health psych exam 1

what is health?

a state of complete, physical, mental, and social well-being, mot merely the absence of disease or infirmity

what is the biomedical model? how does it explain health? what are it characteristics?

the biomedical model says that all illnesses can be explained by abnormal somatic processes, which consist of mechanistic and dualistic views

what is the difference between mechanistic and dualistic?

the mechanistic view focuses on different parts of the body, see the body as independent parts or systems

the dualistic view sees the mind as separate from the physical body

what is the biopsychosocial model? how does it explain health?

the biopsychosocial model looks at biological, psychological, and social factors to understand health and illness

how have the major health problems in the US changed since the beginning of the 20th century?

major causes at beginning or 20th century were due to acute infectious diseases

now major causes of death are chronic illness, 40-50% of deaths are preventable

how significant is the role of health behaviors (like tobacco use, poor diet/physical inactivity) in current major health problems in the US?

40-50% of deaths are preventable
18% of deaths are caused by what people eat and lifestyle
15% is due to tobacco

what are operational definitions

a statement about the procedures the researcher used to measure a variable

what is the survey method? what are the advantages and disadvantages?

asking people questions about their thoughts feelings, and behaviors;
advantages: efficient, can measure constructs that are not directly observable
disadvantages: leading questions, response bias (social desirability and recall bias)

what is the case study method? what are the advantages and disadvantages?

in depth analysis of small sample of participants
advantages: more complete and unique information, can generate new hypotheses
disadvantage: cannot generalize, cannot infer causation

what is the observational method? what are the advantages and disadvantages?

describe and measure behavior systematically, not interfering, just watching

advantages: rich description of behaviors, higher external validity (if naturalistic observation)

disadvantages: people behave differently when they know they are being watched (hawthorne effect); observer bias: human observers can interpret the same thing differently

what is the archival method? what are the advantages and disadvantages?

accessing data that already exists instead of conducting experiments

advantages: fast access to large amount of data

disadvantages: limited to data already collected, cannot infer causation, cannot ask new questions

What is correlational research?

a measure of the strength of the associations between two variables

does correlation indicate causation? what are alternative explainations? when can causation be inferred?

no

A could cause B
B could cause A
confounding/third could be causing both A and B

causation can only be inferred if there is an experiment

how are correlation coefficients interpreted?

describes how strong the association is and which direction it goes in
0.1 or -0.1= small
0.3 or -0.3= medium
0.5 or -0.5= large

what are positive and negative correlations?

positive correlation: both are going in same direction
negative correlation: both are going in opposite direction

what is an experiment?

the manipulation of the independent variable; compare the differences between the experimental group (treatment) and control group

what are experimental (treatment) and control groups?

experimental group gets the independent variable
control group: does not get the independent variable

what is random assignment?

participants have an equal chance of being in every condition

what is experimental control?

researcher makes sure that no factors other than the independent variable are changing, which could affect the dependent variable

what are moderators?

variable the changes the magnitude and/or direction of the independent variable and the dependent variable

Effect of IV on DV

what are mediators?

a variable through which the independent variable causes the dependent variable

IV causes mediator, mediator causes DV

what are internal and external validity?

internal validity: the likelihood that changes in the dependent variable were caused by the independent variable

external validity: likelihood that the same results would be obtained using the same study with other people and in other situations

what are confounds?

a variable that is potentially responsible for the change in the dependent variable, but is not the independent variable

what conditions must be met for causality to be tentatively assumed in quasi-experimental design (all 4)

preexisting groups differing: if researcher thinks A causes B, then the difference between A and B should be noticeable

temporal priority must be established: a cause must happen before its effect

dose to response relationship exists- if A is causing B, then more of A should cause more of B

intervention has an effect- if A stops/lessens, than B should decrease

Animal analogs-unwilling to experiment with humans so experiment with animals

what are cross-sectional and longitudinal designs?

cross-sectional- collecting data from a sample at one point in time; researcher cannot establish temporal priority

longitudinal: collecting data from sample at more than one point in time; time consuming

what are retrospective and prospective designs?

retrospective design indicates that the predictor variables measured after the outcome are already known

prospective: predictor variables assessed in advance of outcome

advantage and disadvantages of field and laboratory research?

lab
advantage: can control conditions
disadvantage: problems lie with concern about external validity

field
advantage: higher external validity which makes it more reliable
disadvantage: lack of control

what is statisitical significance?

probability that results are due to chance

what is an effect size?

the magnitude of association or difference of the variables

what is meta-analysis?

statistical combination or results of multiple studies; has an average effect size across all studies

what do the bodily humors indicate according to Hippocrates and Galen?

believed that the imbalance caused illness

What is Descartes’ mind-body dualism (Cartesian dualism)?

mind and soul are separate from the body

How did psychanalysts (e.g. Alexender) explain the relation between psychology and health?

believed that diseases were caused by unconscious emotional conflicts

what is claude bernard’s idea of the mileur interne (internal environment)

all living things must maintain a constant or balanced internal environment

what is walter cannon’s wisdom of the body?

the body is self correcting

what is homeostasis?

maintaining equilibrium through adjustments is physiological processes

what is allostasis?

active process of adaptation and maintaining homeostasis

how is allostasis difference from homeostasis?

