Deck 5: Defining, Measuring, and Managing Stress

Question 1

Which chemical substances of the endocrine system serve functions similar to the neurotransmitters of the nervous system?

A) Lymph nodes
B) Hormones
C) Arterioles
D) Efferents

Answer 1

Hormones

Question 2

The autonomic nervous system has two subdivisions:​

A) ​afferents and efferents.
B) ​central and peripheral nervous systems.
C) ​the brain and the spinal cord.
D) ​sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Answer 2

​sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Question 3

The adrenal glands are an important part of the _______ system.​

A) ​cardiovascular
B) ​nervous
C) ​immune
D) ​digestive

Answer 3

​immune

Question 4

The space between neurons is called​

A) ​an interneuron.
B) ​an intraneuron.
C) ​a neurotransmitter.
D) ​the synaptic cleft.

Question 5

Which of the following responses is NOT part of sympathetic nervous system activation?​

A) ​increased heart rate
B) ​increased blood pressure
C) ​increased digestive activity
D) ​decreased salivary activity

Question 6

If the activity level of the sympathetic nervous system increases, the level of activity in the parasympathetic nervous system​

A) ​decreases.
B) ​increases.
C) ​doubles.
D) ​remains constant.

Question 7

The hormone ________ may be responsible for women's stress response being characterized as "tend and befriend" rather than "fight or flight."​

A) ​adrenocorticotropic hormone
B) ​cortisol
C) ​norepinephrine
D) ​oxytocin

Question 8

The sympathetic nervous system​

A) ​is a division of the parasympathetic nervous system.
B) ​mobilizes the body's resources in stressful situations.
C) ​is activated at an elevated rate in the exhaustion stage.
D) ​has the characteristics given in all these descriptions.

Question 9

The term that refers to the body's maintenance of an appropriate level of activation under changing circumstances is​

A) ​"fight or flight" response.
B) ​allostatic load.
C) ​allostasis.
D) ​coping.

Question 10

The endocrine system consists of​

A) ​a system of ducted glands within the digestive system.
B) ​a system of ductless glands in the brain and spinal cord.
C) ​a system of ductless glands distributed throughout the body.
D) ​a system of ducted and ductless glands used for reproduction.

Question 11

The peripheral nervous system is divided into two parts:

A) the afferent and efferent branches.
B) the spinal cord and the brain.
C) the spinal cord and theparasympathetic nervous system.
D) the somatic and autonomic nervous systems.

Question 12

The two principal neurotransmitters of the autonomic nervous system are​

A) ​serotonin and dopamine.
B) ​acetylcholine and norepinephrine.
C) ​epinephrine and dopamine.
D) ​the same as those of the central nervous system.

Question 13

What is the difference between glands of the endocrine and neuroendocrine systems?​

A) ​Glands in the neuroendocrine system are controlled by the nervous system.
B) ​Glands in the endocrine system are controlled by the autonomic nervous system.
C) ​Glands in the neuroendocrine system secrete hormones, but those in the endocrine system do not.
D) ​Glands in the endocrine system secrete hormones, but those in the neuroendocrine system do not.

Question 14

When the physiological stress response has been active for a prolonged amount of time, ______ may occur.​

A) ​allostatic load
B) ​survival
C) ​"fight or flight" response
D) ​coping

Question 15

The central nervous system consists of the​

A) ​heart and the blood vessels.
B) ​brain and the spinal cord.
C) ​brain and the blood vessels.
D) ​somatic and autonomic nervous systems.

Question 16

________, or the wear and tear of the body, may be responsible for a number of health problems, such as high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and decline in cognitive functioning.​

A) ​Allostatic load
B) ​Survival
C) ​"Fight or flight" response
D) ​Coping

Question 17

Individual nerve cells are called​

A) ​synapses.
B) ​protons.
C) ​neurons.
D) ​ganglions.

Question 18

​The adrenal glands are located

A) ​in the midbrain.
B) ​in the forebrain.
C) ​just above the stomach.
D) ​just above the kidneys.

Question 19

The class of chemicals containing epinephrine and norepinephrine is called​

A) ​acetylcholines.
B) ​catecholamines.
C) ​neurotransmitters.
D) ​glucocorticoids.

Question 20

Activation of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system produces ____ in heart rate, and activation of the parasympathetic division produces ____.​

A) ​increases . . . additional increases in heart rate
B) ​increases . . . decreases in heart rate
C) ​decreases . . . increases in blood pressure
D) ​decreases . . . additional decreases in heart rate

Question 21

Which of the following has/have been used to measure stress?

A) Blood pressure
B) Daily hassles scales
C) Self-reports
D) All of these

Question 22

The person(s) who proposed the view of stress as a nonspecific response was​

A) ​Selye.
B) ​Lazarus.
C) ​Dohrenwend.
D) ​Meichenbaum.

