The Dutch Hunger Winter

               The Dutch hunger winter was a food academic which took place in 1944 to 1945. During this famine the calorie in take went from  being a normal amount of 2000 to 1000 and by the end of the year 1944 the average calorie intake was about  500. The famine came as a result  from the rapid decrease of food stocks in the cities in the western Netherlands, due to  German blockades that cut off the food and fuel shipments from farm areas in order to punish the reluctance of the Dutch to aid the Nazi war effort.  Approximately 22,000 people died, but worst then then was the effect the famine had on the infants whose mothers were exposed to famine around conception or during pregnancy based on Last Menstrual Period.

However the Dutch Hunger Winter was the foundation for many new psychological findings, The Dutch Famine Birth Cohort Study found that children and pregnant women exposed to famine were more susceptible to health problems such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, microalbuminuria.  The Dutch hunger famine also attributed to illnesses such as Coeliac disease, clinical depression etc.  Academic research formed the hypothesis that first-trimester exposure to acute food deprivation is a risk factor for schizophrenia. New York State Psychiatric Institute, did an experiment in order to test this theory.  Participants were infants whose mothers were exposed to the famine during or immediately preceding that pregnancy,  control group were infants whose mothers did not experienceamine during pregnancy, and unexposed siblings.

The study looked at Three region during the famine west, north, and south. Results found that,  In the west region of the famine, children exposed to severe food deprivation during the first trimester showed a substantial increase for hospitalized schizophrenia in women, but not in men. However Moderate food deprivation during the first trimester, was not associated with increased risk of schizophrenia.  In the regions in the north and south, due to smaller numbers,  there was no exposure to severe famine. However children  exposed to moderate food deprivation (during the first trimester) illustrated a  inclination towards increased risks of schizophrenia in women.  The findings of this experiment  suggested that early prenatal nutrition can have a gender-specific effect on the risk of schizophrenia. This suggested that the stress of war can causes serious health problems such as cardiovascular disease. Stress hormones, due to starvation,  within the mothers blood during the famine  prompted a change in developing nervous systems  within the child. Stress can also effect the ability to learn, can cause depression, as well as other psychiatric disorders.

Research Methodology

Types of experiments
         
Laboratory experiment: Artificial environment with tight controls over variables.
Field experiment: Natural environment with independent variable manipulated by researchers.
Natural experiment: Natural changes in independent variable are used - it is not manipulated.

Strenths and limitations

Labrotory

Strengths:	Weaknesses:
Tighter control of variables. Easier to comment on cause and effect.	Demand characteristics - participants aware of experiment, may change behaviour.
Relatively easy to replicate.	Artificial environment - low realism.
Enable use of complex equipment.	May have low ecological validity - difficult to generalise to other situations.
Often cheaper and less time-consuming than other methods.	Experimenter effects - bias when experimenter's expectations affect behaviour.

Field

A field experiment is an experiment; the independent variable is manipulated. Not all field studies are experiments.

Strengths:	Weaknesses:
People may behave more naturally than in laboratory - higher realism.	Often only weak control of extraneous variables - difficult to replicate.
Easier to generalise from results.	Can be time-consuming and costly.

Natural

Strengths:	Weaknesses:
Situations in which it would be ethically unacceptable to manipulate the independent variable.	The independent variable is not controlled by the experimenter.
Less chance of demand characteristics or experimenter bias interfering.	No control over the allocation of participants to groups (random in a 'true experiment').

key terms
Independent variable (IV): Variable the experimenter manipulates - assumed to have a direct effect on the dependent variable.
Dependent variable (DV): Variable the experimenter measures, after making changes to the IV which are assumed to affect the DV.

Confounding Variable: A Confounding Variable is an extraneous variable whose presence affects the variables being studied so that the results you get do not reflect the actual relationship between the variables under investigation. When conducting an experiment, the basic question that any experimenter is asking is: "How does A affect B?" where A is the probable cause, and B is the effect. Any manipulation of A is expected to result in a change in the effect.

Research methodology: A prediction of study outcomes. Often a statement of the expected relationship between two or more variables.

Null hypothesis: The null hypothesis, denoted by H₀, is usually the hypothesis that sample observations result purely from chance.

Unethical experiments

Monkey Drug Trials

This experiment was done to test the effects addiction and drug use. Monkeys and rats were trained to give themselves injections of a drug: morphine, alcohol, codeine, cocaine, and amphetamines. The monkey and rats were given a large amount of the drug, and left to use it as they pleased. The animals became so disturbed that they literally tore themselves apart. While a human drug trail like this would be just as unethical, there was no need to put animals through such a horrendous experiment, with an outcome which was expected. Not only was this experiment unethical in it’s treatment of animals, it was also practically unnecessary to do in the first place. Given that the drug even had the same effect on the animals as they do humans, the end results showed nothing other than the obvious. What do you expect to happen when something over doses.

Unethical experiments

The Aversion Project

The aversion project was not so much of an experiment as it was a project. In 1970’s and 80’s experiments such as chemical castration, electric shock, and other unethical medical experiments were done to lesbians and gays in the military in order to remove homosexuality from the military. If these experiments did not work patients were forced to have a sex change. The exact number of people who were  sent to these military psychiatric units is unknown, however it is estimated that around 900 forced ‘sexual reassignment’ were performed between 1970 and 1980. This experiment, in my opinion is very unethical, not only because it violated human rights in general but it was also done for no real reason. The experiment wasn’t done to try and prove something it was merely done for reasons that  I can’t even begin to understand. While some people may think that being gay or lesbian goes against god, that should have nothing to do with a persons willingness to serve their country. While during this period in time there was drafting going on, if having a gay in the army was so bad, they shouldn’t have chosen them to begin with.

