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Sensation, Perception, and Attention

Introduction

When individuals work as a team with an aim of attaining one common goal, the sensation, perception and attention of each individual member of the team is very important. However, the perception, attention, and sensation of the different members of the team differ with each individual. When each member of the team knows the varying perception, attention, and sensation abilities of the other individuals in the team, communication within the team becomes easy and efficient. These are barriers to communication and might be very dangerous to a team if not well taken care of. If these barriers in different individuals are detected early enough, some measures can be taken that will be used to prevent the dangers that these barriers cause to communication within the team. This paper seeks to analyze the team member’s auditory threshold, the relative dichotic listening or cocktail party effect of each team member, divided attention, and sensory perception problems.

Auditory Threshold

By definition, auditory threshold is the lowest intensity that a standard ear can detect a sound. Each team member in the team has a different ability of detecting a sound. Several factors are known to affect the ability of an individual to detect a sound or an auditory stimulus. The two mostly accepted factors that play an important role in determining the ability of the team member to detect a sound are the personal and environmental factors. Auditory interruptions such as the background noise and the location of the team member fall under the category of the environmental factors. The location of the team member with reference to the source of the sound plays an important role on the ability of the team member to detect the auditory stimuli. If a sound is coming directly from the source following a straight line to the team member, this team member is more likely to detect the sound than another team member who is blocked by some wall even if the two have the same hearing capacities. On the issue of the background noise, an individual who is listening to a source of some information in the presence of some background noise is more likely to be disrupted by the background noise than another one who is listening to the same message and of the same intensity in absence of the background noise. Among the personal factors are the physical hearing loss, medical issues, fatigue, etc. Physical hearing loss covers cases whereby an individual is incapable of detecting any auditory stimuli simply because his or her ears do not have the capacity to do so. Physical hearing loss leads to total deafness where the affected individual cannot detect any sounds regardless of the intensity of the sound. Medical issues define a case where an individual has problems in detecting an auditory stimulus because of some complications in the individual’s hearing organ. Any damage to an individual’s ear(s) especially the internal parts of the ear brings about medical complications. Fatigue is a case where one is so tired that he or she cannot divert his or her energy in any other direction and his or her concentration is greatly reduced. A relaxed person will more likely detect a sound if placed at the same position with an individual who is fatigued when all other conditions held constant. If an individual is listening to some sound and some other sounds come from the background, this individual is distracted and this causes divided attention (Jan, 2008). The memory of the person listening to the message is reduced and the communication is also negatively affected. For a team meeting to effective, it is therefore important for the team members of a team to be prepared for the meeting both mentally and physically and in addition ensure minimum distractions as the meeting is in progress.

Dichotic Listening and the Cocktail Party Effect

The cocktail party effect addresses the ability of an individual to focus his or her listening attention to one source of information in the presence of many sources and some background information. This means that the individual has to ignore all other sources of information and concentrate on one source. Dichotic listening on the other hand addresses the issue of selective listening whereby an individual is able to listen to some information coming from two different sources simultaneously. Many individuals generally have low dichotic listening skills but may be at one instance or the other, most individuals are capable of listening to two sources simultaneously. The cocktail party effect have a negative effect on the concentration of an individual and consequently on the conversation. This is because it causes divided attention thereby the individual is unable to concentrate at any one conversation fully. If an individual is listening to only one source of information and there are no disruptions, there is a high likelihood that this person will give all his or her attention to this one source and he or she will be able to get and retain almost all the information if not all (Mary, 2008). The best conversation is the one where a person has maximum concentration in the absence of distractions. However, some individuals have the capacity to do several tasks at the same time and they perform equally well while taking two tasks at the same time. The situations that are being combined also matter a lot since if one situation requires more attention than the other, a distraction by audio or visual stimuli will definitely mean confusion.

