test 5 (13 & 16) Flashcards
Health Psychology
- APA (1979) Health Psychology is the educational, research, and clinical contributions of Psychology to:
- The promotion and maintenance of health
- The prevention and treatment of illness
- The analysis and improvement of the health care system and health policy formation.
50% of all deaths are preventable - due to lifestyles
stress
- A state that impairs our ability to respond to internal and external demands
- Stress is a psychobiological process
- Stress is a stimulus e.g., catastrophies, life events, circumstances
- Stress is a response (physiological and psychological)
- Stress is a process (relationship between person and environment)
modern views of stress
(richard lazarus)
Richard Lazarus: stress is a transaction between a person and their environment
- Primary appraisal: person evaluates situations as benign or stressful
- Secondary appraisal: person decides how to deal with stress
modern views of stress
(lazurus 3 types)
- Loss: person loses a loved one or a possession
- Threat: anticipated harm
- Challenge: opportunity for growth (new job)
Appraisal of stress
We can influence the impact of a stressor
- Behaviorally e.g., drug use vs. relaxation
- Cognitively e.g., denial vs. cognitive restructuring
- Emotionally e.g., hopelessness vs. optimism
Sympathetic Adrenal Medullary system (SAM)
- Stress is perceived by cerebral cortex
- Affects hypothalamus which activates the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight)
- Stimulates the Adrenal Medulla glands which secrete catecholimines, epinephrine, and norepinephrine
- Raises blood pressure, irregular heart rate, sweating, constriction of peripheral blood vessels
Hypothalmic-Pituitary-Adrenocorticol system (HPA)
- Hypothalamus releases corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF)
- Influences Pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
- This affects adrnal cortex, relasing coritcosteroids like cortisol that reduce inflammation and help body return to normal state after acute stressors
14 physical symptoms of stress
- increases in heart rate and pressure
- increased adrenaline and noradrenaline
- stomach ulcers
- injuries
- fatigue
- death
- heart disease
- lung diseases
- increased sweating
10.skin rashes
11.headaches - cancer
- muscular tension
14. sleep disorders
Prolonged Exposure to Stress
- Suppress cellular immune functioning
- Produces hemodynamic changes (increased heart rate and blood pressure)
- Provoke irregular heart rhythms
- Produce neurochemical imbalances (depression, panic disorder)
- Atherosclerosis
- Destruction of neurons in the hippocampus (memory impairment, senility)
Psychological Responses to Stress
- Emotional instability
- Thinking problems:
- problem solving difficulties
- Ruminative thinking
- Castastrophizing
- Irrational thoughts
12 Psychological Symptoms of Stress
- anxiety, tension, confusion, & irritability
- frustration, anger, and resentment
- hypersensitivity, hyperactivity
- suppression of feelings
- poor communication
- withdrawal and depression
- feeling isolated and alienated
- boredom, job dissatisfaction
- mental fatigue, poor reasoning
- poor concentration
- loss of spontaneity & creativity
- lowered self-esteem
12 behavioural responses to stress
- procrastination & avoidance
- lowered performance
- increased alcohol & drug use and abuse
- intentional acts of sabotage
- increased use of prescription drugs
- undereating due to apathy, depression
- overeating as an escape
- weight loss
- increased recklessness, gambling
- aggression and criminal acts
- poor relations with family and friends
- suicide or attempted suicide
Coping
- People manage the gap between demands and resources in stressful situations
- Individual coping mechanisms and beliefs affect the outcome of stress.
