Psych Exam 4

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

(level 1) Physiological Needs, (level 2) Safety needs, (level 3) Belongingness and love needs, (level 4) Self Esteem, (level 5) Self Actualization, (level 6) self-transcendence - lower needs must be ensured before pursuing higher needs - ex: if someone is hungry they will try to meet their physiological need of hunger instead of other needs or things going on (class, etic) - motivation to ascend the hierarhcy

Person-situation Controversy

- "i'm going to france- i'm a different person there" - trait theory assumes we have traits that are a function of personality, not situation - there is evidence that some traits are linked to roles and to personas we use in diff cultures, environments -work vs home

Social cognitive Perspective of Personality (power of persuasion: leadership: dominant and deceptive traits

- 1. what is relationship between dominance and nonverbal persuasion? those w high nonverbal persuasion are also dominant for males and children and turn out to be leaders 2. what is relationship between nonverbal persuasion and leadership? 3. who is most likely to become a leader?

Critical Periods

- According to study w immigrants, beginning a language later made it harder to learn the pronunciation and grammar of 2nd language - it is important to begin appropriate language exposure/education early so that language centers of brain continue to develop -language might never develop if not begun by age 7

The need to belong leads to

- Loyalty to friends, teams, groups, and families -however, it also leads to: - changing appearance to win acceptance -staying in abusive relationships -joining gangs, nationalists groups, and violent orgs

Personality

- an individual's characteristic patterns of thought, feelings, and behaviors (persisting over time and across situations) - like the 7 dwarves: sleepy, happy, doepy, bashful....

Motivation to excel in work

- humans in many cultures seem to have an achievement motivation, a desire for: - accomplishments of goals - mastery of skills - meeting of standards - control of resources

Change vs Consistency: shifts w age

- over years of development, we change interests, attitudes, roles, job, and relationships; we develop skills, maturity. do traits stay stable through all this change? - the evidence shows that it takes time for personality to stabillize. traits do change, but less and less so over time. we change less, become more consistent

Another Motivation: To Belong

-what do people need besides food and sex? - aristotle: social life -alfred alder: community -Roy Baumesiter, Mark Leary, and Abraham Maslow says we need: "To Belong" -Belonging: being connected to others, part of a group or family or community

Language Conclusion

1. thinking in a culture affects the formation of a language, especially its vocabulary 2. thinking and language develop together in an individual as they grow 3. learning a language and using it as an adult can affect one's style and content of thinking

Factor Analyses and Eysenck's Personality Dimensions

FACTOR ANALYSIS: identifying factors that tend to cluster together - using factor analysis, hans and sybil eysnck found that many personality traits are a function of 2 basic dimensions along which we all vary - research supports their idea that these variations are linked to genetics

Assessing Traits: Questionnaires

PERSONALITY INVENTORY: questionnaire assessing many personality traits, by asking which behaviors and responses the person would choose -EMPIRICALLY DERIVED TEST: all test items have been selected to bc they predictably match qualities being assessed -MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY MMPI- designed to identify ppl w personality difficulties - T/F questionnaire; items were selcetd bc they correlated w various trais, emotions, attitudes -EX: depressed ppl tend to answer true to "nothing in paper interests me except comics"

questions ab these traits- topics of ongoing research

STABILITY: one's distinctive mix of traits doesn't change much over lifespan - however, everyone in adulthood becomes more conscientious, agreeable, and less extroverted, neruotic/unstab;e, less open, flexible - PREDICTIVE VALUE: levels of success in work and relationships relates to traits such as openness and conscientiousness -HERITABILITY: for most traits, genes account for 50% of variation among individuals

Adapting Attitudes Instead of Circumstances

- Bc of adaptation-level phenomenon, our level of contentment does not permanently stay higher when we gain income and wealth we just keep adjusting our expectations -it is also true that misfortune, disability, and loss do not result in a permanent decrease in happiness - in both cases, humans tend to adapt

Stress Factor: perceived level of control

- Experiment: left and middle rats below received shocks. The rat on the left was able to turn off the shocks for both rats. which rat had the worst stress and health problems? -The subordinate. Bc there was a perceived level of control; what i do i can't control. -it's not the level of shock but the level of control over shock, which created stress and ulcers

Do instincts direct human behavior?

