SUMMARY OF STRESS

PATHWAYSSympathomedullary PathwayStressorHypothalamusSympathetic Branch of the ANSAdrenal MedullaAdrenaline and NoradrenalineFight or Flight response

STRESS EFFECTS ON THE IMMUNE SYSTEMKiecolt-Glaser et alA: To see how stress of important examinations affects the immune systemP: Used 75 medical student volunteers in their first year in a longitudinal natural study.Gave students questionnaires to examine personality traits such as loneliness and depression and life events, as well as taking blood samples to measure t-cell activity in the blood (a cell responsible for the immune system).Measurements were took one month before exams (low stress) and during exams (high stress)F: Blood taken before final exams contained more t-cell activity in the blood than during final examinations.Immune responses are especially weak in those reporting to feel most lonely and those experiencing life events or other psychiatric symptomsC: The stress of examinations has an effect on the functioning of the immune system, as proven by a decreased level of t-cell activity in the blood.

High ecological validity (natural experiment) however no control over extraneous variables Questionnaires account for non-biological factors Ethnocentric all American students from the same university Demand characteristics may alter their response on questionnaires

Pituitary Adrenal SystemStressorHypothalamusCRFPituitary GlandACTHAdrenal CortexCorticosteroidsInhibits the immune system which leads to stress symptoms (sweat/increased heart rate)

LIFE EVENTS AND STRESS RELATED ILLNESSHolmes and Rahe et alA: To see if the stress of life events is correlated with illnessP: Used 2500 US naval servants from the in a longitudinal study of six months.Measured their life events with a Life Changing Unit (LCU) and compared it with their health records and used correlational analysis.F: Found a slight positive correlation of +.12C: Experiencing life events may predict the chances of developing stress related illness

Internal validity measured what it set out to measure Social desirability bias some people may not want to admit they are experiencing certain life events Individual differences people react differently to stress so you cant say they will guaranteed to become unwell Cause & effect - correlation does not prove causation

DAILY HASSLES AND UPLIFTSKanner et alA: To see if daily hassles and uplifts scale was more accurate in predicting stress than a life events scaleP: 100 white, well-educated and financially comfortable participants selected from a previous study of 7000.Each participant assessed once a month for 10 months in a longitudinal study on a daily hassles and uplifts scale using questionnaires.Used a life events scale similar to SRRS, Hopkins symptoms checklist and Bradburn Morale Scale.F: The hassles scale was a better predictor of psychological symptoms than life even scores, even when life event scores were removed, hassles score still significantUplifts were positively correlated to women but NOT menC: Daily hassles are a more valid way of predicting stress than life events

Longitudinal study gives more reliable data rich in detail Ecological validity study as a natural experiment so ecological validity is high, however lack of control on extraneous variables Demand characteristics & Social Desirability Bias - questionnaires

STRESS IN THE WORKPLACEMarmot et alA: To see how job control affected stress related illnessP: Studied 3000 Whitehall civil servants measuring job control using self-report questionnaires and levels of stress related illnessF: Found that job control and stress related illnesses are negatively correlated.People with low job control are four times more likely to die of a heart attack C: Lack of control may lead to stress related illness

Longitudinal study can identify change of behaviour over time Cause & effect correlation doesnt prove causation Ethnocentric to use 3000 civil servants all in the same conditions

Johansson et alA: To see if work stressors increased the chance of stressP: Studied 14 finishers in a Swedish mill whose work demanded a lot of attention and was highly repetitive (high stress) and 10 cleaners (low stress)Took urine samples on work and rest days to measure adrenaline and noradrenaline along with ratings of their moodsF: Swedish finishers had higher levels of stress related hormones than cleaners, even on rest days.Finishers secreted more stress related hormones on work days than rest, and had higher rate of illnessC: A combinations of work stressors lead to psychological arousal of stress

Objective quantitative data easy to analyse and replicate, therefore reliable Doesnt identify which stressors have the greatest effect Individual differences arent accounted for, may have other stressors besides work

PERSONALITY TYPES AND STRESSType A Competitiveness and achievement striving Impatience and time urgency Hostility and aggressivenessType B Patient Relaxed Easy-goingType X A mix of the A and B personalitiesRosenhan & FriedmanA: To test how different types of personalities affect the likelihood of coronary heart disease (CHD)P: 3000 30-59 year old American males assessed to determine personality types, and re-evaluated in 8 years in a longitudinal studyF: Found after 8 years 257 had developed CHD, 70% of which had a Type A personality.Type B had half the rate of CHD to Type A.C: Type A personalities are at higher risk to stress related illnesses such as CHD.

