Deck 1: Stress and Health.

Question 1

Based on various physical stressors, Hans Selye determined through autopsies that the rats in his experiments experienced common physiological patterns of change over time, such as reductions in the size of the thymus and lymph glands, enlarged adrenal cortexes, and ulcerated stomachs. He described these physiological changes as stress reactions. They were characterized as ____ because they represented common patterns to a host of different stressors.

A) generic responses
B) alarm responses
C) physiological responses
D) non-specific responses

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The less our perceived amount of ____ in relation to a stressor, the more stressful we perceive the event to be.

A) understanding
B) control
C) orientation
D) coping

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Holmes and Rahe created an instrument called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)to measure life change events. In their model of stress, higher life change event scores for the last six months to a year indicate a person has a greater likelihood of ____.

A) suicidal behavior
B) developing an illness
C) living a shorter lifespan
D) pessimism

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The ____ model suggests that many illnesses may result from an interaction of biology and the environment.

A) diathesis-stress
B) General Adaptation Syndrome
C) bio-eco
D) multi-axial stressor

Question 5

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for enervating the organ systems of the body, and with a few important exceptions (e.g., organs of the gastrointestinal system), its ____ branch is generally responsible for the arousal response of these organs.

A) parasympathetic
B) sensory
C) sympathetic
D) primary physiological

Question 6

The idea that chronic stressors can be detrimental to one's health was formalized by the stress research pioneer Hans Selye, who proposed a three stage model of chronic stress called the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). The three stages of the GAS are ____.

A) fight-or-flight, alarm, and resistance
B) alarm, exhaustion, and relaxation
C) fight-or-flight, resistance, and exhaustion
D) alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

Question 7

In the ____ model of health, the sick person may be seen as a victim but may also be viewed as having contributed to the illness through engaging in unhealthy behaviors.

A) biomedical
B) biopsychosocial
C) psychosomatic
D) behavioral

Question 8

If we want to live the good life, we also want to build on our ____ and our sense of well-being.

A) sense of coherence
B) mindfulness
C) management skills
D) good feelings

Question 9

Most modern biological models of stress build on the work of Cannon and Selye by focusing on the measurement of stress reactions through ____ (i.e., epinephrine and norepinephrine)and cortisol excretions.

A) noradrenaline
B) adrenaline
C) catecholamine
D) dopamine

Question 10

____ appraisals are past or present oriented and result from appraisals of loss or damage that is happening or has already happened. The losses can be tangible such as loss of a loved one or a job, or psychological, such as loss of self-esteem.

A) Primary-loss
B) Secondary
C) Harm-loss
D) Threat

Question 11

Walter Cannon's term ____ refers to the biological self-regulation process that enables an organism to adapt to life's demands.

A) dynamic organism feedback
B) physiological stress reactions
C) homeostasis
D) fight-or-flight reaction

Question 12

Following an adaptive fight-or-flight reaction, the homeostatic mechanisms return the body back to normal ____.

A) baseline
B) homeostasis
C) homeostatic rest
D) pre-reactive functioning

Question 13

____ , inspired by Sigmund Freud's idea that repressed memories and intrapsychic conflict can lead to somatic conversions expressed as physical symptoms, broke rank with the conventional medical thinking of the time and became one of the first medical areas to challenge the mind-body duality aspect of the biomedical model.

A) Psychoanalysis
B) Illness prevention
C) Somatic interpretation of physical agents
D) Psychosomatic medicine

Question 14

Selye did not believe that all stress was negative. In fact, he referred to negative stress as ____ and coined the term ____ to refer to positive stress.

A) distress, eustress
B) eustress, uplift
C) threat, challenge
D) distress, wellness

Question 15

Persons with ____ are more motivated to engage in health-promoting behaviors like physical exercise and avoid health-destructive behaviors like tobacco smoking.

A) strong SOCs
B) weak SOCs
C) positive SOCs
D) balanced SOCs

Question 16

Cannon and Selye paved the way for research in fields like psychoendocrinology. What do psychoendocrinologists examine?

A) The effects of psychological processes on endocrine dysfunction
B) The effects of endocrine dysfunction on mental processes
C) The relationship between stress levels and endocrine function
D) The relationship between psychological processes and endocrine function

Question 17

According to Lazarus, events can be appraised during primary appraisal in three possible ways. They can be seen as ____, ____, or ____.