- Instinct= a fixed (rigid and predictable) pattern of behavior that is not acquired by learning and is likely to be rooted in genes and body - EX: Human "nesting" behavior= getting a home and building a "nest" bc we don't all build the same house, bowerbird= instinctual nesting

Language Influencing Thought

- Linguistic Determinism: the idea that our specific language determines how we think - EX: Ben Whorf proposed that bc the Hopi do not have past tense forms for verbs, it's hard for them to think ab the past -Sniglets: words for objects, actions, and states that our language does not seem to have a name for

External vs Internal Locus of Control

- Locus of Control: our perception of where the seat of power over our lives is located. (willpower- mischel's delayed gratification study w marshmallows- self control) - Internal Locus Of Control: we feel that we are in charge of ourselves and our circumstances (too much internal locus of control: we blame ourselves for bad events, or have the illusion that we have power to prevent bad events) -External Locus of Control: we picture that a force outside of ourselves controls our fate (too much external locus of control- we lose initiative, lose motivation to achieve, have more anxiety ab what might happen to us, don't bother developing willpower)

A more Positive Psychology

- Martin Seligman, who earlier kept dogs from escaping his shocks until they developed learned helplessness -developed positive psychology the "scietific study of optimal human functioning" finding ways to help ppl thrive -focus; building strengths resilience, optimism, sense of meaning -3 PILLARS OF POSITIVE PSYCH: - emotions, ex: engagement - character, ex: courage - groups, culture institutions

Explaining Language Acquisition: Nature and Nurture

- ROLE OF GENES: we seem to have an inborn (genetic) talent for acquiring language, though no particular kind of language is in the genes (Noam Chomsky: inborn universal grammer .--> syntax and grammar) - ROLE OF EXPERIENCE: we also seem to have a statistical pettern recognition talent. infants quickly recognize patterns in syllable frequency and sequence, preparing them to later learn words and syntax (BF Skinner operant learning-association, imitation, and reinforcement)

Promoting Health

- SOME WAYS TO REDUCE HEALTH EFFECTS OF STRESS INCLUDES: -address the stressors -soothe emotions -increase one's sense of control over sensors -exchange optimism for pessimism - get social support WAYS THAT HELP SOME PPL REDUCE LEVELS OF STRESS AND IMPROVE HEALTH: -aerobic exercise -relaxation and meditation -participation in communities of faith -alternative medicine

Performance and Arousal Level

- What happens when we succeed at raising our arousal level? - YERKES-DODSON LAW: arousal levels can help performance but too much arousal can interfere with performance - for taking an exam, moderate arousal may be best - the effect of arousal on performance depends on how comfortable we are with task - for difficult tasks: our performance level drops as arousal increases - for easy tasks: our perfromance level increases as arousal drops

Lera Boroditsky Ted Talk

- aboriginal community uses cordial directions for everything --> stay ordinated very well, time gets locked on the landscape - what we have learned is that ppl who speak diff languages do think diff and even grammar can affect how we see the world.

Personality as seen in palms and stars

- and handwiritng, crystal balls, etc.. - by saying something that is vague and likely to be true of you, then following up on comments that you reinforce by nodding, someone can appear to see into ur soul -you too can tune into keen sense of obvious and predict the present

Do language differences shape personality differences or expressions?

- bilingual people appear to have different personality profiles when describing themselves in different languages - over time, in speaking a different language, would we begin to behave differently to fit the new way we are describing ourselves?

Chronic Daily Difficulties

- caused by facing too many tasks, too little time, and too little control - daily difficulties can be caused by lack of social power and freedom: being bullied, living in poverty, living under oppressive political conditions

What helps us satisfy our achievement motivation?

- discipline: sticking to a task despite distractions (ex: u can say no) - 10 yr rule: having enough experience to develop expertise in a field - grit= passionate persistence at a goal - hardiness: resilience under stress

how much do we eat?

