him. The superego is telling the ego that stealing is wrong and that he should starve to death before committing a sin. The ego has to deal with both urges from the id and superego and possibly decide to delay immediate gratification to the id and somewhat please the superego by traveling to a restaurant and purchasing a piece of pizza.

The Superego acts as our moral guide and mediates between the id and the ego. The superego contains the conscience, which makes us feel guilty for doing or thinking something wrong and good when we do something right. It tells us that we feel good when we hold a door open for a lady at Harper that has a back pack that rolls and that it is bad to kick it over as revenge when it almost trips us!

Freud believed there to be five stages of Psychosexual Development: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latent and Genital. At each of these stages, pleasure is focused on a particular part of the body.

First, The Oral Stage is the psychosexual stage of development where pleasure is centered in and around the mouth. The oral stage is the initial stage of development. This stage is when infants will be found putting anything into their mouth including toys and thumbs. Next, The Anal Stage is one of the stages in Freud’s psychosexual theory of development, which occurs in the second year of life. During this stage, the anus becomes the focus of sexual gratification. This occurs because the child finds sexual pleasure in the sensations that come with having or withholding bowel movements. Then, The Phallic Stage of development is where pleasure is centered around the genital region. The third stage of development and usually is between ages three and seven. It is this stage where the child learns that there is a difference between girls and boys. Then, The Latency Stage is the fourth stage and it occurs from about age five or six until puberty. During The Latency Stage, a child's sexual impulses are repressed. The reason for this is that during the stage before latency (phallic stage) the child resolves the Oedipus or Electra Complex which are such traumatic events that the child then repress all of his or her sexual impulses. Interestingly, because this stage contains little or no psychosexual development. And lastly, The Genital Stage is the final stage in Freud's theory of psychosexual development and begins in puberty. During this stage, the teenager has overcome latency, made associations with one gender or the other, and now seeks out pleasure through sexual contact with others. The sexual contact is now focused on the opposite sex of similar age; the pleasure is now through actual physical stimulation of the genitals by the opposite sex. Too much or too little pleasure in any one of these stages caused a fixation which would lead to personality or psychological disorders.
When anxiety materializes, the mind first behaves by a surge in problem-solving thinking, searching for rational ways of eluding the situation. When / if this is not
beneficial, an assortment of Defense Mechanisms may be triggered.

Displacement whereby the mind redirects affect from an object felt to be dangerous to an object felt to be safe. For instance, if my boss yells at me at work, I will not punch him…instead I will displace my anger into something less dangerous like kicking my dog Zoey or punching a pillow.

Projection is one of the defense mechanisms identified by Freud and still acknowledged today. According to Freud, projection is when someone is threatened by or afraid of their own impulses so they attribute these impulses to someone else. Great example: my boyfriend Daniel is laziest person I know. He waits until the day before an exam to start studying, he scrambles at the last minute to get his homework done for Western History, and he is so unorganized, that even if he does complete his homework, he is lucky to find it and hand it in on time. Now, Daniel is not as bad as I am at procrastinating and organization but I always point out his flaws instead of my own.

Rationalization is a defense mechanism identified by Freud. According to Freud when people are not able to deal with the reasons they behave in particular ways, they protect themselves by creating self-justifying explanations for their behaviors. For instance, I know I forgot to call Sadie, but I only didn’t call because I thought she didn’t want me too…that is why I forgot.

Reaction Formation A defense mechanism where an individual acts in a manner opposite from his or her unconscious beliefs. If I was raised believing that homosexuality is wrong and one day I am walking and considering what it would be like to be homosexual I would find it repulsive and believe that gays should be shot.

Regression is another one of the defense mechanisms identified by Freud. According to Freud there are times when people are faced with situations that are so anxiety provoking that they can't deal with it and they protect themselves by retreating to an earlier stage of development. For example, if I am told by my mom to clean my room and I have had a bad day at school and I feel cleaning my room will evoke anxiety because I might stumble across more homework that I haven’t done even though I know I am behind in my work…I regress to how I behaved when I was little and told to clean my room like having a tantrum or throwing my remote against the wall.
Repression is when memories, impulses, desires, and thoughts that are too difficult or unacceptable to deal with are unconsciously excluding them from our consciousness. If a child was sexually molested by her grandfather, the thought might be too much for her mind to handle at this point in her life, so the situation and memories are repressed into a part of the mind that is not accessible until she is at a point in her life that is stable and she is mature enough to handle the repressed memories.

We Are Worm Food: Victor Frankl

Victor Frankl invented Logotherapy. Logotherapy is “therapy through meaning.” By making misery meaningful, the healing process can begin. Logotherapy aids in meaning crises mainly with feelings of aimlessness. An example is if I was in a car crash and my best friend died, I might question why I she died and not me. By using Logotherapy, I might learn that I was sparing my friend the pain that I was feeling about her death. If I had died she would feel the same terribleness and sadness that I felt. Therefore, my sadness has meaning for good. Like Maslow, Frankl also believed that Self-Actualization…However, Frankl believed that Self-Actualization was a side affect when one discovered what their purpose in the world is.
The Triad of Concepts has three pillars like Zen Buddhism. The three pillars of Human Existence are (1) Freedom of Will; we are free to choose out psychological stance toward life, (2) Will toward meaning is our deepest motivation, and (3) Meaning of life is unique and specific to each individual. The three modes by which meaning is generated are (1) Creative: what one gives to the world, (2) Experiential: Experience that you take from the world and (3) Attitude. The Tragic Triad consists of (1) Guilt: How do we cope with our unavoidable and unchangeable past. (2) Pain: Body starts falling apart…Fear makes the pain intolerable and (3) Death: We are worm food.

