Effect of Agency on Gambling Behaviour in Schizophrenia

Effect of Agency on Gambling Behaviour in Schizophrenia The Effect of Agency on Gambling Behaviour in Paranoid Schizophrenia Introduction Our sense of agency is a form of self-consciousness which allows us to distinguish between ourselves and other individuals; it makes us aware of which thoughts and actions are our own (Haggard Chambon; 2012). This construct can be measured through the use of the intentional binding task (Moore Obhi; 2012). When an individual preforms an action that is then followed by an effect such as an auditory tone, there is a perceived reduction in the length of the interval between the action and the effect. Since this only occurs for actions that are intentional, this phenomena is called intentional binding and has been suggested as a reliable measure of agency (Haggard, Clark Kalogeras; 2002). A disturbed sense of agency is symptomatic of schizophrenia, a long term psychotic disorder marked by severely impaired thinking and abnormal behaviour, including delusions and hallucinations (Andreasen Olsen; 1982). Sufferers of the disorder may either feel that external forces are controlling their actions or thoughts, or they may feel in control of events that in fact are not caused by their actions. Martin (2013) called this experiences of activity; patients form the grandiose delusion that they can control some external events by the sole means of their mind. The first intentional binding patient study (Haggard, Martin, Taylor-Clarke, Jeannerod, Franck, 2003) compared the magnitude of intentional binding in patients with schizophrenia to a healthy control group. They established that intentional binding was significantly more robust in patients compared to controls. Using the same task, a more recent study (Voss, Moore, Hauser, Gallinat, Heinz Haggard; 2010) found that the predictive component is either absent or faulty in schizophrenia, therefore a greater reliance on the external effect rather than the intended action leads to hyper-binding. The severity of positive symptoms, as in the paranoid schizophrenic subtype, was also found to correlate with impairments in action-effect predictions. Various studies have documented a high level of comorbid psychiatric disorders among individuals with gambling disorders, including Schizophrenia. Pathological gambling was first recognised by the APA as an impulse control disorder in 1980, and can be defined as the recurring behaviour of gambling on games of chance despite the resulting negative consequences, leading to the individual becoming incapable of controlling the time and money spent, even when losing. Research conducted by Desai Potenza (2009) investigated the co-occurrence between pathological gambling and schizophrenia. The researchers interviewed a sample of 337 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Using the DSM-4 criteria for pathological gambling, the researchers found that these patients may be at a particularly high risk; 19 percent were classified as either problem or pathological gamblers. Just under 10 percent met the diagnosis for pathological gambling, the most severe form of the disorder; recent studies hav e estimated the rate among the general population at less than one percent. Wegner and Wheatley (1999) suggested that the sense of agency also plays a role in phenomena such as superstition and gambling, in which individuals experience subjective control over uncontrollable entities; this is often know as illusion of control. Similar to delusions of activity in schizophrenics, various studies have shown that an irrational sense of personal control over the outcome, even in games of pure chance, is a possible factor in the maintenance of problem gambling. A study by Moore and Ohtsuka (1999) assessed the association between beliefs about illusion of control or internal locus of control and their relationship to gambling frequency in young people. The results indicated that irrational control beliefs were strongly associated with problem gambling; the illusion of internal control over gambling significantly predicted gambling frequency and problem gambling. Toneatto, Blitz-Miller, Calderwood, Dragonetti, Tsanos (1997) found that scoring highly on the South Oaks Gambling Screen (Lesieur Blume, 1987) was correlated considerably with exhibiting cognitive distortions during an interview, in which individuals expressed the belief that they are able to control the outcome of their gambling, along with an extravagant level of self-confidence. Heavy gamblers also made more active attempts to influence the outcome using gambling systems, rituals and superstitions. Sense of control over gambling appears to have cultural differences; Majamà ¤ki Pà ¶ysti (2012) found that Finnish gamblers stress their individual competence and will to take more risks than gamblers in France, even in games of chance, imagining a greater sense of control. Taken together, research suggests that Pathological Gamblers may experience a similar heightened sense of agency to Schizophrenics, in that they exhibit the illusionary idea that they are able to control outcomes which are not within their personal influence. Although the experience of agency between two disorders have not been directly compared, this could perhaps explain the high comorbidity between the two disorders. I therefore propose that a disturbed sense of agency will be present in both schizophrenics and pathological gamblers during a gambling task and may contribute to the development of gambling disorders. Methods In order to study the possible effect of agency on pathological gambling in schizophrenia, I intend to use as many participants as possible in order to obtain the largest, most generalizable sample; participants will be age and gender matched to eliminate extraneous variables. I will use the age range of 16-35, encompassing the peak ages of onset and acute psychosis whilst avoiding using minors for ethical reasons. I will be using a healthy control group, a group of pathological gamblers and