Behaviour and Environment (Essay) - 1375 Words

Behaviour and Environment (Essay Sample) Content: Behavior and Environment NameInstitutionIntroductionThe environment, which constitutes everything that surrounds an individual, has an impact on someones behavior in one way or another. Some scientists believe and suggest that behavior is influenced genetically as behavior is passed down from one generation to another. This is explained in theory of evolution (Sternberg Grigorenko, 1997).Environmental psychology is a discipline that is related to the psychological needs of man and values that relate to psychology. This is the study of the relationship between the environment and the behavior of humans (Arkkelin Veitch, 1995). The environment, in this context, is defined in a broader and more natural way where all aspects of the environment are interrelated. The aspects of the environment include the social settings, informational environments and various other environments that form the full spectrum of the environment.However, at the end, genetics do not matter s ince it is the environmental factors that determine the behavior of individuals. Genes that an individual possesses may make it more likely to incline to a particular behavior but it would not make someone do things until the favorable environmental conditions are in place. Some environmental factors that have the capacity of influencing the behavior of an individual include the cultural and social patterns. A persons behavior may also be influenced by his or her past experiences (Stewart, 2007). Environmental Physiology utilizes various view points of human psychology to make out the relationship between the environment and human behavior and the relationship between environment and experience. There are various theories that have been borrowed from various disciplines to explain the relationship and they include the arousal theories and the stimulus load theories.Video footage A video footage extracted from a home video borrowed from a friend was used for the assignment and the re lationship between the environment and the individual. The five minutes footage is shot in a sitting area where teenagers are busy playing computer games and some listening to some music in their iPods and Mp4 players. Oblivious of what was going on around them they continue with having fun and get engrossed in their activities. It is then that an old man in the neighborhood realizes that one of his snakes that he kept as a pet was missing in its cage. The snake that was missing was a black mamba, one of the deadliest snakes known. Back in the house, the teenagers were having fun and had no idea of any impending dangers. At a point in the footage, the black mamba is seen entering the room and sliding through the smooth floor where the more than twenty teenagers resided. The snake moved across the whole room without being noticed but when one teenager moves his leg to secure a more comfortable position on the floor, accidentally steps on the snake and causes it to strike back by pi ercing its sharp teeth into the boys heel. What follows is a sharp squeal from the boy as he cries in pain. It is then that the other boys realize that there was a snake in the house. At the same moment, the owner of the snake walks in to discover that he would soon be in trouble for being careless with his deadly pets.Humans, in general, merely react to their environmental contextStimulus Load theories The reason why the teenagers were so unaware of the impending danger that formed part of their environmental context was because of the amount of distractions that are associated with modern life. The video games and the iPods and other form of distractions took most of their time and attention. Stimulus load theories differ from the arousal theories in that it emphasizes on the limit in the ability of individuals to process data (Garling, 1993). The teenagers attention was captured by the many distractions of life with technology. This limited their ability to process the necessary information required to notice the snake and avoid the incident. Someones attention is required for stimuli and optimum performance. When an individual pays attention to what needs his or her concentration, then the major task becomes vital and the stimulus performance starts to advance. On the other hand, however, when an individual concentrates on irrelevant stimulus, then the expected performance falls below the expected levels. It is however true to say that the environments surrounding an individual may either negatively or positively affect the relevance of attention. Furthermore, when an individuals ability to react to a stimulus is exhausted, it would only take little effort or the smallest distraction to psychologically overwhelm the desire. The stimulus load theories therefore assess the relationship between the environment and performance. Another aspect that can be derived from this footage is that of the features of the environment. The nature of the environment which the teenagers were in was not that which is frequently associated with the presence of snakes or other harmful animals if any at all. No one anticipated the presence of such a creature in the house and therefore no one could have prepared for it. Their behavior was therefore inclined to that which is expected in any other peaceful home. The culture and social patterns of the teenagers also dictated their behavior (Sternberg Grigorenko, 1997). They were in an era whereby the iPods, computers and other gadgets made part of or most of their daily lives. Todays teenagers in the first world countries or those that come from well off families tend to own such gadgets which tend to take most of their time and form a great destruction from their desired activities and chores.Implications It is evident that current technologies that come in the form of iPods, iPads, computers and other electronic accessories form a big part of the distractions in the environment. This may be driven by the n eed to fit in a certain class of people which is influenced by social pressures or expectations in the society. Every teenager wants to be associated with his or her fellow teenagers and this causes them to want to own such gadgets. This means that the modern population is highly susceptible to the external forces such as the expectations of a certain age group or class. Teenagers, for example, may be expected to own such gadgets so as to match up with their peers. This could be an expectation as well as a way of attainin...