Carl Rogers: Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic Psychologist Carl Rogers concocted the idea of a Phenomenal Field, which is the totality of an individual’s subjective experiences. Inside one’s Phenomenal Field are parents, pets, loved ones, friends, significant others, college memories, great achievements, and even select to day-to-day experiences. Inside my Phenomenal Field, one would find: my boyfriend Daniel, my mother and father, the yearbook award I won my senior year for being editor-in-chief, my plaque for 4 years of dedication to the Hersey Speech team, my Grandma Gretel, and my dogs Zoë and Sadie. Along with those memories are acceptance to Roosevelt, and admissions into the Honors Program and PTK. All those people, awards, and accomplishments are just a few of the things I pride myself in and would be found in my Phenomenal Field. The thought process behind Rogers’ method was, as a therapist, Rogers would have to become immersed within the client’s Phenomenal Field; put himself in their shoes so to say, and get their perspectives along with past experiences in order to fully comprehend their being.

Rogers later went on to coin the term self-concept. The self-concept is a conscious awareness of one’s personal identity; it is also a portion of the Phenomenal Field. The self-concept is the (1) value of one’s own personal experiences and (2) what is assimilated or taken over from another. An example of valuing my own personal experiences would be my love for public speaking which I did for 4 year on Speech Team and later realizing that I wanted to be a teacher and public speak the rest of my life (despite the fact my parents wanted me to be a doctor)! An example of taking something from another person is my friend Melissa; she is really into show tunes and therefore after being exposed to that particular type of music for so long, I began to like show tunes as well.

The most superlative difference that Rogers explored was the concept of congruence vs. incongruence. Rogers stated that the personality is like a triangle made up of the real self, the perceived self, and ideal self. According to Rogers, when there is a good fit between all three components, the person has congruence. This is a healthy state of being and helps people continue to progress toward self-actualization; having a self-concept and behavior that matches. Incongruence is having a self-concept and behavior that does not match. One maintains incongruence by (1) denial of experiences, (2) distortion of experiences, and (3) subception (or subliminal perception). Incongruence leads to anxiety; the greater the incongruence, the greater the anxiety. Rogers went on to list four basic needs, which determine whether one becomes congruent or incongruent. The 4 basic needs according to Rogers are (1) maintenance (food clothing, shelter), (2) enhancement (growth and development), (3) Unconditional Positive Regard, and (4) Positive Self Regard. If these four basic needs are met, a person will become congruent.

Now, numbers 1 and 2 of the four basic needs are simple enough. But, what exactly are Unconditional Positive Regard and Positive Self Regard? Unconditional Positive Regard is an if / then statement. An example is “if you do your homework, then I will love you.” Conditional Self Regard is Unconditional Positive Regards evil nemesis. A child brought up in a family that utilized Unconditional Positive Regard would hear such phrases as “I love you, however, I don’t love your actions.” The child would be taught that their behavior is bad and that they are loved. A congruent individual will age to be a fully functioning person. A fully functioning person has the characteristics of (1) openness to experience, (2) existential living, (3) creativity, and (4) genuineness, congruence, and authenticity. Genuineness is a person who shares intimated details willingly, is non-defensive, and is perceived as not playing a role or not a plastic person.

The therapeutic approach for Psychotherapy Rogers used was Client-Centered Therapy. Rogers did not entitle his therapy “Patient”-Centered Therapy because of the power difference. In Client-Centered Therapy, it is the responsibility of the client to figure out what is wrong and make the changes. With the word “patient” in the title, it alludes to the notion that the therapist has the power and authority to “fix” the broken patient. Rogers employed three conditions that were necessary for therapeutic change. His three conditions were (1) empathy / empathetic listening, (2) acceptance (UPR), and (3) authenticity (the therapist must be almost congruent).

Rogers’ theory also taught me who I want to be: not my parents. When I bring a child into this world, I do not want to love them only if they clean their room, or only if they get the grades, or only if they have friends that I approve of. I want to love them because they are. I want to give my children Unconditional Positive Regard and not leave them to find Positive Self Regard on their own after years of feeling worthless. I want to teach them the difference between hating them and hating their behaviors.

Practical Play Mates: Toys for the Developing Child

Simple reflexes occur in babies from 0-2 months of age and focuses on activities such as grasping and sucking. A toy that is well suited to stimulate the Simple Reflexes stage is Baby Gymtastics 3-in-1 Rockin' Gym by Fisher Price costing $49.99. Baby Gymtastics 3-in-1 Rockin’ Gym is a floor gym, a musical rocker, and take-along musical fun - all in one! Overhead gym plays music to an entertaining light show, with movable toys to reach and bat. This product easily converts to a ride-on rocker, rewarding movement with lively, energetic music with dancing lights. A parent can create an assortment of active and entertaining adventures. This toy is versatile and can change and be rearranged in a way that's just right for your baby's stage of physical development, keeping the play fresh and exciting every time!

First habits and Primary Circular Reactions occur from 2-4 months and reflexive behaviors transpire in stereotyped repetition such as opening and closing fingers repetitively. For $19.99, I found a baby hoops game that magically rewards babies for ball-drop play. For the sitting baby the hoop sways on a roly-poly base. As baby tosses one of the 3 soft balls through the hoop, 1 of 3 lively tunes plays while the 2 colored lights dance. The balls swirl around in the base. For the crawling or walking baby, the base flips over to allow the balls to roll free following each "score," encouraging baby to crawl. Built-in activities include a twirling cheetah character on one arm and 2 roller beads on the other.

Secondary Circular Reactions ranges from 4-8 months of age. T.M.X." Elmo will tickle America's funny bone with three interactive tickle spots on his chin, tummy and toe. When kids tickle Elmo once on any of the tickle spots, he starts to laugh and slap his leg twice, then falls down into a sitting position and rocks himself back up to standing while laughing. When they tickle him a second time, he repeats the pattern even more, then sits down again and falls backwards onto his back and starts kicking his feet while laughing even harder. He then stands back up and asks to be tickled again. And on the third tickle he absolutely lets loose going through the first two patterns and then rolling over onto his tummy where he starts hitting the floor with his hand in gales of laughter, then rolling onto his back, standing up again, and ending with a deep sigh.

