Exam 2-PSY 320 Flashcards
Fight-or-Flight Response
Physiological changes in the human body that occur in response to a perceived threat, including the secretion of glucose, endorphins, and hormones as well as the elevation of heart rate, metabolism, blood pressure, breathing, and muscle tension.
Cortisol
Hormone that helps the body respond to stressors, including the fight-or-flight response.
Anxiety
State of apprehension, tension, and worry
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)
Anxiety disorder characterized by (1) repeated mental images of experiencing a traumatic event, (2) emotional numbing, and detachment, and (3) hypervigilance and chronic arousal
Acute Stress Disorder
Disorder similar to post-traumatic stress disorder but occurs within 1 month of exposure to the stressor and does not last more than 4 weeks; often involves dissociative symptoms
Adjustment Disorder
Stress-related disorder that involves emotional and behavioral symptoms (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and/or antisocial behaviors) that arise within 3 months of the onset of a stressor.
Stress-management Interventions
Strategies that teach clients to overcome the problems in their lives that are increasing their stress.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s)
Class of antidepressant drugs
Panic Attacks
Short, intense periods during which an individual experiences physiological and cognitive symptoms of anxiety, characterized by intense fear and discomfort
Panic Disorder
Disorder characterized by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks.
Agoraphobia
Anxiety disorder characterized by fear of places and situations in which it would be difficult to escape, such as enclosed places, open spaces, and crowds.
Limbic System
Part of the brain that relays information from the primitive brain stem about changes in bodily functions to the cortex, where the information is interpreted.
Locus Ceruleus
Area of the brain stem that plays a part in the emergency response and may be involved in panic attacks
Anxiety Sensitivity
Belief that bodily symptoms have harmful consequences.
Interoceptive Conditioning
Process by which symptoms of anxiety that have preceded panic attacks become the signals for new panic attacks
Conditioned Avoidance Response
Behavior that is reinforced because it allows individuals to avoid situations that cause anxiety.
Specific Phobias
Extreme fears of specific objects or situations that cause an individual to routinely avoid those objects or situations
Animal Type Phobias
Extreme fear of specific animals that may induce immediate and intense panic attacks and cause the individual to go to great lengths to avoid the animals.
Natural Environment Type Phobias
Extreme fears of events or situations in the natural environment that cause impairment in one’s ability to function normally
Situational Type Phobias
Extreme fears of situations such as public transportation, tunnels, bridges, elevators, flying, driving, or enclosed spaces.
Blood-Injection-Injury Type Phobias
Extreme fears of seeing blood or an injury or of receiving an injection or another invasive medical procedure, which cause a drop in heart rate and blood pressure and fainting
Social Phobia
Extreme fear of being judged or embarrassed in front of people, causing the individual to avoid social situations.
Negative Reinforcement
Process in which people avoid being exposed to feared objects and their avoidance is reinforced by the subsequent reduction of their anxiety.
Prepared Classical Conditioning
Theory that evolution has prepared people to be easily conditioned to fear objects or situations that were dangerous in ancient times.
Applied Tension Technique
Technique used to treat blood-injection-injury type phobias in which the therapist teaches the client to increase his or her blood pressure and heart rate, thus preventing the client from fainting.
Modeling
Process of learning behaviors by imitating others, especially authority figures or people like oneself