- How an event is appraised determines its impact
- problem and emotion focused coping
Emotion Focused Coping
- aimed at controlling the emotional response to the stressful situation
Behavioural: drugs, distraction, or support
Cognitive: denial, optimism, hardy personality
Problem Focused Coping
- aimed at reducing the demands of the stressful situation or expanding the resources available to deal with the stressor
- E.g., quit job, seek treatment or support, learn new skill to adapt to situation
Person attempts to change the situation
- Try to remove the stressor
- Plan ways of resolving the situation
- Seek advice from others on how to change the situation
Social Support and Stress
- Other persons can provide social support:
- Two-way communication in which a person can confide their concerns and receive support from others
- Low social support decreases life span
- Social support may work by
- Buffering person against the harmful effects of stress
- Social support is a positive force that reduces susceptibility to stress
Positive Coping Strategies
- Focused breathing/meditation
- Progressive Muscle relaxation
- Cognitive restructuring
- Visualization and Imagery
- Self-hypnosis
- Anger management
- Thought Stopping Procedures
- Stress Inoculation Training
- Assertiveness Training/Social Skills - Training
- Time Management
Affirmations (Benson, 1995)
- I can handle this
- I accept myself as I am
- I am peaceful I am becoming healthy and strong
- Let it be
- I am doing the best that I can
- through repetition and imagination you can speak directly to your own unconscious mind (which takes everything you say as truth and creates your belief system about they way the world works)
effective affirmations are:
1. stated in the positive
2. written down on paper
3. posted everywhere for repeated viewing
Health and Well Being
Benson & Friedman (1995)
The Three Legs supporting health & wellbeing:
- pharmaceuticals
- surgery and medical procedures
- self-care (the leg that has been missing) of the inner development of the whole person and nurturing beliefs that faciltate healing -
- Western Thinking needs an overhaul
Many medical experts like Benson are recognizing
we need to borrow from the older Eastern traditions.
(Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil,Jon Kabat-Zinn)
attributions
- Internal vs. External
- Stability
- Fundamental
- Attribution Error
- Defensive Attribution
- Self-serving Bias
- Individualism vs. Collectivism
The Justification of Effort
- If someone works hard to attain a goal, the will be more attractive than to the individual who achieves the same goal with no effort.
- Hazing
- Basic training
- Charging money for pound puppies
- Aronson and Mills (1959) sex discussion group with an embarrassing initiation
Why Do Behaviors Change Attitudes?
- Self-Presentation (Impression Management)
- Self-Justification (Cognitive Dissonance)
- Self-Perception
Conformity and Obedience
- Asch experiment
- Milgram experiment
- The difference a symbol of authority makes e.g., a lab coat
- The nurse’s obedience experiment – much lower level of compliance when the drug was familiar and when they had an opportunity to consult with someone
- Knowledge and social support increase the likelihood of resistance to authority
Norm Formation
- Norms can be arbitrary, pervasive and unintentional
- Norm violation examples
Groups
- Who am I?
- Categorize self-descriptions into group and non-group identifications
- What is a group?
- Is this class a group
What is a group?
- “Two or more people who, for longer than a few moments, interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as us”
- People on a plane?
- Five people waiting at the same corner for a bus.
- People attending a worship service.
- The Brittany Spears Fan Club.
- The students in a seminar class.
Why do we form groups?
- Schutz’s (1958) Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation
- Psychological needs for group formation
- Inclusion
- Control
- Affection
Are groups good or bad?
- Conformity, obedience, diffusion of responsibility, deindividuation, panic, the risky shift, groupthink, anonymity, social loafing
- Social, moral, and language development, sense of membership and identity, charity, emotional comfort, support, social facilitation, cooperation, survival
Collective Behavior
- Deindividuation – loss of self awareness and evaluation apprehension when the situation allows one to feel anonymous
- When combined with high states of arousal and a diffusion of responsibility it can create a mob mentality, disinhibiting violent and unacceptable behavior
Riots
- Convergence – only certain types of people would bait a person to jump or commit an act of violence, however, their actions spread throughout a crowd by means of contagion.
- This can create a norm of callousness or cynicism the seems to fit the situation. It creates the illusion of consensus for violence and extreme acts.
Convergence
- Deindividuation alone cannot explain all these phenomena
- Riots, lynchings, mobs, wartime attrocities, police beatings, road rage, escape panics
- Cheering at sporting events, spring break behavior, Mardi Gras, fads, pop icons
Convergence
- Deindividuation alone cannot explain all these phenomena
- Riots, lynchings, mobs, wartime attrocities, police beatings, road rage, escape panics
- Cheering at sporting events, spring break behavior, Mardi Gras, fads, pop icons
Deindividuation
- If you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance that you would not be detected or held in any way responsible, what would you do?