- eating depends in part on situational influences - social facilitation: prescence of others accentuates our typical eating habits - unit bias: we may eat onnly one serving/unit (scoop, plateful, bun-full) of food, but will eat more if serving size is larger - buffet effect: we eat more if more options available

Learned Helplessness vs Personal Control

- experiment by Martin Seligman; give a dog no chance of escape from repeated shocks -result: it will give up on trying to escape pain, even when it later has the option to do so -Uncontrollable bad events --> perceived lack of control (learned helplessness: declinging to help oneseld after repeated attempts to do so have failed) --> generalized helpless behavior (personal control: when ppl are given some choices (not too many), they thrive) - normally, most creatures try to escape or end a painful situation. but experience can make us lose hope

Physiology of Hunger

- experiments and other investigations show a complex relationship among the stomach, hormones, and diff parts of brain - feeling hungry can include stomach contractions; the feeling can happen even if stomach is removed or filled w a balloon

BIG FIVE personality factors

- eysencks felt ppl varied along 2 dimensions -CURRENT CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH AND THEORY SUPPORTS THE EXPANSION FROM 2 DIMENSIONS TO 5 FACTORS: - conscientiousness: self-discipline, careful ursuit of delayed goals - agreeableness: helpful, trusting, friendliness -neuroticism: anxiety, insecurity, emotional instability - openness: flexibility, nonconformity, variety - extraversion: drawing energy from others, sociability -spell ocean

Promoting Health : Social Support

- having close relationships is associated with improved health, immune funcitoning, and longevity - social support, including from pets, provides a calming effect that reduces blood pressures and stress hormones -Confiding in others helps manage painful feelings -Laughter helps too

Physiology of Obesity

- having some body fat is normal and healthy, fat stores energy -being mildly overweight is not neccessarily a prob if person is in good physical condition or exercising - obesity can lead to health probs, including diabetes, heart disease, cognitive decline, and some cancers - physiology of obesity can also make it hard to lose wegiht due to a set point of metabolism, genetics, appetite, lifestyle factors -obesity and losing weight is not just an issue of motivation

Studying the stress-illness relationship

- how does stress increase our risk of disease? -subject of a new field of study: psychoneuroimmunology: the study of how interacting psychological, neural, and endocrine processes affect health -psychologists no longer use term "psychosomatic" bc it has come to mean an imagined illness - we now refer to psychophyiological illness, a real illness caused in part by psychological factors such as the experience of stress

Relative Deprivation

- if the avg income has risen by 10% in your area, it might be hard to feel great about a 5% rise in ur income bc of: -RELATIVE DEPRIVATION: feeling worse off by comparing yourself to ppl who are doing better -ppl who are satisfied w their own lives might become less satisfied if other ppl get more power, recognition, and income -we can affect our happiness by choosing the ppl to whom we compare ourselves -however, the tendency is to compare ourselves to ppl who are more successful

wealth and well-being :change in goals

- in the late 1960s, students entering college had a primary goal of developing a meaningful life philosophy - since 1977, being very well-off financially has become more of a primary goal for 1st yr students

Social Networking= Social COnnection?

- is our online self-disclosure honest and healthy ? - use of social networking can become a compulsion, sacrificing face-to-face interaction and in depth convos - research shows: portrayal of one's self online is often close to one's actual sense of self - research shows: online social networking is associated with: - narcissism/self-centeredness -less connection to neighbors -more connection to people who share our narrow interests and viewpoints - Facebook may have reduced our exposure to both faces and books -humans can hold up and maintain ab 150 relationships only

Possible Ways to Increase your Chances at Happiness

- look beyond wealth for satisfaction - bring your habits in line w ur goals, take control of time - smile and act happy - find work and leisure that engages ur skills - exercise and move - focus on the needs and wishes of others - work rest and sleep - notice what goes well and express gratitude

Can money buy happiness?

- money seems to buy happines when it lifts ppl out of extreme poverty, otherwise: - money doesn't seem to help our mood much - 1. the avg level of income (adjusted for inflation) and purchasing power has increased in the US - 2. the percentage of ppl feeling v happy has not followed the same trend of improvement

Genreal Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)- Hans Selye

- our stress response system defends, then fatigues - Phase 1: alarm reaction (mobilize resources) - Phase 2: resistance (cope w stressor) -Phase 3: exhaustion (reserves depleted) -the body's resistance to stress can only last so long before exhaustion sets in

reciprocal influences in becoming kind of person who does rock climbing

- reciprocal: back and forth influence, w no primary faue ex: a tendency to enjoy behavior affects choice of friends who in turn may encourage rock climbing , which may lead to identifying w activity

Seeking Optimum Arousal

- some behavior seems driven by the need to either increase or decrease our physiological arousal level - curiosity, as with kids and these monkeys, may seek stimulation to reach an optimum arousal level - a hunger for stimulation, novelty, makes humans infovores: seekers of knowledge - Brain is always priming itself for novelties

Does language shape emotions or reflect them? Cause or Effect?

