SUMMARY OF STRESS

PATHWAYS
Sympathomedullary Pathway
Stressor
Hypothalamus
Sympathetic Branch of the ANS
Adrenal Medulla
Adrenaline and Noradrenaline
Fight or Flight response

STRESS EFFECTS ON THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Kiecolt-Glaser et al
A: To see how stress of important examinations
affects the immune system
P: Used 75 medical student volunteers in their
first year in a longitudinal natural study.
Gave students questionnaires to examine
personality traits such as loneliness and
depression and life events, as well as taking blood
samples to measure t-cell activity in the blood (a
cell responsible for the immune system).
Measurements were took one month before
exams (low stress) and during exams (high stress)
F: Blood taken before final exams contained more
t-cell activity in the blood than during final
examinations.
Immune responses are especially weak in those
reporting to feel most lonely and those
experiencing life events or other psychiatric
symptoms
C: The stress of examinations has an effect on the
functioning of the immune system, as proven by a
decreased level of t-cell activity in the blood.
High ecological validity (natural experiment)
however no control over extraneous variables
Questionnaires account for non-biological
factors
Ethnocentric all American students from the
same university
Demand characteristics may alter their
response on questionnaires

Pituitary Adrenal System

Stressor
Hypothalamus
CRF
Pituitary Gland
ACTH
Adrenal Cortex
Corticosteroids
Inhibits the immune system which leads to stress
symptoms (sweat/increased heart rate)
LIFE EVENTS AND STRESS RELATED ILLNESS
Holmes and Rahe et al
A: To see if the stress of life events is correlated
with illness
P: Used 2500 US naval servants from the in a
longitudinal study of six months.
Measured their life events with a Life Changing
Unit (LCU) and compared it with their health
records and used correlational analysis.
F: Found a slight positive correlation of +.12
C: Experiencing life events may predict the
chances of developing stress related illness
Internal validity measured what it set out to
measure
Social desirability bias some people may not
want to admit they are experiencing certain life
events
Individual differences people react
differently to stress so you cant say they will
guaranteed to become unwell
Cause & effect - correlation does not prove
causation

DAILY HASSLES AND UPLIFTS

Kanner et al
A: To see if daily hassles and uplifts scale was
more accurate in predicting stress than a life
events scale
P: 100 white, well-educated and financially
comfortable participants selected from a previous
study of 7000.
Each participant assessed once a month for 10
months in a longitudinal study on a daily hassles
and uplifts scale using questionnaires.
Used a life events scale similar to SRRS, Hopkins
symptoms checklist and Bradburn Morale Scale.
F: The hassles scale was a better predictor of
psychological symptoms than life even scores,
even when life event scores were removed,
hassles score still significant
Uplifts were positively correlated to women but
NOT men
C: Daily hassles are a more valid way of
predicting stress than life events
Longitudinal study gives more reliable data
rich in detail
Ecological validity study as a natural
experiment so ecological validity is high, however
lack of control on extraneous variables
Demand characteristics & Social Desirability
Bias - questionnaires

STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE

Marmot et al
A: To see how job control affected stress related
illness
P: Studied 3000 Whitehall civil servants
measuring job control using self-report
questionnaires and levels of stress related illness
F: Found that job control and stress related
illnesses are negatively correlated.
People with low job control are four times more
likely to die of a heart attack
C: Lack of control may lead to stress related
illness
Longitudinal study can identify change of
behaviour over time
Cause & effect correlation doesnt prove
causation
Ethnocentric to use 3000 civil servants all in
the same conditions
Johansson et al
A: To see if work stressors increased the chance
of stress
P: Studied 14 finishers in a Swedish mill whose
work demanded a lot of attention and was highly
repetitive (high stress) and 10 cleaners (low
stress)
Took urine samples on work and rest days to
measure adrenaline and noradrenaline along with
ratings of their moods
F: Swedish finishers had higher levels of stress
related hormones than cleaners, even on rest
days.
Finishers secreted more stress related hormones
on work days than rest, and had higher rate of
illness
C: A combinations of work stressors lead to
psychological arousal of stress
Objective quantitative data easy to analyse
and replicate, therefore reliable
Doesnt identify which stressors have the
greatest effect
Individual differences arent accounted for,
may have other stressors besides work

