THE ESSENCE OF SCHIZOPHRENIA










Schizophrenia: Memory, Hallucinations, and Neurotransmissions Possible Correlations and Implications; Observational Analysis
Christopher J. Mitchell












Abstract
Behaviors in schizophrenic patients have been observed extensively. Many defects are distinguishable. Among them is memory, and recall insufficiencies. In addition, individuals who suffer from schizophrenia generally demonstrate disorganized thinking patterns, and may also experience delusions or hallucinations. The correlation between dopamine inadequacies and memory as well as recall deficiencies is comprehensible and widely supported. It is unclear, however, whether it is the only absolute determinant, or if it is just one factor among many. Studies have expressed that a potential factor may be a failure to organize the information to be encoded. Inferential data shows that the use of various stimulants is prevalent in people with schizophrenia. Further, people with schizophrenia seem to lack the ability to organize thoughts or strategize. Perception and motivation seem to be absent in their life. In addition, a number of studies have shown that these individuals are moody, aggressive or homicidal in nature. Correlations have been discovered between cognition, recall, and memory. Further, false recognitions and other types of memory errors were positively associated with hallucinations. Experiments showed that antipsychotic medications used to treat Schizophrenia increased the number of dopamine receptors in schizophrenic patients. Further, analysis indicated that increased blood flow is a major contributor to the effects of schizophrenia. The cause of this disorder is unknown. However, if schizophrenia is a chemical imbalance, then identifying and attending to the surplus instead of the deficit of dopamine may actually bring the system to a balance.






Schizophrenia: Memory, Hallucinations, and Neurotransmissions Possible Correlations and Implications; Observational Analysis

