BehSci Block 5

Stress

Response to perceived threatening or challenging events; 3 parts: Stressor, stress reaction, stress (Stressor = primary appraisal; ability to respond secondary appraisal)

Stressors

Events that trigger stress responses in individuals; catastrophes (large-scale disasters such as wars, hurricanes, wildfires, etc.), significant life changes (both good and bad changes/transitions), daily hassles and social stress

Approach Motives

Desire to move towards a positive stimulus.

Avoidance Motives

Desire to move away from a negative stimulus.

Approach-Approach Conflict

Choosing between two attractive but incompatible goals; Ex: tacos or pizza

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

Choosing between two undesirable alternatives; Ex: avoid studying a disliked subject

fight or flight response

sympathetic nervous system arouses us, preparing the body for the adaptive response

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Three-phase response to stress: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

Alarm Reaction

Initial response activating the sympathetic nervous system; heart rate zooms, blood is diverted to the skeletal muscles

Resistance Phase

Body maintains high arousal to cope with stress; temp, blood pressure, and respiration remain high; adrenal glands pump epinephrine and norepinephrine into your bloodstream

Exhaustion Phase

Body's resources are depleted, increasing vulnerability; more vulnerable to illness or even collapse and death

Tend-and-Befriend Response

Under stress, individuals seek support from others (befriend) and bond.

Health Psychology

Study of psychological factors in health and illness.

Psychoneuroimmunology

Study of how thoughts/feelings affect immune function.

Autoimmune Diseases

Immune system attacks the body's own tissues; immune system overreacting

Coronary Heart Disease

Clogging of vessels supplying blood to the heart.

Type A Personality

Competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and prone to anger.

Type B Personality

Relaxed and easygoing personality type.

Catharsis

Releasing aggressive energy to relieve tension and aggressive urges; acting anger can make us feel angrier

Coping

Methods to alleviate stress through emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

Problem-Focused Coping

Directly addressing the stressor to reduce stress.

Emotion-Focused Coping

Avoiding stressors while addressing emotional needs to alleviate stress

personal control

our sense of controlling our environments rather than feeling helpless

External Locus of Control

Perception that outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

internal locus of control

the perception that you control your own fate

Learned Helplessness

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

self-control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

aerobatic exercise

Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; also helps alleviate depression/anxiety

mindfulness meditation

a reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner; strengthens connections among brain regions associated with reflective awareness, calms brain activation in emotional situations

Psychological Disorder

Significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.

medical model

the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital

vulnerability-stress model

individual dispositions combine with environmental stressors to influence psychological disorder

Epigenetics

the study of the molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression (without a DNA change)

Anxiety Disorders

Characterized by persistent anxiety and maladaptive behaviors.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal

Panic Disorder

An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations; repetitive panic attacks

specific phobia

an anxiety disorder that involves a persistent/irrational fear and avoidance of a particular object, activity, or situation

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

an anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions); persistently interferes with everyday living and causes distress

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Haunting memories, nightmares, hyper vigilance, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, insomnia; lingers for 4+ weeks after traumatic experience; Ex: taking a new route home to avoid the street a person was assaulted on

Survivor Resiliency

Ability to recover after severe stress.

Somatic Symptom Disorder

Psychological disorders manifesting as bodily symptoms without apparent physical or medical cause

illness anxiety disorder

a disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease

stimulus generalization

A person experiences a fear-provoking event and later develops a fear of similar events

Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)

Brain regions that monitors our actions and checks for errors; hyperactive

Agoraphobia

Anxiety in perceived unsafe environments.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety in social situations.

Major Depressive Disorder

Hopelessness/lethargy lasting weeks without drug use or a medical condition; depressed mood, loss of interest/pleasure

Bipolar Disorder

Alternating between depression and overexcited hyperactivity/mania; one emotional extreme to the other

Rumination

Compulsive overthinking of problems and their causes

learned helplessness

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

State-Dependent Memory

Temporary bad/sad moods makes a person's memories, judgements, and expectations more pessimistic

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

a childhood disorder marked by severe recurrent temper outbursts along with a persistent irritable or angry mood

Psychotherapy

treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth

biomedical therapy

prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient's nervous system; antidepressants or anti anxiety drugs, lifestyle changes

Behavior therapists

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Therapy focusing on changing thought patterns.