Longitudinal study lots of data over time, can identify any other factors causing stress Population validity large sample makes it easier to generalise, however all American males makes it ethnocentricHARDINESS PERSONALITYHardy Personalities (Three Cs) High level of Commitment Enjoy a Challenge Have a strong feeling of ControlView change as a positive rather than a negative, whereas non-hardy personalities are unable to cope with change.Hardiness Personalities Maddi et alA: To investigate Hardiness personalitiesP: Used employees from a US phone company that was reducing the size of its workforce over a yearF: Two thirds of employees suffered stress related illness over this period, but the remaining third thrived. They are thought to show evidence of hardy personalities.C: Hardy personalities can cope better with stressful situations

Hardiness Training Maddi and KobasaIn an aim to increase self-confidence and self-control, they created a three stage approach to hardiness personality training. Focusing people taught to recognise biological triggers of stress and to identify the source Reliving stress encounters client receives stressful encounters and helped to analyse situations Self-improvement insights gained can now be used in real life to deal with stressThe concluded that people must first address basic aspects of personality because it is difficult to modify habits.

TREATMENTS FOR STRESS

PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTSStress Inoculation Therapy (SIT)Developed by Michenbaun and Cameron, is a form of CBT as we change the way we think about the stressorConceptualisation: The therapist and client establish a relationship, the client is encouraged to talk about previous stressful situations and how they felt.Client is also taught about impacts of stress.Skills acquisition: Client is taught coping skills and gradually rehearsed, encouraged to use in real life.Skills are tailored to each client.Application: Client applies their newly taught skills in real life situations.Contact with the therapist is maintained so that the client can maintain avoiding stress.Follow up sessions are made so that the client is supported.

Creates active patient person is responsible for practicing techniques and handling their own recoveryTreats the cause of the problem Treatment is time consuming and expensive to use a therapist Individual differences not everyone will react to this treatment as you have to have a lot of motivation

BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTSBetablockers (BBs)Reduces the activity of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the brain (part of the Sympathomedullary pathway)Binds to beta receptors on the cells of the heart, causing the heart to beat more slowly with less force, which results in a fall in blood pressure and less stress on the heart

Benzodiazepines (BZs)Slows down the activity of the central nervous systemIncreases the amount of GABA receptors on the outside of receiving neurons which increases the amount of chloride ions, making the person feel more relaxed as it makes it harder for other chemicals to stimulate the neuron

Only treats the symptoms not the cause so inappropriate Clients may build tolerance if taken over a long period of time so then become ineffective Drugs include side effects, for example BZs have a sedative effect so can lead to drowsiness, therefore inappropriate for day use

SUMMARY OF ABNORMALITY

DEFINITIONS OF ABNORMALITYFailure to function adequatelyA person is considered abnormal if they cannot function in day to day life, e.g. not able to get up and dress themselves in the morning. Physical illness or disability would prevent someone being able to dress themselves

Deviation from social normsA person is considered abnormal if they do not comply with what is socially acceptable Cultural relativism different cultures have different opinions on what is socially acceptableHistorical validity social norms change over timeSubjective to what is normal and what is not

Deviation from ideal mental healthHaving to meet all 6 points of Jahodas ideal mental health Self-attitudes (high self-esteem) Personal growth and self-actualisation Integration (coping mechanism) Autonomy (independence) Accurate perception of reality Mastery of the environment (ability to love and have personal relationships) Strict criteria cant always meet all six points at any one time, for example a woman with PMS may not have high self-esteem one day but would the next Deterministic does not allow a person to have any control over how they feel and still be normal BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ABNORMALITYCan be caused by four points:Infection: Some bacterial or viral infections may lead to a cluster of psychological symptoms called a syndrome, such as untreated syphilis can lead to progressive paralysis and dementiaGenetics: Zimbardo found a concordance rate of 48% in monozygotic (MZ) twins and 17% in dizygotic (DZ) twins in Schizophrenia, showing abnormalities can be passed down through familiesBiochemistry: The role of neurotransmitters in developing abnormalities, for example an excess of dopamine in the brain can lead to schizophrenia (dopamine hypothesis)Brain Damage: Conditions such as Alzheimers disease are thought to deteriorate part of the brain and its functioning.Also thought that alcohol abuse can lead to memory disturbances and confusion