Observation
This paper discusses the nature, severity, and possible causes, and effects of Schizophrenia. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “Schizophrenia affects 2.2 million adults or about 1.1 percent of adults ages 18 and older throughout the United States.” Further they reported, “The numbers country to country are roughly the same.” Suggesting that, “The percentage of the worlds’ population; over 18 years of age suffering from this disorder is about 1 percent.” (2004, October 14).
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness. It’s characterized by “defects in perception.” Individuals who suffer from schizophrenia typically demonstrate disorganized thinking patterns and may also experience delusions or hallucinations. Delusions are defined as “false beliefs or distorted truths.” Whereas, a hallucination is “a perception of an experience when there is no external stimuli present to cause that experience.” Hallucinations can involve visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory experiences. “The most common type of hallucinatory experience in people who suffer from this disorder is auditory, however.” (Oxford Dictionary of Psychology)
The cause of this disorder is currently unknown. Schizophrenia could be caused by situations or happenings during prenatal care. It could be a genetic disorder or its causation could have something to do with chemical imbalances. More specifically, the question is: Is it possible that abnormal deficits of the chemicals that excite neurons involved in memory cause abnormal surpluses that could have an adverse affect on other areas of the brain that are involved in processing auditory stimuli, and may alter perception? Moreover, can one deduce from previous studies that the cause of auditory hallucinations experienced in people with schizophrenia may be a product of an over stimulation of auditory processes; thus, disabling these parts of the brain from perceiving selective stimuli, causing the stimuli to be intertwined, and in turn cause the person to hear abnormal sounds?
The difficultly in determining the causal components of this disorder, is partly because of the complexity of the composition of the human body, and of the brain. However, based on the definition of the disorder, there seems to be an interrelationship between its symptoms, memory inefficiencies, and sensory perception. Further, there is a significant amount of evidence that suggests that people with schizophrenia experience deficits in memory.
According to Koh (1978); “a factor that may contribute to impaired memory in schizophrenic patients is failure to organize the information to be encoded.” In fact, one study showed, “in patients with schizophrenia, coding deficits have been observed with verbal and non-verbal material.” Brébion, Jones, Pilowsky (2004), however, these findings were originally attributed to (Jones, Harrison, Mirsky, Seidman, & Stonen, 1998; Tracy et al., 2001).
In addition to the shortcoming of memory, there are many authors that have obtained sufficient evidence to suggest that the usage of various stimulants is prevalent in people with schizophrenia. For example, one study found “tobacco use is significantly associated with schizophrenia” Roll, Higgins, Steingard,& McGinley (1998). Another study revealed, "nicotine may alleviate cognitive deficits in schizophrenia by increasing dopamine neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex” (Davis, Kahn, Ko, & Davidson, 1991; Sandyk, 1993; Taiminen et al., 1998). Furthermore, studies have shown, "smoking also improves cognitive performance in normal smokers” Wesnes, & Warburton, (1983). Observations have also found that “nicotine withdrawals lead to an exacerbation of schizophrenic symptoms” Dalack, & Woodruff (1996). In addition people who are schizophrenic tend to abuse drugs like cocaine. One observation has suggested, “the use of the drug itself is a form of operant behavior that is maintained by the reinforcement of the effects of the drug itself”, Stephen, Higgens, Steingard, & McGinley (1998). Cocaine is a stimulant of the central nervous system, and a suppressant of appetite. Moreover, it has been suggested that smoking is correlated with a loss of appetite, in addition to a benefit for memory, and recall processes.
Many studies have been performed to explore the memory and recall deficits experienced by people with schizophrenia. One study was carried out by four scholars from Kings College London, Brébion, David, Jones, Pilowsky, (2004). The participants
in this study consisted of thirty-nine individuals who were diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. Thirty-six of the patients were taking atypical antipsychotic medication, and the other three were not taking any antipsychotic medication. In addition, thirty-nine healthy controls were gathered by geographical broadcast. The healthy controls were screened for any current or recent psychiatric history. Both groups were equivalent in respect to age, gender, education, and verbal IQ. The material used in this study comprised of eight lists containing 16 words. Four of the lists were composed of asymmetrically related words. The four lists were not organized in any way; however, were equivalent in length and word frequency. The four other lists were symmetrically organized containing, two lists that were atypically organized, and two were typically organized. The unsymmetrical list was given to the participants and they were told that they had 45 seconds to learn the words and had to read them out loud at least once. Immediately after the words were learned they were supplied with a piece of paper and told to write down all of the words they could recall. The four other lists were given following the same procedure.
The results showed that the “patients with schizophrenia would obtain lower scores if they had a tendency to use serial clustering strategies.” For example, by using serial learning by rote rehearsal the patients were impaired in the number of words that could remember in sequence. In addition, this study showed that the patients were limited in the recall of the list also the typical arrangement led to a greater recall than the atypical arrangement. This observation suggested that the people with schizophrenia demonstrate a lack semantic organization, and a dysfunction in recall.