Divided Attention

Divided attention comes in when an individual is required to pay attention to two or more stimuli at the same time. The ability of an individual to multi-task, adjust, and learn either in the absence of distractions or in the presence of distractions matters a lot to learning individual. Divided attention can be harmful to an individual as it can lead to illness and fatigue. Divided attention could also be distractive especially in conference call meetings since one is required to participate in turn and ones attention is split into more than one areas, he or she is likely to lose focus of one. If the work environment is very noisy, the individuals working in these conditions risk the likelihood of hearing loss (Mary, 2008). Divided attention could also lead to perceptual difficulties if the individuals are actively involved in multi-tasks (John, 2006). Too much exposure to loud noise causes damage in the inner tissues of the ear and this could lead to hearing loss. Our ability to pay attention to all what we hear, concentrate on the message, and the way we perceive it depends on our physical and mental health.

Sensory Perception Problem if the Team were meeting Face-to-Face

If the members of the team were meeting face-to-face, the sensory perception would be distracted since the team members this time round could have eye contact with each other which is a cause of distraction. The individuals so far know that the different members have different recommendations and needs. This could greatly affect the concentration of the individuals in the meetings since they have different perceptions, sensations, and attention to learning.

Recommendations

To ensure maximum concentration and avoid disruptions, each member of the team should ensure that the environment where he or she will be attending his or her meeting is quiet and clean. Anything that could cause divided attention should be avoided. These could include members of the family, animals in the area, loud music from systems, television sets, etc. This way the undivided attention of every individual will be present during the meeting and all that is said will be understood and perceived in the right manner. The individuals should also ensure that their physical and mental health status is okay so that they could give maximum concentration to all that is said.

Conclusion

The sensation, perception and attention of an individual in a meeting are very important as it determines what that person gets in the meeting. The ability of a person to hear a statement is affected by both environmental and personal factors. The ability of an individual to concentrate on one issue in presence of many others depends on the individual but it is not very common. Also, the ability of an individual to pay attention to two events and concentrate on both of them depends on the individual. Two or more sources of sounds cause divided attention thus reducing the ability of the individual to concentrate on any one of the sources. The successes of any teams depend very much on the effectiveness of the communication between the different members of the team.

References

. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080113212745.htm on 10-september-09.

John, A. R. (2006). Effects of Divided Attention on Source Memory for Modality with Visual and Auditory Stimuli.

Mary, S. (2008). Noise-Induced Hearing Loss. Retrieved from http://www.uchospitals.edu/online-library/content=P00458 on 10-September-09.

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Psychological Effects of Transgender Males Versus Gay Men

Introduction

General overview

The identity, discrimination, rights and psychological effects of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender people (LGBT) have raised several debates in the society today. This minority groups were initially not recognized or was ignored but today there is campaign of recognition and understanding of this groups. There is a lot of stereotype that are associated with this group. Some of the stereotypes try to moralizer the sexual tendency of this groups and this has led to discrimination and stigmatization of the groups. The conflict in these groups is usually associated with how other people see and expect from the group and how individual person identify himself or herself and the internal sexual desires of the individual.

The majority of people in our society are heterosexual. Being the majority this group of the society expects every other person in the society to behave and act as they do. The social activities, occupations and social institutions are set with accordance with the majority (Paul, 2002). This being the case, these social creations are set according to the majority heterosexuals. An institution such as marriage is set according to the heterosexual. Thus the Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender are forced to fit in these social structures even though they are physically, sexually or psychologically different (Susan, Whittle, 2006).

Sexual and gender prejudices dominate many of institution in our society. The straight majority may not understand the LGBT and thus they discriminate and prejudice them. For example a study made in some US college showed that many of LGBT in US colleges fear for their safety due to the sexual orientation or gender identity (Susan, Whittle, 2006).

The psychological weight laid under the LGBT group is usually heavy. Living in a world that is dominated by the majority Heterosexual, LGBT find it challenging to fit in. They remain in misidentification, stigmatization and excessive self consciousness. It has been observed that there is high number of members of this group suffering from cases of psychological problem such as depression, and suicide. At the same time there are high cases of abuse of drugs from members from this group. These effects observed from the members of LGBT calls for more understanding of the group. Each of the members of the group is actually different and thus each group should be studied and understood individually (Harcourt, 2006). The Lesbians and Gay are homosexual in that they are sexually attracted to other persons of the same sex. In general transgender are those individuals who tend to diverge from their gender roles.

