Final Flashcards
Stressors definition
Specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the persons well being
Stress definition
The physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors
Definition of health psychology
The subfield of psychology concerned with how psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health
What did Holmes and Rahe discover about stressful events and illness?
Major life changes cause stress and that increased stress causes illness.
It was also found that negative and positive events cause stress
Chronic stressors definition
Sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly
What are some examples of chronic stressors
Social relationships, noise, traffic, crowding, pollution, threat of violence
Spawned environmental psychology (stress linked to environment)
What did the glass and singer experiment testing effects of loud noise on performance when it could or couldn’t be stopped reveal about perceived control on stress?
People and monkeys are much better at dealing with stress when they have perceived control over the stress
What did 9/11 reveal about stress and brain composition?
People exposed to attack suffered a long term reduction in the size of emotion parts of the brain. Furthermore, people more exposed to attack suffered more heart problems and ptsd symptoms.
Flight or fight response
An emotional and physiological reaction to and emergency that increases readiness for action
How does fight or flight work
Hypothalamus stimulates pituitary gland which releases ACHT hormone. ACHT stimulates adrenal glands that release the hormones cortisol and catecholamines in order to respond to threat.
General adaptation syndrome (GAS) defined by selye
Three stage physiological stress response that appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered
What are the three stages to GAS and what do they consist of?
Alarm phase: body rapidly mobilizes its resources to respond to threat (like flight of fight)
Resistance phase: body adapts to its high state of arousal as it tries to cope with stressor (digestion, growth and sex drive stall)
Exhaustion phase: body’s resistance collapses. The resistances cause gradual damage as they operate causing negative side effects.
What is the relationship between stress and aging?
Stress significantly accelerates the aging process.
Telomeres and telomerase definitions
Telomeres: Caps at the ends of the chromosomes that prevent the chromosomes from sticking to each other
Telomerase: an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres at the tips of chromosomes
How does stress accelerate aging?
Cortisol produced during flight of fight response reduces activity of telomerase, leading to shortened telomeres acceleration aging and risk of health complications.
Immune system definition
A complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances.
Lymphocytes
White blood cells that produce antibodies that fight infection
What did the study of volunteers receiving small wounds to the roof of the mouth reveal about stress and the immune system?
The wounds healed faster on vacation than during and exam period. This reveals that stress can wear on the immune system.
How does the effect of stress on the immune system explain why social status is related to health?
Stress of living life at the bottoms levels of society increases the risk of infection by weakening the immune system.
What did the study of US military veterans that had experienced combat vs not reveal about the affects of stress on cardiovascular health?
Veterans who had experienced combat had 93% higher odds of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) than those who did not.
How does stress promote CHD
Stress increases blood pressure which gradually damages blood vessels. The damages vessels accumulate plaque, making you more prone to CHD.
Type A behaviour pattern and type B
Type A : A tendency towards easily aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings.
Type B: less driven behaviour pattern
What did the Friedman and Ray study on type A and B men reveal about behaviour on cardiovascular health?
Out of the men that had heart attacks in the sample, 2/3 had a type A behaviour pattern.
What is the number one trait that determines susceptibility to heart disease?
Tendency to respond to stressful events with hostility