HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY - (CHAPTERS 1-
5) EXAM QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
ANSWERS
Health - Answer--Lies on a continuum
-A positive state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not simply the absence of
injury or disease
Health and History (Pre 20th Century) - Answer--17th-19th centuries, most North
Americans died from acute disorders (things like TB, pneumonia, and other infectious
diseases; result of virus or bacterial infection)
Dietary Diseases - Answer--Malnutrition
Example: beriberi (beta 1-anemia, paralysis, wasting away)
Infectious Diseases - Answer-Acute illness caused by bacteria or viruses
-Still leading cause of death today
Why Did Infectious Disease Deaths Decrease? - Answer-1. Advances in medical
technology
(e,g, inoculations against disease)
2. MOSTLY CAME FROM preventative measures such as:
a. Improved hygiene
b. Greater resistance due to improved nutrition
c. Public health innovations like water purification/sewage treatment
20th Century Illness - Answer--Death rates from infectious diseases decreased
-Life expectancy increased (1990: 48 years old to ~77 years old today)
Main cause of death in developed countries today is... (what is it, examples?) - Answer-
Chronic illness: Degenerative illnesses
Examples: heart disease, cancer, and stroke
-Develop and persist over a long period of time
The Mind-Body Relationship - Answer-1. Dualism: the mind and body have no
relationship (Plato)
2. The Body: Our physical being including skin, muscles, bones, heart and brain
3. The Mind: An abstract process that includes our thoughts, perceptions, and feelings
-Whether the mind and body function independently of each other or not is called the
MIND BODY PROBLEM
, Mind Body Relationship: As defined by:
1. The Middle Ages
2. Descartes
3. 18th/19th Century - Answer-Middle Ages: Religious beliefs affected people's ideas
about the cause of illness
-I.E: punishment from God for being bad...
Descartes: The mind and body are separate but communicate through the pineal gland
-This isn't true, but it's getting us closer
18th/19th Century: Improvements in microscopic technology, use of dissection and
autopsies, surgery/anesthesia
Biomedical Model - Answer--Diseases/physical disorders can be explained by
disturbances in physiological processes, which result from injury, biochemical
imbalances, bacterial or viral infection, etc
-An affliction of the body, separate from psychological and social processes
Role of Psychology in Health (Freud; Psychosomatic Medicine) - Answer-Freud:
introduced the idea of CONVERSION HYSTERIA, which was the idea that patients
show symptoms of physical illness without any organic disorder (supposedly due to
emotional conflict)
Psychosomatic Medicine: not imaginary symptoms but the mind and body are both
involved
Behavioral Medicine - Answer--Interdisciplinary (incorporates psychology, sociology,
medicine)
-Based on behaviorism: people's behaviors are based on classical and operant
conditioning
Treatments helped with problematic emotions (fear) and problem behaviors (like
overeating)
Focus of Health Psychologists - Answer-1. Health promotion and maintenance
2. The psychological aspects of the prevention and treatment of illness
3. The etiology and correlates of health, illness, and dysfunction
4. The health care system and the formulation of health policy
What Do Health Psychologists Do? Positive Psychology, Clinical Health Psychologists?
- Answer--Teachers, researchers, clinicians
Positive Psychology: new focus on optimal, healthy human functioning
5) EXAM QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
ANSWERS
Health - Answer--Lies on a continuum
-A positive state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not simply the absence of
injury or disease
Health and History (Pre 20th Century) - Answer--17th-19th centuries, most North
Americans died from acute disorders (things like TB, pneumonia, and other infectious
diseases; result of virus or bacterial infection)
Dietary Diseases - Answer--Malnutrition
Example: beriberi (beta 1-anemia, paralysis, wasting away)
Infectious Diseases - Answer-Acute illness caused by bacteria or viruses
-Still leading cause of death today
Why Did Infectious Disease Deaths Decrease? - Answer-1. Advances in medical
technology
(e,g, inoculations against disease)
2. MOSTLY CAME FROM preventative measures such as:
a. Improved hygiene
b. Greater resistance due to improved nutrition
c. Public health innovations like water purification/sewage treatment
20th Century Illness - Answer--Death rates from infectious diseases decreased
-Life expectancy increased (1990: 48 years old to ~77 years old today)
Main cause of death in developed countries today is... (what is it, examples?) - Answer-
Chronic illness: Degenerative illnesses
Examples: heart disease, cancer, and stroke
-Develop and persist over a long period of time
The Mind-Body Relationship - Answer-1. Dualism: the mind and body have no
relationship (Plato)
2. The Body: Our physical being including skin, muscles, bones, heart and brain
3. The Mind: An abstract process that includes our thoughts, perceptions, and feelings
-Whether the mind and body function independently of each other or not is called the
MIND BODY PROBLEM
, Mind Body Relationship: As defined by:
1. The Middle Ages
2. Descartes
3. 18th/19th Century - Answer-Middle Ages: Religious beliefs affected people's ideas
about the cause of illness
-I.E: punishment from God for being bad...
Descartes: The mind and body are separate but communicate through the pineal gland
-This isn't true, but it's getting us closer
18th/19th Century: Improvements in microscopic technology, use of dissection and
autopsies, surgery/anesthesia
Biomedical Model - Answer--Diseases/physical disorders can be explained by
disturbances in physiological processes, which result from injury, biochemical
imbalances, bacterial or viral infection, etc
-An affliction of the body, separate from psychological and social processes
Role of Psychology in Health (Freud; Psychosomatic Medicine) - Answer-Freud:
introduced the idea of CONVERSION HYSTERIA, which was the idea that patients
show symptoms of physical illness without any organic disorder (supposedly due to
emotional conflict)
Psychosomatic Medicine: not imaginary symptoms but the mind and body are both
involved
Behavioral Medicine - Answer--Interdisciplinary (incorporates psychology, sociology,
medicine)
-Based on behaviorism: people's behaviors are based on classical and operant
conditioning
Treatments helped with problematic emotions (fear) and problem behaviors (like
overeating)
Focus of Health Psychologists - Answer-1. Health promotion and maintenance
2. The psychological aspects of the prevention and treatment of illness
3. The etiology and correlates of health, illness, and dysfunction
4. The health care system and the formulation of health policy
What Do Health Psychologists Do? Positive Psychology, Clinical Health Psychologists?
- Answer--Teachers, researchers, clinicians
Positive Psychology: new focus on optimal, healthy human functioning
