Review for Exam 1 – Health Psychology (part 1—Chapters 1 and 2)
Chapter 1
-Be familiar with the changing pattern of illness and how this has impacted the field of
health.
Infectious diseases were the leading cause of death in 1900—but for most of
the 20th and 21st century, chronic diseases were the leading causes (exception,
COVID-19 pandemic of 2020)
-Note other influences that have led to the emergence of health psychology such as
expanded health care services, greater acceptance of psychologists in health care
settings, health psychology’s positive research track record
-Be able to note the major tenets of the biomedical model—health is the absence of
disease. Need to discover the pathology (pathogen) in the body and treat it with drugs
and/or other medical technology treatment to cure the disease (note its strengths and
weaknesses).
-Be able to describe the major tenets of the biopsychosocial model (a combination of
biological, psychological, and social factors can lead to disease (note its strengths and
weaknesses).
-Distinguish between health psychology and behavioral medicine and behavioral
health.
-Know the major approaches used in health psychology (review lecture slides):
a) Behavioral approach
1) classical conditioning (e.g., know what is meant by Unconditioned
Stimulus, Unconditioned Response, Conditioned Stimulus, Conditioned
Response)
2) operant conditioning (influence of reinforcement and punishment on
behavior)
b) Cognitive behavioral
c) Psychophysiological
d) Clinical psychological
Chapter 2: Conducting Health Research
-Know what is meant by the placebo effect and the nocebo effect (review sections in
Brannon et al.)
-Be familiar with (e.g., be able to identify elements) common research methods review
in class and text and their strengths and limitations:
case study—descriptive, detailed study of one individual or one group—good for
generating hypotheses, but are limited by reliability and validity
correlational studies—look at degree of relationship between variables,
generate a correlational coefficient ranging between -1.00 and +1.00. Great for
describing the relationship (positive, negative, zero) and strength (magnitude—large
(closer to +1 or -1) or small (closer to zero), and suggest possible risk. However,
correlational studies cannot be used to determine causality.
cross-sectional study–conducted at one point in time
longitudinal study—follow participants over an extended period of time.
experiment—compare at least two groups (experimental and control group).
Independent variable is manipulated to see its effects on the dependent variable.
ex post facto design—quasi-experimental design, can compare groups among
participants who are already naturally grouped according to a subject/participant
variable (rather than randomly assigned to groups), e.g., smokers and nonsmokers can
then be tested in an experiment.
Research methods in epidemiology
-Concepts: prevalence = total number of cases of a disorder in a population at any
given time
Incidence = number of new cases of a disorder in a specified time period
-Observational methods
distinctions between retrospective (case-control) versus prospective
(longitudinal) studies
natural studies
***Be able to identity a particular method based on a description of a study or be able to
give an example of a particular method
Questions regarding a risk factor—know the definition
Know the 7 conditions scientists use to determine risk associated with a factor
(i.e., the likelihood of a factor being a “causal” agent in a disease) even though the
studies are nonexperimental, i.e., the “Risk Factor Approach”. See the lecture slides
for quick review—Brannon et al. provides more details)