Transgender is concerned with the gender. A transgender is a person whose self gender identity differs from the gender identity assigned by the others. A person is assigned a gender after birth based on the genetic sex. On the other 0side other people would assign a gender depending on the physical appearance. Thus a transgender does not conform with the usually definition of a male of a female. Transgender however does not imply any sexual tendencies; it is purely concerned with the gender identity of an individual (Susan, Whittle, 2006). Thus a transgender may be heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual. Their sexual orientation thus differs from their gender identity. The conflict of the sexual tendency and gender identity of the transgender is usually conflicting. Being a transgender may put a person into a dilemma. The sexual orientation of the individual may be completely different to the gender identity where by the person may be attracted to individual with the same conventional gender identity.

Statement of the problem

Transgender persons may be attracted to other individuals of the same sex. A transgender may a different gender identity from that that assigned at birth. This gender identity may conform to the gender identity assigned at birth or it may not (Susan, Whittle, 2006). The sexual orientation of the transgender would at the same time conform to the gender identity or not. Thus the sexual orientation of the transgender may make him or her to be considered as homosexual by others. For example a transgender man may be sexually attracted to another man. In this case the transgender may be considered by other as a gay. But since the self gender identity of the transgender may be different from the gender identity assigned to him at birth, will this person consider himself as gay? The study aims at understanding the psychological effects of such a dilemma. The statement of hypothesis is: To study the psychological effects of transgender males versus gay men.

Need for the study

The LGBT are reported to be prejudiced by other people due to their not conforming the social structures and social expectation. This group has also been reported to suffer from psychological problem due to their conflicting identity (Paul, 2002). The sexual orientation has been associated with the psychological and not the physiological part of individuals. For transgender man who is attracted to another man, the internal identity of the transgender may be highly involved in the sexual orientation.

There are other issues of identity that affect the transgender. Such issues are desire for surgical correction, orientation to clothing, and child birth. The female desires of the transgender men drive them to act or involve in controversial issues. For example, a there are transgender men who go to the extent that they seek surgical solution so that they can bear children (Harcourt, 2006).

Gays are homosexuals in that they are men who feel more comfortable and content in a sexual relation with another man. Many of the transgender men are sexually attracted to females but there are a few who are attracted to other men (Paul, 2002). As a transgender man the person has always tried to express his female mature. The internal identity to the person is that of a female and the person is internally attracted to female traits. I f such a transgender is sexually attracted to another man, and then the reason for the attraction is different to that of a gay man. The sexual attraction may be as a result of the transgender man’s desire for being a fully a female. Despite this orientation, how this transgender man identifies himself is of importance.

Definition of terms

Transgender: A person whose internal gender identity differ from the physical.

Transsexual: This is a person who wants to change his or her gender identity so that he or she can live in permanently in the new gender identity.

Gender dysphoria: It is a medical term for gender dilemma.

Gender community: A term that refer to all the people who are transgender.

Cross-dressing: Is a person who has a gender identity with one sex and assigned the same at birth but who wears cloths of the opposite sex (Paul, 2002).

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is giving a clear psychological insight of the identity of transgender men. The study is to explore how the transgender men who are attracted to other men consider themselves and how this psychological effect affects their relationship. Secondary data analysis will be used in the study.

References

Harcourt (2006) Current issues in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health, Volume 51:-Routledge;

Paul (2002) Taking sides, Taking sides: Clashing Views On Controversial Issues in Sex and Gender:- McGraw-Hill

ReneeReyes.com (2001) Retrieved from http://www.reneereyes.com/Webdocs/rel-wife.htm

on 8th October 2009:-

Susan, Whittle (2006):- The transgender studies reader:-CRC Press

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Health Psychology Committee Report

Introduction

Recovery from illness is the principle objective of health institutions. Slow recovery from illness and non adherence to medications is a major challenge to these institutions. Slow recovery become costly to those taking care of the patient and also adds pressure on hospital facilities. Most of the slow recovery have no objective medical findings but result from psychological factors. Health psychologists use finding from psychologist theories to execute their roles and promote health. Health psychologists work alongside other medical professionals to improve the overall health state of the patients. They work on behavior change by encouraging thoughts and feelings which result to better health condition of the patient.

