Health Psychology Part 2 Flashcards
1
Q
What is Defense/Avoidance coping?
A
set of psychological reactions to stress that seek to minimize it by distancing ourselves from the stress triggers
2
Q
What does a person do in Defence/Avoidance Coping?
A
A person attempting to defensively cope is avoiding or withdrawing from the stressor, hoping that at later time the stressor will be gone or their coping will be better at a later time.
3
Q
What is the goal of Defensive/Avoidance coping?
A
The moment you encounter a stressor you find ways to get it out of your mind. The point is not to change the stressor, it is just to mask the feelings or distract yourself so you are no longer thinking about it
3
Q
What is the point of Defensive/Avoidance coping?
A
The moment you encounter a stressor you find ways to get it out of your mind. The point is not to change the stressor, it is just to mask the feelings or distract yourself so you are no longer thinking about it
4
Q
When might defensive/avoidance coping be good?
A
This can be good when a a stressor will be gone on its own or if there isn’t anything you can do to change the situation
5
Q
When does defensive coping backfire? What are 3 common consequences? Why?
A
often backfires if the stressor does not go away on its own:
substance use: a common strategy to mask physiological and psychological effects of stress, which can lead to addictive behaviours.
stress eating: high-calorie food intake can activate high-reward brain areas, leading to feelings of satisfaction during high stress situations.
lack of positive coping practices: defensive coping doesn’t allow us to discover and practice more positive coping strategies (more on this on Wednesday).
6
Q
How does alcohol reduce the physiological experience of stress?
A
Alcohol activates the parasympathetic system so it reduces the physiological experience of stress.
7
Q
What is learned helplessness?
A
due to prolonged stress and trauma, an agent becomes convinced that they have no control over the situation, failing to change the situation even when given an opportunity to.
8
Q
What study helped demonstrate learned helplessness?
A
Animal shock study
9
Q
What is the animal shock study?
A
animals tethered in a cage and repeatedly shocked will subsequently fail to jump to the safe side even when the tether is removed.
10
Q
What are 3 examples of learned helplessness in humans?
A
School tests and exams, Nursing homes study, Depression.
11
Q
How are school test/exams related to learned helplessness?
A
when students are given a test on which all of the hardest questions are presented first, they do more poorly on later easy questions. This is partly why students are told to skip a difficult question and keep moving
12
Q
How is the Nursing homes study related to learned helplessness? What does it emphasize as mattering?
A
seniors in low-quality nursing homes rarely engage with novel activities, except if they are introduced under the frame of “you have influence over your lives here”.
It matters a lot how the activities are presented to them. If they are presented as “we have these new activities and you should think about the fact that you have more influence”, they engage with them more.
13
Q
How is depression related to learned helplessness?
A
many models of depression suggest that some depressive symptoms are tied to learned helplessness in response to persistent trauma (more during Clinical)
14
Q
What three stages of reasoning do memory models differentiate between? What are their definitions?
A
Acquisition/Encoding: the first step during which attention plays a large role in what we remember.
Consolidation: the second step during which the memory becomes more fixed in long-term storage in the brain.
Recall: the process of retrieving the memory.
15
Q
How does stress interact with all three of these levels (memory)?
A
Acute and long-term stressors can interact with all three of these levels,
leading to variety of effects. Specifically, Acute stress can sometimes boost encoding and consolidation, but selectively
for the stressful event itself.
16
Q
What is a major predictor of how well memories will be consolidated?
A
Sleep. If his process of consolidation, the information will be encoded but you won’t quite know what was said.
17
Q
What are flashbulb memories?
A
vivid and specific (longterm) memories tied to specific, intense, often negative events that we experience
18
Q
At what level are flashbulb memories typically studied?
A
We all have individual flashbulb memories but they are most often studied at a communal level. Like prominent major world events. Classic research relates to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and 9/1. This changes for every generation.
19
Q
What does acute and long term stress reduce (memory)? Why?
A
Reduces the ability to successfully recall information, especially when it is not directly related to the stressor itself. This is partly, because the physiological experience of stress inhibits the recall of information.
Significantly reduces short-term memory, especially under time pressure.
20
Q
What is executive function involved with?
A
skills involved in goal-directed problem solving, including working memory, inhibitory control, and set shifting/flexibility; highly related to PFC function.
21
Q
What is Executive function largely related to?
A
Executive functions are largely related to PFC function
22
Q
What do we mean by stress and Executive function have a bidirectional relationship?
A
Higher EF function leads to more adaptive stress-coping strategies, reduced negative health outcomes, and reduced aggression in Type A personalities.
Acute impairs ability to multitask and inhibit impulses, most likely through effects of norepinephrine.
High cortisol levels initially improve inhibition, but in long-term decrease it.
23
Q
What is true of norepinepherine and PFC function?
A
norepinepherine needs to be in a nice balance point for the PFC to operate optimally.
24
What is burnout?
a state of exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and detachment from work/school, and a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment
25
Why do experiments look at stress not necessarily trauma?
There is no single point where we an say that this is stress and that is trauma. In all experimental work we are looking at stress
26
Are flashbulb memories permanent?
no memory is permanent but falshbulb memories are much mroe resilient to loss.
27
What separates burnout from other forms of stress?
it is almost exclusively studied in occupational psych, so it is usually studied as a separable concept form simple stress. When we focus on burnout we are talking about an effective of work or school as compared to the other things we have talked about.
28
What 3 elements are burnout comprised of?
Exhaustion: feelings of energy depletion; sometimes divided into emotional and physical. (People believe that physical and emotional exhaustion are separate.)
