Psych 101 Chapter 6

Laboratory procedure whereby an individual goes through moderately stressful procedures (such as counting backwards rapidly by 7s), so that stress-related changes in emotions and physiological and/or neuroendocrine processes may be assessed.

Performance and attentional decrements that occur after a stressful event has subsided; believed to be produced by the residual physiological, emotional, and cognitive draining in response to stressful events

Accumulating adverse effects of stress, in conjunction with preexisting risks, on biological stress regulatory systems

Stressful experience that is a usual but continually stressful aspect of life

Minor daily stressful events; believed to have a cumulative effect in increasing the likelihood of illness

Response to threat in which body is rapidly aroused and motivated via the sympathetic nervous system and endocrine system to attack or flee a threatening stimulus; the response was first desrcibed by Walter Cannon (1932)

Developed by Hans Selye, a profile of how organisms respond to stress; the general adaptation syndrome is characterized by three phases: a nonspecific mobilization phase, which promotes sympathetic nervous system activity; a resistance phase, during which the organism makes efforts to cope with the threat; and an exhaustion phase, which occurs if the organism fails to overcome the threat and depletes its physiological resources.

-Early research on stress examind how an organism mobilizes its resources to fight or flee from threatening stimuli (the figh-or-flight response). Building on this model, Selye propsed the general adaptation syndrome, arguing that reactions to stress go through three phases: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. Recent efforts have focused on social responses to stress--that is, the ways in which people tend-and-befriend others in times of stress

The perception that an event is stressful independent of its objective characteristics

Degree to which the needs and resources of a person and the needs and resources of an environment complement each other

Syndrome that results after exposure to stressor of extreme magnitude, marked by emotional numbing, the reliving of aspects othe trauma, intense responses to other stressful events, and other symptoms, such as hyperalertness, sleep disturbance, guilt, or impaired memory or concentration

Perception of new or changing environment as beneficial, neutral, or negative in its consequences; believed to be a first step in stress and coping

-Whether an event is stressful depends on how it is appraised. Events that are negative, uncontrollable or unpredictable, ambiguous, overwhelming, and threatening to central life tasks are especially likely to be perceived as stressful

Predisposition to react physiologiclaly to stress; believed to be genetically based in part; high reactivity is believed to be a risk factor for a range of stress-related diseases

Conflict that occurs when two or more social or occupational roles that an individual occupies produce conflicting standards for behavior

-Combining multiple roles, such as those related to work and home life, can create role conflict and role overload, producing psychological distress and poor health. On the other hand, such role combinations may enhance self-esteem and well-being. Which of these effects occurs depends, in large part, on available resources, such as time, money, social support, and help

Assessment of one's coping abilities and resources and the judgement as to whether they will be sufficient to meet the harm, threat, or challenge of a new or changing event

Appraising events as harmful, threatening, or challenging, and assessing one's capacity to respond to those events; events that are perceived to tax or exceed one's resources are seen as stressful

-Events are perceived as stressful when people believe that their resources (such as time, money, and energy) may not be sufficient to meet the harm, thret, or challenge of the environment. Stress produces many changes, including adverse emotional reactions, cognitive responses, physiological changes, and performance decrements

-The physiology of stress implicates the sympathetic adrenomedullary (SAM) system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Over long term, repeated activation of these systems can lead to cumulative damage, termed allostatic load, which represent the premature physiological aging that stress produces

-Studies of occupational stress suggest that work hazards, work overload, work pressure, role conflict and ambiguity, inability to develop satisfying job relationships, inabiltiy to exert control in one's job, and unemployment can lead to increased illness, job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover. Some of these job stresses can be prevented or offset through intervention