Psychology Chapter 11

Health Psychology

a subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine

After moving to a new apartment, you find the street noise irritatingly loud, but after a while, it no longer bothers you. This reaction illustrates the

adaptation-level phenomenon

Because it triggers the release of mood-boosting neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin, and the endorphins, .......... exercise raises energy levels and helps alleviate depression and anxiety

aerobic

When faced with a situation over which you feel you have no sense of control, it is most effective to use .......... focused coping.

emotion

The number of short-term illnesses and stress-related psychological disorders was higher than usual in the months following an earthquake. Such findings suggest that

experiencing a very stressful event increases a person's vulnerability to illness

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

our tendency to form judgements (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

........... psychology is a scientific field of study focused on how humans thrive and flourish

positive

A philosopher observed that we cannot escape envy, because there will always be someone more successful, more accomplished, or richer with whom to compare ourselves. In psychology, this observation is embodied in the ..... ....... principle.

relative deprivation

Research on the faith factors has found that

religiously active people tend to outlive those who are not religiously active

Aerobic Exercise

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety

Which of the following is NOT one of the three main types of stressors?

threatening events that we hear about

Tend-and-Befriend

under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)

Type A

Friedman and Rosenman's term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

Type B

Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, released people

The components of the Type A personality that have been linked most closely to coronary heart disease are anger and other.......feelings

negative

Seligman's research showed that a dog will respond with learned helplessness if it has received repeated shocks and has had

no control over the shocks

General Adaptation Syndrome

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases - alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Coping

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

Emotion-Foucused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction

Problem-Foucused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly - by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

When elderly patients take an active part in managing their own care and surroundings, their morale and health tend to improve. Such findings indicate that people do better when they experience......... an locus of control

internal

Stress hormones released in response to a signal from the brain suppress..........., the immune cells that ordinarily attack bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, and other foreign substances.

lymphocytes

One of the most consistent findings of psychological research is that happy people are also

more likely to help others

Selye's general adaptation syndrome (GAS) consists of an alarm reaction followed by ........, the........

resistance; exhaustion

Subjective Well-Being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measure of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life

People who have close relationships are less likely to die prematurely than those who do not, supporting the idea that

social support has a beneficial effect on health

Research has shown that people are at increased risk for cancer a year or so after experiencing depression, helplessness, or bereavement. In describing this link, researchers are quick to point out that

stress does not create caner cells, but it weakens the body's natural defense against them

When faced with stress, women are more likely than men to experience the .......-and-........response

tend; befriend

Pessimism

the assumption that negative outcomes will happen, and often facing them by complaining and/or giving up

Coronary Heart Disease

the clogging of vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries

Stressors

the events and conditions that trigger our stress response, because they are perceived/ appraised as overwhelmingly challenging, threatening, and/or harmful

Learned Helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

External Locus of Control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determined our fate

Relative Deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

Internal Locus of Control

the perception that you control your own fate

Stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging or challenging

Positive Psychology

the scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

Psychoneuroimmunology

the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health