Cynicism: loss of belief in the long-term value of the work.
Reduced Efficacy: reduced ability to work and beliefs of inadequacy.
29
What are the three stages of burnout?
Recurrent stressors
Defensive coping
Individual strain
Cycle
30
What are 2 examples of recurrent stressors? (burnout)
especially ill-defined tasks or role ambiguity.
31
What are ill defined tasks?
ill defined tasks are situations in which a student is asked to do something but are not given enough info on how to do it.
32
What is role ambiguity?
Role ambiguity regards to confusion around who is supposed to do what.
33
What is defensive coping? (burnout)
if stressors are out of our control, we naturally become more cynical as a method of reducing value of our work, trying to minimize its impact.
34
What is individual strain? (burnout)
Individual strain emotionally and physical exhaustion and anxious, moving past the Alarm phase into the resistance phase.
35
What is cycle (burnout)
but if none of this helps, then the work stress continues and pushes us into the exhaustion phase, where the worst effects are felt.
36
What does defensive coping lead to?
increased cynicism
37
Besides workload, what are the 3 highest predictors of burnout?
Lack of Control: the less we can control our tasks, the more we burn out. (control in how we approach tasks)
Lack of Reward: the fewer positive rewards we get, the more we burn out.
Lack of Social Support: the fewer people around us who can support us, the more we burn out.
38
What 5 bnegative consequences are burnout associated with?
Job dissatisfaction, low organizational commitment, absenteeism, intention to leave the job, and turnover.
Burnout can also have a negative “spillover” effect on workers’ home life.
Exhaustion is typically correlated with such health symptoms as headaches, chronic fatigue, gastrointestinal disorders, muscle tension, hypertension, cold/flu episodes, and sleep disturbances.
Burnout correlates with depression and other emotional symptoms, such as anxiety and irritability
39
What are three high stress occupations?
Law enforcement, Nursing, Teaching
40
What has research in high-stress occupations shown about Law enforcement?
strong relationship between occupational stress (especially extremely negative events) and defensive coping, especially alcohol use; social support in discussing workplace stress and strain especially effective at reducing defensive coping.
41
What does occupational psych think are the highest consequences of burnout in law enforcement?
occupational psych thinks that defensive coping is the most and alcohol use is the highest.
42
What does occupational psych think are the highest consequences of burnout in Nursing?
main predictors of burnout are role ambiguity and role conflict (nurses are asked to pick up the slack of doctors and perform duties they aren’t train on); levels of supervisor support had protective effects on well-being.
43
What does occupational psych think are the highest consequences of burnout in Teaching?
exposure to high numbers of students strongly predicts the experience of burnout in university professors; younger professors experience much higher emotional exhaustion.
44
What are the 4 pieces of evidence surrounding burnout in university students?
Across many samples, rates of burnout are 15 – 25% of undergraduate students, with especially high rates of emotional exhaustion and cynicism.
Tends to be higher for male students, who have smaller social support networks.
Beyond academic stress, loneliness is largest predictor of burnout experience.
Defensive coping is often found to exacerbate effects of burnout.
45
What is post traumatic stress disorder?
a clinically diagnosable disorder characterized by recurrent and intrusive memories, dreams, flashbacks, nightmares, social withdrawal, anxiety, and insomnia that lingers for at least one month after a traumatic event.
46
In order for someone to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, what are the conditions on the event in question?
The event in question can either be experienced, witnessed, or learned about, and can be one-time or recurrent (e.g., first responders)
47
What do memories tend to be like for someone with post traumatic stress disorder?
Memories of event tend to be highly vivid, sometimes experienced in third person, and often become part of an identity for the person moving forward. They are such a fundamental part of their daily experience that they become very deeply intertwined with their personality.
48
What is PTSD associated with?
various changes in brain function
49
Where are the main sites of change in terms of PTSDs's affect on brain function. Why/how?
Hyperactive Amygdala: the amgydala becomes hyperactive, leading to regular feelings of fear and threat that activate the HPA axis (“hypervigilance”).
Prefrontal Cortex: frequent flow of norepinephrine impairs function of PFC, leading to issues in inhibiting memories and behaviours that trigger them.
Hippocampal Volume: the hippocampus – a key brain region for long-term memory - can change in volume, leading to problems with forming new memories and sudden recall of old ones.
50
What are the 2 ways in which people diagnosed with PTSD are in a viscious cycle?
Memories and flashbacks trigger the stress response to resurface, sending catecholamines and cortisol back through the system without any recognizable external triggers.
This impairs everyday function, allowing them to ruminate and re-experience the events, sending further stress hormones through the body.
51
Does there appear to be a genetic risk factor for PTSD?
yes
52
What suggests that there is a genetic risk factor for PTSD
identical twins in the army are significantly more likely to experience PTSD than two random soldiers.
53
What are the 5 ways that stress has a significant impact on our psychological functioning?
Increases tendency for defensive coping.
Increases chance of developing learned helplessness and pessimism.
Associated with burnout
In extreme causes, traumatic events lead to PTSD
54
How do the impacts of stress become a self enforcing loop (coping) ?
All of these become self-reinforcing loops, where the lack of stress coping causes more stress down the line.
55
What constitutes the onset of stress?
primary appraisal interprets the situation as challenging + secondary appraisal judges our available resources as insufficient.
56
What are three ways that we can cope with stress?
Distancing ourselves from the stressor (defensive
coping)
Changing primary appraisal (i.e., situation
interpretation)
Changing secondary appraisal (i.e., adding resources).
57
What is another name for constructive coping?
