CHAPTER 14.1 and 14.2 READING GUIDE:
Name: ____________________________
The Nature of Stress/Responding to Stress
1. Briefly summarize the relationship between the emergence of the biopsychosocial model and that
of health psychology as a new specialty in psychology.
2. ‘Why would minor hassles be so troublesome’?
Figure 14.1: What is the
connection between the three
diseases in red on the chart and
the subject of this chapter?
__________________________
__________________________
3. What are two factors in the experience of feeling stressed? Briefly distinguish the difference
between the primary and secondary appraisals of stress.
4. Give an example of approach-approach conflict and the
type of stress generally involved. Do the same for
avoidance-avoidance conflict.
Figure 14.2: Based on the idea of
primary and secondary appraisal, what
two factors make a situation stressful?
_________________________________
_________________________________
5. Describe the reason why approach-avoidance conflicts can be
quite stressful. What characterizes the decision-making process for
this type of conflict?
Figure 14.3: What do the first
two types of conflict have in
common? _________________
__________________________
What is different about the
third? ____________________
__________________________
6. What is the common denominator for both positive and negative life events? How does this relate
to stress?
7. Briefly distinguish between the pressure to perform and the pressure to conform.
Responding to Stress
1. Briefly summarize how the broaden-and-build theory of positive
emotions explains how positive emotions may help us bounce back in
times of severe stress.
Figure 14.5: If a threat is seen as
stressful, what are the three parts of the
multidimensional response? __________
_________________________________
2. Summarize the main ideas of the inverted-U hypothesis, including the
concept of optimal level of arousal. How does complexity of the task at hand relate?
3. Why might the fight-or-flight response be less adaptive today than it was many
moons ago? Name and describe the phrase Shelley Taylor uses to explain an
alternative to fight-or-flight for females.
Figure 14.6: Knowing
what you know now, if
you were a baseball
player in 1952 on picture
day, what would you do?
____________________
Figure 14.7: If you were
attempting a task of average
complexity, describe your
optimal level of arousal.
________________________
4. Briefly summarize the names and characteristics of the three stages of Hans Selye’s general adaptation
syndrome.
5. What do the two pathways sending stress signals from the hypothalamus
to the endocrine system have in common in terms of hormones?
Procedurally, what is their main difference?
6. What might people with learned helplessness do when confronted
with stress? Why might this occur? Despite the negative connotation of
giving up, why might it occasionally be the smart thing to do?
Figure 14.8: What part of the
peripheral nervous system is
engaged during Phase 1 and part
of Phase 2? _________________
Specifically, what part of that
system is activated? __________
___________________________
Figure 14.9: What part of the brain plays
a key role in the stress response?
_______________________________
Which part of the endocrine system
does is speak to directly to help increase
energy level? ______________________
Which part does it communicate with via
the sympathetic div. of the ANS to
mobilize for action?
_________________________________