Counterconditioning

use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; exposure therapies, adversive conditioning

Exposure Therapy

treat anxieties by exposing people to the things they fear and avoid; in imaginary or actual situations)

Systematic Desensitization

A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias.

virtual reality exposure therapy

an anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking; a counter conditioning method

Adverse Conditioning

Associating unpleasant states with unwanted behaviors; helps you learn what you should not do; negative (adversive) response to a harmful stimuli; Ex: nausea associated with drinking alcohol ; Ex: treat nail bitting by putting on nasty tasting nail polish

Token Economy

operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats

cognitive therapies

therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

Stress Inoculation Training

teaching people to restructure their thinking in stressful situations

Heritability

Genetic contribution to individual differences.

Explanatory Style

How individuals attribute failures and successes.

Dysregulation Mood Disorder

Childhood disorder resembling bipolar disorder.

Negative Explanatory Style

Blaming oneself for negative outcomes.

Cognitive Distortions

Faulty thinking patterns affecting emotions.

Hyperactivity

Increased brain activity during manic episodes.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavioral therapy (changing behavior); integrative therapy; alter the way people think and act; helps treat OCD

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Focuses on changing harmful/suicidal behavior patterns; makes peace between two opposing forces

Psychodynamic Therapy

Addresses unconscious conflicts from childhood; reduce anxiety through self-insight; interpret memories, dreams, feelings

Person-Centered Therapy

Barriers to self-understanding and self-acceptance; enable growth via unconditional positive regard, acceptance, genuineness, and empathy; listen actively and reflect clients' feelings

Behavior Therapy

Uses conditioning to change dysfunctional behaviors; learn adaptive behaviors; extinguish problem ones; use classical conditioning (exposure or aversion therapy) or operant conditioning (token economy)

cognitive therapy

Negative, self-defeating thinking; promote healthier thinking and self-talk; train people to dispute their negative thoughts/attributions

group therapy

therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, permitting therapeutic benefits from group interaction

family therapy

therapy that treats the family as a system. Views an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family members

Psychopharmacology

Studies drug effects on mind and behavior.

Antipsychotic Drugs

Treat schizophrenia and severe thought disorders.

Antianxiety Drugs

Control anxiety and agitation symptoms.

Antidepressant Drugs

Used for depressive and anxiety disorders.

Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

Good moods increase prosocial behavior; people's tendency to be helpful when in a good mood

Positive Psychology

Studies human flourishing and strengths to help individuals/communities to thrive

Subjective Well-Being

Self-perceived happiness and life satisfaction; used with measures of objective well-being (physical/economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

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

Relative Deprivation

the perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves

All-or-Nothing Thinking

Interpreting situations in extremes.

Overgeneralization

Drawing broad conclusions from limited experiences.

Mental Filter

Focusing solely on negative details.

Disqualifying the Positive

Rejecting positive experiences as unimportant.

Catastrophizing

Anticipating worst outcomes without evidence.

Personalization

believing that others' behavior is directed at you

Emotional Reasoning

Believing feelings reflect reality.

"Should" and "must" statements

Using language that reinforces negative judgment of ourselves and others which can trigger emotions such as guilt, frustration, or resentment

labeling and mislabeling

Taking one behavior or characteristic of oneself (or others) and applying it to the whole person

magnification or minimization

Exaggerating the importance of something (such as a personal failure or the success of others) or reducing the importance of something (such as a personal success or the failure of others)

Absolutes

Using extreme, often inaccurate but emotion-inducing language such as always, never

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Self harmful thoughts/behaviors; promote healthier thinking and adaptive behaviors; integrates both therapies to shape people's thoughts/behaviors; seeks to make people aware of irrational/neg. thinking, replace it we new ways of thinking, and practice more pos.actions; Ex: challenge neg. thoughts surrounding social anxiety and practice approaching people

cognitive therapy

teaches people adaptive ways of thinking, perceiving, and interpreting events; Based on assumptions that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions; Ex: Challenge self-blaming and over-generalized explanations of bad events