Active coping
58
What is constructive/active coping?
directly deal with the stressor, either by finding a solution to the problem, or changing how we react to it.
59
What are the 2 types of constructive coping?
Problem-Focused Coping (External): coping by finding a solution to the problem, often by acquiring more resources or finding novel solution. (it is external coping because you are trying to change something out in the world)
Appraisal-Focused Coping/Reframing (Internal): coping by changing our perception of the stressful event as something not threatening or challenging. (internal because you are trying to change the appraisal of the situation/interperetation.
60
Is problem-focused or appraisal-focused coping better?
neither is strictly better.
61
When is problem focused coping bad?
In situations where you cannot actually do something to fix the problem. Sometimes no amount of resources/effort will deal with the stressor (i.e., problem-
focused = bad).
62
When is appraisal-focused coping bad?
If you can't stop reacting to something in a certain way then you are further increasing your stress. Sometimes an event will be inherently stressful no matter how much we try to
think about it differently (i.e., appraisal-focused = bad).
63
When is defensive coping good?
Situations where there is little reason to waste time and effort using constructive coping. Sometimes stressors will just go away on their own (defensive = good).
64
What are the three ways we can increase the tendency for constructive coping?
1. Increase (perceived and actual) levels of efficacy and control.
2. Increase resiliency and persistence.
3. Increase positive emotions.
65
Wha are the three best ways of defensive coping?
1. Exercise
2. Relaxation exercises
3. Mindfulness meditation
66
Wha are the three best ways of defensive coping?
1. Exercise
2. Relaxation exercises
3. Mindfulness meditation
67
When does constructive coping occur?
Constructive coping only occurs if you believe that you have control over your
resources or over your reaction to the event.
68
What was the executive rat study?
if a rat has control over when it gets shocked, it will be significantly less stressed compared to a rat shocked as often but with no control.
69
What was the design for the executive rat study? What were the results?
executive rat: random stressors but everytime it begins, they can do an action to stop it
Subbordinate: getting shocked at the exacy same moment as the executive rat. Their level of shock is the same. The object levels of external stress events is identical for executive and subbordinate rat.
The executive rat shows less stress levels in comparison to the subordinate rat. This shows that the experience of having control over a stressful event is sufficient to reduce stress levles even with equal amount of external stressors.
70
What has a strong impact on perceived stress levels?
perceived sense of control
71
What is the relationship stress and perceived control in humans (3 things)?
Internal locus of control: an internal locus of control is associated with higher functioning, lower neuroticism, and lower stress and anxiety. (these people believe they have more control over the world and themselves)
Medical Procedures: children given a signaling device experience significantly less stress and physiological arousal during complex operations. (that tells them, any time you experience this amount of pain push the button and I’ll stop)
It helps even when it’s false: undergraduates told that they can shorten an aversive stimulus (a loud noise) by pushing a button more times experience less stress, even when the button had no effect at all. (individuals who are tolled this experience less stress (heart rate, sweat and cortisol levels)
72
What are the three trait like predictors associated with higher constructive coping?
optimism, grit, high self-esteem
73
What is optimism?
a personality trait associated with having a positive outlook on events (as opposed to pessimism). (high optimism, more constructive coping, less HPA axis activity)
74
What is grit?
personality trait associated with commitment in the face of failure, a strong sense of internal control, and willingness to accept challenges.
75
What is high self-esteem?
High self-esteem: a positive sense of identity, capability, and efficacy.
76
What do the three predictors for constructive copping lead to?
more positive emotions and reduced activation of HPA axis during stress.
77
What are three things we should know about research on grit?
Grit tends to naturally increase with age, and heritability estimates are low, suggesting strong environmental prediction.
US Department of Education has invested resources into a “Grit Enhancement Program”, teaching skills such as reflecting on meaning of failure, mastery orientation, improved goal setting, and interest discovery.
However, no conclusive results have been found from these programs at this time.
78
What is positive psychology?
a subdiscipline of psychology that focuses on researching methods of improving our well-being, including especially coping with stress and finding meaning in life (“meaning-based coping”).
79
What are the 2 notions of well-being that positive psychology differentiates from?
hedonic well being and eudamonic well-being
80
What is hedonic well-being?
a sense of well-being associated with positive emotions and feeling good, and avoiding suffering and pain.
81
What is eudamonic well-being?
a sense of well-being associated with having a sense of purpose and meaning in life (e.g., self-actualization).
82
Why is most of positive psychology applied?
to increase specific skills
that relate to positive emotions:
83
What is positive psychology trying to find?
they are not trying to find broad theories but meanigful interventions that can be implemented in every-day lives
84
What is positive reappraisal?
taking a negative event and interpreting it as a positive challenge; strongly related to emotion-focused coping. (people who tend to be really good at spinning and reinterperating events)
85
What is goal flexibility?
not remaining fixated on the same goal, especially when one cannot meet it for factors outside of their control. (You need to know when to abandon and change your goals without feeling like a failure. )
86
What is attending to positivity?
participants who had their stress levels raised would return to baseline faster if watching media with positive emotions compared to fearful, angry, or sad.
87
What are 3 techniques that have shown to increase the skills employed by positive psychology?
Keeping a journal: keep a journal of goals and try your best to read and review it once a month; at the end of each day, try and write down some things you are thankful for.
Disreputation: actively coming up with reasons why some evidence against our self-esteem or efficacy is not indicative and should be ignored.
Counselling therapy: techniques such as motivational interviewing and unconditional positive regard significantly increase positive emotions (more in Clinical Psychology).
87
What is PERMA?
a popular categorical model of subjective well-being within positive psychology?