a group of paranoid schizophrenics, as they present more positive symptoms than the other subtypes, which correlate with experience of activity delusions. In order to participate individuals must have a professional medical diagnosis for their disorder, as well as normal or corrected hearing and eyesight. Firstly, I would like to establish the level of individual sense of agency for each group during an intentional binding task. Following a voluntary or involuntary key press, participants will experience an interval followed by an auditory tone; they will then be asked to estimate the length of time between preforming the action and producing the effect in milliseconds. Research has shown that there is a perceived reduction in the length of the interval between the action and the effect where the participant believes that they produced the action voluntarily. Secondly, participants would complete a computer gambling task (Rachlin 1986) in order to simulate real life tendency to make a safer or riskier choice during a game of chance. This is a task in which they are asked to choose between two spinning wheels, where the pointer landing on a white coloured section would indicate a monetary win. On one wheel, a win is less likely but twice as substantial, on the second the win is less valuable but more consistent. In order to increase the ecological validity of the situation and hold the attention of the participant, they will have the opportunity to win the money collected during the task. This task will take place within a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. This machine uses the Blood-oxygen-level dependent contrast (Huettel, Song McCarthy (2009) in order to detect changes in cerebral blood flow during the task, indicating neural activity in different brain regions. Results and Implications My predicted results would be that based on prior research the schizophrenic group will experience substantially more hyperbinding on the intentional binding task than the healthy controls; however I also hope to see the same with the pathological gamblers. Amongst that group, those who experienced the strongest feeling of agency would take the most risks during the task. I would expect to see similar, and greater, patterns of activation in the areas associated with agency, specifically self-agency, during the task in the fMRI machine for the PG and Schizophrenic groups. This would include the TPJ Precuneus, which has been implicated in a large number of studies during tasks relating to agency (Brass et al. 2009; Nahab et al. 2010; Schnell et al. 2007; Spengler et al. 2009; Yomogida et al. 2010) and has been suggested to contain a mechanism which allows us to determine mismatches in sensory feedback (Tsakiris et al. 2008) and attribution of external cause for events (Seidel et al. 20 10). A second area involved is likely to be the dMPFC, active during agency tasks due to its role similar role in predicting events. (Volz et al. 2003, 2004, 2005). Thirdly, I would also expect so see activation in the pre-SMA, which is involved in the development of intention to create voluntary movements(Picard and Strick 1996). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (tms) supressing neural activity of this area results in a decrease in intentional binding (moore 2010). Although increased blood flow will be present in these areas during all forms of agency experience, these areas have been found to be more strongly associated with external agency attributions; therefore it is possible that I will see more activation of these three regions in the healthy control group. This was suggested as the result of a met-analysis performed by Sperduti, Delaveau, Fossati Nadelfound (2011), recognising that the bilateral insular cortex, premotor and primary somatosensory cortex are only active during the production of voluntary movements (Ciccarelli et al. 2005; Francis et al. 2009; Tatsuya et al. 1999 and therefore experiences of self-agency. The bilateral insular cortex is of particular interest in this study as it has been noted in the impairment of attribution of self-agency in schizophrenic patients, and is correlated with positive symptoms. (Wylie and Tregellas 2010, Voss et al. 2010) Although the high level of comorbidity between Schizophrenia and Pathological Gambling is well documented, the effect of agency has not been studied directly in relation to the disorders, so results are difficult to predict. However, this area of study is worthwhile as it establishes the significance of screening patients with Schizophrenia for gambling disorders and helps to detect the aspects of the population that may place these patients at particular threat of developing pathological gambling. Patients who exhibit both these disorder have been found to respond less favourably to treatment, and may experience longer and more frequent durations in hospital, due to poor response and adherence to medication; this increases both the cost and encumbrance to society. Other negative consequences include increased aggression, alcoholism, depression, homelessness and likelihood of becoming a victim of crime. (Green, Drake, Brunette, Noordsy, 2007, Desai Potenza, 2009). The stress caused by gambling disorders, such as financial and relationship problems, may increase the risk of episodes of psychosis. (Borras Huguelet, 2007) Discovering reliable therapies for this group is of importance for future research because current research trials developing treatment for gambling addictions usually do not permit the inclusion of participant who have been diagnosed with a psychoticdisorder such as Schizophrenia; so far there has been no clinical studies of treatments for individuals with these co-occuring disorders. (Enrique Echeburà ºaa,b,*, Montserrat Gà ³mezc, Montserrat Freixac) 2011. Most significantly, this research could provide insight into the brain regions and theoretical processes involved in the maintenance of gambling disorders, in a population in which it is not only incredibly prevalent but also particularly harmful.