- speaking in Japanese provides extra words for interpersonal emotions such as sympathy and empathy, which Americans might have trouble differentiating - speaking in ENglish gives words for self-focused emotions (sadness)

Self-control: resource, skill, trait

- the ability to control impulses and delay gratification, sometimes called "willpower" -this is a finite resource, an expenditure od brain energy, which is replenished but can be depleted short term: people asked to resist eating cookies later gave up sooner on a tedious task - with practice we can improve our self-control -there seems to be individual differences in this trait in childhood -the marshmallow study: kids who resisted the temptation to eat marshmallows later had more success in school and socially

Faith Communities and Health : Intervening Factors

- the health impact of religious involvement may be indirect - health may improve bc of the lifestyle and emotional factors associated with religious involvement , and not (just) the faith - Religious INvolvement --> healthy behaviors (less smoking and drinking), social support (faith communities, close relationships), positive emotions- hope/optimism/coherence (less stress, anxiety) --> better health (less immune system , suppression, and fewer stress hormones; greater longevity)

Balancing Bonding w Other Needs

- the need to bond with others is so strong that we can feel lost w/o close relationships -however, we also seem to need AUTONOMY and a sense of personal COMPETENCE/efficacy - there is a tension between "me" and "us", but these goals can work together - belonging builds self esteem and prepares us for confident autonomy

evaluating social-cognitive perspective

- the social cognitive perspective on personality helps us focus on interaction of behvaior, thoughts, and social situations - this focys may distract us from noticing an individual's feelings, emotions, and inner qualities -critics note that traits may be more a fuction of genetics and upbringing not just situation - ex: two ppl have diff reactions to winning lottery

personality affecting the situation, not just a function of the situation

- ur facebook posts, website, music choice, these all reflect personality - these choices also may shape how others treat you, which may affect ur personality - this room may reflect the personality of a guy who lives there. the setup and contents of room may also shpae his personality

Language development

- we acquire the use of 10 new words per day on avg between ages 2 and 18 -children learn basic grammar of language before basic math skills - most kids can recall words and meaings, and assemble words into sentences, while simultanesouly following social rules for speaking and listening ____ - 0-4 months= Receptive language: associating sounds with facial movements, and recognizing when sounds are broken into words - 4 months = productive language: babbling in multilingual sounds and gestures - 10 months= babbling: sounds more like the parents'/household's language - 12 months= one-word stage: understanding and beginning to say many nouns - 18-24 months= Two-word, "telegraphic"/tweet speech: adding verbs, and making sentences but missing words (See bird! Ree book?) - 24 months-2+years= speaking full sentences and understanding complex sentences

Optimism vs Pessimism

- we can be optimistic or pessimistic in various ways: - PREDICTION: we can expect the best or worst. at the extremes, we get ourselves overconfident or simply depress/anxious ab the future -FOCUS OF ATTENTION: we can focus on what we have (half full) or what we don't have (empty) -ATTRIBUTION OF INTENT: we can assume that people meant to hurt us or that they were having a bad day -VALUATION: we can assume that we or others are useless, or that we are lovable, valuable -POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE: we can assume bad things can't be changed, or we have hope

Language: Uses and Structures

- we can hear and understand phenomena we have never experienced - we can connect to people far away - we can make plans and have others carry them out - we can know what another person is thinking more directly than just by observing their behavior - we can store info - english only uses ab 40 of a possible 869 different phonemes used in speech across 500+ languages of the world

Color Perception

- we use our native language to classify and to remember colors. Different languages may vary in where they put they separation between "blue" and "green" or they may not have separate words for these colors - some have different words for blue that aren't teal or blue

