Murder in the City

Murder in the City

  - The Avett Brothers

If I get murdered in the city
Don’t go revengin in my name
One person dead from such is plenty
No need to go get locked away

When I leave your arms
The things that I think of
No need to get over alarmed
I’m comin home

I wonder which brother is better
Which one our parents love the most
I sure did get in lots of trouble
They said to let the other go

A tear fell from my father’s eyes
I wondered what my dad would say
He said I love you
And I’m proud of you both, in so many different ways

If I get murdered in the city
Go read the letter in my desk
Don’t worry with all my belongings
But pay attention to the list

Make sure my sister knows I loved her
Make sure my mother knows the same
Always remember, there is nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name
Always remember, there is nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name

First Draft of Final Persuasive Essay

“The Invisible Experience”

7:00 a.m., the alarm goes off. 7:10 a.m., the alarm goes off again. 7:15 a.m., the shower is started. 7:30 a.m., clothes are put on and greetings to family members commence. 7:45 a.m., coffee and breakfast are consumed, at which the newspaper is glanced. 8:00 a.m., books, laptop, supplies, etc., are obtained. 8:05 a.m., the car is started and the day begins. The mind might just only by waking up at this point, but it’s been pretty busy since that snooze button was pressed. Ever since that first shrieking buzzer, perhaps without even realizing it, you’ve been reading. Reading the time on the alarm clock (occasionally multiple times); reading the “C” or “H” on the shower nozzle; reading the instructions for the coffee maker; reading to expiration date on the milk to make sure it’s still good; and of course, reading the headlines. Reading happens without thinking, unless it never happens. Unless the ability of read was never learned or mastered, like 19% of Washington DC’s population (District of Columbia...), that normal morning routine is completely different. It seems implausible that adults could function in today’s society without the knowledge of written language, but it happens. At some point in their childhood, when all the school kids were learning their ABC’s, something caused them to get behind and unfortunately, stay behind, lacked an essential skill for today’s world. There are numerous reasons why this happens, but the predominant one, especially in urban, low-income areas, is the state of early elementary education. Many schools, especially in areas where families are close to or in poverty, do not have adequate funding to provide for the academic needs of young students. An increase in state funding for this purpose would be highly beneficial for society as a whole on three grounds: children beginning schooling with some basic knowledge of reading and math will do better later in school; federal money will be saved because citizens would be more educated and less likely to rely on welfare services; and the positive correlation that exists among wealthier states and their educated constituents.

A study at Northwestern University concluded that if children enter kindergarden with elementary skills in both reading and math, they will more likely achieve higher marks later in school, even with the presence of emotional or social problems (Northwestern University). And it makes sense, if children start out ahead, they will more likely stay ahead. This can be as simple as making sure children know their numbers and alphabet before starting kindergarden where that knowledge will be branched out even further. If it sounds that easy, then why do 41% of boys and 35% of girls entering the 4th grade, in low-income areas, read below the basic literary levels? The problem resides in the availability of resources at home. Children with more material to read in their home environment tested better in literary advancement and comprehension than children with not as many materials (ranging from newspapers and magazines to books and journals) (Literacy...). In middle income areas, the average ratio of child to age appropriate book is 1:13. In low income areas, that ratio is sometimes drastically changed to 300:1 (Neuman). This shocking statistic is causing an uproar for some organizations. “Access to appropriate resources and interventions is crucial to a child’s healthy development, and in turn, closing the achievement gap,” says Janice Cooper, PhD, director of the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). Teaming up with early childhood literacy expert Sheila Smith, the NCCP emphasizes the recognition of the developmental lag between wealthy and poor counterparts. The organization has been actively conducting research and producing publications on the importance of early education and the availability of resources (Ardoin). Additional funding from the state for pre-school and pre-kindergarden education materials would assist in the efforts put forth by the such organizations like the NCCP.

