EXAM 1 - COMBINED

dont need to remember names of studies unless asked!!!!

Model for THE Appraisal OF Stress

Stimuli

S → Primary Appraisal

a) threatening

b) indifferent or can handle the stress

PA → A → Secondary appriasal

a) cope with stress using resources

b) coping resources inadequeate

PA → B → NO STRESS

SA → A
- NO stress

SA → B
- have stress

CONS of Appraisal of Stress Model

adequate coping resources does not eliminate stress in real life

sometimes your stress response is delayed

stress can occur without a stimulus event ( ex: panic attacks )

model only applies for people without stress disorders ( like anxiety , or panic attacks )

primary appraisal

initial response to a stimuli we have 3 categories we put it it in

• irrelvent

• relevent but not threatening

• stressful

secondary appraisal

when you consider an event stressful you appraise the options available to handle the event


ex:

• breathing excercises

• psyching yourself up

• all of thhe above are considered represenation of his secondary apppraisal

stress-is-debilitating-mindset

• people who view stress as bad

• have a worse stress response

stress-is-enhancing-mindset

• handle stress better

• some people have this mindset

• beleive that stress brings growth

ambient ( environmental stress

• chronic negative conditions embedded in the environemnt

• crowding

• poverty ( torn down builidings in industrial areas )

• traffic

• pollution

culture vs stress

• values and beliefs which are transferred across generations == culture

• some stressors are unique to a culture ( or race )

acculturation

• changing to adapt to a new foreign culture

• major stressor

acute stressors

a currently occuring threatening event that has a relatively short duration and clear endpoint

chronic stressors

threatening events that is continuously recurring - long duration and has no end date in sight

anticipatory stressors

due to upcoming or future stressful events

How does acute, chronic and anticipatory stressors relate ?

• they can lead to each other

• they are not mutually exclusive

• anticpatory stress for a wedding can become acute stress on the day

psychological sources of stress

• frustration

• internal conflict

• ife changes

• Pressure ( perform/conform )

frustration

when we can’t get what we want

ex: not wanting to fry plantain

internal conflict

two or more incompatible motivations cause you stress

ex: want to be polite but i also want what i want

there are 3 types of internal conflict

approach-approach ( internal conflict )

deciding between two attractive goals

ex: deciding between two kdramas

avoidance-avoidance ( internal conflcit )

deciding between avoiding one of two unnattractive choices

ex: cleaning the bathroom or my bedroom

approach-avoidance ( internal conflict )

deciding to choose a goal that is attractive and has unattractive consequences
ex: stay in the band with your friends but not have any money

life changes

• noticable alterations in one’s living circumstances

• social readjustment rating scale is used to quantify life changes

• you can rank life changes on the SRRS

social readjustment rating scale

the more stressful the event, the higher it is on the scale

your are more likely to become mentally ill ( if you score high )

pressure to perform - psycho source of stress

• pressure to excel in a specfic task

• can be self-imposed

pressure to conform - psycho source of stress

• pressure to meet other people’s expectations

• can be self-imposed

3 levels of stress analysis

• emotional response

• physiological response

• behavioral response

emotional response to stress

• three main negative responses:

  • anger,

  • fear,

  • sadness

• powerful largely uncontrollable feelings

• accompanied by physiological changes

• really anger is the most popular response ??

• positive emotions can still occur ( laughter at a funeral, gratefulness, … )
  
  
  

inverted u hypotheses

there is an optimal level of emotional arousal ( stress) that leads to a better performance

it looks like a bell curve ( too little → performance isn’t good , too much → performance isn’t good )

its best if stress is lower for… (inverted u hypotheses )

complex tasks

it is best if stress is higher… ( inverted u hypotheses )

for simple tasks

physiological response

automatic your body’s response

it is not controlled

caused by autonomic nervous system

ex: sweat, heart rate

( bouncing leg, and pacing is behavioral not physiological its a decision )

fight or flight response

how you decide to respond to stress

triggered by ANS

autonomic nervous system has two parts which play role in stress

• nerves that control INVOLUNTARY bodily functions.

