Psychology AQA A PSYA2 29th May 2012!

What are the emotion focused and problem focused approach's to dealing with stress? I haven't even been taught this.. :s

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This, as far as I know has been removed from the syllabus. We have been told not to learn it as we won't be tested on it.

Reply 301

SarahD95

I've just been doing some past papers for the exam next tuesday and there's a few questions which I am unsure of how to answer and was wondering whether anyone knew how to do so/if this kind of question is no longer on the specification?
1) Outline the main features of the pituitary adrenal system.
I know that the system regulates the release of hormones which affect response to stress (HPA axis and SAM pathway) but wouldn't know what to put for this.

2) Outline one problem focused approach to coping with stress.
The question mentions emotion focused approach and problem focused approach as different strategies for coping with stress but I haven't learnt these terms? :confused:

Thanks!

Reply 302

phaseshift

12

Original post by SarahD95

I've just been doing some past papers for the exam next tuesday and there's a few questions which I am unsure of how to answer and was wondering whether anyone knew how to do so/if this kind of question is no longer on the specification?
1) Outline the main features of the pituitary adrenal system.
I know that the system regulates the release of hormones which affect response to stress (HPA axis and SAM pathway) but wouldn't know what to put for this.

2) Outline one problem focused approach to coping with stress.
The question mentions emotion focused approach and problem focused approach as different strategies for coping with stress but I haven't learnt these terms? :confused:

Thanks!

1. The 'Pituitary Adrenal System' IS the HPA axis, essentially. :smile:

2. As my earlier post, I don't believe we need to know the "focused" approaches, I have been told to ignore those questions as they've been removed from papers.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 303

Blue56

15

Original post by SarahD95

I've just been doing some past papers for the exam next tuesday and there's a few questions which I am unsure of how to answer and was wondering whether anyone knew how to do so/if this kind of question is no longer on the specification?
1) Outline the main features of the pituitary adrenal system.
I know that the system regulates the release of hormones which affect response to stress (HPA axis and SAM pathway) but wouldn't know what to put for this.

2) Outline one problem focused approach to coping with stress.
The question mentions emotion focused approach and problem focused approach as different strategies for coping with stress but I haven't learnt these terms? :confused:

Thanks!

1)
The Hypothalamus detects stress
>Releases Cortico-Releasing Factor (CRF)
>Stimulates the pituitary gland
>Releases ACTH into the bloodstream
>Stimulates the adrenal cortex
>Releases Corticosteroids into the blood
> Suppresses the immune system.

2) Really hope I'm right when I say that's not on the specification anymore? That's what my teacher said, I thought the same as you when I saw it in the same paper you're talking about, and was told we didn't need to know that anymore. But would like some clarification on this from someone else reading anyone wouldn't mind. Cheers

Reply 304

phaseshift

12

Original post by Dpdr

1)
2) Really hope I'm right when I say that's not on the specification anymore? That's what my teacher said, I thought the same as you when I saw it in the same paper you're talking about, and was told we didn't need to know that anymore. But would like some clarification on this from someone else reading anyone wouldn't mind. Cheers

Correct, it's gone. :smile:

thanks!

Original post by HarryMWilliams

Correct, it's gone. :smile:

Yay!

thanks

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Reply 307

Blue56

15

Original post by HarryMWilliams

Correct, it's gone. :smile:

Ah lovely, cheers!

