Health Psychology - Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, definitions, and concepts from Chapters 1-3 of Health Psychology.

Germ Theory of Disease

The discovery made in the mid-1800s that many illnesses are caused by microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses.

Miasma Theory

An early medical theory positing that illness was caused by foul air emanating from rotting organic matter.

Pathogens

Microorganisms that cause infectious disease.

Antiseptics

Non-selective substances used to destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms on living tissue or surfaces.

Antibiotics

Substances that target, destroy, or inhibit the growth of specific bacterial organisms, such as Penicillin.

Vaccines

Preparations resembling a disease-causing microbe, often made from weakened or killed forms, that stimulate the immune system to recognize and remember specific pathogens.

Sanitation

The removal and treatment of hazardous waste and wastewater, including industrial pollutants and human or animal feces.

The Great Stink (1858)

An event in London, UK, where hot weather intensified the odor of sewage on the River Thames, frightening citizens about miasma and driving major sanitation reforms.

Acute Illnesses

Infectious health conditions characterized by rapid onset and a short duration.

Chronic Illnesses

Medical conditions or diseases that persist over a prolonged period and have long-lasting effects.

Biomedical Model (BM)

The traditional Western medical perspective derived from germ theory that defines health simply as the absence of disease, illness, dysfunction, or disorder.

Biopsychosocial Model (BPS)

A comprehensive model defining health as a multidimensional interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.

Psychosomatic Medicine

A field focusing on conditions involving extreme focus on physical symptoms (such as pain or fatigue) that cause significant emotional distress without a clear physiological origin.

Health Psychology (HP)

The branch of psychology investigating how individual behavior, choices, and lifestyle influence physical health.

Health Belief Model

A motivational theory asserting that health behaviors are driven by an individual's evaluation of a health threat and the prospective courses of action to counter it.

Theory of Reasoned Action

Ajzen's 1980 model proposing that behavior results from intention, which stems from attitudes toward the behavior and subjective norms.

Theory of Planned Behavior

Ajzen's 1991 extension of reasoned action that adds perceived behavioral control as a third primary determinant of behavioral intention.

Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction

Yzer's 2012 model combining background variables, outcome beliefs, normative beliefs, and efficacy beliefs while considering skills and environmental constraints.

Stages of Change Model

Prochaska and Di Clemente's 1983 stage model describing progress through precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and recognizing relapse as part of the process.

Stress

The pattern of responses an organism makes to internal or external demands that disturb equilibrium and tax or exceed coping capacity.

Eustress

Positive stress characterized by excitement experienced when facing a demanding situation that one feels capable of handling.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

A principle establishing that performance improves with physiological or mental arousal up to an optimal point, beyond which excessive arousal causes performance decline due to anxiety.

Hypothalamus

A key brain region responsible for maintaining homeostasis and regulating motivated behaviors such as feeding and mating.

Pituitary Gland

The master endocrine gland that works directly with the hypothalamus to produce and release essential body hormones.

Amygdala

An almond-shaped limbic system structure located in front of the hippocampus responsible for detecting threats and triggering fear responses.

Hippocampus

A brain region involved in memory encoding and consolidation, emotional memory retrieval, and emotional regulation.

Reticular Activating System (RAS)

A network of neural pathways extending through the brainstem that filters sensory inputs and regulates alertness and consciousness levels.

Somatic Nervous System (SNS)

The subdivision of the peripheral nervous system controlling sensory input from skin and voluntary skeletal muscle movements.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

The subdivision of the peripheral nervous system regulating internal organ functions, smooth muscles, cardiac muscles, and glands.

Sympathetic Nervous System

The ANS division that mobilizes body energy during stressful emergencies, heightening heart rate and breathing while inhibiting digestion.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

The ANS division responsible for monitoring baseline internal operations, conserving energy, and returning the body to a resting state.

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter that activates muscle receptors and prompts the adrenal medulla to release stress hormones.

