Deck 12: Section 5: Stress, Health, and Coping

Question 1

According to psychologist Shelley Taylor, the hormone _____ is higher in females than males and may promote the _____ response to threats.

A)oxytocin; tend-and-befriend
B)cortisol; fight-or-flight
C)catecholamines; tend-and-befriend
D)oxytocin; fight-or-flight

Answer 1

oxytocin; tend-and-befriend

Question 2

Mary has a large and diverse network of social relationships. She may be potentially vulnerable to some of the problematic aspects of social support because:

A)women in general are more likely than men to suffer from the stress contagion effect.
B)women with many different types of relationships are less likely than men to become upset about what happens to their friends and relatives.
C)women with diverse social networks tend to rely on a close relationship with their spouse, place less importance on relationships with other people, and are therefore less prone to the stress contagion effect.
D)women with diverse social networks experience greater susceptibility to infections, cardiovascular disease, and stroke than those who have smaller social networks.

Answer 2

women in general are more likely than men to suffer from the stress contagion effect.

Question 3

According to Critical Thinking: Do Personality Factors Cause Disease?, which of the following is personality traits is LEAST likely to be associated with poor health habits?

A)high extraversion
B)high sensation seeking
C)low sensation seeking
D)low conscientiousness

Answer 3

low sensation seeking

Question 4

The _____ system produces specialized white blood cells that defend the body from viruses, bacteria, and tumor cells.

A)immune
B)sympathetic nervous
C)endocrine
D)parasympathetic nervous

Question 5

Gertrud participated in a research study at her nursing home where she was given many choices over her daily activities, including what to eat, which activities to attend, and so forth. According to research by Judith Rodin and Ellen Langer, Gertrud is likely to:

A)become ill because of the increased stress associated with having to make so many decisions.
B)be healthier than nursing-home residents in a matched control group who were not given the opportunity to make choices about their daily activities.
C)change her coping style from emotion focused to problem focused.
D)suffer from stress contagion effect because of difficulties adapting to her new living conditions.

Question 6

Regarding the Type A behavior pattern, most health psychologists today would agree that:

A)the Type A behavior pattern has little or no relationship with physical health.
B)competitiveness and achievement motivation seem to be strongly linked to the development of heart disease.
C)a sense of hostility is strongly linked to the development of heart disease, while time urgency, competitiveness, and achievement motivation are not.
D)competitiveness and time urgency are strongly linked to poorer immune system function, while hostility seems to be linked only to the risk of psychological problems, such as major depressive disorder.

Question 7

According to Martin Seligman, people who exhibit a(n) _____ explanatory style are more likely to _____.

A)pessimistic; experience the stress contagion effect
B)optimistic; use internal, stable, and global explanations for negative events
C)pessimistic; use external, unstable, and specific explanations for negative events
D)optimistic; be healthier and persist despite setbacks

Question 8

A PET-scan study that was featured in Focus on Neuroscience: The Mysterious Placebo Effect demonstrated that a placebo painkiller:

A)does not relieve pain and does not seem to affect brain regions.
B)relieves pain but activates different brain areas than genuine painkillers.
C)actually increases the sensation of pain.
D)activates the same brain areas as genuine painkillers.

Question 9

Prolonged stress, or chronic stress, triggers the production of _____ by the _____.

A)corticosteroids; adrenal cortex
B)adrenocorticotropic hormones (ACTH); adrenal medulla
C)catecholamines; adrenal medulla
D)adrenaline and noradrenaline; adrenal cortex

Question 10

The _____ coping strategy is primarily aimed at directly changing or managing a threatening or harmful stressor.

A)emotion-focused
B)problem-focused
C)Type A
D)Type C

Question 11

_____ is an enzyme that has the capacity to add DNA to shortened telomeres, rebuilding and extending the length of telomeres.

A)Monamine oxidase
B)Cortisol
C)Insulin
D)Telomerase

Question 12

The discovery that the immune system could be affected by psychological processes, such as classical conditioning, launched the field of:

A)health psychology.
B)psychoneuroimmunology.
C)immunology.
D)microaggressions.

Question 13

Angie's husband Hal was badly injured in a motorcycle accident. For the first few weeks after the accident, Angie spent virtually every waking hour at the hospital as Hal hovered between life and death in intensive care. Angie seemed to be handling the stress well. At this point, Angie is probably in the:

A)the alarm stage of the fight-or-flight response.
B)exhaustion stage of the general adaptation syndrome.
C)resistance stage of the general adaptation syndrome.
D)resistance stage of the fight-or-flight response.

Question 14

According to the text, which pattern of adaptation describes a person who lacks cultural and psychological contact with both her traditional cultural group and her new, adopted culture?

A)assimilation
B)separation
C)integration
D)marginalization

Question 15

According to _____, the _____ response is adaptive and increases the chances of survival when an organism is threatened.

A)Hans Selye; stress contagion
B)Robert Ader; classically conditioned
C)Janice Kiecolt-Glaser; psychoneuroimmunological
D)Walter Cannon; fight-or-flight

Question 16

When you are confronted with a threatening event, you will experience stress if:

A)the event or situation rates above 75 life event units on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale.
B)you think you are unable to cope with the event or situation.
C)you use external, unstable, and specific explanations for the threatening event or situation.
D)you lack social support.

Question 17

According to Table 12.1: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale, which of the following life changes would receive the HIGHEST number of life event units?

A)a change in residence
B)the death of a close friend
C)divorce
D)marriage

Question 18

According to the text, which of the following is the BEST definition of stress?

A)a frustrating or extremely negative situation
B)annoying or challenging circumstances, including everyday hassles or minor problems
C)a negative emotional state that occurs when events are perceived as exceeding a person's resources or ability to cope
D)the alarm stage of the general adaptation syndrome, as defined by Hans Selye

Question 19

After Clarissa broke her foot during a karate tournament, her friend Emma drove her to the clinic for doctor's appointments, brought her home-cooked meals and groceries, helped her make up the class work she'd missed, and called her at least once a day just to keep Clarissa's spirits up. Emma is:

A)providing informational social support.
B)providing tangible AND emotional social support.
C)demonstrating the tend-and-befriend response.
D)probably suffering from the stress contagion effect because she is using an emotion-focused coping strategy to help her friend.

Question 20

_____ is guided by the biopsychosocial model of health, illness, and well-being.

A)Clinical psychiatry
B)Health psychology
C)Psychoneuroimmunology
D)Developmental psychology

Question 21

Lisa and Xavier are both middle-aged people who are under a great deal of stress. Which of the following statements about Lisa and Xavier is TRUE?

A)Xavier is more likely than Lisa to avoid his problems.
B)Lisa is more likely than Xavier to seek out social support.
C)Lisa is more likely than Xavier to engage in confrontive coping.
D)Xavier and Lisa are equally likely to turn to alcohol to cope.

Question 22

Kahlid is a clinical psychologist. When he sees patients who are under high levels of stress, Dr. Kahlid often uses a technique in which he helps his patients to focus their awareness on present experience with acceptance. Dr. Kahlid is using:

A)mindfulness meditation.
B)free association.
C)cognitive reappraisal.
D)emotion-focused coping.

Question 23

People in collectivistic cultures tend to use _____, and people in individualistic cultures tend to use _____.

A)problem-focused coping strategies; emotion-focused coping strategies
B)distancing as a way of coping; positive reappraisal as a way of coping
C)planful problem-solving coping strategies; escape-avoidance coping strategies
D)emotion-focused coping strategies; problem-focused coping strategies