No worries. :smile:

HI GUYS CAN SOMEONE HELP CLEAR MY HEAD ROUND TWO STUDIES?
KIEGOLT-GLASER'S 1984 NK cell activity/acute stress/ examinations
basically i thought i understood this but i keep getting confused with it, so blood samples are taken a month before exams and during right, since the cell activity was reduced during the exams, how does this show acute stressors increase vulnerability to illness?
i thought since the activity was reduced during the exams this must mean there was more antigens attacking (sucessfully) before the exams - and that's acute stress right? if so what is the name of the stress during the examination period? isit still acute? :s-smilie:

and also another study that basically confused me with the findings of this was Sagerstroms and Miller 2004 meta analysis
it claims the longer the stress prolongs, the more the immune system is supressed and more vulnerable, doesnt this basically contradict what kiegolt glasers 1984 study is suggesting then because it shows that acute stress has made students more vulnerable to illness, not chronic?
it also claimed that short term acute stress is meant to boost the immune system in this meta analysis, not make the immune system more vulnerable to illness right?

i'm so confused have i just over complicated everything?!?! :confused:

Reply 310

Tim Kelly

Original post by Saif95

I created a 12 marker on 'independant behaviour (resisting pressures)
this is probably completely wrong but oh well..i need feed back
does it look right and how many marks would I gain?

Thanks for looking/commenting...first paragraph is A01 while second is meant to be A02

Although research has shown many people to conform and obey, a great number of people did not i.e they remained independant. One reason why people did not conform in Asch's research was due to the role of allies; Asch showed how the introduction of another dissident gave social support to an individual and caused conformity rates to drop. Another reason is due to moral considerations - people are likely to conform to a majority even if they know they are wrong- this is likely when a task is insignificant such as in Aschs research (judging the length of lines), however if the task involves a moral dimension we would expect conformity levels to drop. Some people may also have an anticonformist personality- this is where people refuse to conform despite the situation. A reason why people resist pressures to obey is due to status- when Milgrams study was moved from Yale university to a downtown office, obediance levels dropped, this suggests that status is a key factor is resisting obediance. Another reason is proximity- resistance was increased when the victim could be seen, this suggests that being made aware of the consequences allow people to be able to resist. Another explanation of independant behaviour is locus of control, this is the degree to which a person believes they are in control of the behaviour; high internals percieve themselves as having control unlike high externals therefore it is suggested that high internals are most likely to resist.

Supporting the role of Allies idea, Levine conducted a study in which there were three conditions; in one, the supporter had poor vision (invalid social support) and in the second they had normal vision (valid social support). It was shown that the valid social supporter had much more impact showing that the presence of an ally is helpful in resisting conformity. Research also supports moral considerations; Hornsey found remarkaly little movement towards majority position when there an element of morality such as cheating. Most of the studies such as Ashc's and Milgrams were lab experiments, they are advantageous as they control extraneous variables however they lack external validity as they cannot be generalised as they do not represent a real life situation. Zimbardo believes those who remain independant are advantageous to the society, he refers to this as social heroism - this is the name given to those who reject the majority- they're seen as heros because of the sacrifices they make to trying to benefit the society.

It's a good start; but somewhat muddled structure-wise making it hard to mark fairly. You make a lot of points but don't explain them all. Do something like this:

- State theory
- Define it / how it works
- Research evidence *stats*

e.g:
- Role of allies
- Gives participants social support, and removes the stigma associated with being the first to oppose.
- Shown in Asch's research when... *Give stats if possible*

Other two:

- Lack of Legitimate authority figure (Milgram dingy office etc - down to 12%)
- Locus of control (Rotter et al, explain blah blah blah - no research for this, so explain in more detail)

That's 6 AO1!

AO2:

+ Lab study; high control means less extraneous variables which means a higher chance of having high internal validity - that it tests what it sets out to.

- Lab study; may have lower ecological validity because it is an artificial environment and this means it cannot necessarily be generalised to outside the setting, or real life

- Population validity; As both studies use only American men it could be considered both ethnocentric and androcentric which would mean that results may not necessarily be generalisible to the whole human population.

and one for luck:

+ Replicability; Milgram - and other researchers (Derren Brown, for one - but you can't talk about him in psychology exams because apparently he's not a "real" psychologist) repeated his study many times, with consistent findings, which would show that it is reliable (able to be replicated with consistent findings).