88
What is the PERMA acronym?
(P)ositive Emotions: general tendency towards contentment and joy (hedonic sense of wellbeing)
(E)ngagement: frequent feeling of being absorbed in activities
(R)elationships: feeling loved, supported, and cared for by others
(M)eaning: feeling a sense of direction and purpose in life (eudomonic well-being)
(A)ccomplishments: feeling of mastery and achievement in some domain
89
Why has there been a proliferation of paid tools for improving your well-being?
because of the moderate correlation between PERMA and well-being
90
What is empathy and gratitude training?
including through reading books, keeping a gratitude journal, etc.
91
What is the idea behind random acts of kindness?
improving social relationships with strangers. Through directly increasing well-being or indirectly increasing well-being
92
How does one improve concentration?
through focus training and mindfulness meditation.
93
Why have some people criticized PERMA?
Others have criticized PERMA for its absence of any physical well-being, for not focusing on resiliency, and for being overly broad.
94
In what situations does defensive coping provide significant benefits? Which practices?
In situations where constructive coping is not possible, defensive coping through exercise, relaxation, and meditation holds significant benefits in helping us dilute the physiological effects of stress.
95
What is aerobic exercise?
exercise that increases heart rate and oxygen intake (e.g., running, rowing, swimming, biking).
engaging in low to moderate levels of physical stress over a protracted period of time.
96
How much daily exercise extends your life (by how much?) and reduces your risk of cardiovascular and other health problems
On average, 20 minutes of aerobic exercise a day (around 140/week) extends your life by 2-4 years and significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular and other health problems.
97
What is the relationship between aerobic exercise and stress?
Aerobic exercise also significantly reduces stress: when individuals are randomly placed into an aerobic condition their measured levels of stress (measured by cortisol) are almost half of the control group.
98
What is guided relaxation therapy?
a progressive series of instructions to consciously focus and then relax different body parts; most often guided by another person and it begins from the top of the head down.
99
What activities have guided relaxation built into them?
Many stress-relieving activities, including yoga, massages, meditation, and more, have guided relaxation built into the experience
100
What has guided relaxation been shown to be effective for? Why?
Guided relaxation has also been shown to be an effective short-term treatment for anxiety disorders, including panic attacks. Because it activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
101
What is mindfulness meditation?
a meditation technique in which the meditator places their attention onto one aspect of their present (e.g., their breath) and then accepts any and every sensation, thought, or emotion that emerges in the present moment without any interpretation or judgement.
102
What are the four benefits shown by people who practice meditation?
Reduced stress and anxiety: regular practice (~10-20 minutes/day) leads to increases in relaxation and feelings of control.
Higher concentration and self-control: mindfulness slowly trains us to better pay attention to some parts of our experience and not get distracted by others. (reduces impulsive behaviours)
Better emotional management: especially anger and fear.
Focus on short-term pleasures: focusing on what is good in the moment, rather
than what is stressful in the future.
103
What is constructive coping improved through? What is defensive coping improved through?
Constructive coping – problem and emotion-based – are improved through higher control, positive emotions, and certain traits.
Defensive coping is especially effective through exercise, relaxation, and meditation.
104
What is the most obvious thing that natrual aging leads to?
Natural aging leads (most obviously) to an increasingly dramatic set of
physical changes, most notably for our motor and sensory systems.
105
What are natural changes in aging?
Natural changes are changes that are a typical trajectory and are natural to aging
106
What are the five changes we look at in regards to aging?
Changes in vision, most notably in acuity and light sensitivity.
Changes in audition, most notably in the perception of speech.
Changes in taste and smell.
Changes in motor control.
107
What happens to the lens in your eye with natural aging?
With natural aging, the lens is less able to focus and irregularities form in the
cornea. (The lens can be bent and changed in shape)
108
What conditions are common as a result of the changing of the lens with natural aging?
Presbyopia, Senile Miosis
109
What is Presbyopia?
a reduction in the eye’s ability to focus on nearby objects. Corrected with glasses/contact lenses. This is often because the lens is hardening over time and close up objects require more bending
110
What is senile meiosis?
a reduction in the overall amount of light that reaches the retina, resulting in significant difficulty with seeing in low-light conditions. This can also be because of clouding of the lens
111
What do senile meiosis and Presbyopia lead to?
increasing loss of visual acuity, especially with
low light stimuli.
112
What characterizes High contrast, High Luminance?
a lot of light and a sharp distinction of the background and the foreground
113
What characterizes Low contrast, High Luminance?
The difference between the letters and the background is really low and there is light at the edges which is making it hard to focus (surround contrast). In these situations, the age related loss is tremendous.
114
What does reduced sensitivity to detecting motion lead to?
problems in coordinating vision and action.
115
What is an example of how he relationship between perception and motor skills
negative feedback loop between what you are perceiving and what you are trying to do with your body.
116
What does lower appiture mean?
lower appiture = lower motion sensitivity. This is important because you need to be able ot react to your environment and this can be an issue
117
What does natural aging lead to in terms of inner ear sensitivity?
Reduction in sensitivity to tones and speech in general, especially in noisy environments.
Reduced sensitivity to quieter sounds.
tinnitus
118
What is tinnitus?
a persistent ringing in one’s ears, further reducing the sensitivity
to quiet sounds and recognizing speech in loud places. People with this have a constant low ring, this affects their ability to notice small sounds or recognize speech.
119
What other senses other than vision reduce in sensitivity with aging?
With age, taste sensitivity for salt and bitterness decreases, making food generally taste blander.
