Stress 1. Outline the pituitary-adrenal system. 2. Outline the sympathomedullary pathway. 3. Outline the key features of the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). 4. What does ARE stand for as part of GAS? 5. Give at least 2 evaluative points or criticisms of the GAS. 6. Explain how the body s response to stress can affect our immune system. 7. Outline the main features of the Keicolt-Glaser study. 8. Give 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses of the Keicolt-Glaser study. 9. How did Cohen measure the stress levels of participants and how did they test immune function. 10. What is a stressor? 11. What is a stress response? 12. Name the two parts of the adrenal glands. 13. Outline the two main pathways of the body s stress response. 14. What does the body s immune system do? What is immunosuppression? 15. How did Keicolt-Glaser and colleagues measure activity of the immune system? 16. Outline the work of Holmes and Rahe and what they ultimately introduced? 17. Evaluate their research and their scale- think of at least3 criticisms. 18. Give an example o daily hassles and uplifts and explain why they are needed in addition to Holmes and Rahe s scale. 19. Outline the Marmot study. 20. Evaluate the Marmot study. 21. Outline Friedman and Rosenman s study into how personality may be linked to our stress response and to CHD. 22. What is a Hardy personality according to Kobasa? 23. Which event was given the highest score in the SRRS? 24. What term is used to describe incidents that we would not call major life events, but which nevertheless can be a source of stress? 25. Outline the procedures and findings of one study of stress in the workplace. 26. How did Johansson et al (1978) measure levels of stress in their study of Swedish sawmill workers? 27. Describe two or more sources of stress in the workplace. 28. Describe the main characteristics of the type A behaviour pattern. 29. Which characteristic of the type A pattern seems to be especially important in increasing vulnerability to stress? 30. Why might some people with Type A behaviour be less vulnerable to stress-related illness than others who also have Type A behaviour? 31. Distinguish between emotion-focused and problem-focused coping. 32. Give two advantages and two disadvantages of each type of coping. 33. Describe the effects of two types of drug used to manage stress. 34. Outline one strength and one weakness of using drugs to manage stress. 35. Name and outline the three phases of stress inoculation training. 36. Outline one strength and one weakness of the stress inoculation approach. 37. Name and outline one other psychological method of stress management. Social Influence 38. What do you understand by the terms: conformity and obedience? 39. Outline what is meant by informational social influence and normative social influence. 40. Explain the difference between compliance and internalization.
41. Give the main findings and the main conclusions of Asch s study of conformity. 42. How did the results found by Perrin and Spencer in Britain in 1980 differ from those found by Asch in 1951? What explanation did Perrin and Spencer offer for this? 43. Where did Zimbardo s prison simulation study take place? 44. How long did the prison simulation last? How long was it originally intended to last? 45. In what ways did the participants in Zimbardo s prison stimulation study demonstrate conformity? 46. Give one criticism that has been made concerning the ethics of Zimbardo s study. 47. In what way did Zimbardo criticise his own role in the simulation study? 48. What was the specific aim of Milgram s study on obedience? 49. Briefly outline the procedures and main findings of Milgram s study. 50. In what way did Hofling s study of obedience in nurses support the ecological validity of Milgram s study? 51. Outline two criticisms that have been made concerning the ethics of Milgram s procedures. How did Milgram answer these criticisms? 52. Describe two psychological processes that help explain why people obey authority. 53. What do you understand by the term independent behaviour? 54. How many participants in Asch s line-length study of conformity acted independently throughout the procedure. 55. Outline three explanations that have been proposed for people resisting pressures to obey authority. 56. Outline three explanations that have been proposed for people resisting pressures to conform. 57. In what ways have levels of moral reasoning been linked to the likelihood that a person will obey? 58. Explain the terms: internal locus of control and external locus of control. 59. According to Blass, under what circumstances were participants with an internal locus of control most likely to resist obedience pressures? 60. What gender differences (if any) did Milgram find in his research on obedience? 61. Outline the procedures and findings of the study by Sistrunk and McDavid (1971) that investigated gender differences in conformity. 62. What conclusion did Sistrunk and McDavid draw from their research? 63. What cultural differences have been found in people s responses to pressures to conform? 64. In what did research into social influence (e.g. by Milgram and Zimbardo) affect how psychologists have addressed ethical issues when they have carried out research subsequently? 65. How should minorities behave if they are to be influential and bring about social change? 66. What is meant by the foot-in-the-door technique as a means of changing behaviour and whose research on social influence demonstrated its effectiveness? 67. What implications does Zimbardo s research on conformity to social roles have for the training of those in positions of power? Abnormality 68. What is meant by the term social norm? Give one example of a social norm from your own culture. 69. Explain how the use of the social norm definition of abnormality could be used as a form of social control. 70. Why is context important when using the deviation from social norms definition of abnormality? 71. In the context of defining abnormality, what is meant by a failure to function adequately? 72. Outline two limitations of using the failure to function adequately definition of abnormality. 73. Name the six criteria that Jahoda identified for optimal living. 74. Outline two limitations of using the deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality. 75. Outline two key features of the biological approach to psychopathology.
