Environment: Basics Flashcards
What are behavioural factors that have an impact on stress
Avoidance, fidgeting, increased aggression, silence, nail biting
What are the social factors that impact stress
Avoidance of people, isolation, needing to be with people
What are the cognitive factors that impact stress
Decreased concentration, decreased memory, decreased focus
Why is noise stressful and what do research finings show us about the impact it has on our biological responses
- Noise is stressful because you cant control it, turn it off or down. Annoyance sounds that are persistent and loud noises.
- Glass and Singer = loudness is only partly stressful but unpredictable noise that you cant control is the bigger stressor
Why is temperature stressful and what do research findings show us about the impact it has on our biological responses
- increased temperature can be more stressful because you may feel suffocated, panicked and impatient as well as fidgeting and sweating which are signs of stress anyway because you cant cool down and are uncomfortable
- increased aggression and become more impatient. Increased heat = increased hostility. Kendrick and Macfarlane = road rage aggression increases during higher temperature
Why is crowding stressful and what do research findings show us about the impact it has on our biological responses
- no control over how you can move, no personal space, feeling of vulnerability and uncomfortable
- Christian at al = in animal studies, some animals lose weight and died
What is the impact of stress on the musculoskeletal system
-muscles tense and may trigger migraines for long term tension
What is the impact of stress on the respiratory system
-breathing harder and faster, cant get enough oxygen and may have hyperventilation
What is the impact of stress on the cardiovascular system
- acute short term = increased heart rate and stronger contractions of heart muscle, elevated blood pressure
- constant stress = elevated levels of stress hormones and blood pressure increase risk of heart attack
What is the impact of stress on the endocrine system
-body releases cortisol and epinephrine which triggers the liver to release more glucose for fight or flight response
What is the impact of stress on the gastrointestinal system
- eat more/ less extremes, heartburn/acid reflux
- stomach muscles contract = nausea and stomach acid = further problems vomiting
What is the impact of stress on the nervous system
- causes blood vessels to dilate, this causes levels of alertness to increase
- some areas of the brain will reduce in activity
How do self reports measure stress and what are the strengths and weaknesses of these
-they identify what is causing stress and how stressed an individual is
+qualitative data = they can tell you directly if/ they are stressed
-not always going to get accurate answers of why some maybe stressed - invalid
How do ECG’s measure stress and what are the strengths and weaknesses of this
-They measure heart rate (if increases)
+quick and easy way to measure someones heart rate
+accurate and more objective
-could show increase in heart rate because of a different factor not just stress. –> cause and effect
How do Blood tests measure stress and what are the strengths and weaknesses of this
-they measure stress hormone (cortisol and glucose)
+very accurate and scientific/objective
- not able to easily measure own blood at comfort of own home
- time consuming and have to be analysed
- would need a baseline comparison
- may cause stress if you don’t like needles and invasive
How does saliva measure stress and what are the strengths and weaknesses of this
-measuring levels of cortisol
+easy to collect for testing and quick
+very objective and no bias
-still need to analyse and therefore will take longer
How does blood pressure measure stress and what are the strengths and weaknesses of this
-measuring blood pressure (if it increases)
+can track and measure own blood pressure in self test
- could show increase in blood pressure because of a different factor not just stress –> cause and effect
- hard to interpret on your own = could become subjective
What is a circadian rhythm
A 24hr biological process that tells our bodies when to sleep, rise and eat.