Empirical evidence good scientific evidence from epidemiological and physiological studies to support the roles of factors Reductionist reduces behaviour down to a purely biological basis and doesnt account for environmental factors Deterministic doesnt allow for the individual to have any control over their abnormality as it is all down to biology which they cannot alter

PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH TO ABNORMALITYBased on Freud, abnormality is caused by unresolved childhood conflicts and the unconscious mind

Tripartite theory of personalityEgo: the real self, develops around age twoSuperego: the moral part of self which develops around age 4/5, arises from learning what is right and wrongId: present at birth, focuses on pleasure and what we truly want. Prompts selfish and infantile behaviours

Psychosexual stages of developmentOral: the child gains pleasure from putting things in their mouths (0-1 years)Anal: the child gains pleasure from excreting faeces (1 - 3 years)Phallic: The child becomes fascinated by their genitals, and believe the opposite sex parent is their rival to gain the same sex parents attention, and fears they will castrate them (3-6 years)Latency: The sexual drive disappears from the unconscious mind until puberty (6puberty)Genital: The sexual drive reappears, usually focused on the opposite sex (puberty)

Ego defence mechanismsRepression: prevents unacceptable desires and thoughts from escaping the unconscious mindProjection: when peoples unacceptable faults are wishes are put on to someone elseDenial: when people refuse to believe events or to admit they are experiencing certain emotionsRegression: Reverting back to a childlike state Displacement: diverting emotions onto someone else because the repressed emotions cannot be expressed to the person concernedSublimation: diverting emotions onto something else

Deterministic involves childhood experiences of which we have no control, stage approach meaning we have to go through each stage to be normal Unfalsifiable theory based on case studies, cant be proved Subjective people have different opinions on abnormality COGNITIVE APPROACH TO ABNORMALITYAbnormality is caused by faulty thinking

Ellis ABC ModelA: Activating event (sight of a dog)B: Negative Belief (think the dog will hurt you)C: Consequence (phobia of the dog)

Becks cognitive triadErrors in logic depressed people draw illogical conclusions when they evaluate their behaviourCognitive Triad Negative views about the futureNegative views about the worldNegative views about oneself

Examples of irrational thoughts:Polarized thinking seeing everything as black & whiteOvergeneralization sweeping generalisation from a single eventCatastrophizing making a mountain out of a molehill (massively over exaggerating)

Approach is based on personal opinion by researchers, cant say which opinions are appropriate and lacks scientific evidence Does not state whether faulty thinking is the cause or a consequence of abnormality Places blame on the participant for having faulty thought processes

BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO ABNORMALITYClassical conditioningLearning through associationLittle Albert (case study) became fearful of rats by associating the sight of a rat with a loud startling noise

Operant ConditioningLearning through rewards and consequencesOne example is addiction, where someone may become addicted to smoking as they receive the positive rewards of stress relief, and make a rational choice to continue smoking even though it comes with negative consequences of health risks.Also if a person wanted to quit smoking they would experience withdrawal symptoms, thus making them addicted.

Social Learning Theory (SLT)Behaviour learned through the environment and role modelsEating disorders may be glamourized in the media as models used are very skinny, and so people may want to look like them and also become skinny, and so develop an eating disorder through the influence of role models.

Reductionist behaviour can only be learned through conditioning, doesnt account for biological factors such as dopamine levels which may lead to the development of Schizophrenia Deterministic takes away free will of teaching yourself something as you must learn through conditioning or SLT, may affect treatment diagnosis Comparative research a lot of evidence collected in for the behavioural approach is done on animals, cant be generalised

TREATMENTS FOR ABNORMALITY

BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTSDrug TherapyAntipsychotics: Block the D2 receptor for dopamine, which prevents hallucinations and delusionsAnti-anxiety drugs: Benzodiazepines (BZs) enhance the effects of the neurotransmitter GABA, which prevents other chemicals stimulating neurons and has a sedative effect on the brain causing a fall in anxiety

Patients may become addicted to drugs as they know it helps them to feel better Side effects drug treatments have side effects such as Parkinsons disease

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)Patient is administered a muscle relaxer, then given small shocks from 70-130V through their brain for a few seconds.Unknown why this treatment works.

