Color Vision, Self-Reflection, and Psychological Disorders - Essay Example

? Color Vision, Self Reflection and Psychological Disorders 23-09-11 Color Vision, Self Reflection and Psychological Disorders Self-Reflection: Gender 1. Think back to your early/middle elementary school years (Kindergarten - 5th grade). What people in your life were the main influences on your developing sense of 'what it meant to be a boy or a girl'? Consider and compare the typical activities you engaged in with a significant adult of the same sex (parent/guardian, etc.), with those you shared with a significant adult of the opposite sex.  Do you remember preferring some activities more than others; being encouraged to pursue some and not others? My parents and grandparents were strong believers of the concept that gender appropriate behavior deserves a reward while behavior considered as gender inappropriate deserves punishment. Like for most girls, my parents and my grandparents had a significant effect on my developing sense of being a girl. My grandmother used to buy me every pink dress they sold at Next and Dalton’s. Thus, she was the person who instilled feminine characteristics in me. She showed me how to look beautiful and how to put make up on. On the other hand, my mom helped me draw the line between gender appropriate and inappropriate behavior. I used to spend hours talking to mom about things troubling me at school. We used to play with Barbie for hours and bake chocolate biscuits and create great Halloween costumes. On the other hand, my father used to play catch and monopoly with me on weekends. He helped me with math problems on alternate days and construct structures with Lego. I believe that certain behaviors are considered appropriate for girls while others are not. I remember that mom used to scold me every time I insisted on accompanying my brothers to the club and every time I climbed the tree in our backyard. She used to yell, ‘stop mimicking your brothers for Christ’s sake’. My parents encouraged group studying and indulging in typical female behaviors such as cooking, gardening and knitting. I remember that I preferred watching The Little Mermaid and The Adams Family more than King Arthur and the Knights of Justice. I preferred gossiping with my friends rather than playing soccer and basketball like my brothers used to. 2. Summarize the differences noted in portrayals of boys and girls in books and on television. What were some of your favorite books and TV shows from your childhood. Does the content of these favorite books/shows reflect what research tells us? Girls are mostly portrayed as beautiful helpless objects in books and TV shows, always relying on the opposite sex for protection and contentment. Girls are portrayed as being submissive, domesticated and sensitive. On the contrary, men are portrayed as being rational, competent and ruthless. Women are usually shown as being associated with typical female jobs such as being a nurse, secretary or a housewife. Men are mostly shown as tycoons, Casanovas and athletes. As a kid, I loved reading Sweet Valley series by Francine Pascal, Goose Bumps and Fear Street series by R.L Stine. I loved The Little Mermaid, The Adams Family and Dream Stone series. I strongly believe that the content of these books and shows reflect that women are emotional freaks and inquisitive individuals who are not capable of accomplishing happiness and contentment without the support of the opposite sex. 3. Do you think that laws preventing women from participating directly in combat are protective or sexist? Or are they both? How might this be an example of 'benevolent sexism?' I believe that Laws preventing women from participating in combat are purely sexist. Such laws presume women to be weak and helpless and force women to assume that they are not physically fit to participate in combat. Therefore, these laws are nothing but examples of sheer sexist prejudice. These laws are often portrayed as an attempt to protect women. However, such claim of protection is an example of benevolent sexism which supports the ideology of gender inequality. Women are likely to react to hostile sexism so chivalrous attitudes are used which seem rather romantic and noble to women but they actually are not. Therefore, benevolent sexism is used as a chivalrous way to prevent women from participating in combat. Psychological Disorders 1. Re: psychological disorders and diagnostic labels summarize the Rosenhan experiment of the 1970’s ('Conning the Classifiers').  What does it illustrate about the power and potential dangers of labeling? The Rosenhan experiment of 1970 was a famous experiment conducted by psychologist David Rosenhan. Basically, the experiment revolves around the validity of psychiatric disorders and is famous for its criticism regarding diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. Rosenhan Experiment was conducted in two parts. The first part, involved pseudo patients who exhibited artificial auditory hallucinations in an attempt to force the psychiatrists to label them as having psychiatric disorders and admit them in a psychiatric hospital. Following, the simulation of auditory hallucinations all pseudo patients were admitted. They were also diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. However, after the admission, the pseudo patients acted normally in an attempt to persuade the hospital staff to discharge them. But the hospital staff failed to recognize the pseudo patients and confined them for months. In addition, they were forced by the hospital staff to admit that they were suffering from a psychiatric disorder. The pseudo patients were allowed to leave after they agreed to take antipsychotic drugs. The second part of the experiment was conducted when an offended psychiatric hospital claimed, that they had the ability to distinguish between normal and mentally retarded individuals and challenged Rosenhan to send pseudo patients to their hospital. Out of 195 patients admitted to the hospital during the following week, the staff labeled 42 ordinary patients as being pseudo patients. The study reveals the power and potential danger of dehumanization of labeling a normal individual as having a psychiatric disorder. The experiment revealed that doctors are not capable of differentiating between sane and insane individuals. Therefore, this poses a serious threat towards patients suffering from depression who are labeled as having serious psychiatric disorders and are confined to hospitals. (Feldman, R. S. (1993). 