Neural and Hormonal Mechanisms in Aggression

Neural and Hormonal Mechanisms in Aggression Neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression include the roles of the limbic system, serotonin and testosterone. Neural mechanisms in aggression: The Limbic system-inside the brain lies a network of structures known as the limbic system. Within the limbic system, it involves many structures such as the amygdala, cingulate gyrus, fornix and the hypothalamus. The most significant structure is the amygdala because it plays a key role in humans and non-human animals in how an organism responds and assess to environmental challenges and threats therefore is believed to be the main factor in whether we respond aggressively or not. It also is responsible for attaching emotional significance to sensory information. Within the amygdala, its reactivity has proven to be the main indicator of aggressive behaviour. The prefrontal cortex is vital for regulating aggressive responses and social behaviour. However, damage to this prefrontal cortex would lower the inhibition of the amygdala, giving higher levels of aggression. On the other hand, the hypothalamus is responsible for the regulation of the autonomic nervous system, which in turn helps to regulate responses to emotional circumstances. If this structure was to ever become damaged, it would result in an inappropriate aggressive response to a perceived threat. Serotonin serotonin has a key role in aggressive behaviour and is a neurotransmitter with widespread inhibitory effects throughout the brain; it dampens neuronal activity and slows it down. It is also involved in communication impulses between neurons. It has been associated that low levels of serotonin cause an increased risk of aggressive and impulsive behaviour. Serotonin usually prevents stimulation of the amygdala therefore if there are low levels of it within the brain, the amygdala will be more active once stimulated by external events occurring, resulting in the person to make aggression more likely and to act on their impulses. The role of serotonin illustrates itself by the use of drugs that raise the levels of it within the brain such as antidepressants. During trials, antidepressants were found to raise the serotonin levels and shown to reduce impulsive aggression and irritability. This therefore suggests that an increase in the level of serotonin can reduced aggression h owever this may not be the case always. Hormonal mechanisms in aggression: Testosterone is a hormone from the androgen group responsible for the development of masculine features. It also plays a role in helping to regulate areas in the brain to do with social behaviour such as the amygdala and the hippocampus. It is evident that males are generally more aggressive compared to girls. Testosterone is thought to raise the levels of aggression from a young adulthood onwards. It peaks in young adolescent males before then declining with age. Genetic factors in aggression: Twin studies many twin studies have suggested that heritability accounts for approximately 50% of the variance in aggressive behaviour. In a set of monozygotic twins, they share 100% of their genes however in a set of dizygotic twins; they only share on average 50% of their genes. Therefore, we would be expected to find that monozygotic twins would have greater similarities in aggressive behaviour if aggression is mostly influenced by genetic factors. This is because both monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins are raised together in the same environment however monozygotic twins do have a greater degree of genetic similarity than dizygotic factors. Researchers then found that 50% of concordance rates (proportion to which both twins exhibit the same behaviour) was for monozygotic twins and only 19% was for dizygotic twins. This illustrates that it is probably mostly genetically influenced. Adoption studies Adoption studies can help us to determine what the causes of aggression are either from the environment or heredity. Adoption studies compare the rates between adopted children who share behaviours with their adopted parents (who only share the environment with), and the rates between the adopted children who share behaviour with their biological parents (who share their genes but not environment with). If the results show that the concordance rate between the adopted child and their biological parents are high, then it illustrates that their behaviour is genetically influenced. However, if the concordance rates between the adopted child and their adopted parents are high then it suggests that the behaviour is more than likely environmentally influenced. A case to support that behaviour is genetically influenced is when a study was completed in Denmark of over 14,000 adoptions. They found that a huge number of adopted boys that had criminal convictions also had biol ogical fathers with criminal convictions too. The MAOA gene the MAOA gene is a gene responsible for the activity of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A within the brain.   Monoamine oxidases A role is to mop up neurotransmitters once a nerve impulse has been sent from one neuron to the other in the brain. This happens by the neurotransmitter, especially serotonin, being broken down into chemicals that can then be excreted or recycled. This is a process called catabolism. The production of this enzyme is determined by the MAOA gene. If the operation of this gene becomes dysfunctional it can result to abnormal activity of the MAOA enzyme which then further affects the levels of serotonin in the brain. It has been found in studies that violent criminals often have a defect in the gene that produces MAOA. Gene-environment (GxE) interactions Genes do not work on their own but they are crucial influences on aggressive behaviour. Low MAOA gene activity appears to only be related to adult aggression when combined with early traumatic life events.