Overall, it is a good essay, but you could make it a lot easier for yourself! :smile:

Reply 311

Tim Kelly

Original post by SagarG

HI GUYS CAN SOMEONE HELP CLEAR MY HEAD ROUND TWO STUDIES?
KIEGOLT-GLASER'S 1984 NK cell activity/acute stress/ examinations
basically i thought i understood this but i keep getting confused with it, so blood samples are taken a month before exams and during right, since the cell activity was reduced during the exams, how does this show acute stressors increase vulnerability to illness?
i thought since the activity was reduced during the exams this must mean there was more antigens attacking (sucessfully) before the exams - and that's acute stress right? if so what is the name of the stress during the examination period? isit still acute? :s-smilie:

and also another study that basically confused me with the findings of this was Sagerstroms and Miller 2004 meta analysis
it claims the longer the stress prolongs, the more the immune system is supressed and more vulnerable, doesnt this basically contradict what kiegolt glasers 1984 study is suggesting then because it shows that acute stress has made students more vulnerable to illness, not chronic?
it also claimed that short term acute stress is meant to boost the immune system in this meta analysis, not make the immune system more vulnerable to illness right?

i'm so confused have i just over complicated everything?!?! :confused:

`stress causes a lowered T-Cell count; less t-cells floating around means less things to fight off nasties, therefore, stress can help cause illness. So Kiecolt-Glazer found that students have a weakened immune system during the most stressful period, and were thus more likely to contract a disease, and had a more effective immune system, with more t cells before the stress. I have no idea about the difference between acute and chronic stresses but I don't think they're that important to distinguish between (don't quote me on that). I *think* it doesn't need to be that complex...

Reply 312

snakeyface

Original post by Pen Island

You're amazing for giving this link :smile:

I really needed help with some Social Influence stuff (cause my teacher's not the greatest at that topic) and some of the stuff on there really helped :biggrin:

Glad I could help! My teacher spent most of the teaching time going over Social Influence, so uploaded loads of resources for us on the college site :smile:

Reply 313

zahra_xo

hey guys

hope everyone's revision is going well :smile:

I was just wondering for stress, how much do we need to know the biological side of it?

I know we have to know the HPA and SAM system

But what about things like the differences between the symapthetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?

Theres also stuff in the text book on stress and physical illness about direct mechanical effects, energy mobilisation, fatty acids, indirect affects and b and t cells

surely we dont have to know all that stuff do we :/

thanks in advance :smile:

Reply 314

phaseshift

12

Original post by zahra_xo

hey guys

hope everyone's revision is going well :smile:

I was just wondering for stress, how much do we need to know the biological side of it?

I know we have to know the HPA and SAM system

But what about things like the differences between the symapthetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?

Theres also stuff in the text book on stress and physical illness about direct mechanical effects, energy mobilisation, fatty acids, indirect affects and b and t cells

surely we dont have to know all that stuff do we :/

thanks in advance :smile:

You need to know the bare basics of what the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems do, i.e. one makes things speed up and the other slows you down.

In terms of the actual nitty gritty, the book is unbelievably over the top on ALL of it. You do not need to know most of it according to our Psychology teachers. Just the basic facts and information such as what is the bodies response to stress, how does that affect your day to day life etc. :smile:

Reply 315

zahra_xo

Original post by HarryMWilliams

You need to know the bare basics of what the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems do, i.e. one makes things speed up and the other slows you down.

In terms of the actual nitty gritty, the book is unbelievably over the top on ALL of it. You do not need to know most of it according to our Psychology teachers. :smile:

aaah okay, i thought we may have to know about sympathetic and parasympathetic. Well thank god for that! its wayy too detailed! hahaaa i will probably read over it, just so i have background :smile:

Thankyou so much :smile:

Reply 316

phaseshift

12

Original post by zahra_xo

aaah okay, i thought we may have to know about sympathetic and parasympathetic. Well thank god for that! its wayy too detailed! hahaaa i will probably read over it, just so i have background :smile:

Thankyou so much :smile:

No worries.

Reply 317