2. Summarize the controversy and outcome re: inclusion in the DSM of self-defeating personality disorder and premenstrual dysphonic disorder. During the development of DSM, various controversies were raised, especially relating to the inclusion of self-defeating personality disorder and premenstrual dysphonic disorder. The advisory committee believed that research and clinical evidence regarding self defeating personality disorder was sufficient for the inclusion of the disorder in DSM-IV. On the other hand, the critics believed that adequate valid evidence for disorder was lacking and the inclusion would potentially be misused and will particularly harm women. However, the controversy was resolved by the inclusion of Self-defeating personality disorder in Appendix A: Proposed Diagnostic Categories Needing Further Study. The controversy regarding premenstrual dysphonic disorder was raised when media claimed that DSM-IV intends to label women who experience premenstrual discomfort as suffering from a mental disorder. However, data according to Literature Review revealed that only 3-5% of the women suffer from certain conditions that classify them as having premenstrual dysphonic disorder. However, the controversy was resolved by the inclusion of premenstrual dysphonic disorder in Appendix. (Feldman, R. S. (1993). 3. As the definition of ‘abnormal’ is influenced by cultural expectations and norms, other cultures ‘have’ disorders that do not appear in the West. Summarize the following: a. Amok: is a culture specific syndrome and is characterized by the state of being in a murderous frenzy and has been traditionally associated with Malaysians. It refers to the state of being out of control and suffering from an uncontrollable urge to cause trouble. b. Koro: is a syndrome that is normally observed among Southeast Asians. The patient suffers from an overwhelming belief that his genitals will shrink. The syndrome is also known as ‘shrinking penis’ syndrome. The patients complain that they suffer from acute attacks of penis retraction and shrinkage. c. Ataque de nervios: is one of the culture bound syndromes which was originally observed among Caribbean and other Latino cultures. The symptoms associated with this syndrome such as screaming, crying and suicidal behavior are transient and are observed in response to severe psychosocial stressful conditions. (Feldman, R. S. (1993).   Color Vision 1. Summarize what we know about color-blindness including prevalence.  List several potential implications of not being able to distinguish colors. Color Blindness is also known as Color Vision deficiency and is characterized by either the inability or reduced ability to perceive various colors. The first scientific paper on color blindness was published by John Dalton in 1798, who was an English chemist. Color blindness is caused by defective development of either one or both sets of cones of the Retina which are responsible for the perception of color in light. The responsible gene is present on the X chromosome. Therefore, color blindness is more prevalent among males than in females because males have only one X chromosome and if it carries the defective gene then it means that they will suffer from color blindness. Color blindness is classified into two categories: I. Acquired color blindness II. Inherited color blindness Inherited color blindness is further classified into three sub types: i. Monochromatism: Monochromacy color blindness is also known as ‘total color blindness’. The vision associated with light is reduced to one dimension due to the absence of all three cone pigments. ii. Dichromatism: Dichromacy color blindness is more common among males and is characterized by the absence of one of the three cone pigments and therefore, color vision is decreased to two dimensions. iii. Anomalous Trichomatism: this type is characterized by the alteration of spectral sensitivity of one cone pigment and leads to the impairment of three dimensional normal color vision. Implications: Color Blindness makes it impossible for victims to pursue certain occupation such as piloting aircrafts. In addition, Romanian government does not allow Color blind individuals to drive motor vehicles and therefore driving licenses are not granted to them. Color Blind individuals are also barred from jobs involving color perception such as paint mixing and textile designing. Color Blind individuals are also considered ineligible for occupations such as transport, graphic designing and jobs which involve perception of color coded signals. (Feldman, R. S. (1993). 2. Summarize the trichromatic theory of color vision: does it fully explain color vision? Complete the flag activity that evokes afterimages; did you experience the effects? Trichomatic theory is also known as Young Helmholtz theory. The Greek word ‘trichomatic’ means three colors. The trichomatic theory states that color vision is associated with three types of retinal cones which are red, green and blue-violet. The three retinal cones have different sensitivities towards different wavelengths of light. The blue-violet cones are sensitive to short wavelengths, while green cones are most sensitive to middle wavelengths and red cones are sensitive to long wavelengths. We see different colors as a result of activation of a combination of cones. However, trichromatic theory fails to fully explain the perception of red, green, yellow and blue. In addition, the theory fails to explain the perception of white and yellow colors by dichromatic individuals. Moreover, the theory does not provide explanations regarding color discriminative functions and the perception of opponent colors. I completed the Flag activity and experienced the afterimage which depicted the original American flag. (Feldman, R. S. (1993). 3.  Summarize the opponent-process theory of color-vision. How does it explain/account for 'afterimages'? The opponent theory of color vision was proposed by Eawdl Hering and it states that there are three receptor pairs namely red-green, blue-yellow and black-white. The opposing processes carried out by each receptor pair are responsible for the perception of color. The opponent process explains the perception of an ‘after image’. When we stare at the green, yellow and black flag for 6o seconds, our neural activity balance is disturbed. The human eye attempts to reestablish the balance between the three pairs of receptors and leads to the formation of ‘after image’ consisting of red, white and blue Flag. (Feldman, R. S. (1993). References: Feldman, R. S. (1993). Understanding psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More