Stressors In The Environment (biological) Flashcards
stress
The “response we get when the demands of our
environment are greater than the capacity we have to deal with them”
stress induced illnesses
Headaches
High blood pressure (making you prone to heart attacks and strokes)
Ulcers
Weight loss
stressor and the stress reponse
The stressor is any stimulus that requires adjustment or an adaptation so you can deal with it
Stressors can be internal or external
Worry/ anxiety
Noise
Temperature
Overcrowding
We are focusing on the impact of environmental stressors
stressor -> stress -> stress response
biological response to stress
- fight or flight
- Selye General Adaptation Syndrome
fight or flight response
- When faced with stress we need to be able to deal with it (fight or flight)
- The response to stress can be biological: How we deal with stress involves the nervous system and endocrine system
Selye General Adaptation Syndrome response
General adaptation syndrome (GAS) is a description of the process of how your body responds to stress.
three stages involved;
1. alarm stage
2. resistance stage
3. exhaustion stage
three stages involved
alarm stage - percieved stressor + body reacts
resistance stage - adapting to the stressor i.e. muscle aches
exhaustion stage - body’s resources are deploted (run out) = illness
examples of environmental stressors
- Noise
- Crowding
- Poor housing
- Poor neighbourhood
- Traffic
background - noise
Evans Bullinger & Hygge 1998- Children attending schools near airports had higher noradrenaline and higher blood pressure.
Cognitive elements of environmental stressors
(Glass & Singer)
- In 1972 Glass +Singer placed people in noisy environment + either told them they could control noise (with a switch) or they had no control over noise.
- group with control didn’t often use it, but when both groups tested on task afterward, performance of group who had control was significantly better.
- G+S proposed noise is source of stress +
uncontrollable stress leads to feeling of helplessness. Thus, those in group with control could relieve helplessness because of their belief that they could control its cause. - suggests the psychological interpretation of environmental stressors plays important role in determining our reactions to them.
background - noise (Cohen et al 1973)
AIM
- Aim: Investigated if there was a relationship between the floor level a child lived on
and their reading ability.
background - noise (Cohen et al 1973)
SAMPLE
Sample: 54 children living in a New York 32 storey building all attending the same school. Noise levels were lower on the higher floors than the lower floors.
background - noise (Cohen et al 1973)
RESULTS
- Noise level readings (measured in decibels) correlated with the children’s results on the Metropolitan Achievement Tests.
- Cohen also tested the children’s auditory discrimination abilities and found that for 34 children there was significant correlation between floor level and auditory discrimination
background - noise (Cohen et al 1973)
CONCLUSION
- Controlling for socio-economic variables Cohen claimed to have found a significant association between noise levels and reading deficits. Noise levels may then have a detrimental influence on reading ability and so school performance.
aircraft noise
- Previous research shown exposure to high levels of aircraft noise has significant negative effect on general health status.