Role of Psychiatry department

Research has shown that there is a major link between medicine and psychology. Evidences have also been seen for relevance of personal psychological variables to their health and recovery from illness. It has been shown that personal, social and cultural factors influence the health behavior of the patient. Different categories of patients such as children, adult, substance abuser require psychological health services. These services can be made available through the psychiatry department (Broome, Llewelyn, 1995). Do address the psychological needs of the different patients there is need for enough qualified health psychologist. The health psychologist would work directly in the clinical setting and would help individual or groups to promote health behavior. They would also understanding the patients and their special need, and, with cooperation with physicians help in improving the overall health of the patients (Broome, Llewelyn, 1995). Each psychologist would be assigned a certain group patients so as the need of those group could be fully addressed.

By the advantage accrued from health psychology department there is need for implementing it in the hospital. A health psychology department of five psychologists would be sufficient as a start. Each of the health psychologists would be assigned role under these categories: Substance abuse councilor, inpatient-only psychologist; child psychologist; adult psychologist and outpatient and terminally ill psychologist. The health psychologist will however cooperate to bring overall improved health of the patients in the hospital and together they would help reduce the overall recovery time of patients (Taylor, 2008).

Substance abuse councilor

Substance abuse is a major health problem in the world today. Drug, alcohol and tobacco use cause illness and even death than any other health condition. It contributes to hospitalization of many patients. Patients who are under the influence of the substance abuse need a lot of care both medically and psychologically (American Psychological Association. Division of Health psychology, 2001). Although differing from one individual to another this problem is mostly a bio-social and psychological. The social and psychological influence on substance abuse differs from one individual to another. Hence, treatment of substance abuse patients ought to be tailored to the individual. This would be important so as to determine what factors are most influential in the abuse.

The health psychologist under this category would deal with the substance abuse patients and assist them in their recovery. Initially substance abuse was thought as a disease based or genetically based, but the psychologist hold that it is learned by behaviors that are acquired with time. Being a learned behavior, it can be unlearned or changed through behavioral models of treatment. Since most of the substances abused have addictive character these patients usually have problems in overcoming the substance abuse (Ogden, 2000).

Health psychologist under this category will offer counseling session to the patients. By the counseling session they would try to help the patient to understand his or her state and the condition that could have contributed the state. He/she will also assist the patient to understand the risk and negative effects of substance abuse. Since substance abuse is behavioral, the psychologist will offer the patient advice and necessary help of how the behaviors can be unlearned (Ogden, 2000). The psychologist will help the patient understand the social states that could have led to adoption of the behavior and thus help the patient stop the social behavior and may be learn other social behaviors that would promote recovery. Through the counseling session the psychologist would unearth the psychological and historical information that would assist in the treatment of the patient (Taylor, 2008).

For long term recovery of substance abuser, the health psychologist would address other factors that could be peculiar to the patient. Through this the best approach based on the patient would be used. Such approach could be: individual skill based treatments, motivational enhancement approach, and environmental and relationship based treatment approach (Taylor, 2008). The health psychologist will also address other psychological problems associated with substance abuses. Such problem could be depression, stress, anxiety, low-esteem and other similar personality issues

Inpatient-only health psychologist

Patients whose conditions require hospitalizations are usually extremely ill or requiring special treatment within the hospital. These patients are separated from there family and loved ones and instead spend their time in the hospital. In the hospital they live with other patients who could as well be in bad condition. The hospital condition is usually challenging to cope with especially for first timers in the hospital (Ogden, 2000).

