14.1 What Is Stress — Ancient Hardware, Modern Threats | Psychology 2e
After this lesson you will be able to…
- Understand why our ancient biology reacts to modern, non-physical threats.
- Learn the early definition of stress as an external event and its key flaw.
- Explore Hans Selye's definition of stress as a physiological reaction and its limitation.
- Understand Lazarus and Folkman's definition of stress as a cognitive appraisal process.
- Learn the first step of cognitive appraisal: judging an event's potential harm or gain.
- Understand the second appraisal step: judging coping options and their perceived effectiveness.
- Learn how belief in one's ability (self-efficacy) influences stress magnitude.
- Discover Hans Selye's concept of eustress, a positive force that optimizes performance.
- Understand the relationship between stress levels and performance, from eustress to distress.
- Learn how health psychology studies the impact of psychological factors on illness and stress trends.
- Analyze how the 2008 recession caused a dramatic stress spike in specific demographics.
- Understand the body's rapid physiological response to immediate threats, coined by Walter Cannon.
- Learn Hans Selye's three stages of the body's long-term physiological response to chronic stress.
- Understand how the sympathetic nervous system acts as the body's ultra-fast stress responder.
- Learn the slower, endocrine pathway of the HPA axis and the role of cortisol in stress.
- Understand the profoundly destructive impact of sustained elevated cortisol levels on the body.
- Summarize why our stress biology, designed for acute threats, struggles with modern chronic stressors.
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(0)This lesson unpacks the science of stress from Section 14.1 of OpenStax Psychology 2e, tracing how researchers moved from flawed stimulus- and respons...
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Quiz: The Psychology and Biology of Stress
FundamentalsAnswer the following questions based on the video lesson you just watched. All answers can be found in the video — no outside knowledge is needed.
Practice: Psychology and Biology of Stress
PracticeAnswer each question using what you learned in the video lesson. Questions increase in difficulty from recall to application. Write complete sentences where explanations are requested.