Coordination of Secondary Reactions lasts from 8-12 months of age Sale $21.95 instead of $24.95. The toy that I believe suites this developmental stage is Peek A Boo! Monkey Jack in a Box. This unique Jack in the Box features a colorful monkey who has a special surprise! Magnets in his hands allow him to play Peek-a-boo with you.
Tertiary Circular Reactions novelty and curiosity ranges from 12-18 months of age. This Unit Blocks 45 Piece Set is $74.99. Our European quality unit blocks are made to resist dents and dings. You'll notice the difference. Our blocks are finely sanded and rounded to eliminate any sharp edges, and are splinter-free to protect tender young hands. All our blocks are guaranteed for life.

Internalization of schemes lasts from about 18-24 months of age. Adults and children can create a read-along Sesame Street® book with your child as the star! Nothing will engage your toddler or preschooler more in letter, name or word recognition than this Sesame and Me story where your child appears alongside his or her favorite Sesame Street® characters!

Hospice Care

A hospice is a facility where patients go if their illness is terminal. A person opts to go to a hospice to make the transition to death more easily. The staff at a hospice assists the patient’s passing by making its goals for the patient to be as free of pain as possible, as small amount of anxiety as they can, and try to make it free of depression. They want this experience to be as comfortable an experience as it can be. Hospices are not there to treat a person or try to cure them but to help them pass on.

Americans: Avoidence and Denying Death

Americans avoid death and dying because of its vagueness. No one really knows what happens after we pass on, but there are theories about what happens to the soul when the body is not longer living. Most of the time, when a close loved one dies, the first reaction is to move on with life. But what one doesn’t realize is the pain of the lost love one never really goes away. One has to learn to deal with the absence and continue on. In some cultures, they respect the dead more than we do and instead of burring them in a cemetery (which American and Europeans consider to be a freighting place because for the most part we are scared of the dead and their spirits), some cultures bury the close to their homes and in their back yards. Other, on special occasions, because they believe the dead still partake in the happenings of the living will set a place at the table for them for special occasions like weddings or celebrations.

Peck: Three Developmental Tasks for Older Adults

Pecks three developmental tasks for older adults are (1) differentiation versus role preoccupation, (2) body transcendence verses preoccupation, and (3) ego transcendence versus ego preoccupation. Differentiation versus role preoccupation deals with retirement. Older adults must redefine their worth in terms other than work roles. Most define themselves by their occupations. I am going to be a teacher so when people ask about myself I would be very proud of all the schooling I endured, the degrees I earned, and the employment of being a teacher. What Peck is saying is that once retirement sets in one has to find a new way of defining themselves like “I am a mother of two,” “I am a wife,” “I am the greatest grandmother alive!” Then body transcendence verses preoccupation deals with the fact that older adults must cope with declining physical well-being. One has to realize that if you were an Olympic gymnast, a cross country runner, or even a bowler, that as you age you aren’t able to do the same activities as you could in earlier life. One might have to take up swimming if gymnastics is too stressful on their bones. And finally, ego transcendence versus ego preoccupation is the concept that death is inevitable. Then one must assess what they have contributed to the future through vocation, children, and ideas and look at it in a positive way. They might look at it as “life wasn’t meaningless; I married I raised 3 beautiful children who have grandchildren and I made that possible and my memory and love will live on in them and they will have ideas and ways to change the world themselves.”

Secular & Psychological Needs Met by Religion

The psychological needs and secular needs met by religion are that having something to believe in makes the concept of life less anxiety-filled. Believing that there is a part of you that lives on after death eases the mind. On a social level, religion brings us closer together giving us a commonality. No matter what our sect is…whether we are monotheistic, polytheistic, or agnostic…we have a commonality that we believe in something greater than us and beyond this world that is unexplainable.

The “Big Five” Personality Traits

The Big Five are (1) openness to experience, (2) conscientiousness, (3) extraversion, (3) agreeableness (5) emotional stability. These 5 also know as the acronym OCEAN are described as important factors of personality. The results were that social dominance increased from adolescence through middle adulthood which social vitality increased in adolescences and then decreased in early and late adulthood. Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase in early and middle adulthood. Neuroticism decreased in early adulthood and openness-to-experiences increased in adolescence and early adulthood and then decreased in late adulthood.

Microbiological and Macrobiological Theories of Aging

Microbiological and macrobiological theories of aging include (1) hormonal stress theory, (2) mitochondrial theory, (3) free radial theory, (4) cellular clock theory. The hormonal stress theory is the theory that aging in the body’s hormonal system can lower resilience to stress and increase the likely-hood of diseases. The mitochondrial theory is the theory that aging is cause by the decay of mitochondria which are tiny cellular bodies that supply energy for growth and repair. Thirdly is the free radial theory which is a microbiological theory of aging that states that people age because inside their cells normal metabolism produces unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals. These molecules ricochet around inside cells damaging DNA and other cellular structures. And finally the cellular clock theory which was founded by Leonard Hayflick states that the maximum number of times that human cells can divide is about 75 to 80 times, and as we age, our cells have less capability to divide.

Alzheimer’s Disease & Infarct Dementia

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder characterized by a gradual (1) deterioration of memory, (2) reasoning, (3) language, and (4) physical functioning. However, Multi-infarct dementia is a sporadic and progressive loss of intellectual functioning by repeated temporary obstruction of blood flow in the cerebral arteries. Namenda (memantine HCl) is an effective Alzheimer's medication for the treatment of moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease with proven benefits in memory, daily activities, and behavior. Depending on the cause of the dementia, there are different treatments available. For example if the cause of dementia were severe hypothyroidism, the treatment would be thyroid hormone replacement.

