Cognitive Enhancer Essay -- Medical Research

Introduction Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant on college campuses. It stimulates the central nervous system as it temporarily combats drowsiness, and restores alertness. Caffeine’s â€Å"powers† are the perfect anecdote for college student’s busy lives, but what if the opposite was true? Whether students barely come into contact with caffeine, and others use it habitually the study researchers whether caffeine has an effect on their cognitive processes. Daily caffeine regulars and sometime users consume it in many different ways, which are coffee, tea, cola drinks, candy bars, cocoa, cold and diet medications, and sleep prevention compounds, and they also consume it in various different doses. Caffeine is in about 100 medications, stimulants like NoDoz, cold preparations, appetite suppressants and mood elevating agents (Addicott, 2009). The psychophysiological effects of the stimulant include alertness, anxiety, heart rate, and these effects can result in a differe nt performance on different task (Acevedo, 1988). The research questions whether the effects of caffeine have a positive or negative impact on student’s cognitive abilities. During tasks that involve memory, and other cognitive processes the research will try to confirm the belief that caffeine is a cognitive enhancer. Whether students are in a withdrawn state, a normal caffeinated state, or just moderately use caffeine it has an effect on their memory, attention, planning, capacity, and psychomotor performance. Along with the effects of caffeine, student’s performance can be influence by other factors such as mood, the time of day, personality, intelligence, age, memory span, education, gender, socioeconomic status, occupation, smoking, expectancy, and/or alcoh... ... Hogervorst, E., Riedel, W.J., Schmitt A. J., Jolles, J. (1998) Caffeine Improves Memory Performance during Distraction in Middle-Aged, But Not in Young or Old Subjects. Human Psychopharmacology, Vol.13, 277-284 Ryan, L., Hatfield, C., Hofstetter, M. (2002). Caffeine Reduces Time of Day Effects on Memory Performance in Older Adults. Psychological Science. Vol.13, no.1, 68-71. Smith A, Sturgess W, Gallagher J. (1999) Effects of a Low Dose of Caffeine Given in Different Drinks on Mood and Performance. Human Psychopharmacology, 14, 473-482 Stafforda, L.D. & Yeomansb, M.R. (2005) Caffeine deprivation state modulates coffee consumption but Not Attentional bias for caffeine-related stimuli, Behavioral Pharmacology, 16,559–571 Warburton, D.M. (1995). Effects of caffeine on cognition and mood without caffeine abstinence, Psychopharmacology, 119, 66-70.