Nabakov and Orwell: The Politics of World-Building Essay

Nabakov’s primary point in â€Å"Good Readers and Good Writers† is to embrace the notion that the best writers create new realities out of chaos in their writing. Good readers, then, must abandon traditional notions of history and socioeconomic theory, and approach works with a sense of imagination and a well-honed sense of aesthetics. Orwell’s famous â€Å"Politics and the English Language† bears certain similarities to this, and may well have been a precursor to Nabakov’s theories. Orwell believes that politics led to the over-complication of language, from flowery metaphors to indecipherable scientific jargon. This seems readily apparent during election season, when candidates hide true perspectives and platforms behind a bevy of blinding buzzwords. However, it is important to note that what Orwell excoriates, Nabakov celebrates—after all, Nabakov insists that a good reader will have a good dictionary, the better with which to map out this new world that their favorite author is shaping. This is certainly true in a college education, where one cannot simply advocate simplicity and refuse to learn any complexity. In Orwell’s defense, he was not attempting to offer criticism on a literary level, but wished to comment on the political rhetoric of the time, which then (as now) sought to use inflated phrases to inflate candidates who, in reality, were downright hollow inside. Nabakov advocates something closer to a cause/effect structure—he does not denigrate the (often complicated) politics embedded within literary fiction. Rather, he urges good readers to enjoy the stories they read as fantastic literature first, and political screed second. Orwell would be unlikely to agree with this view, as his two most famous works (Animal Farm and 1984) serve as political warnings against Communism, and the stories wrapped around these warning are, for all intents and purposes, ornamental only. To extend the metaphor further, Nabakov’s theory stresses the necessity of the ornaments in order to appreciate the whole tree; viewing a story with a pre-packaged idea of what it means was just as unseemly to Nabakov as the reuse of political slogans was to Orwell: it is nothing more than an excuse to avoid original thought, which is necessary to good writers, readers, and politicians.

Alarming Information About List of Essay Topics for High School Exposed

Alarming Information About List of Essay Topics for High School Exposed List of Essay Topics for High School and List of Essay Topics for High School - The Perfect Combination There are just a few things that define whether an essay you're working on is going to be a good one. The web has made our life a good deal easier. Our life is about words. In spite of the simple fact there are many high school essay topics one would choose, it may take her or him a lengthy time due to uncertainty. High-stakes state testing ought to be abolished. Your high school research topics have to be focused and concise, along with interesting, but in addition broad in their very own way so you can come across enough data to back up your thesis. Yearly driving tests ought to be mandatory over a specific age. Even if you're a specialist in a particular field, don't be afraid to use and cite external sources. To choose which subject you're likely to discuss, it's crucial to see the complete collection of good persuasive speech topics from the specific area of study. Tell our experts what kind of homework help on the internet you want to get. Yearly driving tests ought to be mandatory for the initial five years after obtaining a license. Social networking comments should be guarded by free speech. Some have no clue how they'd begin their book report writing. It is an impossible task to compose an abstract research paper since this kind of article always touches on a particular topic and gives an actual search for optimal methods of solving a specific matter. In the procedure for writing research articles, it's essential to adhere to a specific topic. Generally the toughest aspect of developing a descriptive essay is picking the topic. Actually, plenty of argumentative essays are in reality persuasive papers. After you choose a topic, you must answer the query and after that substantiate your response with three or more motivations as to why you think like that. So ensure you select a subject, which has values in it. Starting with the option of an acute and up-to-date subject, you ensure the caliber of research paper. Specifically, it is all about the rules of citation, for instance, an APA research paper format. It is better to get essays from experts who do their very best to make sure that the quality is all up to standard. A great excellent essay is one that's been well written and expressed. So finish your research paper writing assignments with the assistance of Students Assignment Help Experts. Admission essays are important documents that students need to submit as they pursue a place to learn in a sure institution. Students Assignment Help isn't just offering English essay topic help for free but at the very same time assignments help in various subjects is also offered. They will find it easier to write about topics that they are interested in, and it will make the researching process much simpler. List of Essay Topics for High School - the Conspiracy School should occur in the evenings. Parents should speak to kids about drugs at a youthful age. They should be allowed to choose their baby's gender. Parents of bullies should need to pay a fine. Pick a favourite sport and appear at how it developed. School uniforms should be deemed necessary. Mixed martial arts ought to be banned. So, you won't will need to consider over topics for high school anymore, we'll do that!

Women in Buddhism Essay - 621 Words

Women in Buddhism â€Å"The men may have started this war, but the women are running it.† In the beginning of the war, around 1941, most American women lived as their mothers previously had. Women were supposed to have jobs just until they were married and those who did work after they were married or were mothers were regarded with a sense of pity and scorn from society. In a pre-war poll, 82 percent of Americans believed a wife should not work if her husband did. A majority of Americans believed there should have been a law to prohibit it since rural and city women, alike spent about 50 hours a week on household chores alone. When the war began it became apparent that more workers were needed. However, women were among†¦show more content†¦By 1943, housewife workers outnumbered single workers for the first time in history.Throughout the war women went to work in shipyards, aircraft plants and other assembly lines. They also loaded shells, operated cranes, painted ships. Many of them became welders, bus drivers, train conductors, mechanics, bellhops, nurses and day-care providers. Women comprised a third of the workers in aircraft plants and about 10 percent of the workers at the shipyards and steel mills were women. Although most war work was in factories, many women found work elsewhere. Many became secretaries and clerks in Washington D.C. and more than 200,000 women entered the special branches of the military. Such branches include Women’s Army Corp (WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). These military positions allowed women to take over tasks for soldiers so they could be free to go to combat. Although women participated in jobs extremely similar to men, they were not treated equally. For the long hour’s women put in, their salaries averaged only 60 percent of men’s. However, the greatest struggle for American women throughout the war was not simply the issue of money. 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