• Connected to muscles, brain, heart, glands, vessels

• has two parts :

  • parasympathetic nervous system

  • sympathetic nervous system

sympathetic nervous system

causes flight or fight response

mobilizes body’s resources to fight stress

bad for this to happen for long

physiological reaction ( high blood rate, sweat to cool you down if you need to run e.t.c )

parasympathetic

its aim is to conserves body resources

deactivates for fight and fight response

controls normal daily living ( digestion)

Hans Selye study

expose animals to environmental stress, and acute stress

he noticed that no matter what the stress was… the animals reacted the same ( fight or flight )

he coined the reaction “stress“

general adaptation syndrome

• by hans selye

• describes a pattern that all animals go thru in stress

• is meant to be adaptive ( improve the species ) but it can actually lead to disease

• phase 1: alarm reaction,

  • sympathetic nervous system engaged

  • acute stress

• phase 2: stage of resistance

  • (chronic stress

  • SNS / physiological stress stays on for days

• phase 3: stage of exhaustion

  • your body gives out and you go into exhaustion

  • can no longer handle the stress
    
    
    

diseases of adaptation

due to being in phase 3 ( exhaustion )

a human gets some sort of mental or physical disease

immune system is completely shot

(ex: flus, and colds are common during exam seasons; stomach cancer in south korea )

two brain-body pathways

• control our physiological response thro signals to edocrine system

pathway 1

hypothalamus activates ANS stimulates andrenal glands which release increase catecholamines in bloodstream

pathway 2

hypothalamus activates the pituatary gland which stimulates the adrenal gland to release increased corticosteroids ( coritsol ) in bloodstreams

two key stress hormones that cause stress responses

corticosteroids and catechomalines

moderately assoicated with happiness

• health

• social relations ( friendships, community )

• religious beliefs

• culture ( affluence == richer == happier )

strong association with happiness

• romantic relationship

• work ( being employed, and satisified with your job )

• genetic predisposition ( temperament, personality, like 40% )

  • extraversion == happier

  • neuroticism ( anxious, angry, and insecure ) → happier

neurotic people are …

anxious, angry, and insecure

how do you improve academic performance

• make them turn off their fixed minset and turn on a growth mindset

• study skills ( hardwork )

• read at your ideal speed ( negative correlation between speed and comprehension )

growth mindset to academics

• you can get better

• effort will pay off

• embrace challenges

• take set backs better

fixed mindset

• given up

• believe they can’t improve

• don’t challenge themselves

list of good study habits

• study is hard work

• study schedule

  • ( write it down to commit to it )

  • break harder tasks into smaller chunks

• study location

  • distracting noises, or visual and audio stories are distracting are bad

  • somewhere that makes you ALERT ( natural light )

• reward yourself

• stay healthy!

• have good study habits

  • reading comprehension

  • lecture comprehension

  • applying memory principles
    

is multitasking possible ?

no, you’re only switching your attention

reading comprehension tips

• preview reading

• there is a negative correlation between speed and comprehension

• actively process

  • tie it to existing knowledge

  • resummarize in your own words

• identify key ideas

• review key ideas

• highlighting as needed

lecture notes tips

• active listening ( look, and hear )

• pre-reading the text

• in your own words

• decrypt code to find important points ( aka listen when they scream that this is imp! )

• ask questions

• review your notes ( =====(((((((( maybe never maybe sometimes eek eek eek )

memory principles that lead to success when studying

• increased rehearsal

• testing effect ( improve performance by testing )

• distributed practice ( NOT MASSED PRACTICE AKA CRAMMING )

• organize information ( cheat sheets )

• emphasise deep processing ( make material personal ex: i hate john wayne, he disected flowers, he discovered biology, i await by his grave hehe or like oooohhh that’s why my fish died )

• mnemonic

  • verbal ( acrostics , acronyms )

  • visual ( link method )

testing effect

• test yourself → learn better, remember longer

• it moves stuff to permanent memeory

link method ( memory )

more bizarre → better memory

cat wearing toast, with butter feet, with blue shirts


to remeber to buy toast, butter, and shirts

acrostics

turn the first letter of each word into another word and then create a sentence


PEDMAS → PLEASE EDUCATE DANIEL MARTINS ARITHMATICS STUDENT

method of loci

imagine placing an item in a familar place

the item is symbol of what you want to remember

so you can mentally go through ex: your house to remember

acronyms

use the first letter of a list of words to memorize ideas

EX: PEDMAS

Major stressors

big once-in-a-life-time events ( well maybe not ONCE =/ this is not true for some people unfortunately

)

natural disaster, death, cancer, e.t.c


can trigger minor stressors ( cancer can cause a change to diet, bills, lifestyle )

minor stressors

every-day occurences

stress

circumstances that puts you in a bad position, and forces you to adopt coping mechanisms

major and minors CAN BOTH be significant because…

• # of daily hassles has a + correlation with major stress disorders

• depending on your personality

• cumulative effect of minor stressors add up ( aka they become chronic )