Smell sensitivity is often measured with an UPSIT test, in which participants have to identify if they smell a particular chemical in ever smaller quantities. Higher quantities are required with
age for same detection.
120
What are the two branches of motor control?
Coarse motor control: the ability to control large groups of muscles (e.g., walking, balance)
Fine motor control: the ability to perform precise motor movements (e.g., pinching, picking up small objects).
121
How are coarse and fine motor control affected by natural aging?
Both are affected by natural aging:
Cerebellum: a key brain regions that regulates movement; it naturally loses neurons with age, leading to poorer ability to perform fine motor actions.
Coarse motor movement is affected by loss of muscle and bone mass with time.
122
How are social changes related to aging?
In our culture, social changes with aging are significant, though not always
negative. Social factors are changing with aging, as we age there are changes in our social circles, there’s changing at the workplace (retirement), people start to pass away. All of these forces are interaction. retirement shows a tremendous boost in life satisfaction.
123
What is aging associated with in our culture (emotionally)? What is this a predictor of?
In our culture, aging is associated with higher loneliness, which is a predictor of maladaptive and stressful aging
124
What is a situations elating to age related loneliness?
Living alone or with strongly reduced social support is associated with an over 50% higher risk of developing clinical disorders like depression and alzheimers (correlational not causational_
125
What is loneliness positively correlated with in terms of aging?
Loneliness positively correlates with changes in mental abilities, including reduced IQ scores (especially fluid).
126
What cognitive abilities naturally decrease with age? What forms of memory don't very with age?
Cognitive Speed: speed of processing (i.e., fluid IQ) is slower with age.
Working Memory: short-term memory somewhat decreases with age. Ex: remembering a phone number etc. Remember that working memory is part of fluid intelligence.
Episodic Memory: the long-term memory for specific events that happened in one’s past slightly decreases with age.
But many other forms of memory - procedural and semantic - do not naturally change with age. AKA how to do things and word meanings (crystallized intelligence)
127
Why do older adults look worse on average?
While older adults may look worse on average, they are actually
more variable. This means that there are groups of older people who are unimpaired and those who are significantly impaired.
128
What is dementia?
a broad category of diseases that reduce the ability to think, remember, speak, and control one’s emotions with age (e.g., Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s)
129
What is mild cognitive Impairment (MCI)?
the first and very subtle stage of dementia during which patients first start experiencing problems with attention and memory but can still live independently. This is a set of memory related losses that exceed what we would consider natural aging and is a predictive factor that can tell us whether someone has an increased chance of going on to develop dementia.
130
What are 3 things that we know about MCI?
50-60% of those diagnosed with MCI will go on to develop dementia.
MCI is diagnosable with standardized clinical assessments.
Many consider MCI a “natural part of aging”. It is not!
131
What is MCI not well predicted by?
MCI is not well predicted by subjective concerns: many individuals with
strong memory concerns do not have MCI, and many without concerns do
132
How do we diagnose MCI?
To diagnose MCI, individuals must take a standardized neurophysiological assessment with a trained clinician and score at least 1.5 standard deviations below the mean of their norm.
133
What are the biggest risk factors for progression to dementia?
The biggest risk factors for progression to dementia include symptom severity, autobiographical and procedural memory loss, brain white matter changes, and the presence of the APOE4 allele.
134
What is Alzheimer's disease?
the most common form of dementia; includes significant loss of working and episodic memory (working and episodic memory naturally decrease with age but with alzheimers the decrease is profound), problems with finding words, reasoning, spatial navigation, an issues with controlling emotions.
135
What part of the brain does alzheimer's effect?
Azheimer’s affects the entire brain, but especially the hippocampus, the area related to long-term memory formation and spatial navigation. specifically a loss of hippocampalcvolume from a loss of neurons
136
What are three possible causes for alzheimer's disease?
Genes: Alzheimer’s is somewhat heritable, but the localization of which genes are responsible remains very controversial (APOE4 allele exists in 25% of patients).
Protein build-up: certain proteins and peptides are associated with a build-up that prevents neurons from functioning properly or signals that the brain’s neural connections should be pruned.
Environmental effects: repeated concussions are associated with later emergence.
137
What are the three best factors that protect against unhealthy aging?
Regular exercise reduces the severity of physical aging symptoms.
Quality social relationships offset both physical and cognitive effects.
Personal mastery
138
What is personal mastery?
ability to control negative emotions and feel a sense of control and self-esteem. Higher personal mastery has been positively
associated with better cardiovascular health in aging, physical functioning like motor control, and increased lifespan.
139
What are the 4 ways that aging effects are tied to longterm partners?
Partners often engage is similar healthy or unhealthy behaviours together.
Partners (ideally) provide emotional support and help us navigate stressful situations.
Partners help form new routines, especially post-retirement, that can help social relationships become stronger
A person with high personal mastery tends to increase the mastery for their partner, as well.
140
What is base rate fallacy?
the tendency to ignore general prevalence information in favour of specific prevalence, instead.
141
What is an example of base rate fallacy? What would be the proper way to reason in the situation?
Imagine that we have a breathalyzer that returns positive 100% of the time somebody has had a drink before driving, but also has a 1% chance of returning a positive when the person has not been drinking.
You pull somebody over and give them the breathalyzer, and it returns a positive test. What is the probability that they have been drinking?
Answer: you have no idea, because you need to first know what percentage of drivers tend to drink in general. (you need to look at the general probability that a person is drinking in the first place. )
142
How does health related infromation often present correlational research as if it was causal?
At the very least, it doesn’t emphasize the non-causal story! Words like “associated” or “linked to” are used to signal correlation.
