Ch 11 Psych
mindfulness meditation
a reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner
health psychology
a subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine
biofeedback
a system of recording, amplifying, and feeding back information about subtle physiological responses, many controlled by the autonomic nervous system
daily hassles
ex: spotty phone connections, aggravating housemates, long lines, too many things to do, e-mail and text spam, and loud talkers behind us in line; one of three main stressors
adaption-level phenomenon
our tendency to form judgments (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
aerobic exercise
sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety
tend and befriend
under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)
catastrophes
unpredictable large-scale events, such as earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and storm; one of three main stressors
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, relaxed people
macrophages
("big eaters") identify, pursue, and ingest harmful invaders and worn-out cells
natural killer cells
(NK cells) pursue diseased cells (such as those infected by viruses or cancer)
B lymphocytes
(white blood cells) mature in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections
T lymphocytes
(white blood cells) mature in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances
general adaptation syndrome (GAS)
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-focused coping
attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction
problem-focused coping
attempting to alleviate stress directly—by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor
significant life changes
life transitions—leaving home, becoming divorced, losing a job, having a loved one die; one of three main stressors
subjective well-being
self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life
self control
the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards
coronary heart disease
the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries
learned helplessness
the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events
external locus of control
the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine 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 we control our own fate
stress
the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging
positive psychology
the scientific study of human flourishing, 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