Sackheim found 70% of patients improved after having ECT, however 84% of which relapsed after 6 months Side effects can include memory impairment, headaches and cardiovascular changes

PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTSPsychoanalysisBrings repressed impulses and traumatic memories into conscious memories to try and solve abnormal behaviourDream analysis: Clients recall their dreams to a psychoanalyst, so that they are then analysed as Freud believes the ids instinctual urges are more freely expressed in a dreamFree association: The client is encouraged to talk freely whilst the psychoanalyst looks for patterns that exist in the unconscious mind (mentioning your father often would indicate an underlying issue)Transference: The client projects their thoughts on to the psychoanalyst, specifically characteristics that are associated with parents and other important people (word association)

Little Hans (case study) developed a phobia of horses during the phallic stage of development, which Freud states is caused by anxiety of having oedipal desires towards the mother and being scared that the father will find out.Freud met Hans so that he became consciously aware of his phobia and made a good recovery.

Side effects the treatment does not have any side effects as it only deals with mental capabilities Time consuming the process of going through a psychoanalyst is time consuming and expensive Case study lacks generalizability, lack of empirical evidence to support treatment

PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTSSystematic Desensitisation Wolpe said any behaviour can be unlearned or modified by changing the stimulus-response connections.SD uses counter conditioningRelaxation techniques: The client is taught Deep Muscle Relaxation (DMR) techniques, and is tailored to suit the clientDesensitisation Hierarchy: With the help of the therapist, the client builds a hierarchy of their phobia, starting small for example a photo of the phobia building up gradually to being in contact with it. The client uses DMR techniques at each stage in the hierarchy.

Creates an active patient as the client has control over their phobia and can be as slow or fast in progressing through stages as they like Effectiveness McGrath found SD is effective in 75% of patients with a phobia and Albucher found 60-90% effectiveness in those with OCD Psychological harm if client goes through treatment too quickly they may suffer from permanent psychological damageCognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)Aims to turn an irrational thought process into a rational oneRational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)Ellis proposed the ABC model can be used to turn an irrational process into a rational oneActivating event: Friend passes you but doesnt say helloBelief: Irrational theyre ignoring meRational must be in a hurryConsequence: Irrational - I will ignore them next time I see themRational Ill call them to check theyre okayThe therapist then works with the client to turn irrational thought process into positive, rational ones.The client is also given homework tasks to practice their therapy in real life.

Creates an active patient as the client has full control over their recovery Time consuming CBT requires a lot of time and persistence, as well as motivation from the client which all not people are prepared forUsually used with drug therapy so that the patient eventually overcomes the root cause whilst also having symptoms treated by drugs.

SUMMARY OF SOCIAL INFLUENCES

CONFORMITY TO A MAJORITY INFLUENCE The tendency to change our behaviour/attitudes in response to the influence of others or social pressuresAsch et alA: To see if humans conformed to a social majority P: Lab experiment using 4 confederates and 2 volunteer participants (white American males) in each group.Participants were decepted and told it was an eye test. Shown a standard line test and asked to verbally say which two lines matched.18 trials were carried out, 12 of which confederates purposely said the wrong answer.F: Participants conformed 37.5% of the time overall and 75% of participants conformed at least once.When interviewed after participants said they conformed to avoid ridicule.C: People are more likely to conform when they have to say their views aloud

Ecological validity - study was conducted in a laboratory setting and so had high control of extraneous variables Ethnocentric used only white American males in the study, cant be generalised Ethics participants were decepted as they were not told the true aim of the study

CONFORMITY TO A MINOR INFLUENCEMoscovici et al (may also be used for social change)A: To see if people conformed to a minority influenceP: Tested 32 groups of 6 women, with 2 confederates and 4 participantsGroups were shown slides with varying colours of blue on and participants were asked to state what colour it wasConfederates purposely said greenF: Participants agreed with the majority on 8% of the trials, and 32% conformed at least onceWhen confederates were inconsistent with responses, participants only agreed 1.25% of the timeC: Supports the aim of the experiment, however findings are not consistentConsistency is an important factor in influencing a social change