What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus
The bodys master clock that controls the production of melatonin
What is melatonin
Makes you feel tired - activates the sleep cycle
This is activated about 2 hrs before bedtime, as long as there is dim light, allowing us to create a regular cycle of bedtime
What is a zeitgeber
External factors which bring our circadian rhythm in line with the cycle e.g. Levels of light around us, temperature, pyjamas, other people waking up
What is an ultradian rhythm
Occur in cycles of less than 24 hrs
What are the key stages of sleep
1 - relaxed theta waves –> reductions in heart rate, muscle tension and temperature
2 - waves become slower and larger, bursts of high frequency, easy to be woken
3 - Sleep deepens, long and slow delta waves, difficult to wake
4 - can toss ad turn, very little muscular activity, body temperature drops, hard to wake, sleep walking and talking, night terrors occur
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) - Active brain (like when awake), body paralysed, often have dreams, active brain but hard to wake
How might shift work interrupt or disrupt your circadian rhythm
-if leave work during daylight, may feel less sleepy because melatonin is not released. Will have to trick the brain e.g. Wear sunglasses, don’t turn lights on. Otherwise the brain will ty and keep you awake during daylight
Why do we find it harder to ‘phase advance’ than ‘phase delay’
Because during phase advance you will have to force your body to produce melatonin earlier and you will lose sleep, where as with phase delay it is much easier to stay awake longer and suppress the melatonin release in order to stay awake
How can melatonin supplements be used to reduce the effects of jet lag
- increases the production of melatonin signals the body to feel tired and sleepy
- it will improve sleep quality and reduces the time it takes to get to sleep
How can avoiding shift starts at 5/6am reduce the effects of shift work
- When you wake up at 4am the light will not be up. Zeitgeiber to tell your suprachiasmatic nucleus that its daytime
- If you start a shift later in the day, when you wake up, your eyes will see the light and know its daytime and wake up
What is air pollution and how does human behaviour create it
air pollution - the presence or introduction into the air of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects. can be caused by burning fossil fuels, cars, deforestation
What is water pollution and how does human behaviour create it
water pollution - the contamination of water bodies usually as a result of human activities. can be caused by industrial waste, sewage, oil leakage, marine dumping, burning fossil fuels, fertiliser
What is global warming and how does human behaviour create it
global warming - gradual increase in temperature of earths atmosphere. can be caused by burning fossil fuels, deforestation and farming
What are conservation behaviours
Any behaviours or strategies that are used to minimize the negative impact that human behaviour has on the environment, whether it be through recycling strategies, renewable energy or environmental protection
What are Antecedent strategies
These are strategies that occur before the behaviour has taken place in an attempt to change peoples attitudes or understanding.
e.g. information campaigns = these work on the basis that peoples conservation behaviour can be changed through being given more education and knowledge relating to the issue
What are Consequent strategies
These are strategies that occur after the behaviour has taken place and thus act as a reward, incentive, feedback or even punishment for certain behaviours
What is ergonomic design
Also called human factors, concerned with understanding how humans interact with machinery and designing equipment that matches human capabilities and limitations. Ergonomics can improve the physical aspects of equipment, from everyday objects to office-based specialist equipment
What is cognitive overload
Occurs when this capacity and too many stimulus are claiming you attention, you will get overloaded
What are the 6 aspects of the working memory model
- Central executive
- Phonological loop
- Visio-spatial scratchpad
- Articulatory control process
- Phonological store
- Episodic buffer
What is the central executive
Coordinates the activities of the other systems responsible for all the processing and attention tasks
What is the Phonological loop
The temporary storage system for verbal information can be written or spoken material. Divided into the phonological store and articulatory control
What is the visio-spatial scratchpad
Temporary storage system for visual and spatial information, ‘inner eye’
What is the phonological store
Auditory rehearsal system which receives sound information and stores it. Receives information from the inner voice so we can hear what we are thinking
What is the articulatory control process
verbal rehearsal, used to prepare speech and thinking in words. The capacity depends on how long it takes to say something
What is the episodic buffer
Receives extra information for processing later, storing the less information for later
What is an urban area
‘built up’ - buildings close together, densely populated, high industrialization, fast pace of life, more modern/technology, more pollution, more noise
e.g. Southampton city centre
What is a rural area
Smaller population density, open spaces, land, animals, nature, clearer, pleasant views
e.g. The New Forest
What did Newman and McCauley find
rural vs urban effect on eye contact
- In rural town Parksberg, Pennsylvania, 80% of passersby would make eye contact with female stranger in the post office
- 45% in suburbs of Philadelphia would make eye contact
- Least amount of eye contact in Philadelphia city centre
What are the effects on these factors when living in rural vs urban areas:
Crime rates
Mental Health
Physical Health/ mortality rates
Crime = Higher in urban vs rural
Mental health = Higher in urban vs rural
Physical health/ mortality rates = life expectancy is higher in rural and physical health problems are higher in urban areas
What is defensible space and what factors contribute to maintaining a defensible space
defensible space = semi-private areas surrounding living quarters that residents can territorialise so that they appear to belong to someone
Zone of territorial influence:
Knowing that this is a persons personal space prevents others from entering
Security and privacy
Surveillance:
Safety and security
Openness/ aware of surroundings and control
Image:
Making something look nice makes people want to maintain that outlook
Feel safer, cleaner, positive environments
What did Hall discuss
Hall = The 4 zones of personal space:
Intimate
Personal
Social
Public
What is territory and how do we mark it
Visible, physical markers that claim ownership either permanently or temporarily
e.g. fence round a house, coat on a seat
What did Altman claim
Altman = 3 types of territory, which differ how important they are to the individual
Primary - e.g. home
Secondary - e.g. classroom
Public - e.g. area of beach