The opposition to this proposition is often that it is the parents’ responsibility to teach their children fundamentals. Many people believe that part of child rearing is helping them to learn basic skills like the ABC’s in addition to just teaching them to walk and talk. While this is often in the case for parents of comfortable wealth, it’s not so cut and dry as the poverty line is closer approached. Parents close to and under the poverty line commonly work longer hours or multiple jobs to pay for the essentials for their children. This leaves those parents with less hours in the day for such instruction that middle and upper class families can take for granted. An Early Childhood Longitudinal Study found that children who were read to multiple times throughout the week by a parent or elder scored much higher in reading assessments that children who were not read to (Denton, West). If more state funding is provided for pre-K and pre-school education, especially for parents with large work schedules, more programs where children can be read to regularly and assist in the teaching basic fundamentals can be established.

In 2009, Washington DC’s Literacy Coalition announced that the population of the city that was the below basic prose literary level (english-speaking, non-literate citizens that could only perform the most simplest skills like scanning a text to find out what they could not drink before a medical procedure) was at 19%, 14% nationwide. The average American considers “below basic” literary skills to be lacking what is needed to be functional in today’s society (Adult Literacy Skills...). The US Department of Education also stated that within that portion of the population that is at the lowest level of literacy proficiency, 43% are in poverty. While only 13% of the nation is under the poverty line (Literacy...), one would assume that the those two percentages would be closer, based on rudimentary statistics. These numbers show that adults and children who are in poverty are less likely to receive as good an education as people who are more financially comfortable. Living in poverty also usually means relying in some way on federal assistance. A study at Columbia University found that the US could save between $7.9 and $10.8 billion a year if education improved for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food stamps, and housing assistance (Literacy...). As of fiscal year 2010, the US budget allotted 16.3% to welfare and other assistance-based organizations; 3.4% of just discretionary spending was provided for the Department of Education. If more money is set aside for states to provide more for education, eventually, less money will be needed for welfare.

The time that would be needed to produce those results is often the drawback of this argument. Providing more funding for the younger generation wouldn’t show a significant difference in welfare necessities until that age group was of age to work. However, if more funding is provided to education, results will be seen in the age groups as they mature. Better test results and higher achievement will be evident before those students enter the work force. By the time they are old enough to do so, a larger percentage will have received a better education and qualify for higher paying jobs, therefore, reducing the need for welfare in that age bracket. While results specifically for welfare may take some time to be noticed, the results will be clear in other areas of performance until the students affected by the increased funding reach the work force. 

Until improvement can occur in regions with many low income neighborhoods, analyzing areas with high test scores and the mechanisms they use can aide in the advancement of struggling areas. Maryland public schools, for instance, were ranked number one in the country by Education Week in 2010 for the second consecutive year (Martin, Brown, Foster). Maryland’s population living in poverty is also only about 8%, 5% under the national average. Washington DC’s poverty average is currently at 16.9% (District of Columbia...). If those numbers are compared to the percentages of adults living with below basic literary skills, a correlation is apparent. 11% of Maryland adults have below basic literary skills while 19% of DC adults do (State and County...).  States and areas with less poverty also have less adults with below basic literary skills. The correlation cannot support a cause and effect argument; however, it does show that areas with less poverty have better school systems, and that does contribute to the literacy rates. 

The fiscal year for 2011 in the state of Maryland raised the budget for education by 27%, to $5.7 billion, making it the largest component of the state’s budget (Governor Martin O’Malley...). Because of the current economic struggles, DC lowered its public education funding by 2.8%. Funding for a portion that contained instructional and after school programs, textbooks, library media, and early childhood education was lowered even more so by 6.8% (District of Columbia Public Schools). Arguments can be made that the money can be immediately beneficial in other departments besides education. In DC especially, there are many roads that need refurbishing and old buildings that need renovation. Yet, if DC puts more money into education, its constituents will become more learned and better equipped to handle the other problems the district faces. The correlation could show up in DC as it does in Maryland. If funding for public and early education is to increase, education as a whole will increase, and the number of people in need of federal assistance due to income levels will decrease. 