How Might Love Change during Middle Adulthood

Love changes from the sexual physical attraction and semi-lustful stage to a more settled down team that works together to create a family. There is partnership in raising the children, supporting each other during hard family and friends situations including death of loved ones, and being an active listener and best friend moving away from the beginning lustful stages. Usually a large portion of those divorcées go through what is called Empty Nest Syndrome refers to feelings of depression, sadness, and / or grief experienced by parents after children coming of age leave their childhood homes. This may occur when children leave home to attend college or to get married. The parents are left without a common bond to hold them together like raising the children and may then realize how unhappy their marriage is and without those children to hold them together, they will divorce and find someone who can bring them that happiness that is lacking.

Kubler-Ross (5 stages)

Kubler-Ross’s five stages of dying for those individuals who are facing a terminal illness are (Shock) Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. The process is the same for those who are experiencing the death of a loved one. Take this scenario: The principal calls you into her office. There are two policemen there and she tells you to have a seat. She then informs you that your parents were both killed in a car crash. The first thing that goes through your mind is shock. Next comes denial, “No it couldn’t be my parents, they were supposed to be home all day babysitting Kate…there must be some mistake.” Then comes the anger whether it is toward them or toward yourself. “Why were they out driving trying to get my stupid glue that I needed for my science project?! Couldn’t they wait until I got home from school?” Then comes bargaining…”Maybe if I get home right away I can identify the body and it will all just be a big mistake” she says giving herself false hope. Then comes depression…”I miss them,” “life won’t be the same without them,” and “who will walk me down the isle at my wedding…I am an orphan…” And eventually with time acceptance will come but the sadness and memory will never completely leave.

Sexually Arousing: The Penile Plethysmograph

In Czechoslovakia during the 1950s, Kurt Freund developed the penile plethysmograph (PPG) to stop drafters from falsifying that they were homosexuals to evade military service. The penile plethysmograph is a device that gauges blood course within the penis when being exposed to image stimuli. This tool determines the intensity of sexual arousal while the subject is subjected to sexually evocative photos, movies, or audio. When the penile plethysmograph was first invented, it used pornographic photos to illicit a response; however, nowadays it is more common to use non-pornographic stimuli in order to “[shift] the focus to the general arousal patterns rather than a specific arousal point” (Wikipedia). Over time, the penile plethysmograph has found many uses such as screening in regards to erectile dysfunction, psychological experiments, law enforcement, and could possibly become a reliable technique for finding pedophilia potential.

Of the many purposes of the PPG, one is in screening organic versus psychogenic erectile dysfunction (Wikpedia). Virilplant defines erectile dysfunction as “the inability of the male to obtain and or maintain penile erection sufficient for…penetration.” According to WebMeds, “it is estimated that 10 to 20 million men suffer [from] erectile dysfunction in the United States. Erectile dysfunction can generally be categorized as organic or psychological. Organic dysfunction means that the problem lies within physiology—whereas psychological erectile dysfunction means that the body is functioning normal but the mind is hindering normal function whether it is because of perhaps anxiety or depression. While both are classified as erectile dysfunction, the causes for the sexual disorder are polar opposite. The penile plethysmograph, by bombarding the affected with images, can tell whether which causes are mind or body related by how much blood enters the penis, if images illicit a sexual response, how long the engorgement lasts, and whether fetishes or sexual orientation are the cause of their inability to maintain an erection. Since the treatment is completely different depending on which cause for the disorder one possesses, the penile plethysmograph is an important tool to doctors and psychologists.

Another function of penile plethysmography is in psychological experiments. For the most part when using classical conditioning, the behavioral psychologist can see or measure the results of his or her conditioning through response. For example, when Skinner conditioned a child to fear a white rabbit, the response was seen: fear. When Pavlov conditioned a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell, the response was able to be measured through a device attached to the dog’s mouth. In regards to sexual conditioning, there was no way to gauge or precisely measure what was conditioned. In a recent experiment, subjects were conditioned to demonstrate sexual arousal in reaction to images of shoes. This was accomplished by presenting images of the shoes which were preceded by photos of naked women. With the invention of the penile plethysmograph, it is now possible for psychologists to expand their methods of measuring and data collection. Instead of utilizing a survey or Likert scale, measurements can now be taken that are not as biased or subjective which opens a new door to the future of Psychology.

Also, the PPG is utilized in law enforcement. Wikipedia makes the distinction that “the penile plethysmograph is not intended to be used as a guilt or innocence tool, but rather as a supplemental device to add to a complete psychosexual evaluation.” There are two major methods to gage erectile responses. One can measure the volume changes in the penis or one can monitor differences in penile circumference. Measuring penile circumference is the most accepted practice in the psychiatric/psychological communities. When using the penile plythsmograph, “the gauge is fitted around the penis after being examined to ensure proper functioning” (ForensicEvidence.com). Then, when the device is in place, a baseline level of arousal is determined. Visual and Auditory stimuli are presented and the increase in circumference is recorded. The first time the penile plethysmograph caught attention from the public was in December 2003 with the trial of basketball star Kobe Bryant (CNN.com). Kobe Bryant was charged with sexual assault and the state of Colorado would require evaluations with the penile plethysmograph following Bryant’s conviction (Wikipedia). So, law enforcement has found use in the penile plethysmograph in finding progress after conviction to gauge progress in therapy and mindset.

And now with the uprising of pedophiles selecting jobs in the churches, school districts, and after school activities in the community, the penile plethysmograph would be a great screening technique. Using the John Jay Report, it was found that accusations were raised against a total of 4,392 priests between the years 1950 and 2002 (Wikipedia). This statistic does not include the many other accused pedophiles found in school districts and after school activities. Ultimately “penile plethysmography is a test utilized to make subjective determinations about an individual's psychological condition with regard to certain sexual disorders and deviant behavior in the male” which would make an accurate device for screening potential pedophilia. This device has “been used in many states when evaluating convicted sex offenders” (Wikipedia) so why not require it for those who seek jobs relating to children. In regards to biases with the test toward males, “[an] equivalent procedure for women, vaginal photoplethysmography, measures blood through the walls of the vagina, which researchers claim increases during sexual arousal” (Wikipedia). A penile plethysmograph is a biological lie detector, and while tests are not 100% foolproof, the institution of the PPG would bring about a decrease in child molestation within communities.