PERSONALITY TYPES AND STRESS

Type A
Competitiveness and achievement striving
Impatience and time urgency
Hostility and aggressiveness
Type B
Patient
Relaxed
Easy-going
Type X
A mix of the A and B personalities
Rosenhan & Friedman
A: To test how different types of personalities
affect the likelihood of coronary heart disease
(CHD)
P: 3000 30-59 year old American males assessed
to determine personality types, and re-evaluated
in 8 years in a longitudinal study
F: Found after 8 years 257 had developed CHD,
70% of which had a Type A personality.
Type B had half the rate of CHD to Type A.
C: Type A personalities are at higher risk to stress
related illnesses such as CHD.
Longitudinal study lots of data over time, can
identify any other factors causing stress

Population validity large sample makes it

easier to generalise, however all American males
makes it ethnocentricHARDINESS PERSONALITY
Hardy Personalities (Three Cs)
High level of Commitment
Enjoy a Challenge
Have a strong feeling of Control
View change as a positive rather than a negative,
whereas non-hardy personalities are unable to
cope with change.
Hardiness Personalities Maddi et al
A: To investigate Hardiness personalities
P: Used employees from a US phone company
that was reducing the size of its workforce over a
year
F: Two thirds of employees suffered stress related
illness over this period, but the remaining third
thrived. They are thought to show evidence of
hardy personalities.
C: Hardy personalities can cope better with
stressful situations
Hardiness Training Maddi and Kobasa
In an aim to increase self-confidence and selfcontrol, they created a three stage approach to
hardiness personality training.
Focusing people taught to recognise
biological triggers of stress and to
identify the source
Reliving stress encounters client
receives stressful encounters and helped
to analyse situations
Self-improvement insights gained can
now be used in real life to deal with
stress
The concluded that people must first address
basic aspects of personality because it is difficult
to modify habits.

TREATMENTS FOR STRESS

PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTS
Stress Inoculation Therapy (SIT)
Developed by Michenbaun and Cameron, is a form
of CBT as we change the way we think about the
stressor
Conceptualisation: The therapist and client
establish a relationship, the client is encouraged
to talk about previous stressful situations and
how they felt.
Client is also taught about impacts of stress.
Skills acquisition: Client is taught coping skills
and gradually rehearsed, encouraged to use in
real life.
Skills are tailored to each client.
Application: Client applies their newly taught
skills in real life situations.
Contact with the therapist is maintained so that
the client can maintain avoiding stress.
Follow up sessions are made so that the client is
supported.
Creates active patient person is responsible
for practicing techniques and handling their own
recovery
Treats the cause of the problem
Treatment is time consuming and expensive to
use a therapist
Individual differences not everyone will react
to this treatment as you have to have a lot of
motivation

BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS
Betablockers (BBs)
Reduces the activity of adrenaline and
noradrenaline in the brain (part of the
Sympathomedullary pathway)
Binds to beta receptors on the cells of the heart,
causing the heart to beat more slowly with less
force, which results in a fall in blood pressure and
less stress on the heart
Benzodiazepines (BZs)
Slows down the activity of the central nervous
system
Increases the amount of GABA receptors on the
outside of receiving neurons which increases the
amount of chloride ions, making the person feel
more relaxed as it makes it harder for other
chemicals to stimulate the neuron
Only treats the symptoms not the cause so
inappropriate
Clients may build tolerance if taken over a
long period of time so then become ineffective
Drugs include side effects, for example BZs
have a sedative effect so can lead to drowsiness,
therefore inappropriate for day use

SUMMARY OF ABNORMALITY
DEFINITIONS OF ABNORMALITY
Failure to function adequately
A person is considered abnormal if they cannot
function in day to day life, e.g. not able to get up
and dress themselves in the morning.
Physical illness or disability would prevent
someone being able to dress themselves
Deviation from social norms
A person is considered abnormal if they do not
comply with what is socially acceptable
Cultural relativism different cultures have
different opinions on what is socially acceptable
Historical validity social norms change over time
Subjective to what is normal and what is not
Deviation from ideal mental health
Having to meet all 6 points of Jahodas ideal
mental health
Self-attitudes (high self-esteem)
Personal growth and self-actualisation
Integration (coping mechanism)
Autonomy (independence)
Accurate perception of reality
Mastery of the environment (ability to
love and have personal relationships)
Strict criteria cant always meet all six points
at any one time, for example a woman with PMS
may not have high self-esteem one day but would
the next