Aaron beck is a psychiatrist and professor at the university of Pennsylvania. He is known as the father of cognitive therapy, and is most famous for his pioneering theories, cognitive triad theory. Beck's cognitive triad is is a triad of types of negative thought present in depression and forms part of his his Cognitive Theory Of Depression. The triad goes as so:  1.The self (i.e., self is worthless) 2.The world/environment (i.e., world is unfair), and 3.The future (i.e., future is hopeless.) the cognitive theory of depression states that depression acts as a result of maladaptive, faulty, or irrational cognitions taking the form of distorted thoughts and judgments. This dissertations can be learn socially, observational, from family or friends or from a lack in experiences having to deal with the development of adaptive coping skills. The theory suggests that with who suffer from depression have different thoughts then those who don’t, which is the main cause of their depression. Beck theory believes that negative thoughts, generated by dysfunctional beliefs are the main cause of depressive symptoms, which in turn causes you to become more depressed. Beck says that there are three dysfunctional belief themes or schemas, which dominate depressed people's thinking: 1) I am defective or inadequate, 2) All of my experiences result in defeats or failures, and 3) The future is hopeless. Together these three dysfunctional beliefs make up Negative Cognitive Triad.

Major depression is a type of depression which sadness and disinterest in once-enjoyed activities interfere with how you function every day. The DSM-IV states that someone who suffers from major depression must have depression symptoms such as loss in interesting in once enjoyed activities for at the least a two week period. Other symptoms include, feeling depressed for most of the day, nearly every day, loss or increase in apatite, insomnia or hysteria, Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day, Recurrent thoughts of death, Feelings of worthlessness, and Diminished ability to think or concentrate. If a person has suffered from the fallowing manic, hippomanic, or mixed episodes (e.g., a bipolar disorder) or if the depressed mood is better accounted for by schizoaffective disorder and is not superimposed on schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder or psychotic disorder, or if depressed mood is caused by substances (such as drugs, alcohol, medications) the depression  is not considered to be major depressive disorder. Major depressive disorder is theorized to be caused by a combination of brain chemistry, family history, and psychosocial environment. levels of the neurotransmitters nor epinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine are closely linked with depression. It can’t be proven which of these factors is most affective, but each has it’s own risk factors. Genetics, from one parent, can affect a persons change of getting  major depression by 27% and double with both. Physical and environmental risk factors can increase the chance of a person having major depressive disorder, people who have a history of trauma, sexual abuse, physical abuse, physical disability, bereavement at a young age, alcoholism, and insufficient family structure. and the is a greater risk for Women during and within the first few months after pregnancy, called postpartum depression. Major depressive disorder affects 10% of men and 20% of women.

Specific phobia or simple phobia is an irrational lasting fear that is caused by the presence or thought of a certain situation or object, even though there is no real need for fear. When In the presence of this object of situation a person with specific phobia will feel that they are in danger, with causing them intense anxiety. Specific phobia is usually broken down it to five groups Animal Type: These include fears of animals such as dogs, cats, spiders, bugs, mice, rats, birds, fish, and snakes. Natural Environment Type: These include fears of heights, storms, and being near water. Blood-Injection-Injury Type: These include fears of seeing blood, receiving a blood test or injection, watching medical procedures on television, and for some individuals, even just talking about medical procedures. Situational Type: These include fears of situations such as driving, flying, elevators, and enclosed places. And lastly other Type: These include other specific fears, including fears of choking or vomiting after eating certain foods, fears of balloons breaking or other loud sounds, or fears of clowns. As with all psychological disorders there is a prognosis for diagnosing specific phobia. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual provides specific diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia, the prognosis states that you must suffer symptoms for at least six months.  Excessive fear: A persistent and intense fear that is triggered by a specific object or situation. Immediate anxiety response: The fear reaction appears almost instantaneously when the object or situation is presented. The response may resemble a panic attack. Recognizing  that fear is irrational: this is mostly seen in adults who can realized while they still unconsciously fear something it is irrational, while children may not have this awareness. Avoidance: The person who suffers from the phobia  goes out of their way to avoid the object or situation, or endures it with extreme distress. Specific phobia also is diagnosed on whether it is life limiting or not, The phobia significantly impacts school, work or personal life.  The question of what exactly causes a specific phobia is uncertain, however it  is commonly believed that certain factors may increase the likelihood that a phobia will develop. Nature and Nurture are the two biggest factors for any psychological illness. Nature being your genetics, Research has shown that certain phobias may run in families. For example, twins who are raised separately, in different locations, may develop the same phobias. However, many people with phobias have no relatives with the condition. The other nurture is your surroundings, the cultural factors Some phobias occur only in certain cultural groups. It is markedly different from a traditional social phobia, in which the sufferer is afraid of being personally embarrassed on humiliated. It is therefore possible that culture plays some role in phobia development. The last factor which can contribute to a phobia is Life Experience, Many phobias are based in real-life events that may or may not be consciously remembered. A phobia of dogs, for example, may stem from being attacked as a small child. A social phobia may develop from teenage awkwardness or childhood bullying. There are also several risk factor that can also increase your chances, age. Social phobia’s usually develop during childhood, or before age 25. Specific phobias having to do with the environment or personal injury also first appear in childhood , usually as early as age 5. Fear of tunnels, elevators, bridges, flying, driving and other situational phobias usually develop by the mid-20s. A another risk factor is sex. Phobias affect both sexes, but women and girls are more likely to have specific or social phobias than are men and boys. Men and boys because of the nature are less likely to seek help for emotional problems than women and girls.