PSYC 120 Final Exam Study Guide PDF

Study Guide for Psych 120 – Final Exam The final exam will be similar in format to the midterms. It will cover material since the beginning of the semester. You can expect approximately 10 short-answer/short essay questions and 50 multiple-choice questions. The following list of topics is intended...

Study Guide for Psych 120 – Final Exam The final exam will be similar in format to the midterms. It will cover material since the beginning of the semester. You can expect approximately 10 short-answer/short essay questions and 50 multiple-choice questions. The following list of topics is intended to guide your studying for the comprehensive final exam. You can also continue to use the lecture goals to prepare a personalized study guide. Good luck! Introduction (Health Psychology, Research Methods, Biopsychosocial Model) What is health psychology and what are some examples of types of research questions/topics that would fall under this area of study? How have patterns of illness in the U.S. shifted over the past century, and why is this relevant to the growth of health psychology? What were the prevailing theories about why people fell ill in the various time periods discussed in class, and what treatments were primarily used in each time period? Compare and contrast the biomedical and biopsychosocial models Why do we need a biopsychosocial model? Discuss how the biopsychosocial model differs from the biomedical model, and why health psychologists use a biopsychosocial approach What is the scientific method? Be able to recognize various research study designs and understand how the design influences the conclusions that may be drawn from the results Describe why we cannot infer causality from studies with correlational designs. Biological Foundations What are the major divisions of the nervous system and what functions do they serve? Contrast the functions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic subdivisions of the autonomic nervous system. Identify the major glands of the endocrine system and explain their functions. What is the flow of secretions in HPA axis? What role does the HPA axis play in the body’s stress response? Stress and Coping How do health psychologists define stress? In the context of the study of stress, what are stressors, appraisals, and responses? Describe the physiology of the fight-or-flight response and the role of the brain and nervous system in the stress response. What role does cortisol play in the stress response? Describe the importance of the properties of stressors, including the nature of the threat, duration, course, predictability and controllability. Define coping. Distinguish problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. Distinguish approach-oriented coping and avoidance-oriented coping. Which coping strategies are most effective? Differentiate the types of social support and discuss two hypotheses regarding the beneficial effects of social support. Describe how such factors as gratitude, a sense of humor, pets, and spirituality may help people cope with stress and, perhaps, promote health. 1  Describe several relaxation techniques and discuss the evidence on their effectiveness as stress-management tools. State the basic premise of mindfulness training and summarize the research that indicates that such training may confer health benefits. Health Behaviors Health Belief Model Theory of Planned Behavior Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change Theory) Behavior change approaches (& examples of each) o Self-Monitoring o Operant Conditioning o Stimulus Control Gain frames & loss frames Define and distinguish physical activity, exercise, and fitness. Describe the guidelines for physical activity in adults Summarize the physical and psychological benefits of regular exercise. Describe the characteristics of effective physical activity interventions. Describe the factors that control sleep timing, and components of sleep continuity. Identify the consequences of poor sleep for physical and psychological well-being. Describe obesity trends among U.S. adults over the past 30 years Do diets work in the long term? Why do diets fail? Understand the results of the milkshake studies, especially the differences in the behavior of dieters and non-dieters Describe the role of genes, personality, and psychosocial factors in alcohol dependence. Describe the interventions that have been used to treat alcohol dependence. Describe the difference between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement, and how both concepts are related to nicotine dependence Climate Change and Sustainability Why is climate change considered a health-related issue? Discuss ways in which psychological science can aid our understanding of inaction related to climate change. How can psychological science inform attempts to change human behaviors related to climate change? Cardiovascular Disease Describe the overall structure and functioning of the cardiovascular system. Differentiate the major cardiovascular diseases and explain how atherosclerosis develops. Identify the “uncontrollable risk factors” for cardiovascular disease. Identify the “controllable risk factors” for cardiovascular disease. Describe the Type A behavior pattern and discuss its relationship to cardiovascular disease. Explain the relationship between a hostile, angry personality and cardiovascular disease. Discuss the research suggesting an association between depression and cardiovascular disease. 2 Diabetes Differentiate the two major forms of diabetes, noting the underlying disease processes, symptoms, and risk factors. Identify risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes. Understand why self-management is important in treatment of diabetes. Describe research suggesting that lifestyle change can help to prevent diabetes. Discuss health psychology’s role in the care and treatment of people with diabetes. Cancer Describe the relationship of gender, race/ethnicity, and SES to cancer. Identify behavioral risk factors for cancer. Describe the evidence linking psychological factors to cancer incidence, progression, and adjustment. Describe psychosocial interventions that have helped patients to cope with cancer. Treatment and Adherence Identify some of the factors that influence whether we detect physical symptoms and describe how we interpret their medical significance. Explain how our illness representations influence the way we react to symptoms. Discuss the impact of age, gender, socioeconomic status, culture, and ethnicity on symptom reporting and the seeking of health care. Identify the stages of delay in seeking medical attention and explain what determines the amount of delay during each stage. Explain why some people underuse health services while others overuse them. Describe the problem of patient adherence and identify several factors that promote improved adherence. Patient-Provider Relationships Describe the features of the doctor-patient relationship. What features are similar to most relationships, and what features make the doctor-patient relationship complicated? What are the three main goals in doctor-patient communication? How can we evaluate the quality of patient-provider communication? Why would doctors withhold important medical information? Be able to identify the different aspects of communication behaviors When are patients most dissatisfied with their doctor/health care? What makes patients most satisfied (and least likely to sue?) How well do patients tend to adhere to medication recommendations from their doctors? What factors influence compliance with medical recommendations? Understand how different types of communication might be better suited to some situations compared to others. Ways to be a smart patient Happiness ○ Can happiness make you healthier? ○ How do health psychologists measure happiness? ○ Relationships between happiness and: ○ Age ○ Gender 3  ○ Race/Ethnicity ○ Physical Appearance ○ Income ○ Ways to cause increases in happiness 4