Kiercolt-Glaser (Effects Of Stress Immune System) Flashcards
What type of experiment was it?
Natural experiment
What year was the study?
1984
What was the aim of the experiment?
To investigate whether there was difference in the immune response of participants in low and high stress conditions.
How many participants took part?
75 participants
Who were the participants?
Medical Students
When were blood samples taken?
One month before their final exams and again on the first day of their exams.
What did they find when the blood samples were tested?
The number of natural killer cells had declined and levels of immunoglobulin had increased.
What are natural killer cells?
A type of immune cell that provides immediate defence against infection before antibodies are formed.
What is immunoglobulin?
Good immune system support.
What did the researchers find about participants who were experiencing psychiatric symptoms?
The immune response was particularly suppressed. They scored highly on Holmes and Rahe’s social readjustment scale.
What did the researchers conclude?
There is a relationship between stress and immunosuppression and that an accumulation of stressful events can have a negative effect on health.
Name two positive things about this experiment:
- uses empirical evidence (blood tests)
- natural experiment (good ecological validity)
Name two negative things about this experiment:
- natural experiment (cannot control extraneous variables)
- poor population validity (all medical students, all similar ages- cannot generalise results as medical students may be more susceptible to stress)