Inpatient health psychologist will be responsible of assisting inpatient to cope with the hospital conditions. They will offer psychological help inform of advice, counseling and psychological therapies when necessary that will enable the inpatient to adhere to medication and assist in recovery. The psychologist will monitor the recovery and psychological state of the patient and will be able to cooperate with other practitioners to intervention. Patients who do not cooperation, such as those who does not adhere to medical regimens, would be offered counseling and other psychological assistance. The psychologist will make the patient understand and accept their illness (Herbert, Penny, 1994). For patients who are awaiting medical procedure, the psychologist will offer psychological assistance that would boost the patients hope for recovery. He would be able to assist the patient understand the procedure and its need (Herbert, Penny, 1994). To the visiting relatives the psychologist will ease their tension and anxiety by offering necessary counseling.

The inpatient health psychologist will be assigned to the wards and will monitor and interact with the patients. Any patient who would need the need of this psychologist will be referred to him. The psychologist will work closely with the physician and would offer or receive advice to the physicians working with patients in the wards.

Child health psychologist

The underlying progression in life cycle; physical social and psychological has influence on the persons experience of health and illness. Although there are health issues common to all development stage, each of the development stage has its peculiar health concerns. Thus the development stage would affect the understanding and the ability to cope with certain health issues. There is thus need for address of heath concerns for every stage of life (Taylor, 2008). Children are especially vulnerable to psychological effects of illness. Having little knowledge and experience the children would need care and assistance during their illness. The child parent may provide a lot of emotional and psychological assistance to the child but the services of a trained child psychologist would very essential.

The child health psychologist will be responsible for offering psychological assistance to children and adolescent at different stages. The psychologist will observe and monitor the child and take note of the psychological needs of individual children. The psychologist will offer advice to both the physicians and to those talking care of the child when needed. With the skills, the psychologist will observe the effects of physical environment on the health behavior of the child. Counseling and advice will also be given to those taking care to the child on how they can contribute to fast recovery and overall health of the child (Taylor, 2008). The psychologist will also liaise with other institutions or individuals such as the child school so as to bring overall fast recovery and health state of the child. To the expectant and parenting mothers psychological assistance would be given since the behavior of the mother directly or indirectly affects the wellbeing of the child.

Adult health psychologist

Like any other stage of life, the adult have their social and psychological issues that affect their health and influence on the response to health services. Although they have their general needs, adults at different stage of adulthood would require special care peculiar to their stage. The social state such married, single, divorcee, occupations would also influence their response to medical care (Broome, Llewelyn, 1995).

The adult psychologist will be responsible for addressing psychological issues of this group. The psychologist would observe and monitor adult patients and offer concession where necessary. He will also assist them to understand the medical procedures and the need for them. Those expecting or undergoing special treatment will be offered counseling so as to boost their recovery. The psychologist will also address the special psychological needs of these patients such as their relationships, their occupations and advice on the right change that would boost the patients’ recovery. The adult psychologist offer psychological assistance to the elderly patient and enable them to adopt better attitude that would boost recovery.

Terminally ill health psychologist

Patients suffering from terminal illness usually have poor response to medication. Such patients as cancer patients need special assistance that would enable them endure and prolong their life (American Psychological Association. Division of Health psychology, 2001). The Terminally ill health psychologist would monitor and counsel these patients. He would assist them understand and accept their state and instill in them the vigor for life despite their states. He will also arrange and for chronic pain treatment.

Rationale for assigning duties

Each patient has his or her special needs depending on his/her illness, social background and stage of life. Each of the needs could well addresses by a special psychologist assigned to that special group (Herbert, Penny, 1994). For example the needs and treatment of the substance abuses could be addresses independently than generally. Likewise the need of a child differs from those of an adult and the treatment approach would as well differ. The psychologists were assigned address these special needs but would cooperate so as to bring overall improvement in health states and recovery of all patients.

Importance of implementing the program in the hospital

Health psychologists help to address the psychological factors to patients’ wellness and recovery. The psychologist not only help the patients understand their treatment but offer them psychological assistance to accept and adopt behaviors that would promote health. The patients, clients and community at large ought to educated and warned about the impacts of certain medications and the risk of certain substances and behaviors. The warning should however be offered in a manner that would bring positive results than in those manner that may lead to rejection of the advice or warning. Health psychologists use their skills to bridge between the physician and the patient (Broome, Llewelyn, 1995). With the services of the health psychologist the psychological hindrance to health recovery would be addressed and there would be overall improvement in attitude toward medication. With improved attitude patients would adhere to medical regimens and their recovery period would be lowered. Unlike when these services are not available, patients will view health services positively and would have overall improved recovery (Ogden, 2000).