Question 23

The revised Hassles and Uplifts Scale​

A) ​asks people to rate everyday events for perceived severity and importance.
B) ​is a longer and more complex instrument than the original Hassles Scale is.
C) ​is less able to predict headaches than the Social Readjustment Rating Scale.
D) ​shows the number of hassles is more important than the severity of hassles.

Question 24

Epinephrine​

A) ​is produced by the pituitary gland.
B) ​is another word meaning norepinephrine.
C) ​is secreted only by the sympathetic nervous system.
D) ​is strongly related to and has been used as an index of stress.

Question 25

According to Lazarus, a person who loses her job but sees the prospect of finding a new job as a challenge would be​

A) ​more vulnerable to stress than someone who saw the event as a threat.
B) ​more likely to reappraise the situation than someone who saw it as a threat.
C) ​less vulnerable to stress than someone who saw the event as a threat.
D) ​less capable of coping than someone who saw the situation more realistically.

Question 26

Instruments that measure stress by quantifying physiological reactions are ordinarily​

A) ​highly reliable.
B) ​highly unreliable.
C) ​valid predictors of physiological illness.
D) ​valid predictors of psychological disorders.

Question 27

Validity is whether an instrument measures what it is supposed to measure; reliability is whether an instrument gets consistent results across administrations. If spouses fill out a self-report measure of stress from their spouse's point of view, and the spouses' scores match closely, we can say that the self-report inventory is​

A) ​valid.
B) ​reliable.
C) ​both valid and reliable.
D) ​neither reliable nor valid.

Question 28

One criticism of Selye's theory of stress is that it emphasizes the ______ factors but largely ignores the influence of _______ factors.​

A) ​external . . . internal
B) ​physical . . . psychological
C) ​psychological . . . individual
D) ​retrograde . . . proactive

Question 29

During periods of extreme stress, the _________ helps mobilize the body's resources for the "fight or flight" response.​

A) ​digestive system
B) ​somatic nervous system
C) ​sympathetic nervous system
D) ​parasympathetic nervous system

Question 30

Which of these is NOT a stage of the General Adaptation Syndrome?

A) Resistance stage
B) Illness stage
C) Exhaustion stage
D) Alarm stage

Question 31

Lazarus and Folkman suggested that stress​

A) ​is a non-specific response.
B) ​is influenced by perception.
C) ​is regarded as transactional.
D) ​is defined with both b and C

Question 32

Lazarus saw stress as stemming from​

A) ​strong emotional reactions to environmental stimuli.
B) ​negative life events.
C) ​positive life events.
D) ​the person's perception of an event.

Question 33

Both Selye's and Lazarus's theories of stress suggest that stress​

A) ​is a response that is non-specific.
B) ​has environmental and personal sources.
C) ​is analogous to a pathogen.
D) ​is characterized by all of these choices.

Question 34

Lazarus's Hassles Scale assumes that​

A) ​stress is an objective environmental stimulus that must be measured objectively.
B) ​physiological instruments are more reliable than self-reports in measuring stress.
C) ​the person's perception of an event is the critical factor in measurement of stress.
D) ​the frequency of a person's everyday hassles is more crucial than their intensity.

Question 35

In recent years, some observers have criticized the "fight or flight" hypothesis on the grounds that ​

A) ​it is contradictory of fundamental common sense.
B) ​it is inconsistent with nonhuman animal behaviors.
C) ​it is valid for adults, but it is not valid for children.
D) ​it is more valid for men than it is valid for women.

Question 36

The Social Readjustment Rating Scale assumes that​

A) ​daily events are more crucial than major life events.
B) ​change in life events is the key for measuring stress.
C) ​only desirable events are valid predictors for stress.
D) ​positive life events tend to decrease levels of stress.

Question 37

Stress has been considered as​

A) ​a stimulus.
B) ​a response.
C) ​interaction of stimulus and response.
D) ​all of these.

Question 38

Several methods have been used to measure stress, but the approach taken by most health psychologists is to use​

A) ​self-report scales.
B) ​performance tests.
C) ​physiological measures.
D) ​estimates by close associates.

Question 39

According to Lazarus, a person's perceived ability to cope with harm or threat would be called​

A) ​primary appraisal.
B) ​secondary appraisal.
C) ​reappraisal.
D) ​vulnerability.

Question 40

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)​

A) ​consists of 105 items that the respondents may have experienced during the past week.
B) ​measures changes in coping responses, as well as daily hassles and major life events.
C) ​measures events in people's lives that they perceive as unpredictable and uncontrollable.
D) ​measures events in people's lives that they perceive as being predictable or controllable.