homeostasis focuses on optimal set points and makes adjustments in response to changes

allostasis focuses on optimal operating ranges and makes adjustments in response to changes and in anticipation of changes

what is allostatic load?

repeated allostasis that is associated with cumulative physiological cost

what contributes to allostatic load (e.g. frequent stress)?

chronic stressors, inability to adjust to continuous or recurrent stressors, an inability to end the stress response

what is the autonomic nervous system (including sympathetic and parasympathetic)

the autonomic nervous system manages internal organs without conscious control

sympathetic nervous system: mobilizes the body to reach to a certain stressor or activity (fight or flight)

parasympathetic nervous system: restores the body to a normal state after arousal

how is the autonomic nervous system affected by stress?

the sympathetic nervous system opens up and increases the speed of certain systems in the body (increases heart rate, opens lungs, increases blood glucose)

the parasympathetic nervous system restores the body to a normal state after arousal by slowing down or constricting certain systems in the body ( slows heart rate, constricts lungs, lowers blood glucose)

what is the endocrine system and how is it affected by stress?

regulates hormone secretion
hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland
pituitary gland secretes hormones that directly influence other endocrine glands
adrenal glands activate the adrenal medulla and adrenal cortex

what are the SAM and HPA systems? which hormones are released by each system? what are the response times of each?

SAM: sympathetic-adrenal-medullary
system activates; adrenal medulla releases epinephrine and norepinephrine; heart rate and blood pressure increase
fast response and brief, lasts from a few seconds to an hour

HPA: hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal
system activates; adrenal cortex secretes cortisol; increases blood glucose and suppresses immune system
slower response and lasts longer, a few minutes to a few hours

what is the immune system and how is it affected by stress?

the immune system protects bodily tissues from bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells
when they body undergoes stress, immune functioning is suppressed

what was ader and cohen’s study on the immune system and classical conditioning?

paired sugar water with a drug that suppressed rats’ immune systems; eventually the sugar water alone produced immune suppression without the drug

demonstrated that a learned psychological association could influence a physical process such as immune functioning

what is the cardiovascular system and how is it affected by stress?

pumps blood to transport oxygen, nutrients, and hormones
stress activates SNS which increases heart rate, blood pressure, etc.

what is the life change approach to conceptualizing stress?

stress is measured through major life events that change how someone lives and require considerable adaptation

can positive events cause stress?

yes, both positive and negative life changes can require adaptation

What is the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (Holmes & Rahe, 1967)?

a scale developed that measures stress through life changes

What does research show regarding the relation between life change and health?

greater life changes are associated with more illness

what is the daily hassles approach to conceptualizing stress?

their effects can accumulate and negatively affect health

what does research show regarding the relation between daily hassles and health (DeLongis et al, 1982)?

reports correlations between daily hassles and health but does not give the specific values

what is the perceived stress approach to conceptualizing stress?

appraising life situations as unpredictable and overwhelming

what does research show regarding the relation between perceived stress and health ( Young et al 2004)?

higher perceived stress was associated with poorer health outcomes

What is Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) concept of cognitive appriasal?

a person’s interpretation of a situation, rather than just its objective circumstances

what are primary and secondary appriasial?

primary appraisal: determination of whether an event has any potential negative effects

secondary appraisal: determination of whether one has the abilities and resources to overcome the threat of harm

What are the models of stress and illness?

illness behavior: response to stressful events is to act sick when not

Indirect effect model: stress leads to unhealthy behavior; behavior causes physiological changes, which cause disease

direct effect model: stress leads to phsyiological reactions whoich leads to disease (skips unhealthy behaviors)

diathesis-stress: predisposition to disease; environmental trigger; disease

what is the evidence for the indirect effect model?

dallman, 2003; stress increases cortisol which increases appetite for sweet, fatty food which may help calm the physiological stress response

what is cannon’s fight-or-flight response? what physical changes are involved?

the physiological stress response is to prepare for mobilization which causes heart rate and blood pressure to increase and inhibits digestion

how did cannon make his initial discoery of ties between psychological processes and digestive processes?

he noticed that people’s emotional states were affecting their digestion

what is selye’s general adaptation syndrome? how was he correct and incorrect?

the body’s generalized attempt to defend itself against stressors

incorrect: we don’t run out of stress hormone, and the physiological response is not general and nonspecific

correct: we become sick if stressed for a long time, and the body does go through high physiological arousal when stressed

what are the 3 stages of general adaptation syndrome?

alarm: body mobilizes to respond to stress immediately (high physiological arousal), bp, hr, resps increase

resistance: body keeps trying to respond to stressor (high physiological arousal but not as high)

exhaustion: physical resources (including stress hormones) are depleted

what is the evidence for the direct effect model?

cohen et al,- stress and colds: a correlational study that link people with high stress were more likely to develop a cold than people with low stress

marucha et al,- stress and wound healing- a correlational study that link wound healing slowly during a stressful time than not

what did uchino et all find in their study of stress and heart rate/blood pressure?

faster heart rates and higher blood pressure under stressful; conditions

what is cardiovascular reactivity?

how our cardiovascular system responds to stress

what did sgoutas-emch et al’s study demonstrate?

cardiovascular reactivity varies from person to person