Deterministic does not allow a person to have

any control over how they feel and still be normal
BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ABNORMALITY
Can be caused by four points:
Infection: Some bacterial or viral infections may
lead to a cluster of psychological symptoms
called a syndrome, such as untreated syphilis can
lead to progressive paralysis and dementia
Genetics: Zimbardo found a concordance rate of
48% in monozygotic (MZ) twins and 17% in
dizygotic (DZ) twins in Schizophrenia, showing
abnormalities can be passed down through
families
Biochemistry: The role of neurotransmitters in
developing abnormalities, for example an excess
of dopamine in the brain can lead to
schizophrenia (dopamine hypothesis)
Brain Damage: Conditions such as Alzheimers
disease are thought to deteriorate part of the
brain and its functioning.
Also thought that alcohol abuse can lead to
memory disturbances and confusion
Empirical evidence good scientific evidence
from epidemiological and physiological studies to
support the roles of factors
Reductionist reduces behaviour down to a
purely biological basis and doesnt account for
environmental factors
Deterministic doesnt allow for the individual
to have any control over their abnormality as it is
all down to biology which they cannot alter

PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH TO ABNORMALITY

Based on Freud, abnormality is caused by
unresolved childhood conflicts and the
unconscious mind

Subjective people have different opinions on

abnormality COGNITIVE APPROACH TO
ABNORMALITY
Abnormality is caused by faulty thinking

Tripartite theory of personality

Ego: the real self, develops around age two
Superego: the moral part of self which develops
around age 4/5, arises from learning what is right
and wrong
Id: present at birth, focuses on pleasure and what
we truly want. Prompts selfish and infantile
behaviours

Ellis ABC Model

A: Activating event (sight of a dog)
B: Negative Belief (think the dog will hurt you)
C: Consequence (phobia of the dog)

Psychosexual stages of development

Oral: the child gains pleasure from putting things
in their mouths (0-1 years)
Anal: the child gains pleasure from excreting
faeces (1 - 3 years)
Phallic: The child becomes fascinated by their
genitals, and believe the opposite sex parent is
their rival to gain the same sex parents attention,
and fears they will castrate them (3-6 years)
Latency: The sexual drive disappears from the
unconscious mind until puberty (6puberty)
Genital: The sexual drive reappears, usually
focused on the opposite sex (puberty)
Ego defence mechanisms
Repression: prevents unacceptable desires and
thoughts from escaping the unconscious mind
Projection: when peoples unacceptable faults
are wishes are put on to someone else
Denial: when people refuse to believe events or
to admit they are experiencing certain emotions
Regression: Reverting back to a childlike state
Displacement: diverting emotions onto someone
else because the repressed emotions cannot be
expressed to the person concerned
Sublimation: diverting emotions onto something
else
Deterministic involves childhood experiences
of which we have no control, stage approach
meaning we have to go through each stage to be
normal
Unfalsifiable theory based on case studies,
cant be proved

Becks cognitive triad

Errors in logic depressed people draw illogical
conclusions when they evaluate their behaviour
Cognitive Triad
Negative views about the world

Negative views about oneself

Negative views about the future

Examples of irrational thoughts:

Polarized thinking seeing everything as black
& white
Overgeneralization sweeping generalisation
from a single event
Catastrophizing making a mountain out of a
molehill (massively over exaggerating)
Approach is based on personal opinion by
researchers, cant say which opinions are
appropriate and lacks scientific evidence
Does not state whether faulty thinking is the
cause or a consequence of abnormality
Places blame on the participant for having
faulty thought processes

BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO ABNORMALITY

Classical conditioning
Learning through association
Little Albert (case study) became fearful of rats
by associating the sight of a rat with a loud
startling noise
Operant Conditioning
Learning through rewards and consequences
One example is addiction, where someone may
become addicted to smoking as they receive the
positive rewards of stress relief, and make a
rational choice to continue smoking even though
it comes with negative consequences of health
risks.
Also if a person wanted to quit smoking they
would experience withdrawal symptoms, thus
making them addicted.
Social Learning Theory (SLT)
Behaviour learned through the environment and
role models
Eating disorders may be glamourized in the media
as models used are very skinny, and so people
may want to look like them and also become
skinny, and so develop an eating disorder through
the influence of role models.
Reductionist behaviour can only be learned
through conditioning, doesnt account for
biological factors such as dopamine levels which
may lead to the development of Schizophrenia
Deterministic takes away free will of
teaching yourself something as you must learn
through conditioning or SLT, may affect treatment
diagnosis
Comparative research a lot of evidence
collected in for the behavioural approach is done
on animals, cant be generalised

TREATMENTS FOR ABNORMALITY

BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS
Drug Therapy
Antipsychotics: Block the D2 receptor for
dopamine, which prevents hallucinations and
delusions
Anti-anxiety drugs: Benzodiazepines (BZs)
enhance the effects of the neurotransmitter
GABA, which prevents other chemicals
stimulating neurons and has a sedative effect on
the brain causing a fall in anxiety
Patients may become addicted to drugs as they
know it helps them to feel better
Side effects drug treatments have side
effects such as Parkinsons disease
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
Patient is administered a muscle relaxer, then
given small shocks from 70-130V through their
brain for a few seconds.
Unknown why this treatment works.
Sackheim found 70% of patients improved after
having ECT, however 84% of which relapsed after
6 months
Side effects can include memory impairment,
headaches and cardiovascular changes

PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTS
Psychoanalysis
Brings repressed impulses and traumatic
memories into conscious memories to try and
solve abnormal behaviour
Dream analysis: Clients recall their dreams to a
psychoanalyst, so that they are then analysed as
Freud believes the ids instinctual urges are more
freely expressed in a dream
Free association: The client is encouraged to talk
freely whilst the psychoanalyst looks for patterns
that exist in the unconscious mind (mentioning
your father often would indicate an underlying
issue)
Transference: The client projects their thoughts
on to the psychoanalyst, specifically
characteristics that are associated with parents
and other important people (word association)
Little Hans (case study) developed a phobia of
horses during the phallic stage of development,
which Freud states is caused by anxiety of having
oedipal desires towards the mother and being
scared that the father will find out.
Freud met Hans so that he became consciously
aware of his phobia and made a good recovery.
Side effects the treatment does not have any
side effects as it only deals with mental
capabilities
Time consuming the process of going through
a psychoanalyst is time consuming and expensive
Case study lacks generalizability, lack of
empirical evidence to support treatment

PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTS
Systematic Desensitisation
Wolpe said any behaviour can be unlearned or
modified by changing the stimulus-response
connections.
SD uses counter conditioning
Relaxation techniques: The client is taught Deep
Muscle Relaxation (DMR) techniques, and is
tailored to suit the client
Desensitisation Hierarchy: With the help of the
therapist, the client builds a hierarchy of their
phobia, starting small for example a photo of the
phobia building up gradually to being in contact
with it. The client uses DMR techniques at each
stage in the hierarchy.
Creates an active patient as the client has
control over their phobia and can be as slow or
fast in progressing through stages as they like
Effectiveness McGrath found SD is effective
in 75% of patients with a phobia and Albucher
found 60-90% effectiveness in those with OCD

Psychological harm if client goes through

treatment too quickly they may suffer from
permanent psychological damageCognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Aims to turn an irrational thought process into a
rational one
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)
Ellis proposed the ABC model can be used to turn
an irrational process into a rational one
Activating event: Friend passes you but doesnt
say hello
Belief: Irrational theyre ignoring me
Rational must be in a hurry
Consequence: Irrational - I will ignore them
next time I see them
Rational Ill call them to check theyre okay
The therapist then works with the client to turn
irrational thought process into positive, rational
ones.
The client is also given homework tasks to
practice their therapy in real life.
Creates an active patient as the client has full
control over their recovery
Time consuming CBT requires a lot of time
and persistence, as well as motivation from the
client which all not people are prepared for
Usually used with drug therapy so that the
patient eventually overcomes the root cause
whilst also having symptoms treated by drugs.

SUMMARY OF SOCIAL INFLUENCES

CONFORMITY TO A MAJORITY INFLUENCE
The tendency to change our behaviour/attitudes
in response to the influence of others or social
pressures
Asch et al
A: To see if humans conformed to a social
majority
P: Lab experiment using 4 confederates and 2
volunteer participants (white American males) in
each group.
Participants were decepted and told it was an eye
test. Shown a standard line test and asked to
verbally say which two lines matched.
18 trials were carried out, 12 of which
confederates purposely said the wrong answer.
F: Participants conformed 37.5% of the time
overall and 75% of participants conformed at
least once.
When interviewed after participants said they
conformed to avoid ridicule.
C: People are more likely to conform when they
have to say their views aloud

Ecological validity - study was conducted in a

laboratory setting and so had high control of
extraneous variables
Ethnocentric used only white American males
in the study, cant be generalised
Ethics participants were decepted as they
were not told the true aim of the study

CONFORMITY TO A MINOR INFLUENCE

Moscovici et al (may also be used for social
change)
A: To see if people conformed to a minority
influence
P: Tested 32 groups of 6 women, with 2
confederates and 4 participants
Groups were shown slides with varying colours of
blue on and participants were asked to state
what colour it was
Confederates purposely said green
F: Participants agreed with the majority on 8% of
the trials, and 32% conformed at least once

When confederates were inconsistent with

responses, participants only agreed 1.25% of the
time
C: Supports the aim of the experiment, however
findings are not consistent
Consistency is an important factor in influencing
a social change
Ecological validity lab study means high
control of extraneous variables and so not as
applicable to real life situation
Reliability findings were inconsistent with
conformity, so may lack reliability