This study emphasized the impairment of certain functionalities of the brain involved in memory and recall. In addition, it discussed the differences of the ability of unimpaired persons to use semantic clustering vs. the inability of its use in schizophrenic patients. Furthermore, it provides a dissertation about the links between a normal brain functions and anomalous brain functioning as it relates to memory and recall. Another research published by Brébion, et al. (1999), established a strong correlation between hallucinations and recognitions. More specifically, “false recognitions and other types of memory errors were positively associated with hallucinations and inversely analogous with certain negative symptoms.” In addition, researches have established a relationship between the antipsychotics used to treat Schizophrenia and dopamine receptor deficits in schizophrenic patients.
Bio-Chemical Components of Memory Deficits
A research project done by Seeman (1984) implied that “long-term treatment of neuroleptics could result in an increase in dopamine receptors.” This observation involved postmortem brains. The study examined 71 controls for the caudate nucleus, 56 for the putamen nucleus, and 47 for the nucleus accoumbens. Some subjects had used nuroleptics. Three of the subjects who had Alzheimer’s disease had used trifluperanzine for two years. Another had taken an undetermined amount of neuroleptics. In this research the only patients that were considered to be drug free were those schizophrenic patients that had not used neuroleptics for six months. The results indicated that the two caudate modes were significantly higher in the control mode. In addition, it showed that the putamens from schizophrenics had modes hat were greater than those of the controls. Further, the schizophrenic accumbens tissues showed that the modes exceeded the control mode.”
The caudate nucleus is said to be involved in voluntary movement, the putamen is said to play a role in reinforcement learning, and the nucleus accumbens is said to be involved in reward, pleasure, and addiction (Oxford Dictionary of Psychology). Does an increase of dopamine receptors that may be caused by a long-term use of neuroleptic drugs such as: typical anti-psychotics and atypical anti-psychotics explain the memory deficits in schizophrenic patents? More specifically, does it mean that the memory deficiencies are caused by the lack of dopamine produced in the synaptic vesicles of the pre-synaptic neuron or is the causation due to an insufficient number of dopamine receiving receptor cites in the pre-synaptic neuron? If so, what explains the hallucinations?
One explanation was presented by GD Johnston (2000) in a study that observed the effects of drugs. It suggests “an overdose of Antimuscarinic agents antagonize the effects of sympathetic acetylcholine at the receptor producing wide variety of phenomena, including: hallucinations and muscle paralysis.” Thus, a decrease in the normal amount of acetylcholine may cause hallucinations. Another study that was done reported an increase of blood flow in several brain regions such as: “the thalamus, basal ganglia, anterior cingulated, the right and left parahippocampal, gyri, and cerebellum in patents with schizophrenia.” In addition, it showed that certain “regions had a decrease of flow such as the prefrontal cortex, including: the lateral, orbital, and medial regions” (Andreasen et all,. 1997).
Observational Analysis
Behaviors in schizophrenic patients have been observed extensively. Many defects are distinguishable. Among them is memory, and recall insufficiencies. In addition, individuals who suffer from schizophrenia generally demonstrate disorganized thinking patterns, and may also experience delusions or hallucinations. The correlation between dopamine inadequacies and memory, as well as recall deficiencies is comprehensible and widely supported. It is unclear, however, whether it is the only absolute determinant, or if it is just one factor among many. Although, there is supporting evidence to denote that dopamine deficits produce memory problems, there is also an abundance of compelling empirical data that implies that a surplus can have similar noticeable reactions as well. These findings suggest that chemical changes may occur, and a dependency can arise over many years or generations of constant exposure to these particular elements. Therefore, the tendency to use stimulants, such as cigarettes, coffee, and other drugs, and other biochemicals may serve as a kind of balancing mechanism, and also the actual cause. Likewise, the unpredictable moods in people with schizophrenia may be a product of an interdependence of chemo-electrical energy, between the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, and the hippocampus. By understanding these energy balances we may get closer to solving many of the problems that we see in younger and older people today.
Many theorists including: Darwin, “Theory of Natural Selection”, Einstein, E=MC² and Newton: “every action has an equivalent opposite reaction” has provided the foundation for the universal laws of all matter, including the composition of the human brain. If these notions are true then it seems logical to claim that the brain works at a normal pace only when all components are at equilibrium. Thus, if one part of the brain under-stimulated, then another part of the brain is over-stimulated which may contribute to mood, fluctuations, hallucinations, and delusions. If this is true then treating the deficit may actually make the disorder worse in the long run; however, attending to the surplus may actually bring the system to a balance. It will take many more years of research in order to understand the complications, correlations, and possible causes of this disorder. However, by using behavioral as well as cognitive tactics we may final succeed,