• rumination about stressors can make even minor stressors tip you over the edge ( a fit over a hat being red )

stress is subjective

TRUE

not everyoen is stressed out by the same thing

dependes on your APPRAISAL ( oh wow forecasting )

categories of stress

acute

chronic

ANTICIPATORY

endocrine system

consists of glands that secrete chemicals (hormones) into the
bloodstream

behavioral responses to stress

• active effort to mask or reduce stress effects

• two types:

  • HEALTHY

  • UNHEALTHY

potential effects of stress

• Impaired cognitive functionnig/task performance

• impaired attention

• impaired efficiency of working memory ( temporary memory )

• stress can cause burnout
  

burnout

physical and emotional exhaustion

cynicism

lower sense of self-efficacy ( i’m not as good as getting things done )

caused by workload, lack of control, lack of recognition. … in sum no longer have the strength to even hope

mental dysfunctionning, phyiscla ailemnts, avoiding work

potential mental illness caused by stress

• sleep disorders

• subsance abuse

• sexual difficulties

• depression and anxiety

• schizophrenia

• eaitng disorders

THESE ARE SPECIFIC STRESS DISORDERS

• PTSD, acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder

PTSD

enduring psycho distrubance attributed to a major traumatic event

symptoms:

• re-experiencing trauma ( nightmare, flashbacks… in children )

• emotional numbing, alienation

• elevated arousal, anxiety, quick to anger

• guilt

• sleep disturbance
  
  
  ex: hearing the squeel of a tire, makes Sarah remember her traffic accident…
  ex: Tommy draws the scene in his preschool class, and acts it out when playing with his toys
  

history:

• discovered through Vietnamese war veterans

  at-risk:

• people who have intense emotional reactions to traumatic events

acute stress disorder

• short-lived PTSD

• few days to a month

• after a month patient will be elevated to PTSD

adjustment disorder

• short term ( 6 months max )

• brought on by stressors in people’s lives

• has specifiers ( with anxiety, with depression… )

what happens if symptoms persist for more than 6 months with an adjustment disorder

gets elevated to the specifier’s status:

no longer AD with anxiety now you have ANXIETY DISORDER

potential physical illness caused by stress

• high blood pressure

• asthma

• exczema

• headackes

• ulcers

psychosomatic diseases

outdated term

disease caused by stress which were previously thought of as being purely physical or bacterial

posttraumatic growth

• positive psycho effect of stress

• aka mental toughness

mental toughness

example of posttraumatic growth

AKA resilience

moderator variables

can soften the causation relationship between X and Y

3 main moderator variables between stress and health

social support
hardiness
optimism

buffer hyptotheses

social support softens effect of stress

reduces PTSD risk

increases likelihoof of mental hardiness

ex: your mom can bug you into forming friendships

the most benefiical form of social support to fight stress is…

a romantic partner

how does the buffer hypotheses work ?

friends do these 3 things…

• encourage good behavior

• discourage bad behavior

• put a positive spin on things

hardiness

a disposition/personality trait marked by commitment, challenge and feeling in control

how does hardiness help?

they put a positive spin on things

ex: i can do this… hw dare you challenge the great one…

optimism

• obvious

why does optimism help deal with stress ?

tend to be action-oriented, problem-solving, more likely to seek help

pressure to perform can lead to…

• distraction

• overfocus

mild/moderate stress can enhance memory of an event

TRUE. especially during emotional momemnts

moderate amount of stress can actually make you healther

TRUE

Coping

refers to effort to master reduce or tolerate stress

coping flexibility

the ability to use multiple coping strategies

sets you up for success ( increases the odds of it working )

ex: baking, reading, laughing, dancing, solving the problem…

common coping patterns which don’t work…

• giving up

• acting aggressively

• indulgence

• blaming yourself

• pathological technological use

• defensive coping ( defense mechanisms )

behavioral disengagement is another term for…

giving up

learned helplessness

• passive behavior produced by recorring exposure to unavoidable aversive events

• no hope

• ( ex: tortured animal study =/)

when is giving up a good idea?

when facing unattainable / impossible goals

agression

• intentional antagonsitic behavior ( physical or mental hurt )

• results in backlash from friends

• more aggresive tendencies

• does not releive stress, can increase stress

• discourages prosocial behavior
  

catharsis

• the term was invented by Freud

• releasing pent up anger or rage is actually beneficial and is actually accepted
  
  ex: a rage room where you destroy things

what does research say about catharsis ?

• it does not reduce stress

• it just leads to a more aggresive disposition

prosocial behaviors

behaviors that help other people

: video games have a …. correlation with violen

weak positive correlation ( 0.3)

the variable that CAUSES this relationship can’t be determined

indlugiance - bad coping

inability to resist the gratifications of whims and desires

ex: baking, people in war zones shop more ( wow )