- Common findings: 36% antisocial, 19% non-normative, 36% neutral, and 9% prosocial
- Robbing a bank is the most often reported
All of the following were cited in the textbook as factors which promote relaxation except for
A. developing a passive attitude
B. drinking a small amount of alcohol
C. being in a comfortable position
D. focusing on a constant stimulus
B. drinking a small amount of alcohol
The Flashback football team had been down by 35 points at half-time, but they had made a big comeback in the second half. With less than 15 seconds remaining on the clock they made a touchdown that narrowed the other team’s lead to a single point. Their quarterback has decided to try for a two-point conversion in an attempt to win the game by a single point in the dying seconds. As the team lines up for the final play of the game, both the quarterback and the intended receiver are likely to be experiencing
A. frustration
B. conflict
C. burnout
D. pressure
D. pressure
The name Hans Selye gave to the body’s response to stress is
A. the fight-or-flight response
B. the general adaptation syndrome
C. catharsis
D. defensive coping
B. the general adaptation syndrome
A group that one belongs to and identifies with is known as a(n)
A. stereotype
B. social schema
C. outgroup
D. ingroup
D. ingroup
Which of the following has been shown to increase the risk of such chronic diseases as lung cancer, emphysema, and stroke?
A. smoking
B. poor nutrition
C. lack of exercise
D. obesity
A. smoking
Evidence from numerous studies of the bystander effect suggests that
A. it is a widespread phenomenon
B. it is limited to contrived laboratory situations
C. it occurs only in urban ghetto areas
D. there is much truth to the old saying that “there is safety in numbers”
A. it is a widespread phenomenon
Which of the following is not typically a reason for noncompliance with medical advice?
A. having a negative attitude for physicians
B. failing to understand advice or instructions
C. the degree of difficulty associated with following advice or instructions
D. the cost of the medical treatment program
D. the cost of the medical treatment program
Marriages arranged by families and other go-betweens remain common in cultures high in
A. individualism
B. collectivism
C. self-perception
D. self-monitoring
B. collectivism
Which of the following psychologists is known for conducting classic research on obedience to authority?
A. Solomon Asch
B. Daryl Bem
C. Leon Festinger
D. Stanley Milgram
D. Stanley Milgram
The Featured Study by Cohen and his colleagues showed that high-stress subjects had a higher incidence of colds than low-stress subjects. This finding indicates that illness and levels of stress are
A. uncorrelated
B. negatively correlated
C. positively correlated
D. multifactorial variables
C. positively correlated
When Jerry thought he was the only person who was assigned the job of contacting alumni for a 15-year reunion, he spent several hours on the phone each evening trying to reach members of his graduating class. When he learned that eight other people were also working on contacting the alumni he spent only 30 minutes each night making phone calls. The process that would best explain the decrease in Jerry’s effort when he learned that he was working as part of a larger group, is
A. social interference
B. social loafing
C. the bystander effect
D. social dissonance
B. social loafing
Actors and observers tend to give different explanations for the same instance of behavior because
A. only actors themselves can accurately explain their own behavior
B. only outside observers can accurately explain actors’ behavior
C. observers tend to possess more knowledge than the actors
D. situational pressures may not be readily apparent to an observer
D. situational pressures may not be readily apparent to an observer
The week of final exams subjects most students to what kind of stress?
A. pressure
B. change
C. frustration
D. conflict
A. pressure
A man who believes that “women just don’t make good leaders” may dwell on his female supervisor’s mistakes and quickly forget about her achievements. This scenario illustrates which of the following concepts?
A. defensive attribution
B. the illusory correlation effect
C. the fundamental attribution error
D. the bystander effect
B. the illusory correlation effect
Bruce performed very well on the examination, which he attributed to native ability and hard work. Which bias does this illustrate?
A. the fundamental attribution error
B. the actor-observer bias
C. the self-serving bias
D. illusory correlation
C. the self-serving bias
Organized clusters of ideas about categories of social events and people are referred to as
A. attributions
B. illusory correlations
C. covariation inferences
D. social schemas
D. social schemas
Individualism is to collectivism as __________ is to __________.