References

Andreasen, N., O'Leary D., Flaum, M., Nopoulos, P., Watkins, L., Boles, L., Hichwa, R (1997) Hypofrontality in Schizophrenia: Distributed Dysfunctional Circuits in Neuroleptic-Naive Patients
Colman, A (2003) Oxford Dictionary of Psychology
Dalack, G. W., & Meador-Woodruff J. H., (1996). Smoking, Smoking
Withdrawal and Schizophrenia: Case Reports and a Review of the Literature 133-144.
Davis, K. L., Kahn, R. S., Ko, G., & Davidson, M. (1991). Dopamine in
Schizophrenia: A review and Reconceptualization. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 148, 1474–1486.
Johnston, GD (2000) Effects of Poisons on the Autonomic Nervous System Journal of
Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology
Koh, S. D. (1978) Remembering of Verbal Materials by Schizophrenic Young Adults. Language and cognition in schizophrenia (pp. 59-69).
Maner, M. (1999, 14 April). Women and eighteenth-century literature. Retrieved August 9, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/18cwom99.html
National Institute of Mental Health, (2004, October 14). World Wide Web
Retrieved November 1, 2005 from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/schizsoms.cfm
Pickar, D., Labarca, R., Linnoila, M., Roy, A., Hommer, D., Everett, D., Paul, S. (1984) Neuroleptic-Induced Decrease in Plasma Homovanillic Acid and Antipsychotic Activity in Schizophrenic Patients. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Roll, M. J., Higgins, T. S., Steingard, S., & McGinley, M (1998) Use of Monetary Reinforcement to Reduce the Cigarette Smoking of Persons With Schizophrenia: A Feasibility Study. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 2, 157-161.
Seeman, P., Ulpian, C., Begeron, C., Riederer, P., Jellinger, K., Gabriel, E., Reynalds, G.P. Tourtellotte, W.W. (1984) Bimodal Distribution of Dopamine Receptor Densities in Brains of Schizophrenics. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Seidman, L. J., Stone, W.S., Jones, R., Harrison, R. H., & Mirsky, A. F. (1998). Comparative Effects of Schizophrenia and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy on Memory. Journal of the international neuropsychological Society, 4, 342-352
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Performance. Pharmacological Therapy, 21, 189–208.

Schizophrenia: Memory, Hallucinations, and Neurotransmissions Possible Correlations and Implications; Observational Analysis

1st Questions of interest:

Is it possible that abnormal deficits of the chemicals that excite neurons involved in memory cause abnormal surpluses that could have an adverse affect on other areas of the brain that are involved in processing auditory stimuli, and may alter perception?

2nd Question of interest:

Is it possible that auditory hallucinations experienced in people with schizophrenia may be a product of an over stimulation of auditory processes; thus, disabling these parts of the brain from perceiving selective stimuli, causing the stimuli to be intertwined, and in turn cause the person to hear abnormal sounds?

Behaviors in schizophrenic patients have been observed extensively. Many defects are distinguishable. Among them is memory, and recall insufficiencies. In addition, individuals who suffer from schizophrenia generally demonstrate disorganized thinking patterns, and may also experience delusions or hallucinations. The correlation between dopamine inadequacies and memory as well as recall deficiencies is comprehensible and widely supported. It is unclear, however, whether it is the only absolute determinant, or if it is just one factor among many. Studies have expressed that a potential factor may be a failure to organize the information to be encoded. Inferential data shows that the use of various stimulants is prevalent in people with schizophrenia. Further, people with schizophrenia seem to lack the ability to organize thoughts, or strategize. Perception and motivation seem to be absent in their life. In addition, a number of studies have shown that these individuals are moody, aggressive or homicidal in nature. Correlations have been discovered between cognition, recall, and memory. Further, false recognitions and other types of memory errors were positively associated with hallucinations. Experiments showed that antipsychotic medications used to treat Schizophrenia increased dopamine receptors in schizophrenic patients. Further, analysis indicated that increased blood flow is a major contributor to the effects of schizophrenia.

