5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2010-2011 Edition - Laura Lincoln Maitland [103]
Maladaptive coping strategies include aggression; indulging ourselves by eating, drinking, smoking, using drugs, spending money, or sleeping too much; or using defense mechanisms.
Adaptive coping strategies vary from taking direct action through problem solving; to lessening stress through physically exercising, seeking the social support of friends, or finding help through religious organizations and prayer; to accepting the problem. For example, you can adopt the optimistic attitudes of hardy people by committing to a particular project or goal, seeing yourself as being in control rather than a victim of circumstance, and looking at finishing the project or realizing your goal as a challenge or opportunity. Health psychologists often suggest using relaxation, visualization, meditation, and biofeedback to help lessen the effects of stress in our lives, and boost our immune systems.
Positive Psychology
Subjective well-being, your assessment of how happy or satisfied you feel, has become a focus of positive psychology. Positive psychology, founded by Martin Seligman, is the scientific study of optimal human functioning. The three pillars of positive psychology are positive emotions, positive character, and positive groups, communities, and cultures.
Review Questions
Directions: For each question, choose the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. Imprinting is
(A) the adaptive response of an infant when its mother leaves a room
(B) a maladaptive response of anxiety by an infant when abandoned by its mother
(C) a period shortly after birth when a newborn reacts to salty, sweet, or bitter stimuli
(D) a period shortly after birth when an adult forms a bond with his or her newborn
(E) the tendency of some baby animals to form an attachment to the first moving object they see or hear during a critical period after birth
2. Which of the following topics would a sociobiologist be most interested in studying?
(A) whether or not ape communication can be defined as language
(B) whether pigeons are capable of cognitive learning
(C) altruistic acts that ensure the survival of the next generation
(D) aggressive behavior in stickleback fish related to sign stimuli
(E) stress and its relationship to heart attacks
3. When asked why he wants to become a doctor, Tom says, “Because I’ve always liked biology and being a doctor will allow me to make a good salary to take care of a family.” His answer is most consistent with which of the following theories of motivation?
(A) drive reduction
(B) incentive
(C) hierarchy of needs
(D) arousal
(E) instinct
4. According to the Yerkes-Dodson model, when facing a very difficult challenge, which level of arousal would probably lead to the best outcome?
(A) a very low level
(B) a moderately low level
(C) a moderate level
(D) a moderately high level
(E) a very high level
5. The James-Lange theory of emotion states that
(A) emotional awareness precedes our physiological response to a stressful event
(B) emotional expression follows awareness of our physiological response to an arousing event
(C) an arousing event simultaneously triggers both a cognitive awareness and a physiological response
(D) the level of fear we first feel when we ride a roller coaster is reduced each time we experience the same event until thrill replaces it
(E) when we are unaware of why we are feeling arousal, we take our cue from the environment
6. Which of the following factors stimulate us to eat?
(A) stomach contractions, high levels of glucagon, and stimulation of the VMH
(B) high levels of cholecystokinin, high levels of insulin, and stimulation of the VMH
(C) lack of cholecystokinin, high levels of glucagon, and stimulation of the LH
(D) lack of cholecystokinin, high levels of insulin, and stimulation of the LH
(E) low blood sugar, stomach contractions, and