A. external; internal
B. personal; group
C. communism; capitalism
D. All of these complete the analogy correctly.
B. personal; group
The final stage of Hans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome, during which the organism’s resources for fighting stress may be depleted is called
A. alarm
B. fatigue
C. resistance
D. exhaustion
D. exhaustion
The two major pathways via which the brain may signal the endocrine system are through the
A. parasympathetic and sympathetic systems
B. circulatory and muscular systems
C. pituitary gland and the autonomic nervous system
D. autonomic and skeletal nervous systems
C. pituitary gland and the autonomic nervous system
A person who is hard-driving, ambitious, competitive, and at risk for having a heart attack is said to have __________ personality.
A. a Type B
B. an internal
C. an external
D. a Type A
D. a Type A
According to Baumeister, the pressure to perform can elevate self-consciousness, which then disrupts our attention by
A. diverting attention from the demands of the task
B. causing us to perform too automatically
C. creating an approach-avoidance conflict
D. activating our autonomic nervous system
A. diverting attention from the demands of the task
Frustration refers to
A. being blocked in the pursuit of a desired goal
B. the most frequent emotional response to aggression
C. being caught between two incompatible motives
D. being expected to live up to high standards of performance
A. being blocked in the pursuit of a desired goal
Elliot Aronson views inconsistency as the key to dissonance, but maintains that it is inconsistency between one’s __________ and one’s __________ that motivates dissonance.
A. emotions; behavior
B. self-concept; behavior
C. behavior; attributions
D. self-concept; unconscious urges
B. self-concept; behavior
Which of the following statements regarding the effectiveness of two-sided arguments is accurate?
A. Presenting a two-sided argument often confuses the receiver and decreases a source’s persuasiveness.
B. Two-sided arguments should be avoided, since the receiver shouldn’t be informed that there is an alternative to the source’s view.
C. Overall, two-sided arguments tend to be more effective than one-sided arguments.
D. “Two-sided arguments tend to be effective with women, but not with men.
“
C. Overall, two-sided arguments tend to be more effective than one-sided arguments.
Valerie is doing homework for her statistics class. When she checks the answer she has just calculated for the problem she has been working on, she finds it is incorrect. She is frustrated, and tells her roommate: “I don’t know why I’m even trying, I’ll never catch on in this course. I should just give up now.” According to Albert Ellis, Valerie’s statements reflect
A. defensive coping
B. mental disengagement
C. catastrophic thinking
D. reality-based coping
C. catastrophic thinking
Recent research evidence from studies which have investigated the link between depression and heart disease suggests that
A. the stress of living with heart disease may cause the onset of depression
B. depression and heart disease are not correlated with each other
C. the emotional dysfunction of depression may cause heart disease
D. depression and heart disease are both caused by the negative effects of smoking
C. the emotional dysfunction of depression may cause heart disease
According to Hazan and Shaver’s model of infant attachment and romantic love, adults with which of the following attachment styles are most likely to have satisfying, interdependent, and long-lasting relationships?
A. secure
B. insecure
C. avoidant
D. anxious-ambivalent
A. secure
Behavioural vacillation would be most apt to go with which type of conflict?
A. approach-avoidance
B. approach-approach
C. avoidance-avoidance
D. frustration
A. approach-avoidance
In making a causal attribution, we first tend to decide if an event was due to __________ causes.
A. subjective or objective
B. usual or unusual
C. positive or negative
D. internal or external
D. internal or external
Groupthink is more likely when the group
A. does not have a designated leader
B. must justify their decision to other groups in the same organization
C. is under pressure to make a major decision
D. experiences any of these things
C. is under pressure to make a major decision
Travis was piloting a small private jet. He was making his final approach through heavy fog, and when he finally broke through the fog cover at 150 feet he realized that the runway was 20 yards to his left. For an instant he experienced a sensation of total panic, but he quickly took action. With his heart still pounding he gave the plane full throttle in an attempt to clear the rapidly approaching trees. According to Selye’s general adaptation syndrome, as Travis took action he was experiencing
A. physiological exhaustion
B. a resistance reaction
C. an alarm reaction
D. autonomic rebound
B. a resistance reaction
In his studies on conformity, Asch found that if a group of persons espouses an opinion contradictory to one’s own opinion, one is most likely to
A. voice the group’s opinion
B. echo the opinion of the nearest group member
C. voice one’s own opinion, even though it’s contradictory
D. show mild symptoms of learned helplessness
A. voice the group’s opinion
Which of the following statements regarding social loafing is not accurate?
