PSYC 1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Hans Selye, Walter Bradford Cannon, Learned Helplessness
20 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Prior to the 20th century, the principle threats to health were contagious diseases caused by infectious agents: smallpox, diphtheria, etc. Nutrition, public hygiene, and medical treatment have obliterated many of these diseases. Unfortunately, chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer, diseases that develop gradually, continue to increase. The traditional view of physical illness as a purely biological phenomenon has given way to a new model, the biopsychosocial model, which holds that physical illness is caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. Stress is defined in the text as any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one"s well-being and that thereby tax one"s coping ability. The experience of feeling stressed depends largely on cognitive processes; going on a new date is exciting for some, terrifying for others. People"s appraisals of events are very subjective and influence the effect of the event. Psychologists have outlined 4 principle types of stress: thwarted.
