Chapter 14 - Vocabulary

Question 0

Health Psychology

Answer 0

A sub-field of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine.

Question 1

Behavioral Medicine

Answer 1

An interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease.

Question 2

Stress

Answer 2

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Question 3

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Answer 3

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three stages - Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion.

Question 4

Coronary Heart Disease

Answer 4

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries.

Question 5

Type A

Answer 5

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.

Question 6

Type B

Answer 6

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people.

Question 7

Psychophysiological Illness

Answer 7

Literally “Mind-Body” illness, any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and headaches.

Question 8

Lymphocytes

Answer 8

The two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system. B lymphocytes form in bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections. T lymphocytes form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.

Question 9

Coping

Answer 9

Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, and behavioral methods.

Question 10

Problem-Focused Coping

Answer 10

Attempting to alleviate stress directly- by changing the stressor or the way we interact with the stressor.

Question 11

Emotion-Focused Coping

Answer 11

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one’s stress reaction.

Question 12

Aerobic Exercise

Answer 12

Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety.

Question 13

Biofeedback

Answer 13

A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension.

Question 14

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Answer 14

Unproven health care treatments not taught widely in medical schools, not used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by insurance companies.