Self Test # 21 - Health, Stress & Coping

Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions on Module 21 & are 
selected to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exam six. You can, 
in fact, expect to see many of these very same questions on that exam. Exam questions, 
however, may deal with topics not covered in the self tests or in lectures but are 
disucssed in your textbook. You are responsible for the content of your text book 
plus the content of lectures, interactive activities, & material on the web site.

Use these sample questions to test yourself & to practice for the test. 

1. When we interpret a situation as threatening and do not feel 
equipped to handle the situation, we experience:

 stress
 challenge
 psychosis
 motivation

2. Your initial, subjective evaluation of a situation is called:

 hardiness
 metacognition
 primary appraisal
 personal evaluation

3. The three kinds of primary appraisals are:

 irrelevant, positive, & stressful
 harm/loss, threat, & challenge
 alarm, resistance, & exhaustion
 hypochondriac, psychosomatic, & physiological

4. What effect do harm/loss & threat appraisals have that 
challenge appraisals do not?

 lower physiological arousal
 higher levels of negative emotion
 a triggering of physiological arousal
 an increase in the activity of the parasympathetic division

5. Sympathetic is to ______ as parasympathetic is to ______.

 mind; body
 relaxation; arousal
 arousal; relaxation
 intellectual; emotional

6. A threat appraisal automatically triggers:

 frustration
 the fight-flight response
 posttraumatic stress disorder
 parasympathetic division activity

7. The development of psychosomatic symptoms depends 
on several factors. Which of the following is not among the 
factors as presented in the textbook?

 making a challenge appraisal
 experiencing prolonged stress
 having a genetic predisposition
 experiencing continual activation of the fight-flight response

8. The three parts of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome are:

 alarm, resistance, & exhaustion
 perception, response, & recovery
 perception, interpretation, & flight
 adaptation, modification, & adoption

9. The idea that our thoughts, beliefs & emotions can cause physiological changes is called:

 functionalism
 associationism
 mind-body connection
 psychosomatic association

10. Psychoneuroimmunology means the study of:

 this is a trick question - that is a made-up word
 how disease can make a person psychotic or neurotic
 the interaction of physical and psychological factors in health
 the manner in which physical factors create psychological symptoms

11. Uplift is to ________ as hassle is to _________.

 small; large
 internal; external
 pleasant; unpleasant
 inconsequential; consequential

12. One shortcoming of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale is that it:

 has not been normed with college students
 lists only a small number of major life events
 fails to correlate with the development of psychosomatic problems
 makes no distinction between appraisal of positive & negative events

13. “Every time I move closer to my goals, something stops me.” This 
person is experiencing ____________ as a situational stressor

 anger
 burnout
 frustration
 avoidance

14. Having feelings of doing poorly, physically wearing out, or becoming 
emotionally exhausted because of stress at work is called:

 stress
 conflict
 burnout
 frustration

15. Which of the following is not among the goals to deal with posttraumatic 
stress disorder?

 provide emotional support
 bring out the details of the experience
 relive the experience through journaling
 build a sense of courage to go on with life

16. In the ________ style of dealing with conflict, the person gives in to make the 
conflict go away, while someone with a(n) _______ style, goes to 
any lengths to win.

 domination; active
 integration; domination
 compromise; integration
 accommodation; domination

17. An approach-avoidance conflict involves:

 two options, one positive & one negative
 one situation that does not cause stress
 two options, neither of which are pleasurable
 one situation that has both pleasurable and disagreeable aspects

18. Defense mechanisms like repression, sublimation, rationalization, 
& regression can be described as:

 based on primary appraisal
 based on classical conditioning principles
 conscious coping techniques that are problem-focused
 unconscious coping techniques that are emotion-focused

19. Hardiness is a combination of these three personality traits.

 control, coping, and competence
 control, commitment, and challenge
 consistency, control, and competency
 commitment, congruency, and consistency

20. Optimists tend to use _____ coping, while pessimists use 
______ coping.

 reductive; deductive
 deductive; reductive
 emotion-focused; problem-focused
 problem-focused; emotion-focused

21. Psychosomatic symptoms, higher levels of stress, & the use of 
threat appraisals are symptoms associated with

 hardiness
 reaction formation
 a type B personality
 an external locus of control

22. Problem-focused coping is to ________ as emotion-focused coping 
is to _______.

 passive; active
 feelings; affect
 behavior; feelings
 primary; secondary

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                            Topics in Psychology
                               Robert C. Gates