Conclusion

The overall recovery of a patient does not depend only on the medication received but it also depends on the individual’s attitude, feelings and emotions. Health care should therefore address the psychological effects to recovery by using the services of health psychologists. The psychiatry department in the hospital would an important boost to the overall performance of the hospital by coordinating psychological services and treatments.

References

American Psychological Association. Division of Health psychology (2001) Health psychology: the official journal of the division of health psychology, American Psychological Association, Volume 20,   Issue 3:-Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Broome, Llewelyn (1995);-Health psychology: process and applications;-Nelson Thornes

Herbert, Penny (1994):-Health psychology: a lifespan perspective:- Psychology Press

Ogden (2000) Health psychology: a textbook:-Open University Press; 396

Taylor (2008) Health psychology;-McGraw-Hill 576

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Use of Animals in Psychological Research

Introduction

Animals have been a vital component of the medical laboratories in the US as well us the other parts of the world and it is time everyone appreciated the immense strides that these individuals who participate in these tests have made.

Their actions though just as everything else in the current world have not eluded the watchful eyes of the activists this time the animal activists who have held that the animals used in these tests should be well handled and should only be used when no other alternative is available. This is a point of debate as the other alternatives available for use in the absence of animals will be the use of human beings. Whether this is realistic or in order is not an opinion I am entitled to as the subject of this assignment is an analysis of individuals or bodies who have taken positions on this issue.

It is evident that most of those involved in the research fields favor the use of animals and the reasons are clear as one looks at the success of these researches, as it is only because of them that diseases have been able to be contained in the past decade. Diseases that posed a massive threat to the people of the world as they continued to die. The argument of these researchers is how can these diseases that are an eminent danger to the human race is overlooked just because there is need to conserve or protect the animals. (Johnson 1990).

Though this argument maybe quite stern and the answer are quite obvious it forms the bases of the researchers and fellow supporters. It is never possible to overlook the plight of human beings just because there is need to protect the endowments of nature from an apparent abuse. The fact is that these animals are never abused and are in fact held and treated very well as they are as important as the course.

Past forums generated by researchers have indicated the desire to protect these animals and to use them only under conditions where use of other alternatives is impossible. They say that the argument of most of these arguments is misinformed and that they actually do not understand the long-term effects of using these animals nor are they aware of the procedures that are used in these research processes. They also seek to clarify the fact that these activists do not differentiate between the use of animals for testing products and for research in the biomedical researches.

To sum up their argument on the use of animals researchers say that they at no point ignore or overlook the rights of animals which the activists argue are equal to those of humans. On this premise they say that it would not be sound to use the fellow human beings to test the suitability of certain vaccines whose results are not known at the time putting their life in jeopardy with the aim of protecting the rights o an animal. The say that both superiority of mind and life of these two should determine the ability to risk the life of either, after all they say that that the results of these researches justify the use of animals as the results are there for all to see. (Johnson 1990).

Their last point is that they support the need to protect the animals and at the same time recognize the fact  that ethical observations are there to meet of which they fully support, and they ensure that researches are conducted with the greatest care. They also agree on the need to observe the principle of the three R’s which are:-

  • Reduce-Which is an effort o cut the numbers of animals used in researches.
  • Replace- Which is the aim to switch the use of animals with other alternatives that may be available.
  • Refine-This is making clear and reducing suffering of animals in the research procedures

On the other side lies the activists who strongly support the use of alternatives in the research procedures, besides this they argue that the rights of animals are the same as those of human beings thus for the same reasons that human beings are not used should be the very same ones that bar the use of animals in these procedures.

Thus as we can see their argument is based on the believe that these animals have the same rights as human beings, this may not be easily determined as no apparent documented summary that places both  at the same claim of rights. These advocates argue that animals have rights which should be observed by everyone using them they further argue that they should not be taken as property which one may dispose off or treat as they may wish.

