Chapter 1: Overview Flashcards
Adoption Studies
Research in compare traits of adopted children with those of both natural and adoptive parents.
Behavioural Medicine
An interdisciplinary field that studies the relationships between behaviour and health.
Behavioural Methods
A behavioural modification technique that use mainly operant and classical conditioning principles to change behaviour.
Biomedical Model
The view that illness results from physical causes such as infection or injury; psychosocial processes are not viewed as causal factors
Biopsychosocial Model
The view that health and illness involve the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors in people’s lives.
Chronic Diseases
Illnesses that persist and generally get worse over a long period of time
Cognitive Methods
A behavioral modification technique that focus on changing people’s feelings and thought processes.
Correlational Studies
Nonexperimental research conducted to determine the degree and direction of relationship between variables
Correlation Coefficient
A statistic that reflects the degree and direction of relationship between two variables; it can range from +1.00, through .00, to −1.00.
Cross Sectional Approach
Method of studying developmental trends by observing different groups of subjects of different ages within a relatively short period of time
Double Blind
An experimental procedure whereby neither the subject nor the researcher knows which research treatment the subject is receiving.
Epidemic
The situation in which the occurrence of a health problem has increased rapidly.
Epigenetics
The process in which chemical structures within or around DNA govern gene actions.
Experiment
A controlled study in which variables are manipulated and observed to assess cause‐effect relationships
Health
A positive state of physical, mental, and social well‐being that changes in degree over time
Health Disparities
inequalities in health or health care between groups.
Health Psychology
A field of psychology introduced in the late 1970s to examine the causes of illnesses and to study ways to promote and maintain health, prevent and treat illness, and improve the health care system.
Illness/Wellness Continuum
A model that describes health and sickness as overlapping concepts that vary in degree, rather than being separate categories.
Incidence
The number of new cases reported during a given period of time, such as the previous year.
Infectious Diseases
Illnesses caused by the body being invaded by micro‐organisms such as bacteria or viruses.
Longitudinal Approach
Method of studying developmental changes in the same subjects by making repeated observations over a long period of time.
Mind/Body Problem
Whether or not the mind and body function separately.
Morbidity
The condition of illness, injury, or disability.
Mortality
Death, usually with reference to large populations.
Pandemic
An outbreak of infectious disease that has increased to international or worldwide proportions.
Personality
Cognitive, affective, or behavioural predispositions of people in different situations and over time.
Placebo
An inactive substance or procedure that may cause a change in an individual’s behaviour or health.
Prevalence
The total number of cases existing at a given moment in time.
Prospective Approach
A research strategy whereby characteristics of subjects are measured and later examined for their relationships to future conditions, such as health problems.
Psychosomatic Medicine
A field introduced in the 1930s to study the relationships between people’s symptoms of illness and their emotions.
Quasi-Experimental Studies
Nonexperimental research in which subjects are categorized or separated into two or more groups based on existing characteristics and then compared regarding other variables.
Retrospective Approach
A research strategy whereby the histories of subjects are examined for their relationships to recent conditions, such as health problems.
Risk Factors
Characteristics or conditions that occur more often among individuals who develop particular diseases or injuries than among those who do not.
Sociocultural
Relating to or involving social and cultural features or processes.
System
A continuously changing entity that consists of constantly interrelated components.
Theory
A tentative explanation of phenomena.
Twin Studies
Research to assess the influence of heredity in determining a characteristic by focusing on differences between identical and fraternal twins
Variable
A measurable characteristic of people, objects, or events that may change in quantity or quality.