Regulating Weight

- when a person's weight drops or increases, body responds by adjusting hunger and energy use to bring weight back to intial stable amt - set point: genetically defined - research shows set point can change - most mammals, w/o conciously regulating, have a stable weight to which they keep returning, this is also known as their set point -a person's set point might rise w age or change w economic or cultural conditions. therefore, thus set point of stable weight is more of a current but temporary setting point

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon (First type of subjective well being)

- when we step into the sunshine, it seems very bright at first, then our senses adapt and we develop a "new normal" if a cloud covers the sun, it may seem dark in comparison -the very bright sensation is temporary -ADAPTATION LEVEL PHENOMENON: when our wealth or other life conditions imporve, we are happier compared to our past condition - however, when we adapt, we form a "new normal" level, and msoot ppl must get another boost to feel same satisfaction

reciprocal determinsim

- why is jake a happy person? he may have started w an "easy" temperament - he may attract other happy ppl and ppl are more likely to smile aorund him, whicih reinforces his smile - his mind fills the reasons why he's smiling even if some of it was reflection of his happy friends, and these reasons giev him more reasons to smile

Sliding Scale of Excessive Pessimism and Excessive Optimism

-(Excessive Pessimism) I can't do it, might as well forget it. VS (Realism) it might be hard, I'd better plan VS (excessive optimism) it will be easy. I won't think ab it -(Excessive Pessimism) I'm trapped, can't get out of this VS (Realism) I want to make changes or get out vs (Excessive optimism) someone will rescue me -(Excessive Pessimism) this person hates me, he is against me VS (Realism) I should ask what he feels about me, what he wants VS (Excessive optimism) i'm sure he just wants what's best for me, i'll trust him -EXCESSIVE PESSIMISM CAN LEAVE US DEPRESSED. EXCESSIVE OPT. CAN LEAVE US UNPREPARED

Drive Reduction

-Drive= aroused/tense state related to a physical need such as hunger or thirst - DRIVE REDUCTION THEORY = refers to idea that humans are motivated to reduce these drives, such as eating to reduce the feeling of hunger. This restores homeostasis, a steady internal state - Need (food, water) → drive (hunger, thirst) → drive-reducing behaviors (eating, drinking)

Effects of prolonged stress

-GAS works well for single exposures to stress -repeated and prolonged stress , w too much phase 3 time, leads to various signs of physical deterioration and premature aging: -production of new neurons declines -neural circuits in brain break down -DNA telomeres (chromosome tips) shorten, --> cells lose ability to divide --> cells die --> tissue stops generating --> early aging and death

How the immune system works, before stress plays a role:

-IS IT A BACTERIAL INFECTION? SEND IN B LYMPHOCYTES, WHICH FIGHT BACTERIAL INFECTIONS -is it cancer cell, virus, or other foreign substance?= send in T lymphocytes which attack cancer cells, vrisues, and foreign substances - is it some other harmful indruder of worn-out cell needing to be cleaned up? macrophage cells. big eaters attack harmful invaders and worn-up cells -are there diseased cells (infected by viruses/cancer) that need to be cleared out? natural killer cells. attack diseased cells.

Language

-Language= consists of the use of symbols to represent, transmit, and store meaning/information - symbols include organized patterns of sounds, visual representations, and movements -meaning= includes concepts, quantities, plans, and identities, feelings, ideas, facts, and customs

Motivation

-Motivation= a need or desire that energizes behavior and directs it towards a goal - Aron Ralston found the motivation to cut off his own arm when trapped on a cliff

What is language made of?

-Phonemes: are the smallest units of sound (vowels and consonants) -Morphemes: units of meaning, i.e. words and meaningful parts of words such as suffixes, prefixes - Grammar: refers to rules of using words, including semantics, definitions, connotations, and syntax (how order of words makes meaning) -after one year of life, plasticity for hearing/learning other phonemes deteriorates/window starts closing

Correlates of Happiness

-There are behaviors that seem to go with happiness. Whether they are the cause or the effect of happiness is not clear, but it can't hurt to try them. - resaerchers have found that happy ppl tend to: have high self-esteem (in individualistic countries), be optimistic outgooingt and agreeable, have close friendships and marriage, have an active faith, sleep well and excerise -happiness seems not much related to other factors: - age -gender -parenthood -physical attractiveness

Aerobic Exercise and Mental health

-aerobic exercise reduces depression and anxiety and improves management of stress -aerobic exercise is correlated with high confidence, vitality and energy and good mood -perhaps depression simply reduces exercise -one study establishing causation: mildly depressed women randomly assigned to an exercise group showed reduced depression caused by exercise alone

social-cognitive perspective

-albert bandura believes that personality is: result of interaction that takes place between a person and their social context , involving how we think ab ourselves and situations -Questions raised in this perspective: how do we interpret and respond to external events? how do these responses shape us?...

