Biological Factors and Feeding Behaviors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biological Factors and Feeding Behaviors - Essay Example They serve as both motivations and coercive forces that affect judgment, decision-making and the series of actions they trigger. A specific example, which this paper will investigate, is the feeding behavior. For this purpose, an explanation of behavior will be provided and an outline of several evidences that will support the claim that biological factors control feeding behaviors. Anatomy of Behavior In order to better outline the relationship of biological factors to feeding behavior, it is important to understand what behavior is. Cohn and MacPhail (1996) stressed that in order to do this; one must be able to answer four questions involving: 1. Causation, which refers the internal and external stimuli, processes, and contingencies that precede the behavior of interest; 2. Ontogeny, which is the development of behavior over the lifetime of an individual and mediated by the complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors; 3. Evolution or the changes in behavioral proc esses across generations; and, 4. Function, which is all about questions of adaptation. (p. 299) Now, the first two questions are considered proximate and ultimate questions that are tied to the biological factors' role in behavior. These two are almost universal because they are true to almost all animals. The occurrence and types of behavior, wrote Cohn and MacPhail, are generally species specific but that there are commonalities in the areas of basic activities such as survival and feeding behavior. (p. 299) A research by Legendre et al. (1994) revealed that the evolutionary characteristic of behavior and the human brain could be depicted or predicted through a model that involves diet or eating patterns along with variables such as sociability and locomotion. (p. 1487) Behavior, hence, is characterized by numerous and diverse causes and a number of which are biological factors. Feeding is particularly important in this area because it is primarily biologically driven. Crucial to this point is the role played by the hypothalamus, the brain organ responsible for biological motivation. If a person suffers an injury and then began to eat voraciously, then his hypothalamus might be affected, particularly the ventromedial section, which functions as the satiety center. (Hakala, 2009, p. 85) If it were damaged, the brain would be incapable to tell the person that he is full because no signal is being transmitted and, thus, he will continue to eat. If an injury affects the lateral hypothalamus, it will result in a sharp downturn in the individual’s motivation to eat and he will not feel the motivated to eat or motivated to eat. (Hakala, p. 85) This point is explained further in the following section. Feeding Behaviors Feeding is an action that involves an array of variables. First, there is the concept of need as food is necessary for survival. The fundamental fact is that it is required by a living body to function and continue living. Most activities need energy and health that can only be gained through food intake. (Snooks, 2009, p. 122) Hunger is a simple example about how the body can command an individual to take action, more specifically to eat. As the energy is depleted and used up by daily activities, the need to eat emerges. This process works within the so-called biological control systems. According to Bloom these operate by allowing a gradual change of state to occur until a critical level is reached, the point wherein a behavioral or psychological correction mechanism is initiated. (p. 21) So when someone used up all his energy, then feeding or the need to eat becomes apparent. A study undertaken by Elliot and Treat back in 1935 is one of the earliest studies to demonstrate this. In their findings, the

Women's Voices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Women's Voices - Essay Example As a specific brand presented across different showrooms in major US cities, Wacoal’s product line btempt’d appears to be creating a commercial space for swimwear and lingerie exclusively oriented toward women and their well being. However, the way these products are exhibited and advertised suggests that the company uses stereotypical concepts on women’s beauty and practically undermines the genuine comfort and health issues.Discussion  Wacoal has created a powerful commercial cult around its recently launched swimwear-cum-lingerie range named btempt’d. This brand specific space can be regarded as a highly distributed conceptualization and materialization of the company’s lingerie products across various media. Wacoal showrooms with btempt’d swimwear have been prepared along with other evolving business methods like online retiling and web based marketing. According to the website of Wacoal, â€Å"Making women look and feel their best has always been a part of Wacoal’s mantra† (paragraph 1). Such a stance might appear to be pro-feminist for a while. Having desire to look beautiful can be regarded as an innate property of human beings irrespective of gender. For a young girl, honing beautiful looks or proper grooming and dresses can lead to an effective makeover in a positive direction aimed at harnessing a better personality. Visiting the website of btempt’d product line or a showroom exhibiting Wacoal swimwear.... a young girl, honing beautiful looks or proper grooming and dresses can lead to an effective makeover in a positive direction aimed at harnessing a better personality. Visiting the website of btempt’d product line or a showroom exhibiting Wacoal swimwear, a spectator can easily find out that the presentation techniques used are highly dedicated to the beautification of women in general and young ladies are being particularly targeted. In the words of Wacoal, btempt’d is actually a range of â€Å"sexy, sophisticated, and flirty lingerie† (Wacoal, paragraph 2), aimed at exciting young girls. Implementing an analytical point of view, however, it can be stated that this approach of Wacoal is quite inter-contradictory. On one hand, the company states that it is concerned about women’s health and comfort issues, and the main target is to provide utility oriented innerwear. On the other hand, it is highly reluctant of using a bulky or less attractive girl (say, w ith dark complexion or a blunt nose) as its model or ambassador for practically exhibiting the lingerie. Clearly, this is a kind of prejudice which gives rise to internalized oppression. From the perspective of women in general, such an approach on the part of a commercial giant will attach extra value to physically more attractive women in the society. Furthermore, the company’s claims about its sense of corporate social responsibility remain quite ambiguous. The company states that it is committed to spreading awareness on breast cancer, whereas its sole publicity stance is based on women’s physically beauty and sexy appearance. The concept behind visualizing the ideal female model for a lingerie product is based on the perspective and desires of men, not women. So a young girl must feel good when she is