However, there are still some flaws to be worked out in the test before it could be concrete enough to be considered valid to keep certain people that fail the PPG out of the jobs related to children. Before the test could be implemented there would have to be standardization for the test. As of today, those giving the test can choose their own pictures and audio stimuli for the specific cases. There would have to be a devised set of stimuli that would be a constant for all test takers. Also critics argue that some can control their arousal levels, however, the PPG is so precise that it can detect arousal that even the patient can not detect. These two kinks are being dealt with now so screening for potential pedophiles in somewhere in the near future.

Female Circumcision Video

I found this very interesting to watch regarding African beliefs for continuing their practices. Don't worry there are no graphic scenes...only interviews with the females of the tribe in regards to the meaning behind female circumcision.

The Addicted Brain: 10 Things You Never Knew

Ψ There are one-hundred billion brain cell neurons that make up each person.

Ψ In order for neurons to communicate, they must travel across the space between each neuron known as the synaptic gap.

Ψ Natural endogenous opiates that the body produces are called endorphins which produce “runner’s high.”

Ψ After runners are accustomed to a routine of running everyday, one can actually have symptoms of withdrawal when one misses a day or two of running because their bodies crave natural endorphins.

Ψ In a study where rats were given electrical cell stimulation for sticking their nose through a hole, the rats preferred the brain’s reaction to the electrical cell stimulation over food.

Ψ Through Operant Conditioning, brain cells can be trained to “burst” more often when rewarded with cocaine indicating that the cell is addicted.

Ψ There is such a thing as “Sensation Seekers” and they need more stimulation than normal people to get the same “high” through endorphins. These types of people like experiences that include riding roller coasters, sky diving, running with the bulls, and bungee jumping.

Ψ Bi-polar Disorder can actually be seen on a PET scan.

Ψ Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), when it first emerged, was thought to be caused by demon possession.

Ψ In the study done by Michael Maguire, dominant male monkeys had twice as much serotonin as the non-dominant male monkeys and this study also proved accurate when examining college student leaders.

Marijuana: 10 things You Never Knew

Ψ Marijuana does not like water in the body but attracts itself to fat cells where it settles.

Ψ Fat cells are most predominant within the brain.

Ψ The second most concentrated area of fat cells are found in the genitals.

Ψ Men and women who smoke marijuana have decreased chances of fertility because the testes and ovaries are affected by the pot.

Ψ It is just as hard to get pregnant whether the male or female partakes in smoking.

Ψ Marijuana is not physically addicting but is very psychologically addicting.

Ψ The US government grows Marijuana for research in Mississippi.

Ψ Monkeys are used for research on the affects of pot using monkey joints but the research is skewed because the marijuana is pure and not off the street but grown in Mississippi.

Ψ Pot is connected to negative displays of motivation.

Ψ Pot can be detected in urine tests.

Peace, Love, and Prozac: Allen Ginsberg’s Howl

Peace, Love, and Prozac: Allen Ginsberg’s Howl

Americans used to be entertained by a flying nun and a talking horse; we are so sophisticated now watching people marry strangers and eat bugs for money (Degeneres 2003). Life has gone from Father Knows Best to stay-at-home dads (Maasik 27). God favors us. We are a fast food nation; McDonalds and Taco Bell have replaced home-cooked meals. The logo Starbucks makes us feel socially accepted after paying $4 for a urine-sized cup of coffee. More money is spent funding research for erectile dysfunction than a cure for Alzheimer’s; so a bunch of old men will have erections, but because of the Alzheimer’s, won’t know what they are used for (Johnston 2006). Books and writings are now Shakespeare with a strap-on (Williams 2002). More people vote for who they want kept on American Idol than who will be running our country (Johnston 2006). Procrastination is the American way (Degeneres 2003) along with wealth, obesity, and materialism. Now we have ADHD, OCD, ADD---all these three to four letter abbreviations because we don’t have the time or patience to say the whole word; in other parts of the world, we don’t have all these subtypes of diseases, we just have crazy people (Degeneres 2003). Kindness is considered sexual harassment. Monogamy is laughable, and divorce rates are over fifty percent. Only thirty to forty percent of Americans reach Paiget’s formal operational stage; only thirty to forty percent of Americans can think abstractly and apply the abstract concepts to concrete examples (Johnston 2006). We now have Go-Gurt…yogurt for people on the go; was there a mobility problem with yogurt? (Degeneres 2003) Most organization fund money to find a cure for cancer, but we spend millions of dollars to make yogurt in a pretty squeezable container. Individuality has come full circle and made us all the same by trying to be different. Only in the United States is anal floss (or as women like to refer to them as to make them feel sexier: thongs) a marketable product. Coca-Cola is the American beverage. Barbie is not just a toy anymore; it is a style for young girls (Maasik 276). I wonder if Hitler would have succeeded if he would have made a doll of his ideal person; would Jews run to buy blonde hair dye and blue contacts? Cell phones are the new diaphragm. Commercials used to be six minutes long telling us how good cigarettes and alcohol were. We are a Prozac nation (Degeneres 2003). We don’t have anxiety like we believe we do; go follow some pigmy around that is being chased by a lion…now that’s stress; you won’t find a pigmy on Zoloft (Degeneres 2003). The city-upon-a-hill nation has been burned to the ground and it is a race to trample everyone to be on top. Laziness is king, morals are overrated, and a young Allen Ginsberg was finding his soul.