Reading is essential in our society. Whether it’s an advertisement persuading one to buy something, keeping the economy going, or it’s a warning label about toxins in a cleaning agent, it happens without a second thought. We read constantly without really thinking about what we are doing. If we had to live our same lives, but without the ability to read, it’d be like moving to a completely foreign country without knowing one word of the language. Strange scribbles and calligraphy would be everywhere and we wouldn’t understand any of it. That is how some adults and children live in our country today. They can speak the language, english is probably their native tongue, but reading and writing it is an entirely unknown territory. The role of the government, as said by our founding fathers, is to serve the people. And states have the right to determine how public education is organized. This is an incredible responsibility that can permanently influence peoples’ lives. Education, especially early education, is one of the most important duties of state spending. Appropriate funds for excelling educations means smarter and brighter futures. 

8Works Cited

"Adult Literary Skills in Washington D.C." DC Learns. Mar. 2009. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://dclearns.org/files/2010/07/Fact-Sheet-Adult-Literacy.pdf>.

Ardoin, Morris. "NCCP | Early Childhood Literacy Expert Joins National Center for Children in Poverty." NCCP | Home. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York,, 27 July 2009. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://www.nccp.org/media/releases/release_78.html>.

Denton, Kristen and West, Jerry. Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement in Kindergarten and First Grade (PDF file), U.S. Department of Education, NCES, Washington, DC, 2002. <http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002125.pdf>

"District of Columbia Public Schools." Office of the Chief Financial Officer. District of Columbia, 2010. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://www.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Budget+and+Finance/Proposed+FY11+School+Budgets>.

"District of Columbia QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." State and County QuickFacts. US Census Bureau, 16 Aug. 2010. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/11000.html>.

"Governor Martin O'Malley Outlines FY11 Budget, Closes $2 Billion Deficit and Protects Key Priorities." Office of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. 19 Jan. 2010. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://www.governor.maryland.gov/pressreleases/100119.asp>.

"Literacy in the United States." First Book. Scholastic, 2010. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://www.firstbook.org/site/c.lwKYJ8NVJvF/b.2637397/k.C72F/Literacy_in_the_US.htm#poverty>.

Martin, O'Malley, Anthony G. Brown, and T. Eloise Foster. "FY2011." Maryland Budget Highlights. Department of Budget and Management, 20 Jan. 2010. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://dbm.maryland.gov/agencies/operbudget/Documents/2011/FY2011BudgetHighlights.pdf>

Neuman, Susan B. and David K. Dickinson, ed. Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Volume 2. New York, NY: 2006, p. 31.

Northwestern University. "Early Academic Skills, Not Behavior, Best Predict School Success." ScienceDaily, 19 November 2007. Web. 22 November 2010. <http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/11/071112182442.htm>.

"State and County Literacy Estimates - Compare." National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education. Institute of Educational Sciences, 2003. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://nces.ed.gov/naal/estimates/Estimates.aspx?SearchType=3>.

Process Essay

The Memory Process

The phrase “forgive and forget” is a very civil and respectful way of getting over something troublesome. However, this is not what really happens. If an event or action has enough significance that it requires forgiveness, it will not be that easily forgotten. Despite good intentions, that memory will actually go through the entire memory process and most likely end up in the long term memory for years to come. That process includes encoding memories, storing memories, and retrieving memories.                                   

The first step of the memory process, encoding, converts inputted information in the brain into a construct to be stored later. Perceptions and sensations are “decoded,” or characterized, and sent to various sensory areas of the cortex (“Memory Encoding”). Information is initially converted into sensory memory, or ultra-short term memory, and is stored in the short term or long term memory. Sensory memory is broken down into two categories, echoic and iconic memories, which go through various forms of encoding. Acoustic encoding accounts for all audio information, (sounds, pitches, tones) and sends information to be temporarily stored in the echoic memory. Visual encoding concerns images, names, and places, and temporarily stores that information in the iconic memory. Our memories are not limited to just sights and sounds, however. Tactile encoding converts memories from physical contact and information from nerve endings. Semantic encoding processes memories that have more meaning and can be applied into a larger context. Information that goes through tactile and/or semantic encoding is temporarily stored in either the acoustic or visual memories depending on where it applies. As a general rule, the brain’s short term memory relies mostly on acoustic encoding and long term memory on semantic encoding (“Memory Encoding”).

