Health psychology

Question 1

From a health psychology perspective, what is the difference between illness and disease?

Answer 1

Illness describes the subjective symptoms, or the patient experience

disease is the more ojective signs, the diagnosis one receives from a medical professional

Question 2

What are some of the sociological factors in the biopsychosocial model of health?

Answer 2

Age
Gender
Socioeconomic status
Employment
Disability 
Family
Relationships
Substance abuse
(these are just a few examples, as there are many more)

Question 3

This refers to a measurable, observable, or felt improvement in health not attributable to treatment

Answer 3

Placebo effect

Question 4

This occurs when an inert substance produces symptoms congruent with anticipated harm

Answer 4

Nocebo effect

Question 5

This concept refer to how much or whether some genes are expressed in different cells in the body

Answer 5

Epigenetics

Question 6

“____________ could serve as a bridge between the social sciences and the biological sciences, allowing a truly integrated understanding of human health and behaviour.” McGowan and Szyf, 2010

Answer 6

Epigenetics

Question 7

What does the “slavery hypothesis” relate to, in terms of birth weights of children born to mothers decended from American slaves?

Answer 7

Children born to African-American mothers had significantly lower birth weights than children born to mothers living in America with African heritage, but were not descended from slaves.

Question 8

The idea that the brain can be changed through social and environmental factors is referred to as

Answer 8

Neuroplasticity

Question 9

In one study, London taxi drivers had a substantial enlargement in what part of their brains?

Answer 9

Hippocampi

Question 10

Attititudes can be influenced by _________ _________ and consequently have the potential to affect health-related behaviour

Answer 10

persuasive messaging

Question 11

There is usually congruence between __________ and behaviour

Answer 11

attitude

Question 12

Mismatches between attitudes and behaviour result in _________ ______ which we are motivated to remove by changing behaviour or changing attitudes. (i.e. incompatible beliefs)

Answer 12

cognitive dissonance

Question 13

Changing _______ is often an important part of health promotion interventions at both individual and population level

Answer 13

attitudes

Question 14

The framing effect: people react differently to a particular choice depending on whether it is presented as a loss or a gain.

______-framing may be better for health-promoting behaviours
______-framing may be better for illness detecting behaviours

Answer 14

gain

loss

Question 15

Distorted self ________ is often observed among people with eating disorders

Answer 15

image

Question 16

The belief that a person’s behaviour is internally motivated- it is voluntary and reflects the person’s attitudes and beliefs

Answer 16

Internal attributions

Question 17

Belief that a person’s behaviour is due to external factors such as luck, chance or someone else demanding it

Answer 17

External attributions

Question 18

These are generalisations that we make about specific social groups and members of those groups (e.g. nationality, occupation, religion)

Answer 18

Stereotypes

Question 19

Judging someone before having relavant facts

Answer 19

Prejudice

Question 20

Correlational evidence indicates that ________ are likely to influence diagnosis and treatment decisions and levels of care in some circumstances

Answer 20

biases

Question 21

A ________ role defines the expectations of how someone is supposed to behave; a major determinant of human behaviour.

Answer 21

social

Question 22

Goffman (1959) described life as a “never ending play.” What is the name for this model?

Answer 22

Dramaturgical model

Question 23

The processes whereby people take on (and later spread) social norms and customs

Answer 23

Socialisation