Daneeka and Thoughtful Laughter in Catch-22 - Literature Essay Samples

George Meredith once reasoned, â€Å"The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.† The importance of encouraging thoughtful laughter in comedy lies in its ability to humorously provoke reflection of some greater idea or theme. In the dark comedy Catch-22, Joseph Heller provides witty writing and action alongside meaningful themes, a combination that sparks this kind of â€Å"thoughtful laughter†. In particular, the humorous confusion and frustration surrounding the assumed death of Doc Daneeka markedly lends itself to this concept. Although the ludicrousness of the humorous scene may appear trivial in regard to the development of the plot, Heller incites reflection on both the power of official documents and the dehumanization of soldiers by the inhumane officers.Heller uses the scene as a means to reveal that during a time of war, statements that are written on a form hold a significantly greater importance over the actuality of the situation . In fact, the confusion surrounding the death of Doc Daneeka is derived from Sergeant Towser and the War Department’s unwillingness to accept reality over what is shown on the flight records. â€Å"With lips still quivering, Towser rose and trudged outside reluctantly to break the bad news to Gus and Wes, discreetly avoiding any conversation with Doc Daneeka himself as he moved by the flight surgeon’s slight sepulchral figure† (Heller 340). Towser acknowledges Daneeka’s existence, but he eludes taking action because Daneeka â€Å"gave every indication of proving a still thornier administrative problem for him† (340). In addition to Towser’s recorded excuse for disregarding Doc Daneeka, Mrs. Daneeka struggles with reports. An illegible letter from her husband gave the woman hope after receiving a War Department telegram that her husband had been killed in action. Eventually, though, she turns her â€Å"woeful shrieks of lamentationâ⠂¬  (341) to delight over her newfound wealth from the numerous insurance benefits as she begins to accept the War Department’s continual denial. In a final and emotional letter from Doc Daneeka, he pleads for his wife to acknowledge his existence; however, this is immediately countered by Colonel Cathcart’s overly generic response:â€Å"Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. and Mrs. Daneeka: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father or brother was killed, wounded or reported missing in action† (344).This constant battle between the blemished and poignant letters that clearly come from an emotional Daneeka and the detached responses from the bureaucracy, while ridiculous in nature, serves to illuminate a major theme in the novel: the power that documentation has over humanity. On a broad scope of the novel, Catch-22 is simply documentation that may or may not even exist, but certainly dictates the activity of the soldier s. Because of this scene’s meaning within the text, the audience is able to elaborate on the humor by questioning or confirming the veracity of Heller’s claim about official documentation, thereby awakening thoughtful laughter. This chapter also elicits thoughtful laughter as a result of Heller’s hyperbole of the dehumanization of the soldiers. Colonel Cathcart’s inhumane character is particularly targeted through his letter to Mrs. Daneeka. One would predict that the group commander of a man killed would write a more concerned letter rather than such a perfunctory and standard sentence. This letter is more significant in the fact that through it allows Heller to convey the impression that the officers treat the soldiers like a collective group of unknown entities. By doing so, Heller advances the message that the unit in power, such as the officers, treats its underlings with no compassion. This management even extends to the family of the soldiers , as Mrs. Daneeka equates her husband to the monetary benefits she receives from the government and insurance companies. Such inhumane treatment from a spouse of a supposedly killed man displays how all individuals outside the immediate concern with the soldiers have an automated response to the soldiers. Such an illogical notion encourages the reader to recognize such a flawed system, or even cogitate a new one. Daneeka’s assumed death stretches much farther than an event sparked by misunderstanding. Heller depicts every element of the situation in order to convey a deeper meaning of the plot. Details about Towser’s conflicting feelings and actions, Mrs. Daneeka’s fading response, and the War Department and Cathcart’s inhumanity all play a part in Heller’s message about the insanity the soldiers faced. While on the surface the event comes across as a frustrating misperception, the thought behind the chapter extends into fundamental understand ings of Heller’s message.