Cortisol

A vital glucocorticoid hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex that increases blood glucose through metabolism and suppresses immune system action during stress.

Allostatic Load

The cumulative biological wear and tear on the body caused by chronic stress exposure or inefficient stress recovery.

Sympathetic Adrenomedullary (SAM) System

A rapid-acting neural pathway triggered by the hypothalamus causing the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine and norepinephrine for emergency physical action.

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis

A slower, sustained neuroendocrine system pathway wherein the hypothalamus prompts the adrenal cortex to release cortisol to withstand ongoing stressors.

Fight-or-Flight Response

Cannon's term describing the rapid biological sequence of activities initiated when an organism detects a real or perceived threat.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selye's model detailing the body's non-specific physiological response to sustained stress, progressing through Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion stages.

Diseases of Adaptation

Illnesses resulting from prolonged defective physiological reactions to continuous stress during the resistance phase of GAS.

Transactional Model of Stress

Lazarus and Folkman's perspective holding that stress stems from an imbalance between situational demands and personal resources.

Primary Appraisal

The initial evaluation of a stressful event to determine if it poses harm, threat, or challenge.

Secondary Appraisal

The assessment of one's personal coping skills, available resources, and potential management options when facing a stressor.

Problem-Focused Coping

A coping style aimed directly at altering or eliminating the external source of stress.

Emotion-Focused Coping

A coping style directed toward controlling and adjusting emotional reactions to an unchangeable stressor.

Proactive Coping

Anticipatory efforts executed in advance to avert a potential stressor or reduce its impact before occurrence.

Social Support

The network of practical, informational, and emotional resources obtained from other people.

Locus of Control

Rotter's construct describing whether individuals attribute life outcomes to their own actions (internal) or external factors like chance (external).

Alameda 7

Seven key health habits identified in the Alameda County Study that collectively added an average of 9 years to human life expectancy.

Antigens

Any foreign substances entering the organism that trigger an immune system response.

Specific Immunity

Acquired targeted defense developed against previously encountered pathogens, mediated by specialized B-cells and T-cells.

B-Cells

White blood cells responsible for manufacturing specialized antibodies to neutralize specific pathogens.

Antibodies

Proteins produced by B-cells that selectively attach to specific antigens to eliminate or tag them for destruction.

T-Cells

White blood cells involved in cell-mediated specific immunity, including helper T-cells that release interleukins and suppressor T-cells that conclude immune responses.

Non-Specific Immunity

The innate defense mechanism present from birth that offers rapid, generalized protection against all incoming foreign invaders.

Macrophages

Large phagocytic cells that engulf and break down cellular debris, foreign materials, and pathogenic microbes.

Neutrophils

Rapid-responding white blood cells that primarily defend against incoming bacterial infections.

Dendritic Cells

Antigen-presenting cells that consume pathogens and present fragment pieces on their surface to activate T-cells.

Natural Killer (NK) Cells

Cytotoxic cells capable of detecting and destroying infected host cells and malignant tumor cells.

Inflammation

A localized innate immune reaction where increased blood vessel permeability permits fluid and leukocytes to clear infection, leading to heat, swelling, redness, and pain.

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

The study of the relationships between psychological states, nervous system functions, and immune system performance.

Immunocompetence

The overall functional capacity of the immune system to successfully defend the body against pathogenic threats.

Enumerative Assays

Assay procedures used to count absolute numbers of specific immune cells contained in blood or fluid samples.

Mitogen

A harmless substance used in vitro to artificially stimulate cell proliferation and activation for testing immune cell functionality.

NK-cell Cytotoxicity Assay

An in vitro functional test measuring the rate at which natural killer cells destroy target tumor or infected cells.

Autoimmune Diseases

Pathological conditions occurring when the immune system loses self-tolerance and attacks healthy body tissues.

Immune Surveillance Theory

The theory proposing that cancer develops when immune system deficiencies prevent T-cells and NK-cells from identifying and destroying mutated cells.