A. Social loafing is an inevitable outcome of group projects.
B. As group size increases, social loafing becomes more likely.
C. Recent evidence indicates that fatigue tends to increase social loafing.
D. The social-loafing effect has been replicated in a number of studies using a variety of tasks.
A. Social loafing is an inevitable outcome of group projects.
Which of the following is not a variable people use to stereotype other people?
A. ethnicity
B. gender
C. occupation
D. Any of these variables may be used.
D. Any of these variables may be used.
Laboratory experiments with cardiology patients have shown that brief period of mental stress
A. can trigger acute symptoms of heart disease, such as myocardial ischemia
B. have little, or no, impact on overall cardiac function
C. can intensify chromic symptoms of heart disease, such as arteriosclerosis
D. can trigger emotional responses such as depression and feelings of despair
A. can trigger acute symptoms of heart disease, such as myocardial ischemia
Constructive coping includes all of the following except
A. confronting a problem directly
B. inhibiting emotional reactions to stress
C. reliance on the use of defense mechanisms
D. making reasonably realistic appraisals of your coping resources
C. reliance on the use of defense mechanisms
Which of the following statements regarding stereotypes is accurate?
A. Stereotypes are inevitably negative and unflattering.
B. Ethnic and racial groups are the only targets of widespread prejudice.
C. We see members of our own ingroup as more alike than the members of outgroups.
D. Stereotypes are so pervasive that they are often activated automatically.
D. Stereotypes are so pervasive that they are often activated automatically.
The bystander effect is
A. greater the more people there are in the group
B. less the more people there are in the group
C. unaffected by the size of the group
D. greatest when the observer is the only one present
A. greater the more people there are in the group
In Weiten’s studies, __________ turned out to be more strongly related to measures of mental health than scores on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale were.
A. frustration
B. conflict
C. pressure
D. change
C. pressure
Putting personal goals ahead of group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes is referred to as
A. hedonism
B. dispositional attributional bias
C. egocentrism
D. individualism
D. individualism
You’ve been invited to dinner at a nice restaurant on the final night of a TV mini-series you’ve been watching and thus find yourself confronted with
A. pressure
B. frustration
C. an approach-avoidance conflict
D. an approach-approach conflict
D. an approach-approach conflict
Barbara’s car has been running poorly lately. Whose advice is Barbara most likely to follow in order to make her car run better?
A. her physician
B. her uncle
C. her mechanic
D. her physics instructor
C. her mechanic
Your unique ideas about how a college class should be run, what a typical straight “A” student is like, and how a typical professor will act are all examples of
A. prejudices
B. attitudes
C. attributions
D. social schemas
D. social schemas
Most of Conrad’s friends consider him to be highly neurotic. It is likely that, compared to his friends, Conrad is
A. less likely to perceive events as stressful
B. more likely to “choke” under pressure
C. less likely to use defensive coping strategies
D. more likely to perceive events as stressful
D. more likely to perceive events as stressful
Noncompliance with medical advice occurs approximately
A. 5 to 10 percent of the time
B. 30 to 60 percent of the time
C. 75 percent of the time
D. 80 to 90 percent of the time
B. 30 to 60 percent of the time
The __________ controls the fight-or-flight response as a physiological reaction to a threat.
A. autonomic nervous system
B. pyramidal system
C. central nervous system
D. thalamus
A. autonomic nervous system
Love as the basis for marriage is
A. unique to the United States
B. a product of Asian collectivism
C. virtually universal across all cultures
D. an 18th-century invention of Western culture
D. an 18th-century invention of Western culture
The Featured Study by Cohen and his colleagues showed that
A. psychological stress can increase people’s susceptibility to infectious disease
B. when all possible confounding variables are controlled for, there is no longer any association between stress and vulnerability to infection
C. the stress-illness association found in other studies is probably the result of an increased frequency of health-impairing habits in stressed subjects
D. psychological stress only increases susceptibility to infectious disease in people with Type A personalities
A. psychological stress can increase people’s susceptibility to infectious disease
If you tend to overemphasize internal characteristics in explaining the behavior of others, you are evidencing the
A. false consensus effect
B. situational attributional tendency
C. self-serving bias
D. fundamental attribution error
D. fundamental attribution error