Chapter 59: Effects Of Stress Flashcards
What does the Yerkes-Dodson law state
It states that performance increases as arousal increases but only true when stress increases to a moderate level of arousal where performance reaches an optimal level.
When arousal increases beyond optimal level it will start to decrease. performance is low when arousal is low. A person will be under stimulated and struggles to concentrate. As arousal increases a person becomes more alert and reaction speed increases causes concentration to improve until optimal performance is reached.
State how complexity and novelty of performance effects arousal and performance.
As performance is optimal at moderate levels of arousal we expect complex and novel tasks would be performed most efficiently at more or less moderate levels of arousal and to an extent true keeping in mind tasks have a curiosity value that aid people to concentrate and focus despite lower levels of arousal.
Simple tasks don’t have a curiosity value and people will get bored with simple tasks which would require moderate to high level of arousal to perform.
Briefly state the relationship between stress and health
Diseases start and develop in the presence of stress. Stress can make us sick as hormones and nerve pathways are activated by stress change the way the immune system respond making it less able to fight invaders.
What is a psycho somatic disease
It’s a condition where psychological factors contribute to physical damage in the body or to harmful changes in body functioning. Psycho somatic disease is real but the psychological factors like experience of stress play a role in cause of condition.
Explain how a psycho somatic condition occurs
A person may have a physical weakness in a certain organ(s) of the body and in the presence of stress the organs functioning break down. People differ in the condition they develop and differ in the manner they respond to stressors.
What’s response specifity
It’s the specific response pattern in reaction to stressors that people possess.
What is burnout and how does it develop
Burnout occurs due to a prolonged period of exposure to stress. It can develop over months or years and if condition is left to continue an individual can become seriously incapacitated. They also feel emotionally drained empty and alienated from people around them.
How can one reduce risk of burnout
Being more realistic in expectations regarding work and job satisfaction. Rely on colleagues friends and family and share negative aspects of your work with them. Make time to rest.
What is stress
Stress is an emotional response to circumstances and events that threaten us and challenge our coping abilities.
Explain the homeostatic regulation of basic tension
Basic tension is the level of tension that the individual experience in a state of rest
A. BT is regulated by autonomic nervous system
B. BT depends on the balance between the two subsystem of the ANS being the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
C. Sympathetic stimulation causes increase tension and parasympathetic stimulation cause decrease in tension
D. Individual differ with their basic tension levels where some sympathetic and parasympathetic balance is in the middle of the 2 and for others it’s either closer to the parasympathetic or sympathetic side.
Define emotional tension
Emotional tension occurs when a stimulus has been interpreted and a definite emotion starts to emerge causing a further increase in basic psychophysical tension which means ET refers to psychophysiological tension that is actually felt
Define Emotional liability
Refers to the speed at which people react to incoming stimuli and become physically and emotionally tense.
People with labile nervous systems react faster and more intensely to stressors than people with stabile nervous system.
What is a person’s emotional threshold
Is the level of emotional tension that a person can handle before the tension starts to impair functioning.
