Stress and StressorsThe Steps that Leads to Stress and DefenseAwareness and appraisal of a stressorAttempts to cope with the stress if coping is effective the process is stoppedStress response cognitive component (“I cant deal with this, im stressed out”) or physiological component (increased arousal, such as heart rate and muscle tension)Possible use of defense mechanismsIf the defense is effective stress is reduced but the stressor remains and may cause problems laterDefense MechanismsDenial (redefinition) – ignoring the problem or making excuses for self (rationalizations) bad method because doesn’t solve problemDisplacement – don’t attack or respond to the source of stress you displace it on someone else blame stress or poor performance on other people or things (slamming doors, hitting people, yelling) doesn’t solve underlying problemSuppression (distraction) – ex: watching tv, doing another activity to distract and ignore stressRepression – “forget”Other Factors in the Control of StressSocial Support, Counseling and psychotherapy – gives emotional support to deal with stressWriting About Stress– you sitting with a piece of paper writing about your stress people who write about their stress showed greater reductions in their stress rather than those who didn’t begin writing about problems but then eventually start writing possible solutions to their problemsAerobic Exercise – those who are aerobically fit can use oxygen more efficiently than those who aren’t relieving stressMeditation and Biofeedback – electronic form of autogenic trainingInfluence of Genetic on StressorsStress, Your Brain and Your BehaviorStress –Causes increase in production of cholesterolwhen you become stressed you produce more cholesterol connection between heart and brainneed cholesterol – used to protect cellsstress is a protective actionType A PersonalityCharacterized by hostility, competitiveness, time urgencyGenesMore like their identical twins than their fraternal twins even if identical twins are raised apart they have very similar personalitiesChildren and their parents biological parents and their adoptive children are very different from eachother but biological parents and real children are very similarGenes are specifically related to lots of traits addiction, aggression etc. Rest of personality is determined by environment and errors of measurement (unknown factors)Said that genes account for 50% of personality, 30% to environment and 20% to errors of measurementMediating variable is neurotransmitters ex: low levels of serotonin more likely to be depressedPeople with history of depression are more likely to be depressed themselvesHormonesSubstances that secrete from different organs in the bodyTestosterone – men, people who commit crimes high levels of testosterone can cause hostilityLevel of Hormones that mother is producing and carrying while pregnant influence your development influences personality and levels of hormone later in lifeTransgender disorder – person is one sex and knows what that sex it but feels like member of other sex due to cross sex hormone exposure during early stage (brain development in mothers womb) meaning male is exposed to high levels of estrogen in womb or female is exposed to high levels of testosterone in womb due to mothers hormone levelsTests3 TypesMMPI paper pencil multiple choice test 555 questions looked to see how people with different characteristics or disorders responded to questions differently can score disorders like schizophreniaTAT – thematic apperception test – people tell stories about pictures they see determining how you perceive other people and interpersonal relationships (in a positive or negative way) useless and is not used anymore because test can be fakes easilyWarshawk – series of ink blots and must tell what they see in ink blots look for “is what the person sees justified by the actual nature of the blob” if form is bad then determine that person does not see in reality which fit their personalities test is useless, does not tell anything about consciousness or unconsciousness unless it is really extreme caseThe Concept of IntelligenceSpecific Abilities Versus General IntelligenceIndividual intelligence (Abilities intelligence)General intelligence – reflection of underlying neurological factors how fast it is you can process informationOne of best measures of intelligence is speed of reaction time very highly correlated with IQ -->> measure of how specific brain worksAnother measure is how good one is at general problem solvingSpecific Abilities (Primary Mental Abilities)General IntelligenceSpeed of Neural ProcessingUse of Problem-Solving StrategiesCrystallized Versus Fluid IntelligenceCrystallized is knowledge you have like how many days there are in a week will always be thereFluid is more of a problem solving ability and can slip away over time as you get older you tend to lose your fluid intelligenceSocial and Emotional IntelligenceSocial – knowing how to interact with other people and the rules of the game good social intelligence allows people to not act rudely or foolishly key to success because must have people skillsEmotional – your knowledge of yourself, your emotions known you are volatile in some situations or excited in others, your aware of that and will avoid situations in which you will not function wellPeople with delayed gratification go farther in life because they are less impulsiveThe Measurement of IntelligenceA Brief History of Intelligence TestingSelecting Students for Remedial HelpScreening Immigrants for Exclusion – when people from all countries wanted to come in the US started giving tests so dumb people couldn’t come in problem was that questions were US specific cultural questions like what does a tennis court look like that other cultures may not knowDevelopment of New TestsACT/SAT – measuring knowledge on different subjectsIndividual TestsBasic Requirements for a Good Intelligence TestReliabilityValidityScores and NormsCriterion RelevanceTypes of Intelligence TestsIndividual Tests – sit down with person and asked intelligence questions along with puzzles puzzles measuring ability to look for relations tester gets to watch you work and can pick things up by watching which often makes people nervous and causes
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