143
How does health related infromation often present correlational research as if it was causal?
At the very least, it doesn’t emphasize the non-causal story! Words like “associated” or “linked to” are used to signal correlation.
144
How many studies are most publicly reported health findings from?
single studies
145
What is meta analysis?
a statistical method that combines data across (ideally) hundreds of separate data sets in order to give us a better sense of what we can statistically conclude from the available data.
Conclusions from meta-analyses are more reliable, and are the kind of information scientists would use to make decisions.
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What is meta analysis?
a statistical method that combines data across (ideally) hundreds of separate data sets in order to give us a better sense of what we can statistically conclude from the available data.
Conclusions from meta-analyses are more reliable, and are the kind of information scientists would use to make decisions.
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Overall, what is natural aging associated with and what does it change?
Natural aging is associated with broad reduction of sensitivity in all senses and motor control.
There are natural changes in cognition, especially in fluid intelligence, but they are smaller than most people expect.
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What 2 things are not forms of natural aging?
MCI and Dementia are not forms of natural aging.
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What does good health depend on?
the presence of positive environments and actions that contribute to both physical and psychological well-being.
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What does health psychology investigate the link between?
behaviour, cognition, and physical health
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What questions about health might concern health psychologists?
What behaviours keep our immune system strong? How do we educate people about the behaviours that put people’s health at risk? How do we convince people to follow through with treatment programs or long-term lifestyle changes to promote healthy habits?
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What is are 2 benefits of applying the biopsychosocial model in health psych?
1. any of the contributing factors can be actively targeted to create a healthier outcome
2. enables researchers to tackle questions of disease prevention and health promotion from many different levels of analysis
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Dawn feels run-down most of the time. She worries that the things her friends post on social media suggest that they live a much more interesting life than her own. Which component of the biopsychosocial model does her worry about her lifestyle qualify as?
The psychological component
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What is the textbook's definition of stress?
a physiological response to an environmental event that is perceived as taxing or even exceeding one's ability to adapt
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How is stress a multifaceted concept in the biopsychosocial model?
it is a physiological response to some type of environmental event that is subjectively appraised as taxing or even exceeding one's ability to adapt
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When are we most likely to experience stress?
when there is uncertainty, when we feel a lack of control, and when there is a concern that others will evaluate or treat us unfairly
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What are the three broad categories that stressors can fall into?
catastrophic events, major life events, and daily hasels
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Do you have to be directly harmed by a catastrophic event to be affected?
no
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What are 3 possible outcomes of catastrophic events?
experiencing symptoms of PTSD
People who lost love ones may experience survivors guilt
First responders who aid in the rescue and recovery of victims may suffer negative health outcomes even several years later because of the stress they experienced from witnessing such traumatic events
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Can positive life events be stressful?
yes
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What are daily hassels?
Over the course of a day, people’s blood pressure rises when they experience these daily hassles. And the cumulative impact undermines health.
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What word is another way to define stress?
stressors
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Is it possible that mental health treatment after a traumatic event can be uneccessary or harmful to some people?
yes because there is variability in how people react to these events.
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What is perceived stress?
People's subjective evaluations of stress in response to events depending on how they appraise a stressful event
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When is percieved stress high?
only when your primary appraisal of the situation’s demands exceeds your secondary appraisal of your ability to meet those demands
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Can the biological component of stress prolong disease?
yes
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What is the general adapative syndrome?
a broad based physiological response to a physical threat that unfolds in three stages: alarm, resistence, and exhaustion
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What happens during the alarm reaction phase?
Initially, the body’s ability to resist the stressor might dip below normal levels because of the initial shock of the situation. But during this alarm stage, energy stores begin to be mobilized as you prepare to fight or flee the attack.
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what happens during the resistance phase?
your body's defence systems gear up, engaging cardiovascular support to provide continued oxygen where it is needed as fuel for the muscles as well as immunological functioning to fend off infection if wounded. Growth oriented processes like digestion and reproduction are stalled to conserve limited energy
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What happens during the exhaustion phase?
an inability to physically adapt to an ongoing stressor, if there is no relief, adrenal failure can result as your body's ongoing response to the stress can do as much, if not more damage than the stressor itself
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What is your body's immediate acute response governed by?
sympathetic-adreno-medullary (SAM) axis
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What axis is stage one (Alarm) similar to?
sympathetic-adreno-medullary (SAM) axis
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What is our prolonged stress response governed by?
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)
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What is stage 2 (resistance) similar to?
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)
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What can you imagine the HPA and SAM axis like?
an impulsive superheroe (SAM) and his more methodical sidekick (HPA)
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How are the HPA and SAM axes activated?
In response to stressful events, this dynamic duo is called into action by the hypothalamus, which sends out a hormonal alarm call in the form of corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), which spurs the pituitary to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).
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Do the guided physiological reactions activated by the SAM and HPA axes happen involuntarily in response to stress?
yes
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How does the SAM axis work in the stress response?
The SAM pathway, part of the sympathetic nervous system, then releases epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal glands. Because the glands are part of both the SAM axis and the parasympathetic nervous system, the activation of the SAM axis allows the parasympathetic nervous system to kick in and return the body to homeostasis when the stressor has passed. This is the body’s immediate response to stress.
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How does the HPA axis work in the stress response?
If the stressor persists, the HPA axis steps in, consisting of the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal gland. The hypothalamus has already secreted CRH, and the pituitary gland has secreted ACTH, which then stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. Cortisol helps the body maintain steady supplies of blood sugar to help the body cope with persistent stressors. This process continues cyclically.
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How can chronic stress negatively impact the body?