Allen Ginsberg was born June 3, 1926. He attended Columbia University where he met Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and William Burroughs. These brilliantly intellectual minds changed the fate of the American society bringing forth the beat generation. Modern poetry was set to drums and smooth piano melodies. And from the Beat creation, “Howl” was born in the year 1956. After masturbating to William Blake’s poetry, Allen Ginsberg had a vision of inspiration. “Howl” was sanity and insanity’s love child, reason mixed with speculation in a sexual connotation. He wrote his magnum opus for Carl Solomon, a man he met in Columbia Presbyterian Psychiatric Institute; Ginsberg dedicated it to Kerouac, Cassady, and Burroughs allowing the 20^th century poet William Carlos Williams write the introduction. Three parts and a footnote came together to create “Howl.” American writer Allen Ginsberg’s part two of “Howl” is the most crucial section in this piece because of its ability to be relatable to Americans, the concept of Moloch is the subject and action of the piece.

In the first part of “Howl,” Ginsberg states that he “saw the best minds of [his] generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, / dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, / angel headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night” (page 9). In part one, the question “what destroyed the greatest minds of Allen Ginsberg’s generation?” is posed. The question is continued in part two rephrased and expanded asking, “What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination?” (page 21). However, unlike part one, part two provides the answer: “Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men! / Moloch the incomprehensible prison! Moloch the crossbone soulless jailhouse and Congress of sorrows! Moloch whose buildings are judgment! Moloch the vast stone of war. Moloch the stunned governments! / Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!” (page 21).

Widely worshipped in the ancient Near East, Moloch, the Sacred Bull, was conceived under the form of a calf or an ox or depicted as a man with the head of a bull. Like some other gods and demons found in the Bible, Moloch appears as part of medieval demonology, as a Prince of Hell. “This Moloch finds particular pleasure in making mothers weep; for he specializes in stealing their children. It is likely that the motif of stealing children was inspired by the traditional understanding that babies were sacrificed to Moloch. The ancients would heat this idol up with fire until it was glowing, then they would take their newborn babies, place them on the arms of the idol, and watch them burn to death” (Wikipedia).

To Allen Ginsberg, Moloch was is this “prison” of “pure machinery;” Moloch whose smokestacks and antennae crown the cities!” (page 21). “Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks! Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen!” (page 22). Ginsberg transformed this old version of Moloch that not many people knew about or could have predetermined representations of this creature and transformed it into a modern destroyer. Moloch is this bloodless, sexless, incomprehensible thing that haunts the mind. The modern day interpretation of Moloch according to Allen Ginsberg is government, industry, war, economy, money, striving for success; Moloch is everything American. Moloch is America. Moloch is making one’s self from nothing at the expense of family love. Moloch is sabotaging others to get ahead. Moloch is the Atom Bomb and all other modern technology that hurts and spreads hate. Americans “broke their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven! Pavements, trees, radios, tons! Lifting the city to Heaven which exists and is everywhere about us!” (page 22).

The only way to escape this trap of Moloch, according to Allen Ginsberg, is through “Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstasies!” but these actions have “gone down the American river! Dreams! Adorations! Illuminations! Religions! The whole boatload of sensitive bullshit! Break through! Over the river! Flips and crucifixions! Gone down the flood! Highs! Epiphanies! Despair! Ten years’ animal screams and suicides! Minds! New loves! Mad generation! Down the rocks of time!” (pages 22-23). But, one cannot escape Moloch entirely…the only permanent solution is suicide. The ones who escaped Moloch, “They saw it all! The wild eyes! The holy yells! They bade farewell! they jumped off the roof! To solitude! Waving! Carrying flowers! Down the river into the street” (page 23).

Part three of “Howl” then changes the subject to focus on Carl Solomon. Part three reads, “I’m with you in Rockland where fifty more shocks will never return your soul to its body again from its pilgrimage to a cross in the void / I’m with you in Rockland where you accuse your doctors of insanity and plot the Hebrew socialist revolution against the fascist Golgotha” (page 25). While Allen Ginsberg was institutionalized, he met a man named Carl Solomon; Ginsberg went on to dedicate “Howl” Solomon. While Ginsberg touches upon personal experiences with Solomon in the institution, he also takes a larger perspective of the outside world saying, “I’m with you in Rockland where we hug and kiss the United States under our bed sheets that coughs all night and won’t let us sleep.” (page 26)

And finally the footnote begins with controversial lines stating, “The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is holy! The tongue and cock and asshole holy!” (page 27). And “Holy the groaning saxophone! Holy the bop apocalypse! Holy the jazzbands marijuana hipsters peace & junk & drums” (page 27) continues the uneasy lines putting divineness along side sin and humanly body parts that are not necessarily seen as “holy” by most.

While part one, three, and the footnote play an intricate role in completing Ginsberg’s masterpiece, part two is vastly the most pertinent. Part one is most famous because of its historical relate-ability about characters Ginsberg was acquainted with, but part two is universal and timeless. Part three deals with a personal connection to Carl Solomon and how the United States was back in Ginsberg’s day with the electrical shocks to cure insanity; Moloch, doesn’t just deal with personal interactions in a mental institution and can’t be identifiable with all readers of “Howl.” And the foot notes, lastly, looks at more eternal and divine relations which exclude the non-religious readers from fully comprehending the part. Moloch is everywhere. Ever American is consumed in Moloch and it is understood by all Americans too well.

A legend was born in 1926; A legend died in 1997; A magnificent man who changed an entire generation died in the year 1997; A man whose controversial poetry, homosexually brilliant biography, and lasting legacy still are rigorously read, studiously studied, and immobily immortal died in the year 1997; Allen Ginsberg died in the year 1997, and the most crucial part of his legacy was the concept of Moloch which still controls the minds of Americans. We are trapped in this cycle of pointless loves. The luxuries and curses of money, machinery, and prosperity do not follow us to Heaven or the afterlife. The body is shed. Materials things are pointless the only thing that transcends the barrier of time and eternity are love and memories. The connections are relationships made are going to be taken with; husbands, wives, lovers are still with us. Memories of children, weddings, funerals, birthdays, rainy days, first jobs, high school, people who made small impacts on our lives on a day to day basis, recognition, our favorite song, our favorite power ranger, our most embarrassing moment are all carried with us…but not the evils and temptations of this entity we refer to as Moloch. Moloch is an evil beast to which the downfall of humanity is indebted. Part two is timeless. It applies to every time and generation in America. Moloch is what America was built on; and America will “die” by the hand of Moloch. Americans will be Americans. Death will rid us of Moloch when the time is right. Until then, we are stuck twisting and winding through the rules and mazes of the monstrous Moloch creation. Americans have always had a God complex about them. We are the chosen ones. We are to reign and set an example in our beloved city upon a hill. We burned witches. Our ancestors were so uptight that the English kicked us out to a land full of diseases and unknown lands. Americans have always been, well, unique, and so are the qualities, and reasoning, and laws that the great God-chosen America is built upon and that are still enforced in present day America.