Question 41

Cataclysmic events, such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, can cause individuals to experience a prolonged stress response and feelings of depression and anxiety, and after such events individuals are often diagnosed with​

A) ​posttraumatic stress disorder.
B) ​social anxiety.
C) ​stomach ulcers.
D) ​migraines.

Question 42

Which of the following is NOT a common source of stress for women?

A) Occupying multiple roles as employees, wives, and mothers
B) Conflicts with their husbands over household work duties
C) Having husbands who are supportive of their career goals
D) Expectations for employed women to do the most child care

Question 43

Amy faces a long commute to college every day, and once there, has difficulty finding parking. These everyday events can be classified as​

A) ​cataclysmic life events.
B) ​major life events.
C) ​daily hassles.
D) ​none of the above.

Question 44

In the past year, Kelly has graduated from college, changed jobs, and bought a house. All of these events can be classified as​

A) ​cataclysmic life events.
B) ​major life events.
C) ​daily hassles.
D) ​none of the above.

Question 45

Life events produce stress by​

A) ​making the affected person's life more unpleasant.
B) ​creating change and requiring adaptation.
C) ​putting people's lives in danger.
D) ​accomplishing all of these.

Question 46

The most stressful occupations are those that offer​

A) ​high demands and low control.
B) ​high demands and high control.
C) ​low demands and low control.
D) ​low demands and high control.

Question 47

The experience of discrimination​

A) ​has been linked to health problems, including cardiovascular disease.
B) ​creates stress, but has little ability to harm physical health.
C) ​creates stress, which harms physical health but has little ability to produce psychological distress.
D) ​occurs mostly in the workplace rather than in the community.

Question 48

During a recent football game, 77,000 people were present in a stadium with a capacity of 73,000. The accumulation of that number of people in a relatively small area would be consistent with Stokols's definition of​

A) ​crowding.
B) ​learned helplessness.
C) ​mob behavior.
D) ​density.

Question 49

Self-report inventories of stress are useful to the extent that​

A) ​they are reliable.
B) ​they predict future illness.
C) ​they include items people actually find stressful.
D) ​they satisfy all of these criteria for being useful.

Question 50

John, a Montana rancher, lives five miles from his nearest neighbor. John's living conditions could be described as​

A) ​dense but not crowded.
B) ​crowded but not dense.
C) ​both crowded and dense.
D) ​neither crowded nor dense.

Question 51

Individuals who live closer to "green spaces" in cities report ___________​

A) ​higher levels of stress.
B) ​worse self-reported health.
C) ​lower levels of stress.
D) ​being victims of crimes, like muggings.

Question 52

Which of these jobs is ordinarily LEAST stressful?

A) Farm worker
B) Waiter or waitress
C) Chief executive officer
D) Construction worker

Question 53

To Lazarus and Folkman, several factors determine a person's ability to cope with an event. Which of these is NOT one such factor?

A) Material resources, like money
B) Believing in positive outcomes
C) Believing one has some control
D) The magnitude of the life event

Question 54

Noise is considered a type of pollution because

A) one person's music is another person's noise.
B) one person's noise is another person's music.
C) it is, by its nature, a loud stimulus.
D) it is a noxious, unwanted stimulus.
​

Question 55

The experiments with rats living in highly crowded cages suggest that​

A) ​overcrowding leads to differences in the social interactions among rats.
B) ​overcrowding causes short life spans for most rats in crowded conditions.
C) ​rats become more fertile, hence leading to even more crowded conditions.
D) ​crowding eventually reduces the population to about 1/10 of its original size.

Question 56

Which of these could be a source of stress?

A) Noise
B) Crowding
C) Air pollution
D) Any of these

Question 57

Discrimination is a source of stress that may increase the risk for _______.​

A) ​cardiovascular disease
B) ​mental health problems
C) ​either/both (a) and/or (b)
D) ​none of these problems

Question 58

When people use strategies to manage the distressing problems in their lives, they are​

A) ​coping.
B) ​becoming more vulnerable to stress.
C) ​dispersing sources of stress.
D) ​in the alarm stage of the GAS.

Question 59

People experience less stress during and after a vacation than before a vacation. However, this "vacation effect" tends to last only

A) three to four days.
B) one week.
C) two weeks.
D) three to four weeks.

Question 60

Stressful events that are so powerful that they affect large numbers of people fit into the category of​

A) ​life events.
B) ​cataclysmic events.
C) ​daily hassles.
D) ​unintentional events.

Question 61

A combination of emotional concern, instrumental aid, information, and appraisal best describes​

A) ​social networks.
B) ​social contacts.
C) ​social support.
D) ​all these things.