76. What are the four possible causes of psychopathology according to the biological approach? 77. Give one strength and one weakness of the biological approach to psychopathology. 78. Name the three parts of the psyche according to Freud. 79. According to the psychodynamic approach, what are the two main causes of psychopathology? 80. Explain what is meant by the term defence mechanisms. 81. Outline two evaluations of the psychodynamic approach to psychopathology. 82. According to the behavioural approach to psychopathology, what three processes explain how abnormal behaviours are acquired? 83. Give one strength and one weakness of the behavioural approach to psychopathology. 84. Outline the key features of the cognitive approach to psychopathology. 85. In the cognitive approach, what is meant by overgeneralization and polarized thinking? Give an example of each. 86. To which psychological disorder did Beck apply his cognitive triad? 87. Give one strength and one weakness of the cognitive approach to psychopathology. 88. What is the aim of biological therapies? 89. Name three types of drugs used to treat mental disorders. 90. Outline one strength and one weakness of drug treatment for mental disorders. 91. What do the initials ECT stand for? 92. Outline the procedure used in ECT. 93. Give one advantage and one disadvantage of ECT. 94. What are the aims of psychoanalysis? 95. Briefly outline three techniques employed by psychoanalysts. 96. For what type of disorder is psychoanalysis thought to be appropriate? 97. Give two criticisms of psychoanalysis. 98. Outline the procedure used in systematic desensitization. On what type of conditioning is it based? 99. What is meant by in vivo and in vitro in systematic desensitization procedures? 100. Name two alternatives to systematic desensitization for treating phobias more quickly. 101. What is meant by aversion therapy? For what conditions might it be used? 102. Name one treatment based on operant conditioning. Give an example of when it could be used. 103. What do the initials CBT stand for? 104. Outline the main procedures used in CBT. 105. For what condition is Beck s cognitive therapy mainly used? 106. Give two reasons why CBT has become so widely used to treat mental disorders. 107. In what way has CBT helped individuals with schizophrenia? 108. What are the implications for social change of research into social influence? (6m) 109. In a hospital you are very likely to obey a nurse. However, if you meet her outside the hospital, for example in a shop, you are much less likely to obey. Using your knowledge of how people resist pressures to obey, explain why you are less likely to obey the nurse outside the hospital. (4m) 110. Outline one limitation of the behavioural approach to psychopathology. (2m). 111. Discuss the emotion-focussed approach to coping with stress. (8m) 112. Discuss one or more psychological methods of stress management. (10m) 113. Outline and evaluate one or more explanations of why people obey. (12m) 114. Define the IV and the DV. (4m)
115. Define experimental design. (2m) 116. How have psychologists investigated the relationship between stress and the immune system? (4m) 117. Milgrams work can be criticised for being unethical. Describe one way in which his work is unethical. (2m) 118. Apart from ethical issues, give one strength and one limitation of Milgram s methodology. (2m+2m) 119. People develop various strategies to cope with the stress in their lives. Some of these strategies are emotion-focussed and some are problem-focussed. A) Outline one emotion-focussed strategy that can be used to cope with stress. (4m) B) Explain the difference between emotion focused and problem-focussed ways of coping with stress. (4m) 120. Some psychologists have argued that daily hassles are an important source of stress. How have psychologists investigated the relationship between daily hassles and stress? (4m) 121. Some people are more adversely affected by stress than others. Outline and evaluate the role of personality factors in stress. (12m) 122. Kayla and Jasmine are close friends and go to the same school. One of the teachers arranged for a speaker to come to the school to talk to the students about animal rights. After the talk the speaker offered everyone the chance to join his organisation and virtually everyone wanted to join, including Kayla and Jasmine. A few weeks later Kayla confided that she had just joined because everyone else had. This surprised Jasmine because she felt really committed to the cause and had volunteered to help out at a fundraising event. A) With reference to the example above, explain the concepts of internalisation and compliance. (3m +3m) B) Outline how one research study has investigated the effects of conformity. (4m) 123. Milgram s research into obedience has been criticised in terms of lacking validity. Describe