Hedonism Definition Essay

Hedonism as a philosophy defines â€Å"the good† in terms of pleasure and pain, and is the worldview that holds to the doctrine that pleasure is the greatest good. Now, who wouldn’t define pleasure as good? Aren’t we all by this definition Hedonists? Here is where those three little letters, â€Å"i-s-m† make their impact. As we have learned, the suffix â€Å"-ism† transforms a word into a title for an entire life and world view. Hedonism indicates a system of thought, a lense through which to view the universe in which the â€Å"summum bonum†, the â€Å"highest good† of man and the ultimate purpose of his being is found in the enjoyment of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. So what is sought for under this system, constantly and continuously is the increase of pleasure and the decrease of pain. The roots of Hedonism can be traced back to the fifth century BC to the ancient Greek school of the Cyrenaics. The Cyrenaics were named after their native city of Cyrene in North Africa. Their focus on the pleasure of the moment as the supreme good reflected a general skepticism: Only immediate sensations can be known. Concern with the past or the future causes uncertainty and anxiety, and should therefore be avoided. Gross excess and reckless abandon in sexuality and the use of alcohol are associated with this particular philosophical principal. Greek religious devotion to the god Dionysius and later Roman celebrations of the Bacchanalia, orgiastic festivals honoring Bacchus, the god of wine are similar manifestations of a Cyrenaic-style Hedonism. In these cases, the celebrant sought liberation from every-day inhibitions and a mystical experience of ecstasy, aided at times by temple prostitutes. The Epicurean school of hedonistic philosophy might be looked on as the next stage of Hedonism. Named after its founder, Epicurus, and started around 306 BC, Epicureanism was a more moderate variety of the seeking of pleasure, recognizing the problem of: The Hedonistic Paradox If you don’t achieve what is sought, you lose by frustration, if you do achieve what is sought, you lose by boredom. Either way, pleasure is not consistently attained. Therefore Epicureans sought not necessarily the â€Å"maximum† pleasure, but instead the â€Å"optimum† pleasure, all things considered. Too much wine leads to a hangover, not euphoria. So the balanced enjoyment of pleasure was the means by which Epicureans sought to achieve philosophical ataraxia, or peace of mind. The term â€Å"epicurean† is even in use today as denoting a person of exquisite tastes and gourmet palate, enjoying the finer things in life in a refined and sophisticated manner. Hedonism capitalizes on the natural attraction to pleasure and aversion to pain with which we, as feeling creatures, are naturally endowed. Turning the pursuit of pleasure into an ultimate standpoint of value, the hedonist determines the very meaning of â€Å"goodness† in terms of pain and pleas ure. Modern forms of Hedonism can be clearly seen, along with their consequences in our social environment. The modern pursuit of happiness, redefined as the pursuit of euphoria, has resulted in extreme expressions of escapism such as drug abuse and alcoholism affecting even the youngest members of society. â€Å"Happiness† has been translated almost exclusively into the category of â€Å"feelings†. The function of the word â€Å"feelings† in contemporary culture has undergone a radical change. The concept is so pervasive that standard traditional forms of language, categorical propositions and prefatory statements about theoretical thought have changed to accommodate this word. How often have you heard someone state the following?: â€Å"I feel that you are mistaken†, or, â€Å"I feel that (this or that) is wrong.† What is actually being talked about here is not a feeling, it’s a cognitive process, it’s thinking. That is not to say that feelings are unimportant; feelings are a vital part of what it means to be human. For the work of the physician, counselor or the psychologist feelings are a totally appropriate category to investigate. In inter-personal relationships you’d better be dealing with the issues of feelings or chances are you’re not communicating very well. Feeling, however is not the same thing as thinking. The concept has so permeated our culture that people are talking about feeling ideas and feeling thoughts. Largely due to â€Å"pop psychology† we have become obsessed with the analysis of our moods, which is a focus on our feelings. How has this impacted our lives? If you are a thinking person you already know the answer to that question. Assuming you’ve been awake at some point during the last thirty years, you already know about the â€Å"drug culture†; you live in it. You’ve heard the statistics on teenage alcoholism. You’ve seen the â€Å"sexual revolution†, and its results. The accepted definition of the word â€Å"promiscuity† prior to the 1960’s was :†Sexual involvement with more than one person outside the bonds of marriage†. The â€Å"liberated† Helen Gurley Brown gave us a new definition: â€Å"Having sexual relations with more than one person in the same day.† Are you aware that the divorce rate in the United States is estimated at fifty percent? It is when we buy into the doctrine that life is to be lived to escape pain, including responsibility for anything uncomfortable that we begin to feel the impact of a philosophy of radical Hedonism. By saying the avoidance of pain and the pursuit of pleasure is â€Å"the good† (not just ‘good’, but â€Å"The Good†), Hedonism is making a value judgement, which in the hierarchical structure of philosophy produces a system of ethics, which in turn produces behavior patterns of morality. These are the cultural, ethical and philosophical reasons for the changes we have seen in society. As in all forms of philosophy based in secularism, Hedonism removes the Transcendent, destroys any Ultimate basis for Truth and Goodness, and leaves us with â€Å"feelings†, preferences, and a totally subjective basis for ethics and morality. http://www.angelfire.com/az/experiment/hedonism.html

Essay on The Role of Isolation in As I Lay Dying - 1298 Words

William Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying, tells the story of a family that journeys cross-country with the intentions to find a proper resting place for their mother, Addie Bundren. After reading for only a short time, it becomes clear that two of her sons, Jewel and Darl, play a much larger role in the story than the other siblings. One could find many good points to support either character being labeled as the protagonist of the story, such as the various tensions that can clearly be seen between them. That being said, Darl is, without a doubt, the best possible choice. He is forced to overcome more obstacles, including alienation from his entire family, than any other character, and is truly a changed person by the end of the novel.†¦show more content†¦He usually doesn’t get along with his brother, Jewel, and often scrutinizes and makes fun of him, most likely out of pure jealousy. At one point, Darl goes so far as to try to keep Jewel isolated from his mo ther as she is dying. Darl also has what can only be described as telepathic abilities. He is the only character in the book that can accurately describe what is occurring at locations other than the one he is at. This ability is discovered when it becomes obvious that Darl knows of Dewey Dell’s pregnancy, despite the fact that she has maintained absolute secrecy in the matter. In fact, Darl discovers Addie’s death telepathically, and is able to tell Jewel about her death before either one of them have even returned to the house to see her. Darl’s own telepathy will become the biggest obstacle he is forced to confront in the novel, and it will eventually lead to his demise. While Darl does embark on the cross-country journey with the rest of his family, he never fully supports or commits himself the idea. This resurfaces towards the end of the novel when it becomes apparent that Darl feels embarrassed about traveling across the country with his mother’s corpse. The result of these feelings is Darl’s decision to burn down the barn that is sheltering Addie’s coffin. This gives the reader enough information to make an assumption as to what the Bundren family’s opinion of Darl really is: Could they perhaps view him as aShow MoreRelatedMarriage Is A Spiritual Act1282 Words   |  6 Pagesbride, and the expectations He had from His bride. Marriage is An Example to a Dying World S econd, we must realize we are to model the spiritual act for a dying world; see Ephesians 5:25-27. The current world we live in is filled with despair, confusion, isolation, independence, and hurt. The world is filled with hurting people all seeking an answer to their grief. The biblical marriage union shows to a dying world the best example of love. 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