OBEDIENCE
Compliance to an order by an authoritative figure
Milgram et al
A: To see how far people will go to obey
P: 40 male participants from advertisement, told
study would be about how punishment affects
learning, each paid $4.50
Included 2 confederates on each trial, one would
be the learner (Receiving the electric shock)
and one would be the authoritative figure
Participants were always drawn to be teachers,
and so were told to administer an increasing
electric shock every time the learner got
something wrong.
Electric shocks went up to 300V, at which point
the learner pretended to have died.
Participants were prompted to continue by the
authoritative figure.
F: 65% of participants continued to 450V, the
absolute maximum voltage, and all participants
went to 300V (the deadly voltage)
Only 3 people stopped at 300V
C: People obey authority even when they know it
is morally wrong
Ethics - psychological harm as some
participants may have suffered distress whilst
going through the trial, and were also decepted
Ecological validity unrealistic situation and in
a lab
Population validity Milgram used only white
American males, cant be generalised
SOCIAL INFLUENCES
Normative Social Influence (Compliance)
Changing your views because you want to be liked
and accepted by society; however you still have
your own separate opinion.
Normative influence and smoking In an antismoking campaign aimed at 12-17 year olds in 7
counties in Montana, where people were told that
most children didnt smoke, Linkenbach and
Perkins found that only 10% of non-smokers began
smoking following the campaign, compared to
17% that did in other counties.
An overall difference of 41% between counties
who were shown the campaign and counties that
were not.
Informational Social Influence (Internalisation)
Changing your views because you want to be right
and adapting your own beliefs.

Fein et al showed how judgements of others in a

political broadcast can influence points of view.
Participants were shown a video of a political
debate whilst being shown others peoples
judgements, which overall produced large shifts
in the judgements by participants of candidates
performances.WHY DO PEOPLE OBEY?
Gradual commitment People find it hard to
draw the line as to where they should stop when
the consequences are increased gradually
MILGRAM using shocks only increasing by 15V at
a time meant people did not know where to draw
the line, had the participants been asked to
administer one big shock it would be less likely
they would obey
REAL LIFE Nazi soldiers may have gradually
committed from verbal abuse to physical abuse
towards Jews
Agentic shift Responsibility is placed on to
someone else so the person will not be in trouble
for their actions
MILGRAM participants were encouraged to go on
and the researcher would take blame for any
harm that came to the learners
REAL LIFE Nazi soldiers defended their actions
by saying they were just following orders
Role of buffers By not being able to see the
consequences you feel less responsible for the
actions
MILGRAM Obedience rates were highest when
the victim was in a different room and the
researcher was in the room with them
REAL LIFE Nazi soldiers did not think about their
consequences as Jews were placed in a room and
killed so it was not direct contact.
LOCUS OF CONTROL
Internal what happens to you is largely a
consequence of your own ability or effort
Rotter believed that these individuals are more
resistant to social pressure as they believe they
have a free choice.
External what happens to you is controlled by
external factors such as luck.
These individuals are also less likely to accept
responsibility for their actions.
Deman et al - Males have been found to be more
internal than females, showing gender
differences
McGuinness - found Japanese people are more
external than people in the USA and Australia,
showing cultural differences

RESISTING PRESSURES TO CONFORM

Desire for individualisation desire to maintain
a sense of individuality sometimes outweighs the
pressure to conform
Prior commitment once people publicly commit
themselves to a position, they are less likely to
change their opinion
Role of allies having an ally may aid resisting
pressure as the person is no longer facing a
unanimous majority
Time to think Zimbardo advises that people
should take time to engage in critical thinking to
avoid mindless conformity to the majority
RESISTING PRESSURES TO OBEY
Questioning the motives and status of authority
questioning the legitimacy of authority might
increase resistance as people believe they do not
have to obey to someone with low authority
Disobedient models seeing others refuse to
obey instructions increases chances that someone
will
Reeling responsible and empathetic people
may resist authority when they believe someone
may be hurt or in distress and so take an
empathetic response, as in Milgrams study

SOCIAL CHANGE
Augmentation Principle
The principle that when people suffer for their
views, other people will start to take notice of
what they are doing
E.g. the Suffragettes
Snowball Effect
An idea builds gradually with small significance
and gets bigger
E.g. Recycling
Consistency
When the minority is consistent so that the
initially dismissive majority begin to take their
position more seriously
Intra-individual consistency where the
individual members of the minority maintain a
consistent position over time
Inter-individual consistency where there is
agreement among the different members of the
minority