After memories have gone through the required encoding steps, information is sent to the short term memory where it can be recalled over short periods of time. These stored memories are taken directly from the sensory memory (Strickland). This stage acts to filter out what the brain might consider to be unnecessary memories. If humans were to remember every insignificant piece of information, for example where they parked their car a year ago, the information would be incredibly overwhelming and the brain would have to sort through so much more data just to retrieve simple facts (Jellison). Short term memories have the capacity to hold seven items, give or take 2. However, there are ways for the brain to overcome this limitation. Through methods like chunking (a strategy that groups multiple pieces of information, so that there are no longer several items to remember, but only one) and mnemonic devices, the short term memory can actually hold more than the “magic seven”(“Memory Storage”). Unless further efforts to remember are applied or further attention is given to the memory, items will last in the short term memory for only 15-30 seconds (Wagner 1163-1167).

Deeper processing and rehearsal converts short term memories into long term memories (Ferguson). Here, information is stored for a few minutes up to a life time (“Memory Storage”). One of four types of long term memories is episodic. Episodic memories are significant events in one’s lifetime, e.g.  Birthday parties or first dates. Explicit memories are declarative—details about those events or objects that one specifically remembers. General facts and dates, like remembering Christmas is December 25th, falls under semantic memories (not to be confused with semantic encoding). These three types differ the most from the last category, implicit memories. Procedures, motor skills, and classically conditioned traits are labeled implicit memories (Ferguson). Despite common belief, “memories are not stored in our brains like books on library shelves” (“Memory Storage”), but are constantly being reconstructed throughout areas of the brain. Memories are not stored and set aside for retrieval; there is an ongoing process of reclassification due constant neural activity. 

The final stage is retrieving memories, or re-accessing information. Most of what humans remember is retrieved by direct recall, or retrieving information linked to a question or cue. Sequential scanning, or searching through files similar to what computers do, is not used nearly as much. There are three types of retrieval: free, cued, and serial recall. Free recall is remembering a list of items in any order without constraint. Cued recall requires remembering that list and then answering questions based off of it. Serial recall is the ability to retrieve chronological order of events or order of pairs (Memory Recall). Once information is retrieved, it goes back to where it was originally stored until the next time of retrieval. 

In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde states that “memory… is the diary that we carry around with us.” This is an accurate depiction considering the fact that most diary entries have an emotional aspect, and emotional memories are more easily processed. Once experiences and observances are converted and stored, the recollection of memories can happen with just the subtlest of cues. 

Works Cited

Ferguson. "Memory and Consciousness - Lecture Notes." Welcome to Utah State University. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://www.usu.edu/psycho101/lectures/chp9memory/memory.htm#5>.

Jellison, Jenny. "Psych 101." Waynesburg University. Waynesburg, PA. 15 Oct. 2010. Lecture.

"Memory Encoding." The Human Memory. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct 2010. http://www.human-memory.net/processes_encoding.html.

"Memory Storage." The Human Memory. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct 2010. http://www.human-memory.net/processes_storage.html.

"Memory Recall." The Human Memory. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct 2010. http://www.human-memory.net/processes_recall.html.

Stickland, Bonnie. "Memory." Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology. 2nd ed. Web. http://find.galegroup.com/gps/retrieve.do?contentSet=EBKS&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28ke%2CNone%2C14%29memory+process%24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=Relevance&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T001&prodId=IPS&searchId=R1&currentPosition=1&userGroupName=fred30208&docId=CX3406000415&docType=EBKS&contentSet=EBKS.

Wagner, M. "The History of the Gene Encoding Receptor." International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. (2008): 1163-1167. Print

Comparison Essay

Parivaar v. 가족

Mumtaz Dehlavi was a typical child of a conservative Muslim family. With ten brothers and sisters, her mother stayed at home, and her father worked at the local tobacco factor (“Culture of India”). Roh Moo Hyun was the youngest born into a farming family of five children (“Roh Moo-hyun Biography”). As their names suggested, these two did not grow up in similar regions or cultures. Dehlavi was from India and Hyun was from South Korea. Three important comparable aspects of family structure in India and

South Korea are marriage traditions, life at home, and child rearing.