On laboratory procedures they argue that the researchers only use animals because they have not put as much effort in determining alternatives as they have put in using these animals on their procedures. Thus their point is that researchers should focus more in coming up with alternatives for using in their procedures. This they say will help enforce the rights of animals at the same time protecting their lives which they say is their right. (Devenport 1990).

Conclusion

The debate of whether animals have rights seems to be long from being over as the advocates argue there is need to stop using these animals. On the other hand researchers have argued the only way to maintain the health of individuals is by using these animals to test the medication subscribed to these people. To support this they agree to use the animals only when no alternative exists and even in these cases they say utmost care will be exercised in handling the animals.

Reference:

Devenport, L. and Devenport, J. (1990). The laboratory animal dilemma: A Solution in Our Backyards. Psychological Science, 1(4), 215-216.

Johnson, D. (1990). Animal rights and human lives: Time for scientists to right the balance. Psychological Science, 1(4), 213-214.

Morris, C. and Maisto, A. (2008). Understanding Psychology 8th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. (pp 34 – 36).

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Running Head: Designer babies

Course Name:

Instructors name:

Presented by:

Presented on:

Introduction

Designer babies is more of a regular name than a scientific term, taken to mean a child whose genetic composition has been picked artificially to ensure composition of certain selected genes.

Most individuals and activist groups have come forward to oppose the idea of these babies as a wrong move, this has been mainly so with the religious groups and others such as Pro-life movements who focus on sanctity of human lives.

The main points of focus or controversy are the ethicalness or the moral impact of these actions, others argue from the safety point of view.

Moral opposition

This is mainly advocated and addressed by the church where the argument is mainly based on the conservative nature of the church where the believe is that there should be only on e way through which parent may have their babies. This is through the  natural means, the other thing they say is that God is the only creator any one else trying to do something close to that is going against the very teachings that the church has all along committed itself to deliver to its congregation.(Darmovsky 2001).

The other point raised by the church is on the teachings that we are all wonderfully and uniquely created and ay one trying to modify what God has crated is obviously committing a sin. Thus as we look at these opponents we are able to conclude hat the church opposition is only founded on the religious teachings.

The other moral question brought about is on the use of reprogenetics by parents on their kids is argued as “immoral”. The argument is founded on the bases that as far as parents continue to strive for better qualities for their kids this will eventually to almost “artificial” children with some almost impossible combinations. This they argue will lead human beings into an informed and participated evolution. (Lee 2002).

Ethical opposition

The ethical ness of designer babies can only be determined by the degree of the practice and its regulation if at all kit is. Most of the things have undergone radical changes in the very near past thus the need to modify some of the values that have been established in the past, this does not mean accommodating the evil things but accepting anything that brings a positive change in the society. This was the argument put forth by the proponents of the designer babies, but those who have put an ethical argument against the designer babies argue that the values an d ethics that were used to regulate the world when it was san e are the same values that should be used to regulate and judge individuals even in the present times. (Darmovsky 2001).

They argue that such aspects as use of genetic technology methods to help create immune individuals or use of the  technology  to enhance the children’s capacities is an un ethical issue as it inconveniences the lives of others by either creating an unequal playing  ground in terms of capacity.

Support for their argument

The religious leaders entrench their arguments in the writings of the bible which is considered to be a book of influence as it forms the church foundations and is considered holy.

The ethicalness proponents have founded their argument in the regulation of human activity and provision of equal opportunity which they say helps achieve harmony and peace in the world. Besides they argue the way to retain our values is by using them to regulate the activities of the future, these values are the basics of ethicalness across the world. (Gosden 2000).

References

Darmovsky M (2001). Redesigning life. Zed books, New York.

Agar N (2009).http://

Retrieved on September 21, 2009.

Gosden R. (2000) Designer Babies: Science and the Future o f Human

Reproduction. Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Lee H. (2002).Designer Babies: Where should we draw the line. Hodder Arnold, New York.

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