Essentially, the HPA axis keeps the sympathetic nervous system “turned on” in the face of persistent stress. This can occur even in response to low levels of chronic stress, essentially stopping the parasympathetic nervous system from returning the body to homeostasis. This persistent activation leads to negative health problems that are associated with stress. For example, while the body experiences elevated levels of cortisol, the immune system is suppressed, limiting the body’s ability to fight infection.
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What s challenge reactivity?
a cardiovascular pattern of responding to a situation whereby the heart pumps out more blood and the vasculature dialates allowing efficient circulation throughout the body. At the same time, your arteries expand to allow oxygenated blood to disperse freely and efficiently throughout your body, fueling the cells to meet the task ahead.
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What is threat reactivity?
a cardiovascular pattern of responding to a situation whereby the heart pumps out more blood but the vasculature constricts, preventing efficient circulation through the body
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What pattern of response allows us to perform better under stress? (threat reactivity or challenge reactivity)
challenge reactivity
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Do both the SAM and HPA activate with the challenge reactivity response?
no, just the SAM
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Do both the SAM and HPA activate with the threat reactivity response?
yes
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which axis controls the parasympathetic nervous system?
the SAM
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when does the adrenal cortex release cortisol?
when it is flooded with ACTH after the HPA axis starts up
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Where is cortisol produced?
in the adrenal cortex
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What is the function of cortisol?
it increases blood sugar to provide more energy to the system and suppresses the immune system by inhibiting inflammation
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Which axis is more involved with the cardiovascular response to stress?
SAM (though cortisol can also increase heart rate)
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Which axis is more involved with the immune system response to stress?
HPA
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when we talk about stress being bad for our health what do we really mean?
the body's prolonged stress response is harmful
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when is a body's stress response adaptive?
when it is responding to acute stress
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What might repeated, short lived responses do?
may build the body's toughness and strengthen the immune system, enabling a more effective response to future stress
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what is allostatic load?
The sustained activation of many physiological systems in response to frequent or chronic stressors
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Does psychological distress correlate to lower life expectancy? Why?
yes.
Often because of cardiovascular disease (ex: from chronic stress at work) resulting from build up of plaque in the arteries from prolonged SAM activation
also, people who experience prolonged stress are more likely to have an acute stressor trigger a heart attack
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can chronic stress impair your body's ability to kick in the parasympathetic nervous system?
yes
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what are ctokines?
molecules, released as a part of the body's natural immune response, that respond to injury or infection by causing fever and inflammation
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What is the goal of cytokines
to destroy and repel foreign agents in the body
200
What is a type A personality?
a label used to describe a collection of traits that include being highly competitive and driven, hot tempered and hostile, and urgently focused on time and time managment
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What is Type B personality?
a label used to describe a collection of triats used that include being reflective, creative, and less competitive
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What was the problem with saying that Type A was morel ikely to have a coronary disease? What is known now?
Type A studies did not replicate so researchers were able to narrow down the contribution to hostility, not Type A
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what personality trait can predict a tendency towards resilience?
positive thinking
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What have studies shown about people with more positive
people with positive personality traits (such as higher self-esteem, a sense of personal control, and a happy disposition) show less activation of their HPA axis when under stress
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What is the diathesis stress model?
a model of clinical disorders suggesting that genes provide a susceptibility for a disorder that will manifest as symptoms only under certain levels of stress
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What does the diathesis model say about health outcomes?
the genes we are born with can give us an inherent susceptibility or diathesis for a given health outcome.
People with a greater genetic predisposition for a certain health condition might suffer more symptoms in response to relatively minor stressors, whereas those with a weaker genetic predisposition might need to experience more extreme stress to trigger negative psychological or physical symptoms.
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What is the differential sensitivity hypothesis?
the idea that some people have a stronger genetic predisposition to be more strongly affected by variation in their environment, especially during early childhood
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What is the effect of environment on children with geentic sensitivities?
they are more likely to be emotionally scarred for life by stressful childhood events but they also benefit much more from growing up in a loving, supportive environment
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What tells us that some people are more shaped by nurture and others by nature?
some kids are more naturally resilient (stress in childhood doesn't faze them, but they also do not get any particular advantage from a supportive enviroment)
210
People with which type of seratonin gene are more sensitive to the ups and down in their lives? What else are they susceptible to?
those who have 2 short alleles on their seratonin transporter gene
Show the most depressive symptoms if they grew up in a stressful environment but least likely to show depressive symptoms if their home lifes were more nurturing
211
What is epigenetics?
the study of how life events can change how genes are expressed
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What is the idea behind epigenetics?
exposure to stress or the absence of caregiving can lead methyl groups to chemically bind to certain genes, essentially smothering those genes abilities to function properly
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In the epigenetic study with rats, what was discovered about rats who grew up with neglectful mothers?
Grew up to havem ore methylated genes in the hippocampus of their brains and were more easily stressed
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What are health disparities?
differences in health outcomes due to demographic characteristics
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Why is high SES related to better health outcomes?
partly the result of more advantaged people having better access to health care, medicine, and other resources.
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Why might poverty be bad for one's health?
because of limited access to health care, and partly because of the links between poverty and risky environments and behaviors.. They are also more susceptable to chronic health problems that reduce inflammation. More susceptible to epigentic effects
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does percieved SES effect health?
yes. people who perceive themselves as being lower SES than others in their comunity feel less in control of their experiences. and report other negative emotions that might prolong their body’s response to stress. They also find it harder to sleep at night, have a higher resting heartrate, tend to carry more fat around their midsection, and are more susceptible to illness
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Why might minorities experience increased stress (not including SES)?
from being socially stigmatized. Those who percieve the greatest amount of discrimination against them suffer poorer psychological and physical health consequences
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Are members of the LGBTQ community more likely to experience chronic stress?
higher risk for developing psychological disorders, and health conditions as a result of the stress of being stigmatized
220
What does good mental health seem to require? What is this sometimes called?
a feeling that we have more control over outcomes than is objectively justifiable. An illusion of control.