Americans are also the biggest hypocrites; we claim to have separation of church and state…so why is “in God we trust” written on the dollar bill? If there is separation, why is it illegal for homosexuals to marry? Marriage is a religious practice and union, but the Bible claims homosexuality is wrong and marriage is controlled by the government. Is every other place in the world besides America making a mockery of us? America was built on laws, rules if one will, that makes our country great. In North Dakota “It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on” and “beer and pretzels can't be served at the same time in any bar or restaurant,” and “It is legal to shoot an Indian on horseback, provided you are in a covered wagon.” In Utah “No one may have sex in the back of an ambulance if it is responding to an emergency call.” And, in the great state of Texas, “It is illegal for one to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel,” “It is illegal to sell one’s eye,” and “Up to a felony charge can be levied for promoting the use of, or owning more than six dildos” (Maasik 433). “Even Caligula is like ‘what the fuck are you doing?’ What’s next: Hannibal Lecture having his own cooking channel?” (Williams 2002). “We stole countries with the cunning use of flags. Just sail around the world and stick a flag in. "I claim India for Britain!" And they're going "You can't claim us, we live here! All Five hundred million of us!" "Do you have a flag? ... No flag, no country!” (Eddie Izzard) It doesn’t scare me that Bush waved at Stevie Wonder, but that billions of dollars are spent in national defense and Bush almost chokes to death from a pretzel; our president, the man who is competent enough to be running our country, almost dies from snack food! And we thought Canadians are strange with their funny accents and silly currency called the Looney. Canada is like a loft apartment over a really great party (Williams 2002). God bless the USA.

The History of Tattooing, Piercing, and Body Painting

The History of Tattooing, Piercing, and Body Painting

Tattooing

Tattooing dates all the way back to the Egyptians.

Samoan. Samoan men were traditionally tattooed from waist to knees. Samoan women were tattooed on their thighs and knees, but using more delicately feminine designs. Samoan young men were tattooed between the ages of 16 to 18 years old, in a group puberty ceremony that served to reinforce societal authority. In battle, tattoos were thought to grant supernatural protection. Samoan tattoo artists used combs to apply the design. They would dip the comb in a mixture of water and candlenut soot and then tap the comb with a stick, causing the pointed teeth to puncture the skin.

Maori. While Samoan men favored covering the lower parts of their bodies with tattoos, Maori men of New Zealand preferred to adorn their buttocks, thighs, and faces with tattoos. Maori men were tattooed by an artist of "moko," a technique unique to the Maori. The pattern was literally carved into the skin with a chisel. Ink would be placed in the open cuts to generate the tattoo. Beginning at the onset of adulthood, the particularly painful process, was typically completed in segments. Maori facial tattoos were indications of authority and status, intended to make an impression and intimidate, especially in times of war. Since each pattern was unique, men's facial tattoos became part of their individual identity. This procedure was painful, and resulted in a lot of facial swelling. There was so much swelling that the individual could not eat normally. Constructions of Funnel-like feeding tubes were made to aid in eating. Tattooing of Maori women unlike the men was restricted to their lips and chin. Unlike the facial tattoos of Maori men, facial tattoos of women were executed with a toothed comb.

Africa. Throughout Africa exists the tradition of scarification. Scarification creates a raised pattern on the skin and is similar to tattooing when dye is used. Scarification is a painful process that African girls go through when they reach puberty. Once a girl reaches puberty, she is also ready to be married. Scarification assists by making her more beautiful and helps her snag a mate. The patterns are also regarded as testimony that the woman will be able to endure the pain of childbirth!

Americans use tattooing as a form of expression. They usually pick something that is representative of their personalities or a symbol of some meaning. I have actually decided to get a tattoo and it took me almost a year to figure out what I wanted a tattoo of. I decided to go for a pumpkin which represents my grandma and my boyfriend because my nick-name is pumpkin. It will also probably say something inspirational like carpe diem or something in French. Now it will probably take me just as long to figure out where I am going to put it on my body. I first got the idea when I was working with cadavers and there was this 80 year old women and since I am also donating my body to science I just want something to remain of my personality.

Piercing

Piercing is interesting for me because I work at Club Libby Lu in Woodfield and about a month ago I was trained on piercing ears. It blows my mind that little girls would want a sharp piece of metal plunged into their ears. Just seeing how much pain and crying there is before, during, and afterwards it kind of blows my mind that people would do this voluntarily. For most American girls this process happens before the age of seven. I did pierce a 2 month olds and I believe that is the best age. That way they won’t remember the trauma!

Asia. Throughout Asia, we can also find examples of stretched earlobes that come from wearing extremely heavy earrings. Don’t even get me started on gauging!! If there was anything someone would regret when they hit middle age, it would be gauging.

Eskimo. Eskimo men and women increased the size of their lips by using lip-plugs. These plugs gradually stretch the hole in the lip. Often labrets were so bulky that their lips hung downward, revealing their teeth and gums. Even larger labrets sometimes interfered with speaking and eating.