An Introduction to the Phenomena of Sleep Paralysis

Sleep paralysis is fairly common. In order to understand it I would like to define the word paralysis “Paralysis is the complete loss of muscle function in one or more muscle groups” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralysis). Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by a paralyzed feeling of the body shortly after waking up. It can also occur shortly before falling asleep. There are actually five stages of sleep; the first stage is stage one. While in this stage of sleep a person may experience auditory, visual, or tactile hallucinations. This is known as hypnagogic hallucinations. This state of sleep may even be accompanied by a full body paralysis. In many cases of hypnagogic hallucinations, the individual is aware that these are hallucinations, however. The scary part is the inability to respond to them. Stage two, three, and four, are dreaming states. After stage two, the body begins to slow down its normal processes, and although a person is considered to be conscious, their body is in a state of complete control. Stage five is an important factor to this discussion. Stage five is defined as a “REM” stage (Rapid eye movement). It is said “that sleep paralysis occurs when the brain is awakened from a REM state into essentially a fully awake state”. However, it seems that bodily paralysis is still occurring. If this is true then, in this circumstance it would cause a person to be fully aware but unable to move. During these episodes it is common to sense a presence of something or someone in the room with you. In addition, most commonly, people who endure this phenomenon may experience auditory hallucinations or visual hallucinations. In the more rear cases of sleep paralysis people may feel like they are falling or they may sense a vibration or feel held down in some way. Although, sleep paralysis is a common phenomenon, scientists, and psychologists are still uncertain as to the causes of it. It is suggested that there is a positive correlation between people that experience it and the people who suffer from narcolepsy. People with narcolepsy often experience irresistible tiredness. It is also suggested that sleeping upwards may increase the likelihood that one will experience an episode of sleep paralysis. In addition, it is said that the likelihood can be increased by irregular sleep, stress, and sudden changes in ones lifestyle. According to researchers sleep paralysis is not harmful to the subjects. However, in other cultures, including, Japanese, Newfoundland, Mexico, Tukish, Southern United States, Indonesia, and China, the cause is considered to be somewhat evil. For example, Chinese culture, in general considers the phenomenon to be caused by a ghost, or a spirit. In general, in Mexico, they consider it to be caused by the dead getting on top of the subject. Although, we have not figured out what would cause such an episode, many theorists have tried giving plausible explanations. My theory is that the brain and the body are separate components of our consciousness. If this is true then it is plausible that our sense of sight, touch, taste, and even smell can be active, even if our body is not. In this case, if we were to fall asleep and suddenly awake, Can it be possible that the part of our brain that controls our conscious state can become active, meanwhile, the parts of the brain that control our motor system and nervous systems are not?

Memories

Memory seems to be a process by which we store, and retain information over a period of time. The question is how does the process for putting information into memory work? Does it work like a computer by the encoding and storage concepts and if so how does stored information get recalled, meaning how do we retrieve it? In addition to this quandary is the idea of forgetting. What is forgetting and how does it happen?

The encoding process of memory is the transformation as well as the transfer of information. This information is chosen carefully by selective attention. Therefore, when we focus on a particular set of stimuli or events the information is encoded. The information is encoded at different levels of processing, however. Take for example, when process a word, we can either look focus on the physical characters that make up the word which is called shallow processing. Secondly, we can pronounce or sound the word out, which is called phonemic processing. Thirdly, we can try to understand the meaning of the word, which is called semantic processing; it seems that encoding would vary based on the method that we used. In addition, encoding can also be enhanced by introducing visual imagery, elaborating, and making the topic or experience personal, otherwise known as relevant to you. You can also use the chunking methodology, which is organizing the material to be remembered in groups. Enhancement of encoding is also possible by grouping information to be remembered in categories and possibly into hierarchies consisting of major and minor concepts, otherwise know as the hierarchies method.

Now that we have discussed what encoding is, how to increase the amount of information that you are trying to remember. We can look at how the memories are stored. Memory is stored by means of three memory systems, they are sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Sensory memory is said to preserve incoming sensory information, in its real sensory form. In addition, it has been suggestion that the duration that information can be kept in the sensory memory is about a second or two. These bits of information are called traces. A visual trace is called an icon trace, and auditory trace is called and echo. Sensory information extends the duration of the perception of stimuli long enough that they can be recognized, encoded, and relayed to conscious awareness. When information is given our full attention, known as selective attention it then can be transferred to our short-term memory. The information that is stored in the form of sensory memory is either transferred to short-term memory or it is lost forever.
When information is lost forever, it is called fading.

Our short-term memory is just that, the duration of our short-term memory is suggested to be 30 seconds. Although some scientists believe, the maximum interval can extend to 2 minutes or so. The information that is stored in our short-term memory is said to either advance into long-term memory or decay, or disappear forever.

Our long-term memory, however, is said to be permanent. There does not seem to be a limit on the capacity of which information can be stored. In addition it is suggested that the information that is gathered and stored in the long-term has once been stored in the short-term memory, however, through the process of elaborative rehearsal we have transferred the information from the short-term to the long-term memory bank. There are many types of long term-memories, such as, procedural memories, episodic memory, and semantic memory.