 Marriage in South Korea cannot happen until several qualifications are met by both parties. Family background and education are crucial factors in matchmaking.

While many adults will find their spouse at work or school, parents will often arrange meetings to encourage certain couples (“Culture of South Korea”). In the Korean perspective, marriage is a union of two families, not just two adults. This is to maintain the male line; family registers can often date back 500 years (South Korea). But growing in the past few decades is the divorce rate in South Korea. 10% of marriages are now remarriages. Modern law has provided divorced and widowed women with more independence than in the past, allowing women to remarry as well as men (Culture of

South Korea). 

The Indian tradition of obtaining a spouse is notably different. Arranged marriages by parents are still commonly practiced in most areas. Couples rarely meet before their wedding day. (Culture of India) Yet, due to the firmly-rooted caste system, women in the lower castes are not permitted to remarry, but men typically are. In contrast to South Korea, the divorce rate in India still lingers just under 1% (South Korea). While the marriage process is incredibly different, the idea of marriage as a combining of families is consistent in both countries. The benefits aren’t focused so much on the individuals so much as they are on the whole family’s sake.

Technically, both genders are equal in South Korea. However, societal pressure has maintained its male supremacy and this is seen in typical home life (Culture of South Korea). The Confucian tradition of the father as the head of the house hold is very common. Wives then take on most of the house keeping. The eldest son has the most responsibilities to his family members. First to his parents, the eldest son’s duties are then directed to his brothers, to his sons, his wife, and lastly, his daughters (South

Korea). Traditionally, this was why the eldest son got all of the family inheritance.

Korean homes generally only have two generations, with the occasional grandparent from the father’s side (Culture of South Korea). Overall, family welfare is stressed far more than that of the individual, along with the importance of duty, loyalty, honor, piety, respect, and sincerity (South Korea). 

Indian homes have similar ways of thinking. The patriarchal society, also with a father as the head, dictates that a woman must first obey her father, then her husband, and then her sons (Culture of India). While laws state that family inheritance should be equally distributed, that rarely happens. Sons usually inherit the family’s status and properties while the daughters receive the dowry at marriage. Differing from South Korea, Indian homes may have three or four generations in one house. Large buildings with multiple families living in separate rooms are also common in the more crowded parts of India (India). The patriarchal mindsets in both of these cultures have set a similar foundation in these families.

Probably the biggest difference between these two family structures is practices in child rearing. In India, mothers and older sisters take care of the children or the grandmother if the mother works. Children are then raised to help the family and do their expected responsibilities (Culture of India). This is in great contrast to South Korea.

Children will often be indulged with affection, encouraging emotional dependence on their parents. This method is used so that children become even more so appreciative of love and devotion their parents provide for them. Boys tend to rely more on their parents than girls who become more individualistic (Culture of South Korea).

The families of Dehlavi and Hyun were of cultures that shared similar view points on the importance of family. While India and South Korea share a patriarchal home life, they differed greatly in many other respects. Koreans do not partake in arrange marriages and Indians don’t purposely raise their children to be dependent on them.

However, in two different homes, the family’s wellbeing is still the most important objective for everyone.

Works Cited

"Culture of India - Traditional, History, People, Clothing, Traditions, Women, Beliefs,Food, Customs, Family, Social, Dress, Marriage, Men, Life, Tribe, Population,

Religion, Rituals." Countries and Their Cultures. Web. 07 Oct. 2010. <http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/India.html>.

"Roh Moo-hyun Biography - Life, Family, Childhood, Children, Name, History, Wife,School, Old, Information, Born - Newsmakers Cumulation." Encyclopedia ofWorld Biography. Web. 07 Oct. 2010. <http:/www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2005-Pu-Z/Roh-Moo-hyun.html>.