and evaluate the validity of Milgram s research on obedience. (8m) 124. A lot of research into social influence suggests that people are highly conformist and obedient. But research also shows that people can be independent in their behaviour. A) Outline one explanation of how people resist pressure to conform. (3m) B) Outline one explanation of how people resist pressures to obey authority. (3m) 125. The following statements are related to definitions of abnormality. Write down the letters that represent the three statements related to the deviation from social norms definition. A Deviance is related to context and degree B Abnormality is judged in terms of not being able to cope C Abnormality is shown by a deviance from social standards D The definition is open to abuse because norms vary across time and situation E Mastery of the environment is an important criteria (3m)
126. Describe the key features of the psychodynamic model of abnormality. (4m) 127. Daniel has been having difficulty sleeping since he lost his job. He has also lost all enthusiasm for life and can t motivate himself to do anything. He went to see his doctor about his problems and discussed various options including biological and psychological therapies. A) Daniel s doctor though psychological therapies might be a better option. Outline one argument the doctor might use to convince Daniel that psychological therapies are better than biological ones. (3m) B) The doctor thinks that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy might be the best psychological therapy. Suggest how he might explain the main techniques involved in this therapy to Daniel. (4m) C) Daniel asks whether there are any drawbacks to using CBT. What would you tell him? (3m) 128. Psychologists use research to assess the effectiveness of any method used to treat abnormality. A) Describe how psychologists have investigated the effectiveness of drugs in treating abnormality. (3m) B) Describe ethical issues that may arise when conducting research on the use of drugs to treat abnormality. (4m) 129. Marcus is a man in his twenties. In the last few months he has become withdrawn and depressed. He finds it difficult to get himself to work and when he comes home he just goes to bed. A) Identify one definition of abnormality and use this to explain in what way Marcus behaviour is abnormal. (3m) B) Identify one other definition of abnormality and give one,limitation of this definition. (3m) 130. Discuss the key features of the biological approach to psychopathology (12m). 131. Two forms of social influence are obedience and conformity. Explain how these two forms of social influence are different. (3m) 132. Describe one explanation of how people resist pressure to conform. (3m) 133. Give one criticism of the above explanation. (2m) 134. A psychologist plans to conduct an experiment to see if males or females are more affected by conformity. A) Suggest a suitable procedure for this experiment. (2m) B) Identify one potential ethical issue and suggest hoe the psychologist might deal with this. (3m) 135. Some psychologists believe that the research conducted by Milgram into obedience is the most important study ever in psychology. Discuss the contribution of Milgram s research to our understanding of obedience. (12m) 136. Susan is an example of someone who could be described as Type A. Describe one or more characteristics of Susan s personality. (2m)
137. Describe one or more other personality factors which might explain how people react differently to stress. (4m) 138. Explain how emotion-focused approaches differ from problem-focused methods of coping with stress. (4m) 139. Outline some of the difficulties psychologists have encountered when investigating the relationship between life changes and stress. (4m) 140. Outline the key components of the adrenal-pituitary system. (2m) 141. Discuss how factors in the workplace may affect stress. (8m) If it says identify then a single word or phrase will do. If it says describe or outline and evaluate then you need to add more detail. This can often be done by adding an example or adding a study. Elaborate AO2 points- identify the issue, justify your reason for it being an issue, and then elaborate- how does this affect the particular topic being questioned- is it good or bad? You will do better if you are motivated- so find a reason to revise. Revisit all topic areas regularly or you will soon forget it. Short bursts 20-30 minutes revision then doing something different is best. Be multi-sensory- use all your sense to learn, touch, colour, sight, sound, taste, movement, testing each other, explaining it to your family etc etc. Deal with stress by being aware, deep breathing, physical stretches etc. Eat and sleep well during this period. A really healthy 24 hours before each exam will also help enormously. Good luck.