A) benign-stressful, distressful, indifferent
B) irrelevant, distressful, positive-stressful
C) distressful, eustressful, neutral-stressful
D) irrelevant, benign-positive, stressful

Question 18

Sympathetic nervous system activation in concert with adrenal gland catecholamine secretions such as ____ (known also as adrenalin)and ____ (known also as noradrenalin)prime the body to physically fight off threats to safety or to flee from these threats through such activities as increasing cardiac output and blood pressure that transit additional blood to the brain and large muscles of the body where the blood is most acutely needed.

A) cortisol, norepinephrine
B) epinephrine, norepinephrine
C) cortisol, glucocorticoids
D) ephedrine, norephedrine

Question 19

During the fight-or-flight response, hormones such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol are secreted from the hormonal system to stimulate the release of ____.

A) awareness-altering hormones
B) energy for action
C) neurotransmitters to stimulate cognitive activity
D) oxygen to the muscles

Question 20

Stressors produce ____ changes that can be detrimental to both our physical and psychological health.

A) cognitive, emotional, physiological, and behavioral
B) cognitive, genetic, and psychological
C) physiological, pathogenic, and behavioral
D) genetic, physiological, behavioral, and cognitive

Question 21

Explain the concept of an allostatic load and how it relates to the stages of Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome.

Question 22

What changes occur in the dermal system during the fight-or-flight response?

Question 23

Explain the concept of wellness. What are four elements of wellness that are believed to lead to the highest level of life satisfaction?

Question 24

What is Antonovsky's sense of coherence (SOC)?

Question 25

What does living a healthy lifestyle have to do with managing stress?

Question 26

In what ways does a strong sense of coherence (SOC)benefit our health?

Question 27

Holmes and Rahe created an instrument called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS). Describe this scale and what it measures.

Question 28

What are generalized resistance resources (GRRs)and what function do they perform in Antonovsky's Salutogenic Model?

Question 29

What are threat and challenge appraisals? How are they similar? How are they different?

Question 30

Do negative stressors have an impact on life expectancy? Explain.

Question 31

What is the third and final process of appraisal in Lazarus's Appraisal and Coping Model and what function does it serve?

Question 32

What happens to the gastrointestinal (GI)system when activated by the fight-or-flight response?

Question 33

What are some of the physiological reactions to stressors?

Question 34

What is the second step or process in Lazarus's Appraisal and Coping Model?

Question 35

During the fight-or-flight response, how do the adrenal glands prepare us to better handle a dangerous situation?

Question 36

Describe the changes that occur in the Cardiovascular System when activated by the fight-or-flight response.

Question 37

There are seven primary physiological systems in which changes occur during the fight-or-flight response. Name these seven systems.

Question 38

What is the Hassles and Uplifts Scale?

Question 39

What is behavioral medicine?

Question 40

What are some of the shortcomings of Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome model?

Question 41

Explain the traditional biomedical model of health and the biopsychosocial model of health. How do they differ?

Question 42

How would you define the current or emerging definition of the term "health," such as that of the World Health Organization (WHO)?

Question 43

What is Aaron Antonovsky's model of health? How does it compare to other models? What is its primary focus?

Question 44

Our sense of coherence (SOC), according to Antonovsky, is comprised of three integrated factors that are influenced by our life experiences referred to as comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. Discuss these three factors.

Question 45

In the workplace, what is the desired level of excitement for best performing our work tasks? Have you found this to be true in your own experience?

Question 46

Different people have different reactions and stress levels to the same outward events, circumstances or situations. Why does this happen?

Question 47

Define positive psychology and describe its origin. What does it focus on? How does it differ from the rest of psychology?

Question 48

Lazarus and his associates developed scales designed to measure perceived everyday life difficulties or hassles rather than purely objective life events. Later Lazarus narrowed his focus from general perception to a process called appraisal using the cognitive mediational approach. Explain Lazarus's process of appraisal and its relationship to how we experience emotions.

Question 49

What is health psychology? In what context did it arise?

Question 50

Self-efficacy can be broken down into two component parts, outcome expectations and efficacy expectations. Define these components using an example from your own life.