"Culture of South Korea - Traditional, History, People, Clothing, Traditions, Women,Beliefs, Food, Customs, Family, Social, Dress, Marriage, Men, Life, Immigrants,

Tribe, Population, Religion." Countries and Their Cultures. Web. 07 Oct. 2010.<http:/!www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/South-Korea.html>.

"South Korea: Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette." Professional ! TranslationServices | Interpreters | Intercultural Communication & Training. Web. 07 Oct.2010. <http://!www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquettesouth-korea-country-profile.html>.

"India - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette." Professional Translation Services |Interpreters | Intercultural Communication & Training. Web. 07 Oct. 2010. <http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/ !resources/global-etiquette/india-country-profile.html>.

Essay 3 Work Cited

Ferguson. "Memory and Consciousness - Lecture Notes." Welcome to Utah State University. Web.27 Oct. 2010. http://www.usu.edu/psycho101/lectures/chp9memory/memory.htm#5.

• If I were rewriting this paper, I would use this source because of it's credibility. It was written by a professor of psychology from Utah State University, so I know that the information is not only accessible online but also taught in a class. If the information is taught in a class, you can be pretty sure that it's good information.

Jellison, Jenny. "Psych 101." Waynesburg University. Waynesburg, PA. 15 Oct. 2010. Lecture.

• This source was found by chance. I visited my friend at Waynesburg University a few weeks ago for a long weekend and had the opportunity to sit in her Psych 101 class. That also happened to be the day that the professor was teaching about memory and used examples that fit very well in my paper. I would use this lucky source again.

"Memory Encoding." The Human Memory. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct 2010. http://www.human-memory.net/processes_encoding.html.

• This source, and those that follow from the same site, were my most questionable sources. There wasn't a listed author and their citations included other commercial sites. If I could find the same information on a different, more credible site, I would opt out to use that one instead.

"Memory Storage." The Human Memory. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct 2010. http://www.human-memory.net/processes_storage.html.

• same as above

"Memory Recall." The Human Memory. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct 2010. http://www.human-memory.net/processes_recall.html.

• same as above

Stickland, Bonnie. "Memory." Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology. 2nd ed. Web. http://find.galegroup.com/gps/retrieve.do?contentSet=EBKS&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28ke%2CNone%2C14%29memory+process%24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=Relevance&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T001&prodId=IPS&searchId=R1&currentPosition=1&userGroupName=fred30208&docId=CX3406000415&docType=EBKS&contentSet=EBKS.

• Coming from the Gale Encyclopedia, I would use this source again. This source was found using a research engine provided by the FCC library.

Wagner, M. "The History of the Gene Encoding Receptor." International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. (2008): 1163-1167. Print

• Being a printed journal, I would use this source again because most of the risks of web sources aren't applicable.

Family

1. How do different cultures view the importance of family?
2. Religious differences?
3. Occupational obligations?
4. Gender roles?

Rough Draft

Madeline Tallman

Professor Kerr

EN 101

14 September 2010

Obsession with Possession

The act of collecting items is very common among the human race. As homo sapiens evolved, they moved from collecting items solely for survival (e.g. food, hides, wood) to items of less necessity. Today, collecting knick knacks and totems is seen as a characteristic of human nature. However, if that “hobby” is taken farther than the societal norm, abnormal psychologists step in. Hoarding is the act of obsessively collecting items that have little to no use to the average person. This can be excessive clothing, food, and newspapers, or written notes, unfinished projects, and gifts. While the over-abundance of “stuff” to many is viewed as unnatural and odd, to a hoarder, all the collected items have some sort of worth that could possibly later come of value. In order to understand the reasoning behind hoarding, one must first understand what it is, who is affected, and the treatment methods used. 