Ecological validity lab study means high control of extraneous variables and so not as applicable to real life situation Reliability findings were inconsistent with conformity, so may lack reliability

OBEDIENCECompliance to an order by an authoritative figureMilgram et alA: To see how far people will go to obeyP: 40 male participants from advertisement, told study would be about how punishment affects learning, each paid $4.50Included 2 confederates on each trial, one would be the learner (Receiving the electric shock) and one would be the authoritative figureParticipants were always drawn to be teachers, and so were told to administer an increasing electric shock every time the learner got something wrong.Electric shocks went up to 300V, at which point the learner pretended to have died.Participants were prompted to continue by the authoritative figure.F: 65% of participants continued to 450V, the absolute maximum voltage, and all participants went to 300V (the deadly voltage)Only 3 people stopped at 300VC: People obey authority even when they know it is morally wrong

Ethics - psychological harm as some participants may have suffered distress whilst going through the trial, and were also decepted Ecological validity unrealistic situation and in a lab Population validity Milgram used only white American males, cant be generalised

SOCIAL INFLUENCESNormative Social Influence (Compliance)Changing your views because you want to be liked and accepted by society; however you still have your own separate opinion.Normative influence and smoking In an anti-smoking campaign aimed at 12-17 year olds in 7 counties in Montana, where people were told that most children didnt smoke, Linkenbach and Perkins found that only 10% of non-smokers began smoking following the campaign, compared to 17% that did in other counties.An overall difference of 41% between counties who were shown the campaign and counties that were not.

Informational Social Influence (Internalisation)Changing your views because you want to be right and adapting your own beliefs.Fein et al showed how judgements of others in a political broadcast can influence points of view. Participants were shown a video of a political debate whilst being shown others peoples judgements, which overall produced large shifts in the judgements by participants of candidates performances.WHY DO PEOPLE OBEY?Gradual commitment People find it hard to draw the line as to where they should stop when the consequences are increased graduallyMILGRAM using shocks only increasing by 15V at a time meant people did not know where to draw the line, had the participants been asked to administer one big shock it would be less likely they would obeyREAL LIFE Nazi soldiers may have gradually committed from verbal abuse to physical abuse towards Jews

Agentic shift Responsibility is placed on to someone else so the person will not be in trouble for their actions MILGRAM participants were encouraged to go on and the researcher would take blame for any harm that came to the learnersREAL LIFE Nazi soldiers defended their actions by saying they were just following orders

Role of buffers By not being able to see the consequences you feel less responsible for the actionsMILGRAM Obedience rates were highest when the victim was in a different room and the researcher was in the room with themREAL LIFE Nazi soldiers did not think about their consequences as Jews were placed in a room and killed so it was not direct contact.

LOCUS OF CONTROLInternal what happens to you is largely a consequence of your own ability or effortRotter believed that these individuals are more resistant to social pressure as they believe they have a free choice.External what happens to you is controlled by external factors such as luck.These individuals are also less likely to accept responsibility for their actions.

Deman et al - Males have been found to be more internal than females, showing gender differencesMcGuinness - found Japanese people are more external than people in the USA and Australia, showing cultural differences

RESISTING PRESSURES TO CONFORMDesire for individualisation desire to maintain a sense of individuality sometimes outweighs the pressure to conformPrior commitment once people publicly commit themselves to a position, they are less likely to change their opinionRole of allies having an ally may aid resisting pressure as the person is no longer facing a unanimous majority Time to think Zimbardo advises that people should take time to engage in critical thinking to avoid mindless conformity to the majority

RESISTING PRESSURES TO OBEYQuestioning the motives and status of authority questioning the legitimacy of authority might increase resistance as people believe they do not have to obey to someone with low authorityDisobedient models seeing others refuse to obey instructions increases chances that someone will Reeling responsible and empathetic people may resist authority when they believe someone may be hurt or in distress and so take an empathetic response, as in Milgrams study

SOCIAL CHANGEAugmentation PrincipleThe principle that when people suffer for their views, other people will start to take notice of what they are doing E.g. the Suffragettes

Snowball EffectAn idea builds gradually with small significance and gets biggerE.g. Recycling

ConsistencyWhen the minority is consistent so that the initially dismissive majority begin to take their position more seriouslyIntra-individual consistency where the individual members of the minority maintain a consistent position over timeInter-individual consistency where there is agreement among the different members of the minority