221
what is more likely of people who feel less control over stressful events?
more likely to be depressed
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why is it so important to feel in control during stressful events? What kind of coping are these people more liekly to engage in?
it can transform one's response from threat to challenge. Problem-focused coping.
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what are people who adopt the perspective that stress can be enhancing are more likely to do? Can this be taught?
People who adopt the perspective that stress can be enhancing are more likely to cope with stress by approaching rather than avoiding it, and they feel less stressed as a result. This can be taught
224
what do people with a good sense of humour tend to be?
more optimistic, have higher self-esteem, and are less likely to suffer from depression
225
does a sense of humour measured at one time point predict being physically healthier years later? do people with a good sense fo humour engage in healthier behaviours?
no
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What is a broaden-and-build function?
the idea that positive emotions evolved as a signal of safety, allowing for exploration and creativity.
227
What are the four reasons that humour might be helpful?
- helps us make social connections
- serves a broaden-and-build function
- may serve to undo negative emotions and buffer us from their negative effects on health
- serves as a buffer from stress (coping strategy)
228
What is the most established perspective about the relationship between psych and stress?
like a coping strategy, it serves a buffer from stress
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what is one of the most profound factors in proecting people from stress?
social support
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What is social support helpful for when it comes to stress?
- one of the most profound factors in protecting people from stress
- People who report having a larger and more supportive social network have lower blood pressure and stress hormones in response to high-pressure situations, as well as stronger immune systems
- less likely to become depressed or have psychopathologies
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can having a strong social support extend life?
yes
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Can the presence of supportive others make a difference for stress? How?
people had lower blood pressure while simply sitting in a room with a close family member than with a friend or stranger and if asked to perform a stressful task, they experience less physiological arousal
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for women, can holding the hand of their spouse provide a buffering effect (coping) from stress?
yes
234
can having a network of people help us feel less alone in our stress?
people we care about can help validate our feelings and help us reappraise
235
Why might collectivist cultures not seek out help for psychological stress? What might be another reason?
they more be more sensitive to the emotional effects that their own stress might have on others
Living in an interdependent culture may mean that you don't feel that you need to turn to anyone. THe mere fact thta you have people to turn to mught mean be helpful for coping
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What is one of the best methods for stress relief?
replace tension and negative moods with upbeat, positive moods
237
What is true of people who spend more time doing activities they intrinsically enjoy?
people who spent more time doing activities they intrinsically enjoyed had lower blood pressure, lower levels of cortisol, and a lower body mass index, and they generally reported being in better health
238
What does mihalyi csiksentmihalyi say about flow?
goal-directed but fun tasks have the power to induce a psychological state called flow.
239
When do people expeirence flow?
when their attention is so focused on an activity or task that any sense of self-awareness disappears. Flow happens when peopel stirke the balance between difficulty and skills.
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What are the physiological symptoms of flow?
a physiological profile of challenge (rather than stress) when they are in a flow state.
241
What are 2 benefits of flow?
it makes people happy and makes them perform at their best
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How is flow related to the body?
people who experience flow frequently have more dopamine receptors in their brain. These positive feelings are good for the body and the mind
243
What may be a reliable effect of meditation?
reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression particularly among participants suffering from mood disorders. May also help release chronic pain
244
What four factors may be at play for the benefits of mindfulness meditation? Why?
First two: active control of attention
- the regular practice at attention regulation generally improves executive functions, the same mechanisms we use to regulate our behavior. This increases our ability to exert self-control which helps with the regulation of unhealthy behaviours like drug use etc.
- increases our awareness of our bodies. Because mindfulness involves directing attention to bodily states like breathing, heart rate, and muscle tension, people become experts on their own bodies.
Last two: Accepting whatever we may think or feel
1. Practice at acceptance aids with emotional regulation. Helps us reappraise our negative emotions in a more objective way or by diffusing their effects. Helps us decrease our mood and rumination.
- decreases reactivity and amygdala activation to negative stimuli and increase patterns of left frontal activation that have been associated with more positive emotions
- these benefits may account for the treatment of mood disorders and general stress reduction.
2. The changing view of the self as something that is not a stable entity but rather a changing set of states and experiences
- similar to self-compassion which is the ability to forgive yourself, accept your experience, and see yourself as part of a larger human network.
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What are the five steps to navigating lasting change?
precontemplation (the time before you are aware that a problem exists),
contemplation (when you first become aware of a problem you would like to change),
preparation (where you make a plan),
action (where you enact that plan),
maintenance (where you work to sustain the new behavior).
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What can you do to help yourself maintain (last stages)
operant conditioning
reinforcement schedules
self-regulation
recognizing how important the context is
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Why can moving to a new place be a good time to shed bad habits?
because you have more control over changing the bad habits that are cued by your new context
248
What are implementation intentions?
specific "if then" thoughts that cognitively connect a desired action to some triggering event or stimulus
249
maWhat are 4 tactics that can help you stick to resolutions?
control over their context, implementing rewards, make goals known to others (keeps you accountable), hang around people with similar goals or habits
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What is sleep hygiene?
a regimented routine at bedtime that allows one's body to learn cues for sleep
