Chapter 3

Question 1

Abstinence violation effect:

Answer 1

a feeling of loss of control that results when one has violated self-imposed rules, such as not to smoke or drink.

Question 2

Assertiveness training:

Answer 2

techniques that train people how to be appropriately assertive in social situations; often included as part of health behavior modification programs, on the assumption that some poor health habits, such as excessive alcohol consumption or smoking, develop in part to control difficulties in being appropriately assertive.

Question 3

At risk:

Answer 3

a state of vulnerability to a particular health problem by virtue of heredity, health practices, or family environment.

Question 4

Behavioral assignments:

Answer 4

home practice activities that clients perform on their own as part of an integrated therapeutic intervention for behavior modification.

Question 5

Classical conditioning:

Answer 5

the pairing of a stimulus with an unconditioned reflex, such that over time the new stimulus acquires a conditioned response, evoking the same behavior; the process by which an automatic response is conditioned to a new stimulus.

Question 6

Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT):

Answer 6

the use of principles from learning theory to modify the cognitions and behaviors associated with a behavior to be modified; cognitive-behavioral approaches are used to modify poor health habits, such as smoking, poor diet and alcoholism.

Question 7

Cognitive restructuring:

Answer 7

a method of modifying internal monologues in stress-producing situations; clients are trained to monitor what they say to themselves in stress-provoking situations and then to modify their cognitions in adaptive ways.

Question 8

Contingency contracting:

Answer 8

a procedure in which an individual forms a contract with another person, such as a therapist, detailing what rewards or punishments are contingent on the performance or nonperformance of a target behavior.

Question 9

Discriminative stimulus:

Answer 9

an environmental stimulus that is capable of eliciting a particular behavior; for example, the sight of food may act as a discriminative stimulus for eating.

Question 10

Fear appeals:

Answer 10

efforts to change attitudes by arousing fear to induce the motivation to change behaviors; fear appeals are used to try to get people to change poor health habits.

Question 11

Health behaviors:

Answer 11

behaviors undertaken by people to enhance or maintain their health, such as exercise or the consumption of a healthy diet.

Question 12

Health belief model:

Answer 12

a theory of health behaviors; the model predicts that whether a person practices a particular health habit can be understood by knowing the degree to which the person perceives a personal health threat and the perception that a particular health practice will be effective in reducing that threat.

Question 13

Health habit:

Answer 13

a health-related behavior that is firmly established and often performed automatically, such as buckling a seat belt or brushing one’s teeth.

Question 14

Health locus of control:

Answer 14

the perception that one’s health is under personal control; is controlled by powerful others, such as physicians; or is determined by external factors, including chance.

Question 15

Health promotion:

Answer 15

a general philosophy maintaining that health is a personal and collective achievement; the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health. Health promotion may occur through individual efforts, through interaction with the medical system, and through a concerted health policy effort.

Question 16

Lifestyle rebalancing:

Answer 16

concerted lifestyle change in a healthy direction, usually including exercise, stress management, and a healthy diet; believed to contribute to relapse prevention after successful modification of a poor health habit, such as smoking or alcohol consumption.

Question 17

Modeling:

Answer 17

learning gained from observing another person performing a target behavior.

Question 18

Operant conditioning:

Answer 18

the pairing of a voluntary, nonautomatic behavior with a new stimulus through reinforcement or punishment.

Question 19

Primary prevention:

Answer 19

measures designed to combat risk factors for illness before an illness has a chance to develop.

Question 20

Relapse prevention:

Answer 20

a set of techniques designed to keep people from relapsing to prior poor health habits after initial successful behavior modification; includes training in coping skills for high-risk-for-relapse situations and lifestyle rebalancing.

Question 21

Relaxation training:

Answer 21

procedures that help people relax; include progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing; may also include guided imagery and forms of meditation or hypnosis.

Question 22

Self-affirmation:

Answer 22

a process by which people focus on their personal values which bolsters the self-concept.

Question 23

Self-control:

Answer 23

a state in which an individual desiring to change behavior learns how to modify the antecedents and the consequences of that target behavior.

Question 24

Self-determination theory (SDT):

Answer 24

the theory that autonomous motivation and perceived competence are fundamental to behavior change.

Question 25

Self-efficacy:

Answer 25

the perception that one is able to perform a particular action.

Question 26

Self-monitoring:

Answer 26

assessing the frequency, antecedents, and consequences of a target behavior to be modified; also known as self-observation.

Question 27

Self-reinforcement:

Answer 27

systematically rewarding or punishing oneself to increase or decrease the occurrence of a target behavior.

Question 28

Self-talk:

Answer 28

internal monologues; people tell themselves things that may undermine or help them implement appropriate health habits, such as “I can stop smoking” (positive self-talk) or “I’ll never be able to do this” (negative self-talk).

Question 29

Social engineering:

Answer 29

social or lifestyle change through legislation; for example, water purification is done through social engineering rather than by individual efforts.

Question 30

Socialization:

Answer 30

the process by which people learn the norms, rules, and beliefs associated with their family and society; parents and social institutions are usually the major agents of socialization.

Question 31

Social skills training:

Answer 31

techniques that teach people how to relax and interact comfortably in social learning principles of modeling and behavioral inoculation in inducing people not to smoke; youngsters are exposed to older peer models who deliver antismoking messages after exposure to simulated peer pressure to smoke.

Question 32

Stimulus-control interventions:

Answer 32

interventions designed to modify behavior that involve behavior that involve the removal of discriminative stimuli that evoke a behavior targeted for change and the substitution of new discriminative stimuli that will evoke a desired behavior.

Question 33

Teachable moment:

Answer 33

a theory a responses to stress maintaining that in addition to fight-or-flight, humans respond to stress with social affiliation and nurturant behavior toward offspring; thought to depend on the stress hormone oxytocin; these responses may be especially true of women.

Question 34

Theory of planned behavior:

Answer 34

derived from the theory of reasoned action, a theoretical viewpoint maintaining that a person’s behavioral intentions and behaviors can be understood by knowing the person’s attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms regarding the behavior, and perceived behavioral control over that action.

Question 35

Transtheoretical model of behavior change:

Answer 35

an analysis of the health behavior change process that draws on the stages and processes people go through in order to bring about successful long-term behavior change. The stages include precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Successful attitude or behavior change at each stage depends on the appropriateness of the intervention. For example, attitude-change materials help move people from precontemplation to contemplation, whereas relapse prevention techniques help move people from action to maintenance.

Question 36

Window of vulnerability:

Answer 36

the fact that, at certain times, people are more vulnerable to particular health problems. For example, early adolescence constitutes a window of vulnerability for beginning smoking, drug use, and alcohol abuse.