Popular piercing today include tongue, ears, nose, lip, neck, and naval. I know at least 7 people with tongue rings, and almost all my female friends have their ears pierced. I know one friend who got the back of his neck pierced. A few months ago, I went with my friend Melissa and actually held her hand while she got her naval pierced. It was at moment I also had the epiphany that I will NEVER get anything other than my ears pierced!!

Body Painting

Body Painting is the most ancient and direct method of corporeal decoration. There are many reasons we paint our bodies. It is a form of identification, ritual, or beauty.

New Guinea. For the woman of New Guinea, body painting is a means of conveying social messages about her identity with a group.

In America the most popular types of Body Painting is face painting and a little industry we call cosmetics. Cosmetics are made to high light our assets that we are proud of and correct our no-so-wonderful faults. Cosmetics can also set a mood. Darker more sultry cosmetics can take us from professional business woman to our knock-out-night-on-the-town look.

Relativity vs. Absolute Dating

Relativity vs. Absolute Dating

There are two methods of discovering the age of an ancient object; Relative Dating is using the particular ancient object in context and comparing two items to determine which one is older. Then in the 1940s, Willard Libby exposed a more accurate method by focusing in on the role of Carbon-14. Looking at the Carbon-14 and determining the age is refered to as Absolute Dating. Libby learned that as time passed the Carbon-14 deteriorated at an even rate that was crucial in moving from a hypothetical to a concrete age. One technique of Relative Dating is Cation Ratio Dating.

Cation Ratio Dating is used in determining the age of rocks, some of which contain petroglyphs. The prehistoric rock carvings have a varnish topping, which is in a chemically-changed coating that presents itself over a period of time. The calcium and potassium bleed through the rock. To find the Cation Ratio, one must scrape away a section of the rock and compare the new varnish with the unearthed scrape-mark section and make a comparison between the two utilizing a positively charged ion. This relationship is affected by soil and moisture.

One technique used by Absolute Dating is Dendrochronology. Dendrochronology is examining the tree ring growth to tell the age of a tree or artifacts that are generally close. Clark Wissler and A.E Douglass were the first to pioneer this technique. The rings are composed of xylem. Every spring or summer a fresh layer of xylem is created, producing countable rings. However, one problem that was encountered in their method of Dendrochronology is due to the climate. When the climate is particularly damp, the tree will construct wider rings and in the waterless years, narrower rings. Sometimes because of harsh weather, trees may not generate one ring each year. Yet the cure to their weather problem was solved by comparison. To make sure that the ring count is accurate, scientists use resources in close proximity to corroborate the information.

Behavioral Differences Between Chimps and Bonobos

What are some of the behavioral differences between Chimps and Bonobos?

Chimps and Bonobos are close relatives genetically speaking, yet so different in regards to their social dynamics. The Chimps are very violent in nature, and the Bonobos are a quite peaceful species. But how can relatives so close be so polar different in behavior? A single theory suggests that a little negative adjustment in the accessibility of provisions might have encouraged the progression of the present Chimp and Bonobo societies. Researchers Richard Wrangham and Amy Parish studied the dynamics of both the Chimp and Bonobo species. Bonobos were only recognized as a separate species from chimps in the year 1929. However, Bonobos sparked the interest biologists with their very laid-back lifestyles, roles of males and females within the society, female relations, and passion for recreational sex.

Bonobos reside in the forests south of the Zaire River. Their species evolved a greatly dissimilar social configuration from the Chimps given that the two species divided about two million years ago. Male supremacy is a huge part of the chimp social order. Arguments are most likely resolved violence. Unfortunately for Chimps, sex is only used for reproductive purposes The Chimps reproductive tactics fuel the fire for possible infanticide.

On the other hand, the Bonobo society is distinguished by the well-built bonds that grow between not related female bonobos. Bonobos use the act of sex to strengthen relationships to find a resolution to conflicts. Unlike the Chimps, infanticide is rarely ever practiced. The Bonobos promiscuous sexual practices leave paternity of father unknown, eliminating the incentive for infanticide.

Both the Bonobos and Chimps live in tropical forests along the Zaire River; chimps are located north of the Zaire River and bonobos to the south. However, roughly two and a half million years ago, a drought in southern Zaire killed off out the favored food of gorillas and forced the primates to flee their homes. After the drought, the forests returned to its old self, but the gorillas didn’t return to their normal selves. Bonobos found themselves alone and with an abundance of prime foods. The extra food and lack of tension resulted in the form of stronger social bonds. The Chimps had to do more competing for food leading to a tense life-style leading to more aggressive and violent behavior.

Koko's Story

Koko's Story

Koko is thirty-six year old silverback gorilla that started learning sign language at the age of one. Michael (now deceased) was another silverback gorilla and a close friend to Koko who started learning sign language at the age of three. Both are examples of the first attempts at interspecies communication. Koko has a vocabulary of over 1,000 signs and understands around 2,000 words of spoken English. On the human scale, Koko has an IQ between 70 to 95 with 100 being an average human’s intelligence. Michael only had a vocabulary range of about 600 words. Researchers are keen on studying the intelligence of Koko and her behavior and hopes that it will lead to a better understanding of the species' physical and psychological requirements. Only through understanding can the necessary measures be taken to improve the treatment of gorillas.

I definitely believe that Koko is communicating through her sign language. Also, it seems that Koko has an excellent understanding of her environment by the way she paints. Also, Koko’s ability of placing words together and in different orders to make dissimilar meanings shows that she posses a considerate amount of understanding of syntax and a higher a level of thinking. I also found it attention-grabbing that a project that was only supposed to last four years wound up permanently lasting for over thirty years! I started thinking about what the outcome of this experiment would have been if it had only lasted for the four years that it was supposed to and the lack of knowledge we would have of our closest species’ potential if Koko had never been examined for the thirty years that she was. I am very fascinated to see where this will progress to after Koko mates and has children…Will her child and her be able to communicate through sign language or not? And what impact will this have on the future of their species? Will all primates in the wild eventually communicate through sign language or is that going to be just a characteristic of domesticated primates?