Catastrophic events/conditions

-appraisal is not essential in a catastrophic event. most ppl agree that the event is harmful and overwhelming -ex: earthquakes, floods -it can be one single event or chronic harmful conditions -short-term effects include increased heart attacks on day of event -long term effects include depression, nightmares, anxiety, and flashbacks -bonding: both the trauma and recovery are shared. w others

health psychology

-emotions, as well as personality, attitudes, behaviors, and responses to stress, can have an impact on our overall health - health psychology studies these impacts, as part of the broader field of behavioral medicine - TOPICS OF STUDY in health psychology INCLUDE: -1. the phases of stress response and adaptation -2. how stress and health are affected by - appraisal of stressors -severity of stressors -personality types -perceived control - emotion or problem focus -optimism -social support -exercise -relaxation -religious faith and participation

trait theory of personality

-energy: extraversion vs introversion -learning: senses v intuition -decisions; thinking v feeling -relating: judging v perceiving -Gordon Allport decided that Freud overvalued unconcious motives and undervalued our real, observable personality styles/traits -Myers Briggs wanted to study individual behaviors and statements to find how ppl differed in personality: having diff traits. they were very good at marketing, but from personality psychology standpoint, they would frown when u mention myers briggs - MBTI myers briggs is questionannre categorizing by traits -TRAIT: an eduring quality that makes a person tend to act a certian way Ex: honest, shy (judging v perceiving, in pairs) -TRAIT THEORY OF PERSONALITY: that we are made of collection of traits, behavioral predispositions that can be identified and measured, traits that differ from person to person

Major life events/changes

-even supposedly happy life changes, like marriage, can birng increased challenge and stress -change is often challenging -ex: new school -new roles, prioroties, and tasks can put strain on coping resources -the challenge, and negative impact on health, increases when: - the changes are painful, such as the death in the family, loss of job -if changes are in cluster, there are too many at once

The Hypothalamus and hunger

-hypothalamus- very small structure inside of brain that is involved in major functions -involved in eating, drinking, sexual behavior, hormonal control - receptions in digestive system monitor levels of glucose and send signals to hypothalamus in brain -hypothalamus can send appeitite-stimulating hormones to tell body its time to eat

stress and heart disease

-in coronary heart/artery disease, the blood vessels that provide oxygen and nurtrients to the heart muscle itself become clogged, narrowed, and closed - many factors contribute to heart disease: - BIOLOGICAL: genetic predisposition to high blood pressure and high cholesterol -BEHAVIORAL: smoking, inactivity, and high-fat diet -PSYCHOLOGICAL: chronic stress, and personality stress that worsens that experience Type A personality (anger), pessimism (negative outcomes will happen)

Lifestyle Modification

-in one study, a control group was given a diet, medication, and exercise advice -an experimental; group practiced lifestyle modification a plan to slow down the pace of one's life, accept imperfection, and renew faith -result: modifying lifestyle led to reduced heart attack rates

Female and Male Stress Response

-in response to a stressor such as death of a loved one, women may tend to "tend and befriend": nurture themselves and others, and bond together -the bonding hormone ocytocin may play role in this bonding -women show behvaioral and nuerological signs of becoming more empathetic under stress -men on avg under stress are more likely to socially withdraw and numb themselves w alcohol -men are also more likely to become aggressive under stress - in either case, men's behavior and brains show LESS empathy and less tuning in to others under stress on avg

Appraisal: Choosing how to view a situation

-is this a challenge and will i tackle it? -is it overwhelming and will i give up? -There are few conditions that are inherently and universally stressful; we can often choose our appraisal and our responses - ex: extreme, chronic physical threats or challenges (such as noise or starvation) -Stressful event of tough math test→ appraisal: threat (yikes! That's beyond me) → response: stressed to distraction -Stressful event math test → appraisal challenge (ive got to apply all i know) → response -focused

