Nature Vs. Nurture and Blue Eyes

To think that the color of one's eyes, other than brown is a gene mutation is completely fascinating. It's so cool to think that beauty marks, freckles, and blue eyes are all "flaws" in our genetic code, and these flaws are what we consider beautiful. It's actually a great topic for an inspirational speech about loving who you are, because its true! our flaws are what make us beautiful. They separate us from one another, making unique individuals.

Both genetics and our environment have an effect on our behavior and mental processes. Now although I believe the percentage difference varies on how much either genetics or our environment effects our mental processes and behavior, I've come to the conclusion that genetics always influences us the most at about 80% versus our environment, around 20%.  I watched an interview on identical twins who were separated at birth and put up for adoption but then in their 30s reconnected. (on a side note, they were separated for a study on nature vs. nurture. At the time this was considered unethical but not illegal. Now, adoption agencies require siblings to stay together) Even though they grew up in completely different environments, they both dealt with depression at the same time in their lives, they were both editors of their high school newspaper and they both went to film school. Not only that but they also share a lot of the same mannerisms! When it comes to environmental influences, relationships we have and events we experiences can drastically change our path in life, but they don't determine our behavior and mental processes. For example, conformity. By conforming, you are behaving in a way to   abide by the rules. But you aren't changing your mental processes, you are just acting. This behavior might show someones innate characteristic of following a group, rather than leading. Which might have to do with natural selection and survival skills. This persons tendency to confirm might have to do with their inability to lead because they are less aggressive or ambitious. (Now I am just starting to ramble) OK. To (somehow) bring it all together, we are all on a journey and the obstacles along the way are the environmental factors which challenge our mental person, bringing out who we really are which is in our genetics.

Ethics, Animal Rights, and the Use of Torture

When humans are a subject of research I believe ethics should be a priority. As a kid we are taught to "treat others the way you would like to be treated," and in psychological research I believe this is still highly relevant. While studying obedience in humans, Stanley Milgram caused psychological harm to his patients which then carried on after the experiment was over. Being unethical in psychological research is really just a selfish act. It is disregarding the risk you are putting humans at to get what you want. The cost-benefit analysis should not be considered because the suffering of the patient is not resolved through the benefit of the experiment. There is no cancelation.  In regards to deception, ethics should still be a priority. I believe that there is not a problem with deception when there is consent from the patients and then they go through thorough debriefing.

In the use of animals in psychological experiments, keeping it ethical should also be a priority, but when the main reason for using animals is for a humans benefit, I believe it is less of an importance as long as there is not purposeful harm. There are too many positives in using animals in research to further the understanding of humans to cancel any possibilities of harm.

Just as I believe that ethics should be a priority is psychological research, I also believe that it should be priority in interrogation. Torture should not be condoned. It is dehumanizing to the subject individual and is traumatic and potentially post traumatic to both the tortured human and the person preforming the torturous interrogations.

Obesity

1. Which approach do you think is more concrete?  Explain why.

The Biological perspective may not give the best reasoning for obesity, but it does give a good back-story on why humans are now so susceptible to becoming overweight. As humans, we are crazy efficient processors of fructose. The saying, “a little goes a long way” is very valid here.  Back in the day (as in WAY back) fruit was scarce. The craving of fructose even became a survival skill. You needed the fructose to survive but only a few of us had the mutation of processing fructose well enough to survive. And now, sugar is profuse but we still crave it just as much.

America is all about extremes and the issue with the socio-cultural perspective is that it only focuses in on one side of them. This perspective notes America’s culture of bigness. There are never ending commercials advertising “more for less.”  America is concerned about serving high quantity rather than high quality.  The ironic part about this perspective is that we are also extremely health conscious. Everyone is always looking for the best new diet or workout routine, reading magazines to find out how the celebrity A-listers “lost the weight to fit the dress.” America is just full of contradicting extremes.

            Although the biological and socio-cultural perspectives both have strong factors that impact obesity, it is the psychological perspective that I find to offer the most solid contribution to understanding the controversial issue of obesity. The psychological view understands that sugar is an addiction in everyway. There is an article on Sugar in National Geographic explaining why we can’t resist it and it says, “an injection of sugar into the bloodstream stimulates the same pleasure centers of the brain that respond to heroin and cocaine.” When depressed, a person tends to gravitate towards eating a bunch of junk food. It’s a coping mechanism because the sugar boosts your dopamine levels. The biological and socio-cultural perspectives without a doubt increase the likelihood of obesity but it is the disease of the addiction to sugar that the psychological perspective bears weight to which is why it is more concrete.   

2. Based on your introduction to the various modern approaches to psychology, which approach not discussed might provide another rationale for obesity?  Explain your answer.

I believe the behavioral approach provides another rationale for obesity. Humans are creatures of habit because it provides us with stability and comfort.  For example, when you come home from a long day of school, you throw your backpack on the ground, kick your shoes off, grab a bag of chip, then plop yourself on the couch to relax and watch some tv. Vegging out and snacking acts as a reward for getting through your day but soon enough when you look in the mirror you start seeing where those chip have gone. The problem is this daily routine is so comforting that its hard to break out of. Obese people might notice their bad habits of eating and lazying around, but the instant reward of these actions can be too temping to quit.