Dangers Involved with School Bullying Essay -- Bully, School Violence,

School Bullying School is the primary place where children spend their day with peers. As social and economic status plays a big part in the behavior of children. In early child hood income can effects the child’s academic level and behavioral problems later. By the time a child reaches middle school income levels do not influence negative behavior. But when the child reaches high school they could be teased for how the dress because they may not have nice clothes like other kids, or simply choose to dress differently. Which can lead to school bulling. Bullying is a major problem and needs to be prevented. A bully is defined as aggressive behavior or to harm a person repeatedly overtime. School bullying can start anytime from elementary to high school. Over 5.7 teens in the United States are involved in school bullying(about.com). Boys tend to be more physically bullied as girls are more prone to being bullied verbally. According to the National Conference of State Legislature, boys who are often bullied can be five times as likely to be more or severely depressed and four times more likely to be suicidal. Girls are three times more likely to be severely depressed and eight times more likely to be suicidal. Some children are afraid to go to school, which can lead to poor grades or lack of concentration. It is hard for students to focus at school when they are worried about their bully. Bullying can make school a place of fear and can lead to school violence. The dangers of school bullying can be seen in the Columbine Massacre which was listed as one of the top five deadliest shootings in the history of the United States. On April 20,1999 in a small town in Littleton, Colorado. Two high students Dylan Klebold an... ... Each school needs to evaluate how their potential risk and which measures to take to ensure the safety of students and staff. In addition, some schools have speakers come in and tell their story about what happened to them and how it has affected their lives. Some students may relate to a story and in turn can have a huge impact on their emotions as well as their behavior. In the end school bullying has been around for centuries and will continue for many more years, but prevention and awareness are key to reducing the problem with school bullying. Sources Cited â€Å"A Better Way to Handle Juvenile Delinquency† International Child and Youth Care Network. Vol.12 .No.2. Page 350, Oct. 2004 http://childparenting.about.com/od/schoollearning/tp/bullying-in-schools-what-parents-should-know.htm http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070419/19columbine.htm

Autism and Rain Man

Autism and Rain Man In the movies things are portrayed in ways that are supposed to make the movie sell, which means that movies are not always accurate. The movie Rain Man was about a man and his brother, who happened to be an autistic savant. In Rain Man Dustin Hoffman played Raymond, who was a high-functioning autistic savant. In the movie Raymond had routines and rituals that he did; and when his routines were interrupted or he was afraid of something he had a temper tantrum where he would hit his head. He tended to babble and repeat himself, and when he was stressed he would recite â€Å"Who’s on First? by Abbott and Costello. Raymond had trouble interacting with people and had problems understanding certain concepts. Raymond doesn’t like people touching him or his stuff. He also doesn’t understand the concept of money. The question is, â€Å"Is this a realistic portrayal of an autistic savant? † The answer is that at least part of it is realistic. T he character Dustin Hoffman played was based on a real life savant. The name of the savant that inspired the movie, and got the title of â€Å"real life Rain Man† was Kim Peek. Dustin Hoffman actually spent time with Kim Peek so he could more accurately play the character.While he may have gotten the savant part of his role correct, Dustin Hoffman may not have necessarily gotten the autistic part of his role correct, since he didn’t actually meet with an autistic like he did with Kim Peek. That means that to find out how accurate the movie was in portraying autism, you must first look into and get a better understanding of autism. People with autism usually experience onset prior to age three. It has been estimated that there are approximately two to five cases of autism per ten thousand individuals.Males are four to five times more likely to have autism, but girls with autism are more likely to be more severely mentally retarded. Also, you are more likely to have auti sm if one of your siblings has autism. Autism has been shown to take a continuous course. It has been reported that some children with autism act abnormal from the time of birth. Their parents report being worried since the time they were born. With these kids, their parents notice a lack of interest in social interaction. In infancy, symptoms are harder to notice and define than those found after age two.On the other hand, it has also been reported that other children with autism were developmentally normal for the first year or two of their life. Children with autism tend to have problems with pretend play, verbal and nonverbal communication, and social interactions. In school-aged children developmental gains are common in some areas. Behaviorally, some individuals deteriorate around adolescence while others improve. Only a small amount of autistic people are capable of living and working individually when they reach adulthood.It is estimated that only about one-third of autistic people are capable of achieving any amount of partial independence. Even the highest-functioning adults with autism still have problems with social interactions and communication. The highest-functioning adults with autism will also still have a small range of hobbies and interests. People with autism may have unusual distress when routines are changed. They also may perform repeated body movements, show unusual attachments to objects, and be overly sensitive in sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste.People with autism will also have communicational issues, which may include the inability to start or maintain a social conversation, using gestures to communicate instead of words, having slow language development or no language development, not adjusting their gaze to focus on what others are looking at, not referring to themselves correctly (like by saying you instead of I when talking about themselves), not pointing to direct others' attention to objects, repeating memorized words, phrases, dialogs, and passages (like from books or movies), and using nonsense rhyming.Autistic people are withdrawn. They do not make friends or participate in interactive games. When autistic people play, they don’t imitate the actions of others. They prefer solitary or ritualistic play instead of group games. They engage in little or no pretend or imaginative play. Autistic people may not respond to eye contact or smiles, and may even avoid eye contact. They may treat others as objects instead of people and show a lack of empathy towards others. Autistic would rather spend time alone than with others. Autistic people may also have unusual responses to sensory information. For xample, they may have heightened or low senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste. An autistic person would not jump when they heard a loud noise, although they may find normal noises painful and hold hands over ears. They may withdraw from physical contact because it is over stimulating or ov erwhelming. They may have heightened or lowered responses to pain. They may also rub surfaces and lick objects. Autistic people tend to â€Å"Act up† with intense tantrums when something they do not like happens (like not getting what they want). Autistic people may get stuck on a single topic or task.They may also have a short attention span. Autistic people tend to have very narrow interests and may show a strong need for sameness. An autistic person may be either very overactive or very passive. They may also show aggression towards themselves or others. People with autism have specific neuropsychological deficits that produce many of the symptoms associated with autism. It has been identified that prefrontal impairments are present in autistic people that affect things like spatial working memory, attention shifting, and response inhibition.Also, there have been impairments detected in the medial temporal lobe and in facial processing. It has also been shown that very you ng children with autism have abnormal ERP responses to faces, emotions, and speech. It has also been shown that people with autism have auditory processing abnormalities. There is no cure for autism, but the symptoms can be managed through therapy. Also, it has been shown that early, intensive behavioral programs can significantly improve learning and communication skills and reduce disturbed behaviors.It has been proven that children that are better functioning at the start of treatment are more likely to gain more from the treatment. Biomedical treatments are limited to using medications to manage the disruptive behavior, self-injuring, and stereotyped behavior. According to Abnormal Psychology In A Changing World (Seventh Edition) â€Å"Autistic traits generally continue on into adulthood to some degree or another† (Nevid, Rathus & Green, 2008, p. 485). Even so, some autistic children go on to get college degrees and function independently.Others need constant treatment th roughout the duration of their lives and some even need institutionalized care. Now that we have enough information on autism we can make a judgment on how realistic the movie was in portraying Raymond Babbitt as an autistic savant. Because the actor met with Kim Peek, a real life savant, and studied his mannerisms and abilities, we can conclude that his depiction of savants is realistic. He did not though; meet with an autistic to learn what they are like, so we must look at his actions as Raymond Babbitt and judge their authenticity as the behaviors an autistic person would experience.It has been pointed out that in the movie Raymond Babbitt had routines and rituals that he did; and when his routines were interrupted or he was afraid of something he had a temper tantrum where he would hit his head. He tended to babble and repeat himself, and when he was stressed he would recite â€Å"Who’s on First? † by Abbott and Costello. Raymond had trouble interacting with peopl e and had problems understanding certain concepts. Raymond doesn’t like people touching him or his stuff. He also doesn’t understand the concept of money.Apart from Raymond’s inability to understand the concept of money, all of the oddities about Raymond that are not accounted for by his savant nature are accounted for by autism. The only thing unaccounted for is his inability to understand the concept of money which played a fairly big part in the storyline of the movie. So, in conclusion we can say that Rain Man followed reality pretty well in its representation of autism. ? References NICHD Staff Presentations on Autism Research. (2010, June 2). etrieved April 13 2011, from Autism Research at the NICHD Web Site: http://www. nichd. nih. gov/autism/autism. cfm Treffert, D. , & MD. (n. d. ). Kim Peek – The Real Rain Man | Wisconsin Medical Society. Physicians Page | Wisconsin Medical Society. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://www. wisconsinmedicalsoci ety. org/savant_syndrome/savant_profiles/kim_peek Kanashiro, N & Zieve, D (2010, April 26). Autism. retrieved April 10 2011, from Autism – PubMed Health Web Site: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002494/ American Psychiatric

