unit 5

psychology

Health Psychology

A subfield of psychology that explores the impact of psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors on health and wellness.

Psychoneuroimmunology

It studies how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes affect our immune system and health.

Define stress in psychological terms.

The process by which we perceive and respond to stressors that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

What are Approach and Avoidance motives?

The drive to move toward (approach) or away from (avoid) a stimulus.

What is General adaptation syndrome (GAS)?

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

What is the Tend-and-befriend response?

Under stress, people (especially women) may nurture themselves and others and seek support from others.

What is Coronary Heart Disease?

The clogging of vessels that nourish the heart muscle, a leading cause of death in many developed countries.

Define Type A personality.

Friedman and Roseman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.

What is problem-focused coping?

Attempting to alleviate stress by changing the stressor or how we interact with it.

What does emotion-focused coping entail?

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and addressing emotional needs.

Define Personal Control.

Our sense of controlling our environment versus feeling helpless.

What is learned helplessness?

The hopelessness and passive resignation humans and other animals learn when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

What is External Locus of Control?

The perception that outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate.

What is Internal Locus of Control?

The perception that we control our own fate.

Define self-control in psychology.

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

What is Type B personality?

Friedman and Roseman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people.

What does catharsis refer to in psychology?

The idea that releasing aggressive energy relieves aggressive urges.

What is Positive Psychology?

The scientific study of human flourishing, aimed at promoting strengths, virtues, well-being, resilience, and positive emotions.

What does Subjective Well-Being measure?

Self-perceived happiness or life satisfaction.

Define the feel-good, do-good phenomenon.

People’s tendency to be helpful when in a good mood.

What is the Adaptation-level phenomenon?

Our tendency to form judgments relative to a neutral level defined by prior experience.

What is Relative Deprivation?

The perception that we are worse off relative to those we compare ourselves with.

What does Broaden-and-build theory propose?

Positive emotions broaden our awareness and help build skills and resilience that improve well-being.

What are Character strengths and virtues?

A classification system to identify positive traits organized into categories of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

Define resilience.

The personal strength that helps people cope with stress and recover from adversity.

What is aerobic exercise?

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

What is mindfulness meditation?

A reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences nonjudgmentally and acceptingly.

Define gratitude in a psychological context.

An appreciative emotion experienced when benefiting from others' actions or recognizing one's own good fortune.

What is the medical model?

The concept that psychological disorders have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and often cured.

What does the diathesis-stress model explain?

How genetic predispositions combine with environmental stressors to influence psychological disorders.

What is epigenetics?

The study of molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression without altering DNA.

What is DSM-5-TR?

The American Psychiatric Association’s manual for classifying psychological disorders.

Define anxiety disorders.

A group of disorders characterized by excessive fear and anxiety and related maladaptive behaviors.

What is social anxiety disorder?

Intense fear and avoidance of social situations.

What describes generalized anxiety disorder?

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

Define panic disorder.

Anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable episodes of intense dread.

What characterizes specific phobia?

A persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation.

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?

A disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions (compulsions), or both.

What is hoarding disorder?

A persistent difficulty parting with possessions, regardless of their value.

What is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

A disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, and other symptoms that linger after a traumatic experience.

What are trauma-and-stressor-related disorders?

Disorders in which exposure to a traumatic or stressful event is followed by psychological distress.

Define agoraphobia.

Fear or avoidance of situations where one may experience a loss of control and panic.

What are depressive disorders?

A group of disorders characterized by an enduring sad or empty mood, along with physical and cognitive changes.

What is Bipolar I disorder?

The most severe form of bipolar disorder where people experience euphoria and high energy for a week or longer.

Define mania.

A hyperactive, wildly optimistic state characterized by dangerously poor judgment.

What is Bipolar II disorder?

A less severe form of bipolar disorder involving between depression and mild hypomania.

What is major depressive disorder?

A disorder in which a person experiences five or more symptoms lasting at least two weeks.

Define persistent depressive disorder.

A disorder where people experience a depressed mood on more days than not for at least two years.