Procedural memory is the retention of stimuli-response associations and patterns of procedural responses. Episodic memory is memories of life events or experiences. And semantic memory is knowledge of words, symbols, or concepts and the rules for their manipulation or usage, such as in a language. There is also a very important memory system called metamemory.

Memory

Looking at memory
We have the ideas of: reconstructing the past which consist of the way we tend to manufacture memory, as well as the influence of fading flashbulbs. Secondly, we have the notion of memory and the power of our suggestions. Inside of this realm is the eyewitness trial, vs. children’s testimonies. Even further in our inspection of what memory is as well as what it consists of we have the actual pursuit of memory. This is the means of measuring memory, and constructing models of memory. Finally, we build a three-box model of what memory is. This model consist of sensory memory, short-term memory, and long term memory. After all is said and done we mustn’t forget the biological components of our capacity to remember. Therefore, we must examine how are neurons and synapses change during the process of memorization. In other words where is memory located? How do are hormones contribute to our ability to remember? Furthermore, how do we remember? Is memory a rehearsal of some sort, if so why do we forget? Is forgetting related to decay, replacement, or interference of some sort? If so wouldn’t that mean that our environment or experience have more influence on our ability to remember than our biological dispositions?

A Philosophical approach to Understanding the Motivation of Free Will

Can Western Families Be Influenced By Religious Doctrines?
A philosophical approach to understanding the motivation of free will

Family life in America could be strengthened by attention and adherence to the doctrines and practices of Hinduism, and Islam. Western cultures tend to have an individualistic orientation and other cultures, a collectivist orientation. The differences between these two cultures seem to influence people’s attitudes. Eastern doctrine seems to promote obedience and western doctrine seems to endorse individualism and freedom. In my paper I will explore what Hinduism could contribute to families in the west. In addition, I will look at the difference between Islam and Christianity and pinpoint specific things that I think cause problems in today’s social settings in the west. I will also examine the possible disadvantages of religion as it relates to human existence. However, I would like to start with a few thoughts about how religion can effect personal development.
Does the phrase “we must get to know ourselves before we can know anyone else” have any legitimacy? If so you may also agree that to truly know oneself is to be able to control all reactions caused by ones emotions. Some types of emotions one could feel are depression, sorrow, fear, frustration, happiness, and jealousy. It seems that out of these emotions fear is the cause of jealousy, jealousy is the driver of depression and sorrow and frustration are the effects. In order to get out of a mind state in which depression is the dominating factor one may have to except the circumstances by which they are depressed about. By comparing the difference between what they do and what they don’t have one may be able to achieve this goal. These feelings of dejection can cause families to become unstable or dysfunctional. However, what if we could be conditioned overcome the fears that could create such emotions?
It seems that throughout western history religion and family have been two institutions linked together through relationships of dependency and control. Religious institutions depend on families to pass on the rituals and beliefs of its particular faith tradition. And in turn religions provided moral guidelines that shape those families practices, and the organization of their life. The difference between this lifestyle and the others seems to be the cause for conflict. If one were to make a notion that a family that follows a faith tradition is a “good family”, they must also say a family that doesn’t support a tradition is a “bad family” or simply is not a good family. Looking at these two families as it relates to Christianity, we can say that a family that has a conviction towards this faith might be less inclined to fear natural occurrences. Therefore, we may see a lower rate of depression within families of faith than in families without. With this, what happens to our communities?
As I stated in my second paragraph depression can alter the relationship that one has with their family, therefore, having a faith can be a benefit for their individual social settings. However, with this type of lifestyle one may not see that problems like pollution, litter, and homelessness are of their responsibility.
In addition, they may not be accepted among other social groups and groups of different faith. It may be true that introducing faith into family settings could enhance the relationship between the members; however, it could also rattle the relationship of humanity. What can be introduced into the west to balance this equation? I think that by adopting the 3rd pillar of Islam which is an obligation of Muslims to pay a small percentage of their wealth towards “Zakat”, which is used for the benefit of the needy and the poor is one step forward. This act exemplifies a means of social justice, order and respect for Gods creation. However, in order to maintain this principle we must add a regulation. It seems that nothing is more controlling than fear and all emotions are driven by fear.
Hinduisms may be the place to turn to. The principal of Karma may be a stepping stone that the west could use to complete the equation. We can think of it as immediate karma, for example, “what goes around comes around” (in this life) or we may also think of it like the Hindus did (your current life determines the path of you next life). Karma is based on the ideas of cause and effect. Therefore, anything one does in this life will affect your future or ones next life. Take for example the idea of homelessness. Are people homeless because they are paying a debt to karma? If so why should we help them? This seems to be the question posed about karma. Although it is hard to answer I would like to take as shot at it by saying this, in order for karma to be relevant, negative and positives notions of it must exist. With the idea of someone doing something negative (evil) you obtain bad karma. By looking at this I examine how karma could work. Karma is a positive energy field that attracts negative energy. It prevents positive energies from entering and negative energies from exiting. If this is true then goal is to make the energy field neutral, but how does one do that? It seems that the only way to do is by good deeds. If we do things out of heart with care and compassion we produce positive energy with in us. That energy is able push the negative energy out of us. In the process the surrounding negative energy builds up and as soon at it reaches an equilibrium point with the positive it the field becomes neutral. Therefore, by helping the homeless we are doing good deeds and maintaining a neutral energy field.
All religions have something to contribute to the fundamental values of human life. However, for the most part, they are convictions that tend to separate the ideas of different social groups; therefore, one may never be able to agree on beliefs and issues of another social group which could cause conflicts. However, if there was only one thing to believe in it seems that there would more skeptics than believers. It seems to me that the plan of God is to unite the creation with its creator. The only way to complete task seems to be to bring the creation together as one. How is this possible? To achieve this one needs to have a common notion “there is a God”, it seems that everything that leads up to “there is a God” is the hook used to make the catch. If one could use many different types of hooks to catch a fish, then is it possible that one could use many types of stairwells to get to God as well?