Happiness has its ups and downs

-levels of happiness as well as other emotions can vary over course of a week (we like the weekend), and even over course of a day (don't stay awake for too long) -subjective well being -monday-thurs have lower lvels of happiness, fri-sun have higher

Stress: A focus of Health Psychology

-many ppl report being affected by stress -some terms psychologists use to talk about stress: - STRESSOR: an event or condition which we view as threatening, challenging, or overwhelming -ex: poverty, explosion, test, being on plane - APPRAISAL: deciding whether to view something as a stressor -STRESS REACTION: refers to any emotional or physical responses to the stressor such as rapid heartbeat, elevated cortisol levels, and crying -STRESS: refers to process of appraising and responding to events which we consider threatening or challenging

Stressors

-refers to the events and conditions that trigger our stress response, bc they are perceived/appraised as overwhelmingly challenging, threatening, and/or harmful -there may be a spectrum of levels of intensity and persistence of stressors - we can also see stressors as falling into one of four categories: - catastrophes, significant life changes, chronic daily hassles, and low social status and power - focus on the first three tho

Clarifying the Components of Stress

-stress isn't something that happens to you; it's a process in which you participate -the process includes the stressor (event or condition), cognitive appraisal, body response, and coping strategies -the advantage of breaking "stress" into these components is that now we can see options for altering each of these diff factors

Relaxation and Meditation

-use of relaxation techniques can reduce headaches, high blood pressure, anxiety, and insomnia, and improve immune functioning -people who medicate can learn to create a relaxation response. RELXATION RESPONSE: relaxed muscles, lower blood pressure, and slowed heart rate and breathing -meditation also increases brain activity associated with positive emotions - steps to get the relaxation response: focus attention on breathing, focus word, and relaxing muscles from toes upward

Body's stress response system (general adaptation syndrome)

-when encoutering a sudden trauma or other stressor, our body acts to increase our resistance to threat and harm -PHASE 1: "fight or flight" sympathetic nervous system responses, reducing pain and increasing heart rate -the core of the adrenal glands (above kidneys) produces norepinephrine (neural transmitter) and epinephrine (adrenaline that's a hormone) - system identified by walter cannon gives us energy to act -PHASE 2: -brain sends signals to outer part of adrenal glands to produce cortisol and other stress hormones -these focus us on planning adaptive coping strategies and resisting defeat by stressor -hans selye identified this extended "resistance" phase of the stress response, followed by -PHASE 3: exhaustion

Do we need to control our hunger?

-when we eat enough to noticeably gain weight, we can face discriminaation, bullying, and depression -standards for body size can vary in diff cultrues, sometimes creating an unhealthy norm being overweight or underweight -body fat has been a sign of affluence and thus has been considered attractive -but at a certain ratio of weight to height, health risks rise

beneficial and harmful stress effects

BENEFICIAL: - brief experience of stress can: -improve immune system response -motivate action -focus on priorities -feeling engaged, energized, and satisfied -provding challenges that encourage growth, knowledge, and self esteem HARMFUL: extreme and prolonged stress can cause - mental and physical coping systems become overwhelmed and defeated rather than strenghtened - immune functioning and other health factors decline bc of damage -key factor is whether there is a chance for recovery and healing

Coping w Stress

PROBLEM-FOCUSED COPING: - means reducing the stressors, such as by working out a conflict, or tackling a difficult project -RISK: magnifying emotional distress especially if trying to change something that's difficult to change (ex: another person's traits) EMOTION-FOCUSED COPING: -means reducing emotional impact of stress by getting support, comfort and perspective from others -RISK: ignoring the prob -we might focus on this style of coping when we perceive the stressors as something we cannot change

Genie Wiley Example

Use it or lose it - could never develop grammar skills bc she was in isolation during the critical period

Traits: rooted in biology?

brain: extraverts tend to have low levels of brain activity, making it hard to suppress impulses, and leading them to seek stimulation -body: the trait of shyness appears to be related to high autonomic system reactivity, an easily triggered alarm system -Genes: selective breeding of animals seems to create lifelong differences in traits such as aggression, sociability, or calmness, suggesting genetic roots for these traits