Biological Psychology - General Adaptation Syndrome

Seyle - General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

GAS has 3 stages. These include:

Stage 1 - Alarm

Stage 2 - Resistance (body maintains activity)

Stage 3 - Exhaustion

Evaluation

+ Pioneering work recognising stress as being a psychological concept.
+ Major implications for relationship between stress and physical illness - inspired research.

- Only suggests a single, passive response to stressors and doesn't take into account individual differences.
- In initial investigations, Seyle used non-human animals which caused generalisations.
- Can argue there is an overemphasis on physical factors.

Biological Psychology - Stress

Stress: 

Experienced when a person's perceived environmental, social and physical demands exceed their perceived ability to cope.

OR

The reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed upon them. It arrises when they worry that they can't cope. 

The Automatic Nervous System (ANS) causes an involuntary response. It has two branches:

When an event is determined stressful, the HYPOTHALAMUS is activated. This causes two systems to activate.

HYPOTHALAMIC PITUITARY                                                  SYMPATHETIC ADRENO

ADRENAL AXIS (HPA)                                                               MEDULLARY AXIS (SAM)

                     |                                                                                                       |

Pituitary gland is activated                                                          Autonomic nervous system                                    

                                                                                                       activated. This sends messages

                    |                                                                                  through the body to prepare us.                          

Releases adrenal corticotrophic hormones                                                     

                   

ADRENAL GLANDS are activated. These are just above the kidneys.

Adrenal cortex is activated                                                          Adrenal-medulla gland is activated.

                   |                                                                                                         |

Releases corticosteroids                                                     Releases adrenaline and noradrenaline.

---------------------------------

Stress and Illness

Because corticosteroids can slow or sometime stop the working immune system, people can become susceptive to many illnesses while they're stressed. One of the main immunodeficiency diseases is AIDS.

Natural Immunity: A primitive system and is made up of the cells in the bloodstream. These non-specifically attack and ingest invading pathogens. These natural immunity cells include macrophages, phagocytes and natural killer cells.

Specific Immunity: Based on lymphocytes. A more sophisticated system than natural immunity as the cells that make it up have the ability to recognise invading pathogens and produce specific antibodies to destroy them. Specific Immunity is split into cellular and humoral immunity.

Cellular Immunity: Involves T lymphocytes which they grow in the thymus gland. These T cells attack intracellular pathogens. 

Humoral Immunity: Coordinated by another set of lymphocytes called B cells in bone marrow. The end product is the secretion of antibodies that attack and destroy extracellular pathogens.

Russek (1962)

- Russek used medical professors to test stress. 

- He proposed that GPs experience high stress and dermatologists experience low stress. 

- Heart disease was greatest amongst GPs - 11.9% of the sample. 

Williams (2000)

- Anger is related to heart disease. 

- 13000 people were tested with a 10 question anger scale. 

- None of the participants suffered heart disease at the outset (baseline).

- 6 years later, 256 people experienced a heart attack. 

- Highest score on scale - 2 times more likely to have heart disease. 

Brady (1958)

Procedure

- Pairs of monkeys were linked to an apparatus that gave electric shocks.

- Shocks were given every 20 seconds to one monkey.

- Other monkey had the power to stop some of the shocks but not others by pressing a lever.

Findings

- The executive monkeys developed ulcers while the yolked monkeys were unharmed. 

Conclusion

- The executive monkeys had to remain vigilant to prevent the shocks and this is extremely stressful which gave them ulcers. 

Evaluation

- Brady chose moneys who were most active - investigator bias. 

- Unethical - causes harm to monkeys.

- Can't generalise results to humans because results would not be representational.

Kiecolt-Glaser et al (1984)

Procedure

- First-year medical students, 49 males and 26 females.
- Gave blood samples a month before their exams as a baseline measure and again on first day of exams when exam stress was assumed to be at its peak.
- Completed questionnaires to assess psychiatric symptoms, loneliness and life events.

Findings 

- Natural killer cell activity decreased between the two samples. indicating a weakening of the immune system
- Immune responses lowest in students reporting to be lonely or experiencing other life problems.

Conclusion

- Stress is related to a lowered immune response.

Evaluation

+ Male and female participants - higher population validity.
+ Baseline measure shows the cause and effect.

- Androcentric because more males.
- First year medical students only - low population validity.
- Demand characteristics.
- Social desirability bias.
- Medical students may know more.

Marucha et al (1998)

Procedure

- Small 3.5mm wounds made on palate of 11 dental students.
- First during vacation and then 3 days before exam.
- Healing assessed using daily photographs and foaming response to hydrogen peroxide.

Findings

- Wounds healing took 3 days longer during examination period compared to vacation.

Conclusion

- Even short-lived stress can affect the immune system.

Evaluation

+ Two methods of gathering data.

- Small sample size - low population validity.
- Unethical - protection from harm.
- Can't necessarily establish cause and effect.
- Participant variables.

Cohen et al (1991)

Procedure

- Healthy volunteers injected with common cold virus.
- Volunteers in control group injected with harmless salt solution.
- Participants given stress index.

Findings

- Positive correlation between stress index and cold symptoms.
- A third injected with virus developed colds.

Evaluation

+ Control group gave comparison.
+ Volunteer sampling made it easy to get participants.
+ Baseline created.

- Stress of injection could contribute to the illness.
- Correlation can't establish cause and effect.
- Participant variables

Cognitive - Strategies for memory improvement

Mnemonic Techniques: A structured technique used to help people remember and recall information. Used when we have to recall large amounts of unfamiliar information. 

Verbal Mnemonics: Useful when the order is important. 

Acronym: Where a word or sentence is formed from the initial letters of other words. 
e.g. ROYGBIV

OR

Acrostic: A poem or sentence where the first letter in each line or word forms the item to be remembered. 

Visual Mnemonics: Use of mental techniques. 

Method of Loci: Requires the learner to associate parts of the material to be learned with different places in order. 

Keyword Method: Used to associate two pieces of information such as a foreign language. 
e.g 'vin' remember: A van full of wine. 

Spider Diagrams: Making notes in the form of a drawing with branches.