Stress, Research Methods (Test 1 PSYC 262) Flashcards
Biopsychosocial Model
Presumes that our health and total well-being are determined by the interaction between 3 things…
1. Biological mechanisms (genetics and healthy lifestyle habits)
2. Psychological processes (mental states and positivity)
3. Social Influences (meaningful friends and family- sociological)
Ex: Allison’s IBS impacting her performance at practice, team spirit, and self esteeme.
Bio-Psychosocial Model
1 Biological/Physical Health- free from disease and healthy lifestyle habits
2 Psychological Health- positive self-esteem or “hardiness” (withstand varying conditions and still thrives)
3 Social Health- meaningful relationships and sociocultural factors
Biomedical model
believes illness always has a physical cause.
Health = absence of disease. (limited view; no consideration of social or psychological health)
Is an outgrowth of “mind-body dualism” (the idea that the mind and the body are completely separate from one another. the mind is spiritual and not subject to natural law)
Psychosomatic Medicine (Dunbar and Alexander)
Linked patterns of personality to specific illnesses. Deals with Freudian theory/ observations.
Positive: started a trend toward the view of illness and health as multifunctional.
Criticisms: many conclusions were based on case studies aka based on the findings of 1 or 2 individuals for the population; since it is based on Freudian theory, hard to agree with; divided acquisition of illnesses thinking that some came from unconsciousness and others not
Example: if a woman has unconscious insecurity about their femininity, that leads them to get breast cancer.
Behavioral Medicine
Interdisciplinary field that takes all kinds of branches of medicine and integrates them to learn about health.
Uses principles of LEARNING: classical and operant conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Pavlov: learning through association
Ex: in some people with normal blood pressure, when going to the doctor, their blood pressure is at a dangerous level due to an association with the doctor with stress.
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement/ punishment: plays an important role in how people change their behavior to be healthy.
Ex: Someone wants to eat fruit and veggies every day. They could make a chart to check off when they meet their goal. Monitoring in this way is a helpful reinforcer in promoting behavior.
A pattern of Disease and Death is a rise of “Lifestyle Disorders”
- Noncommunicable (not contagious) “lifestyle diseases” tend to have preventable causes - heart disease, cancer, diabetes
- Chronic (lasting over time rather than acute with a clear beginning and end) disorders - pneumonia, COVID, typhoid
Factors Relate to Mortality/ Risk of Dying
Age
- old people are more likely to die than younger
Ethnicity
- leading causes of death varies among ethnicities
Income
- health and wealth correlate
Education
- higher levels of education predict that individuals have healthier habits
Why has the average lifespan increased?
(increased about 30 years since 1900. Turn of the century ~48 years)
- safer drinking water /milk supplies, vaccinations, healthier lifestyles, improved sanitation
- not primarily due to medical technology
- Decrease in Infant Mortality in the US
- Increasing Healthcare Expenditures
Ideal Experiments have…
Independent variable (manipulated)
Dependent variable (depends)
Control (held constant)
Random Assignment
ELMA and Hypnosis Experiment
Tested if hypnosis treatment with ELMA pain reliever cream could help with the anxiety and pain of cancer patients.
IV: ELMA and hypnosis, ELMA and attention, just ELMA
DV: self-reported pain and anxiety
Control: just ELMA group
**Observer group (blind) also assessed visual distress of patient. **
Conclusion: Hypnosis is effective in managing pain and anxiety. (correlation not causation)
Placebo
- Inactive substance (condition)
- Appears to be active treatment
- May produce change because of expectations
**Characteristics of placebo influence
effectiveness: Big pill > little pill, Capsule > tablet,
Nocebo Effect
experinecing negative outcomes from a placebo because of expectations.
Correlation Coefficient (r)
- Statistical measure of the relationship between
2 variables - number between 0-1.00
- numbers closer to 1.00 are stronger
- +/- indicates direction of increasing or decreasing
Positive Correlation
- 2 variables are moving in the same direction
- decreasing/decreasing or increasing/ increasing
Ex: height and weight= taller people tend to be heavier
Negative Correlation
- variables that are inverse each other
- increase/decrease or decrease/increase
Ex: sleep and stress= less sleep means more stress
Ex Post Facto Design (after the factor design)
- correlational
- not random assignment
- IV is not manipulated, instead intact groups (participants are picked based on conditions that they already have because it is ethical) “participant variable”
Nervous System
has 2 branches
- central: spinal cord and brain
- peripheral: autonomic and somatic
Autonomic Nervous System (peripheral)
responses that happen without our need to voluntarily control them. important in stress response
Has 2 parts that are opposite and mediate each other:
- sympathetic: energizing
- parasympathetic: calming
Ex: digestive processes (we don’t need to think for them to work)
Sympathetic (Autonomic) Nervous System
Sympathetic: energizing
- responsible for getting the body ready to respond to a stressor.
Ex) tiger going to attack so you ‘fight or flight’ and get adrenaline (heart rate increase, blood pressure increase, breathe faster, pupils dilate)
Parasympathetic (autonomic) Nervous System
Parasympathetic: calming
- responsible to lower energization.
Ex) lower heart rate, constrict eyes
Somatic Nervous System (peripheral)
- nerves that control voluntary movements relative to skeletal muscles.
Ex) walking, sitting down, picking up a pen
Nervous System vs Endocrine System
NS
- faster to be activated and calm down
- Neurotransmitters: chemical messangers (serotonin and dopamine)
Endocrine
- slower to be activated and lasts longer
- Hormones: chemical messengers (cortisol)
