Stress + Science Inquiry

Selye's definition of stress

Nonspecific response of the body to a psychological or physiological demand

Distress

Negative stress response with physical reactivity and negative emotions.

Eustress

Positive stress response that motivates and enhances functioning

Stressors

Sources of stress originating from internal or external factors.

Four categories of stressors

Social, cultural, environmental, and psychological.

Environmental stressors

Stressors arising from an individual's conditions and surroundings.

Psychological stressors

Stressors caused by emotional and cognitive factors.

Social stressors

Stressors stemming from relationships and interactions with society.

Cultural stressors

Stressors emerging from cultural identity, values, and norms.

Acute vs. chronic stressors

Stressors can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic).

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selye's set of physical defenses reacting to harmful physical and psychological stimuli.

Three stages of GAS

Alarm, resistance, and exhaustion stages.

Alarm stage

Initial response where the amygdala signals the hypothalamus to trigger the SNS and adrenal glands.

Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)

Branch of the ANS that prepares the body for increased activity during arousal.

Cortisol

Steroid hormone secreted by adrenal glands during stress.

Adrenaline

Hormone increasing heart rate and supporting glycogen-to-glucose conversion in the liver.

Noradrenaline

Hormone causing blood vessels to constrict, increasing blood pressure.

Resistance stage

Body repairs itself by reducing SNS activity and initiating the PNS.

Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS)

Branch of the ANS that calms the body and maintains homeostasis.

Exhaustion stage

Prolonged stress depletes reserves, causing fatigue, reduced motivation, and health risks.

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (Holmes & Rahe, 1967)

Assesses stress from significant life changes using 43 common life events.

Life Change Units (LCU)

Scores estimating the level of response and adjustment required for life events.

Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model

Stress is a dynamic process where perception and cognitive appraisals determine coping

Cognitive appraisal

Cognitive abilities used by individuals to assess a stressful environmental event.

Primary appraisal

Initial assessment to determine if a situation is a potential threat, challenge, or harm.

Secondary appraisal

Evaluation of available resources and coping options to manage a situation.

Emotion-focused coping

Managing emotional reactions to stress when resources are perceived as insufficient.

Problem-focused coping

Addressing the root cause of stress when resources to deal with it are available.

Maladaptive coping strategies

Harmful and unhealthy stress management that avoids problems and exacerbates adverse effects.

Adaptive coping strategies

Beneficial and productive methods of managing stress by facing and dealing with stressors

types of sampling

convenience, random, stratified

convenience sampling

quick easy select participants based on accessibility

random sampling

ensures every member of a population has an equal chance of being selected

stratified sampling

breaking population into groups based on characteristics

reaserch designs

experimental, observational, case study, correlational, longitudinal, cross sectional

methods to sample populations

Convenience, snowballing, random, stratified

ways to minimise effects of extraneous and confounding variables

random allocation of participants, single-blind procedure, standardisation of procedures and instructions

experimental research

using scientific method to systematically study the effect of an independent variable of a dependent (can identify cause effect relationship)

two groups in experimental research

experimental group and control group

advantages of experimental research

identifies cause and effect relationship, experiment can be repeated multiple times to check reliability

disadvantages of experimental research

the artificiality of the study (lab conditions), demand characteristics or experimenter effects my bias results and become confounding variables

control group

a group where independent variable is absent (provides a comparison)

random allocation

participants are put in groups where every member has same probability of being in either group

advantages of random allocation

reduces bias, limits effect of participant variables (extraneous variables that impact how participants respond)

disadvantages of random allocation

may be imbalance in characteristics between groups

non random allocation

participants put in groups based on different criteria

independent measures

different participants are used in each condition of the independent variable, should be done with random allocation

advantages of independent measures

avoids order effects because people only participate in one condition (when someone does multiple they may get tired by the second one which would alter results)

disadvantages of independent measures

more people are needed, differences between participants may effect results

matched groups

design uses different but similar participants in each condition in terms of any important characteristics which might effect performance (gender, age, intelligence)

advantages of matched groups

reduced effect of participant variables because they are paired with people with similar characteristics, avoids order effects, so counterbalancing is not necessary

disadvantages of matched groups

in one participant drops out you loose both participants set of data, very time consuming, impossible to match people exactly.

repeated measures

same participants take part in each condition of the independent variable so each involves the same group of participants

advantages of repeated measures

individual differences are reduced

disadvantages of repeated measures

may be order effects (order of effects may have effect on behaviour/performance of participants)

non-experimental research

where an independent variable is unable to be manipulated (no cause and effect)

advantages of non-experimental research

provides rich detailed information, may be more ethical particularly when manipulating variables may cause harm

disadvantages of non-experimental

research cannot identify cause and effect (requires further research), difficult to control for extraneous variables, expert knowledge often required to analyse data

observational research design

researches set up study, they watch and observe effects

advantages of observational research design

reduces bias,

disadvantages of observational research design

difficult to measure strength of attitude as data collected is limited, not accurate measure as attitudes and behaviour are often inconstant

case study

intensive examination of the behaviour and mental processes associated with specific person

advantages of case study

useful when larger numbers of participants are unavailable, good when it would otherwise be unethical

disadvantages of case study

can be misleading(subject may be atypical), uncontrolled variables limits conclusions that can be drawn, often poor reliability correlational studies

correlational design

researchers look for a relationship between to or more behavioural variables and try to find the strength between them

advantages of correlation research

can study variables that are measurable but not manipulatable (more ethical), can demonstrate presence or absence of a relationship for a further study

disadvantages of correlation research

correlation does not equal causation

longitudinal design

involves following a set of participants over long period of time to collect observational data

advantages of longitudinal

looks at direct changes in participants(very reliable), investigate ho condition progress

disadvantages of longitudinal

time consuming, expensive, higher chance of participants dropping out

cross sectional design

compares data collected at the same point in time from people of different groups

advantages of cross sectional design

inexpensive, less time consuming than longitudinal, less chance of participants dropping out

disadvantages of cross sectional design

large sample needed, cohort effect(differences in life experiences), participant variables influence results

population

entire group of research interest from which a sample is drawn and research findings can be generalised

sample

smaller group of research participants selected from larger population

non probability

sampling non randomised (not every participant has opportunity to be includes in the study)

convenience sampling

chosen because easily accessible to researcher

application of convenience sampling

medical research studies

strengths of convenience sampling

least expensive, least time-consuming, most convenient

limitation of convenience sampling

It is subject to bias and may not represent the population well.

snowball sampling

researcher interviews individuals of interests who then provide names of other people of interest in same population

application of snowball sampling

stigmatised/hidden populations

strengths of snowball sampling

Convenient, Voluntary participation

limitations of snowball sampling

Likely to be biased because participants know each other, Ethical issues are difficult to maintain since participants know each other

random sampling

every member of population has an equal chance of being selected (names randomly selected)

application of random sampling

blind experiment

strengths of random sampling

high generalisability , reduced bias

limitations of random sampling

impractical-not all members of a population will be willing to take part, not representative-unbiased selection doesn't guarantee a representative sample

stratified sampling

used when research requires sample to contain the same proportions of participants as found in the population

application of stratified sampling

market research to evaluate target audiences

strengths of stratified sampling

Reduced sampling bias, Representative of minority groups

Limitations of Stratified sampling

Expensive, time consuming