Question 62

According to Ellen Langer and Judith Rodin's research about personal control and older people, the degree of control necessary to produce health benefits​

A) ​may be created by decisions about relatively minor matters.
B) ​should include control over decisions about where to live.
C) ​should include having their choice of a personal physician.
D) ​is so extensive that it is not feasible due to safety concerns.

Question 63

The benefits of marriage ________ in terms of health; ___________.​

A) ​are not equal . . . women benefit more than men
B) ​are not equal . . . men benefit more than women
C) ​are almost equal . . . college-educated women have an advantage, but other women do not
D) ​are equal . . . men and women benefit equally

Question 64

_______ is the better coping strategy to deal with chronic stressors, such as discrimination, HIV infection, and diabetes.​

A) ​Problem-focused coping
B) ​Emotion-focused coping
C) ​Avoidance-orientated coping
D) ​Meaning-focused coping

Question 65

The Alameda County Study was the first study to show a strong link between _______ and longevity.​

A) ​self-esteem
B) ​narcissism
C) ​social support
D) ​social isolation

Question 66

Claudia believes that her own health is mostly due to genetics and germs, and she can do very little to improve her health. This attitude is consistent with​

A) ​an internal locus of control.
B) ​an external locus of control.
C) ​a high level of self-efficacy.
D) ​a low level of self-efficacy.

Question 67

Individuals who frequently face situations that offer little control have increased production of ___________.​

A) ​adrenocorticotropic hormone
B) ​cortisol
C) ​norepinephrine
D) ​oxytocin

Question 68

A 2010 large-scale epidemiological survey found that social support improved feelings of physical and psychological health for adults​

A) ​experiencing greater life stress.
B) ​experiencing average life stress.
C) ​experiencing smaller life stress.
D) ​experiencing any level of stress.

Question 69

A study by Ellen Langer and Judith Rodin of nursing home residents showed that older people were more likely to retain good health if they​

A) ​had live, growing plants in their rooms.
B) ​received flowers at least once a week from family members.
C) ​​had more minor control and responsibility in their daily lives.
D) received attention from nursing staff via frequent rearrangement of room furniture.

Question 70

Rather than make a study schedule, Erin spends a lot of time complaining to her roommates about how hard her psychology course is and how worried she is about her grade. Folkman and Lazarus would call this approach​

A) ​reappraisal.
B) ​danger control.
C) ​problem-focused coping.
D) ​emotion-focused coping.

Question 71

Individuals are more likely to use this form of coping when they appraise the situation as controllable.​

A) ​Problem-focused coping
B) ​Emotion-focused coping
C) ​Avoidance-orientated coping
D) ​Meaning-focused coping

Question 72

The _________________ suggests that social support lessens or eliminates the harmful effects of stress.​

A) ​stress-buffering hypothesis
B) ​personal control hypothesis
C) ​tend and befriend hypothesis
D) ​emotion-focused coping hypothesis

Question 73

Research has confirmed that cultural differences in personal coping strategies exist for​

A) ​people from Asian cultures, who are less likely than Westerners to seek social support from families.
B) ​African Americans, who are more likely than European Americans to use emotion-focused coping.
C) ​Hispanic Americans, who are more likely than African Americans to use emotion-focused coping.
D) ​all of these groups, who were found in multiple studies to demonstrate all of these differences.

Question 74

Marty believes that he has control of events that shape his life. Psychologists would say that Marty has high ____________.​

A) ​problem-solving skills
B) ​social support
C) ​free will
D) ​personal control

Question 75

Erin is worried about her grade in a psychology class. To receive her best grade, Erin needs to make and follow a study schedule. Folkman and Lazarus would call this preferred approach:​

A) ​reappraisal.
B) ​danger control.
C) ​problem-focused coping.
D) ​emotion-focused coping.

Question 76

People who are ________ are more likely to use problem-focused coping and adjust their coping strategies to meet the demands of specific situations.​

A) ​pessimistic
B) ​optimistic
C) ​narcissistic
D) ​healthy

Question 77

Phyllis is 65 years old, lives alone, and has no close friends or relatives. Her condition is best described as​

A) ​social isolation.
B) ​widowhood.
C) ​sociopathy.
D) ​socioeconomic deficit.

Question 78

In general, which type of coping strategy is related to good health?

A) Emotion-focused coping
B) Problem-focused coping
C) Avoidant coping
D) Danger control

Question 79

People who experience a trauma, such as losing a loved one, but then can find positive aspects concerning their trauma, often experience better psychological adjustment. This type of coping is:

A) problem-focused coping.
B) emotion-focused coping.
C) avoidance type of coping.
D) meaning-focused coping.

Question 80

People who own a _____ are over eight times more likely to be alive a year after having a heart attack than those who do not own one.

A) bicycle
B) dog
C) pedometer
D) heart monitor