Does Emotional Intelligence Influence Job Satisfaction

Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses Researcher that has been carried out on the topic of emotional intelligence (EI) have revealed findings that link EI with higher achievements of individuals. A study done by Carmeli (2009) indicated that emotional intelligence plays a role in the wellbeing of individuals. Specifically, emotional intelligence is suggested to be an important predictor of crucial organizational consequences such as job satisfaction (Daus Ashkanasy, 2005). Gender is another variable that is proposed as having a relationship with the concepts of emotional intelligence and job satisfaction. All over the world, many organizations are studying their employees’ satisfaction, feelings and attitudes not only to plan on how to allocate rewards and possibilities but also they do it because they are worried more about their employees’ feeling toward their jobs (Golparvar Qazvi, 2010). Currently, there are organizations in Trinidad which may also have this desire to get insight to their employees as outlined by Golparvar and Qazvi (2010). Thus, the present study is an attempt to empirically assess three research questions among Trinidad’s employees within the private sector. Research question number one asks: does emotional intelligence influences job satisfaction? The second research question asks: does gender influences job satisfaction? The third question asks: do emotional intelligence and gender interacts to influence job satisfaction among employeesShow MoreRelatedEmotional Intelligence And Its Effect On The Job Satisfaction Of Employees Essay1645 Words   |  7 PagesEmotional intelligence relates to an individual’s ability to manage their emotions, and is shown to have positive outcomes for an organisation. Manager emotional intelligence is thought to have an effect on the job satisfaction of employees, which could be due to behaviour or le adership styles. 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