Review Questions

Negative effects of stress are most likely to be experienced when an event is perceived as ________.

1. negative, but it is likely to affect one’s friends rather than oneself
2. challenging
3. confusing
4. threatening, and no clear options for dealing with it are apparent

Between 2006 and 2009, the greatest increases in stress levels were found to occur among ________.

1. Blacks
2. those aged 45–64
3. the unemployed
4. those without college degrees

At which stage of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome is a person especially vulnerable to illness?

1. exhaustion
2. alarm reaction
3. fight-or-flight
4. resistance

During an encounter judged as stressful, cortisol is released by the ________.

1. sympathetic nervous system
2. hypothalamus
3. pituitary gland
4. adrenal glands

According to the Holmes and Rahe scale, which life event requires the greatest amount of readjustment?

1. marriage
2. personal illness
3. divorce
4. death of spouse

While waiting to pay for his weekly groceries at the supermarket, Paul had to wait about 20 minutes in a long line at the checkout because only one cashier was on duty. When he was finally ready to pay, his debit card was declined because he did not have enough money left in his checking account. Because he had left his credit cards at home, he had to place the groceries back into the cart and head home to retrieve a credit card. While driving back to his home, traffic was backed up two miles due to an accident. These events that Paul had to endure are best characterized as ________.

1. chronic stressors
2. acute stressors
3. daily hassles
4. readjustment occurrences

What is one of the major criticisms of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale?

1. It has too few items.
2. It was developed using only people from the New England region of the United States.
3. It does not take into consideration how a person appraises an event.
4. None of the items included are positive.

Which of the following is not a dimension of job burnout?

1. depersonalization
2. hostility
3. exhaustion
4. diminished personal accomplishment

The white blood cells that attack foreign invaders to the body are called ________.

1. antibodies
2. telomeres
3. lymphocytes
4. immune cells

The risk of heart disease is especially high among individuals with ________.

1. depression
2. asthma
3. telomeres
4. lymphocytes

The most lethal dimension of Type A behavior pattern seems to be ________.

1. hostility
2. impatience
3. time urgency
4. competitive drive

Which of the following statements pertaining to asthma is false?

1. Parental and interpersonal conflicts have been tied to the development of asthma.
2. Asthma sufferers can experience asthma-like symptoms simply by believing that an inert substance they breathe will lead to airway obstruction.
3. Asthma has been shown to be linked to periods of depression.
4. Rates of asthma have decreased considerably since 2000.

Emotion-focused coping would likely be a better method than problem-focused coping for dealing with which of the following stressors?

1. terminal cancer
2. poor grades in school
3. unemployment
4. divorce

Studies of British civil servants have found that those in the lowest status jobs are much more likely to develop heart disease than those who have high status jobs. These findings attest to the importance of ________ in dealing with stress.

1. biofeedback
2. social support
3. perceived control
4. emotion-focused coping

Relative to those with low levels of social support, individuals with high levels of social support ________.

1. are more likely to develop asthma
2. tend to have less perceived control
3. are more likely to develop cardiovascular disorders
4. tend to tolerate stress well

The concept of learned helplessness was formulated by Seligman to explain the ________.

1. inability of dogs to attempt to escape avoidable shocks after having received inescapable shocks
2. failure of dogs to learn to from prior mistakes
3. ability of dogs to learn to help other dogs escape situations in which they are receiving uncontrollable shocks
4. inability of dogs to learn to help other dogs escape situations in which they are receiving uncontrollable electric shocks

Which of the following is not one of the presumed components of happiness?

1. using our talents to help improve the lives of others
2. learning new skills
3. regular pleasurable experiences
4. identifying and using our talents to enrich our lives

Researchers have identified a number of factors that are related to happiness. Which of the following is not one of them?

1. age
2. annual income up to $75,000
3. physical attractiveness
4. marriage

How does positive affect differ from optimism?

1. Optimism is more scientific than positive affect.
2. Positive affect is more scientific than optimism.
3. Positive affect involves feeling states, whereas optimism involves expectations.
4. Optimism involves feeling states, whereas positive affect involves expectations.

Carson enjoys writing mystery novels, and has even managed to publish some of his work. When he’s writing, Carson becomes extremely focused on his work; in fact, he becomes so absorbed that that he often loses track of time, often staying up well past 3 a.m. Carson’s experience best illustrates the concept of ________.

1. happiness set point
2. adaptation
3. positive affect
4. flow