Operant Conditioning

What is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement is a process in which a good stimulus is presented to increase likelihood that the behavior will continue.

What is negative reinforcement?
Negative reinforcement is a process of taking away bad stimulus in hopes to increase the likelihood that the behavior will continue.

What is positive punishment?
Positive is a process of presenting a bad stimulus in hopes to decrease the likelihood that the behavior will continue.

What is negative punishment?
Negative punishment is a process of taking something good away in hopes it will decrease the likelihood of the behavior will continue.

Defining Free Will By Looking at Different Learning Theories

Is Free will limited by learning processes? Taking a look at two learning theories may give an insight or get us closer to being able to construct an answer to this question. The first learning theory is call Constructivism, "constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge". In this definition the learner is able to personalize his / or her knowledge based on there individual experience. In other words "learning involves constructing one's own knowledge from one's own experiences". Constructivist learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a practical real-world context.

The second learning process is Behaviorism, behaviorism is an educational theory grounded on the seminal works of Thorndike, B.F Skinner and Ivan Pavlov, both scientists well known for their studies in animal behavior. Behaviorists believe that organisms need reinforcements to keep them interested and that the use of stimuli can be very effective in controlling behavior. For the behaviorist, environment directly shapes behavior, and complex learning requires a series of small, progressive steps. The behaviorist theory of education is probably by far the most commonly practiced because behavior can be easily viewed and therefore measured. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_theories)

Constructivism and Behaviorism both seem to factors that contribute to the product of our knowledge, insight, values, or rules that we establish to carry us through our everyday experience. However, it seems that in order for us to know how to deal with a particular situation we first have had a similar experience to the one we are dealing with. Therefore, when we face a situation or stimuli for the first time, we are actually using prior knowledge to come of with a desirable outcome. When we think of “desirable” we seem be comparing something we know is not as desirable to something we know that we desire. These processes of comparison suggest that the perception about desired and undesired is a learned experience, and therefore, is knowledge. However, where we acquired this knowledge about our desires is important in determine whether or not we make our decisions with free will or if there are limitations to this will based on how we perceived the experience that we are confronted with.


To Be Continued…