In a scientific sense, hoarders generally have an abnormal or altered psychological process that affects brain activity (1). Neurology researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A Carver College of Medicine who conducted studies on patients with brain injuries that later developed hoarding habits found that damage to the prefrontal cortex of the brain was a vital contributor to this behavior (2). However, there is differing opinions among psychiatrists and psychologists about the causes of hoarding in otherwise healthy patients. Many experts believe that this behavior is linked or is a side effect to other disease like obsessive compulsive disorder, anorexia, dementia, depression, and even psychosis. For those suffering from depression, for example, hoarding can ironically be a way for one to “organize” one’s life(4). While he/she might not be able to control the aspects of life that are causing distress, hoarding objects is something completely controllable to that person. Hence, creating some kind of order that alleviates depression in the short term. There are other experts who believe that hoarding should be classified as a separate disorder, not to be so heavily associated with the aforementioned diseases. Because treatment is case-by-case to an extent, differing cognitive-behavioral processes can determine whether or not hoarding is linked to an existing disease or independent of any. There does seem to be a general consensus among psychologists that hoarding symptoms reflect an “underlying psychobiological dysfunction,” but by itself, it’s more difficult to accurately classify (5).  

The question as to whether or not cultural differences affect the degree and prevalence of compulsive hoarding has been asked by many researchers. While investigation in transcultural hoarding habits is still being conducted, there is evidence to support the fact that OCD is consistent among varying cultures (3). Studies by Stefano Pallanti, M.D., Ph.D. of the American Journal of Psychiatry have shown that OCD prevalence rates are on average between 1.9% (Korea) to 2.5% (Puerto Rico). If the hypothesis that hoarding is linked to OCD has statistical significance, then culture’s “minimal influence” on OCD could parallel the its influence on hoarding as well. This would mean transcultural differences would not impact the proportion of hoarders from different nations. Common excuses for the irrational behavior by its sufferers are consistent from culture to culture as well. These range from not wanting to lose something that might be of value in the future to not wanting to upset a family member that might be hurt if an object is discarded (4). Experts have deducted that the problem is a psychological attachment and not a social attachment. Psychologists researching for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that will be published in 2013 have observed that compulsive hoarding is more prevalent among older patients. Symptoms seem to be noticeable in childhood but do not become life-affecting until the patient reaches his/her mid-30’s. These studies have also supported the hypothesis that hoarding behavior can be taught from parent to child. That is to say if a parent obsessively hoards certain objects, the offspring can pick up those behaviors in adolescence  and act similarly during adulthood. (5) Psychologists disagree on the origins of the disease, but to whom it affects remains a consensus. 

Treating obsessive hoarding needs to be planned out from multiple angles. For many patients, recognition of a disorder might not happen until much later the initiated treatment (5). Patients are normally given the standard OCD medication, serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI’s), but these have proven to be minimally effective (4). Cognitive Behavioral therapy is usually administered alongside the medication to help eliminate the obsessive qualities in patients. This begins by creating a hierarchy of importance of the patients belongings--important enough not to discard to insignificant and disposable. Forced disposal, however, causes patients return to their original habits after treatment ceases. The reason for a hoarder’s obsession varies from patient to patient, and it is crucial to understand the unique reason for each patient in order to begin treatment. Psychologist have to work with the hoarder’s altered reality of what is valuable, not their own. By forcing normal logic on patients and hoping that they’ll learn by imitation can prevent progress and even reinforce hoarding behaviors. The unusual reality of hoarders involves their perception of responses and judgements of “levels of unhappiness” in others. This is often the case when one cannot dispose of an unwanted gift, the fear that the giver will be deeply hurt even if the gift is of little importance. Psychologists target that aspect of the disorder and, through behavioral adjustments, try to adjust that thought process. The typical therapy procedures of listening to patients explain their feelings before the psychologist makes any decisions is not helpful in this situation. Vocalized expressions are not focused on as much as physical actions. A psychologist must watch the patient to see if progress is being made through what they do rather than what they say. It is easy for patients to break promises about what they will do, so that observance is necessary (5). Like most psychological disorders, treatment for hoarding varies from person to person, causing psychologists to customize each case. 

Hoarding is a disorder that not only affects the sufferers, but also their family members and close friends. Destructive behavior can put other’s in danger and has caused parents to lose their children to social services. Those affected may have other unknown disorders or diseases that if undiagnosed, can prove disastrous for that person. If proper treatment consisting of medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy is instilled, those habits can be revoked and more enjoyable life can be given to struggling patients.