1.

According to the text, stress is best defined as:

A) any event or situation that triggers coping adjustments.
B) the physical and emotional wear-and-tear reaction of a person coping with a
stressor.
C) the process by which we perceive and respond to events that are perceived as
harmful, threatening, or challenging.
D) a person's determination of a challenging event's meaning.

2. Stressors are:
A) demanding events or situations that trigger coping adjustments in a person.
B) unpleasant environmental stimuli.
C) environmental stimuli that a person has never before experienced.
D) events that cause heart rate and blood pressure to increase.

3. The correlation between scores on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale and
measures of illness has generally been found to be:
A) very strong and positive.
B) very strong and negative.
C) relatively weak.
D) stronger for women than for men.

4. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale has been criticized for all the following
reasons EXCEPT:
A) It consists of vague items open to subjective interpretation.
B) It fails to take into consideration individual differences in the way events are
appraised.
C) It does not differentiate between resolved and unresolved stressful events.
D) Separating positive and negative events.

5. The effects of stress are most deleterious when the stressor is:
A) negative.
B) intense.
C) anticipated.
D) unpredictable.

6. Following the worst nuclear accident in the United States there was a marked
increase in:
A) levels of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine.
B) divorce.
C) depression.
D) death.

Page 1
 7. Residents living near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant at the time of the
accident:
A) were more likely to suffer from hypertension during the year following the
accident.
B) fared better if they used emotion-focused coping.
C) showed only short-term increases in stress levels.
D) fared better if they were able to avoid thinking about their exposure to radiation.

8. In terms of predicting a person's overall psychological well-being, research

studies have shown that:
A) everyday hassles are a better predictor of health problems than major life events.
B) daily uplifts are a better predictor of health than major life events.
C) major life events are a better predictor of health problems than everyday hassles.
D) major life events are a better predictor of health problems than daily uplifts.

9. Critics of research surveys of the impact of daily hassles argue that some of the
items listed as hassles are:
A) impossible to measure.
B) unsurprising and predictable.
C) actually symptoms of stress.
D) rarely experienced.

10. A dramatic illustration of the interaction of daily hassles with chronic stress is the
decrease in ____________ that occurred in Russian men just after the breakup of
the former Soviet Union.
A) marriage rates
B) life expectancy
C) testosterone levels
D) civility

11. According to research studies of children living near airports, exposure to chronic
loud noise may result in:
A) lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels.
B) lower levels of cortisol and other stress hormones.
C) reading problems.
D) learned helplessness.

12. Glass and Singer found that college students appraised a loud, distracting noise
as less stressful when it was:

Page 2
A) unexpected.
B) expected.
C) uncontrollable.
D) controllable

13. Which of the following is not necessarily true regarding population density,
crowding, and behavior?
A) Crowding is associated with increases in aggression in laboratory rats.
B) Crowding increases unwanted social interactions.
C) Density always produces crowding.
D) Density is a measure of crowding.

14. The psychological state in which people believe they do not have enough space
to function as they wish is called:
A) density.
B) crowding.
C) allostasis.
D) burnout.

15. Calhoun's research studies with rats living under highly crowded conditions
found that crowding eventually led to all of the following EXCEPT:
A) fighting as rats tried to defend their territories.
B) decreased infant mortality.
C) acts of deviancy, including cannibalism.
D) reduced sexual receptivity among females.

16. Crowding, noise, pollution, discrimination, and other stressors often occur
together in what has been called the:
A) environment of poverty.
B) behavioral sink.
C) urban desert.
D) urban jungle.

17. In many parts of the world, the nature of work has changed from:
A) farming to manufacturing to knowledge work.
B) hunting to farming to manufacturing.
C) farming to knowledge work to service work.
D) manufacturing to service work to knowledge work.

18. Between ages 18 and 27, the average worker in the United States holds _______

Page 3
 job(s).
A) one
B) three
C) five
D) eight

19. Which of the following is NOT one of the personality and work environment
types identified by John Holland?
A) Realistic
B) Investigative
C) Enterprising
D) Unconventional

20. An employment setting in which workers have regular opportunities to do what

they do best and perceive that they are part of something significant is one that
promotes:
A) employee engagement.
B) social-evaluative threat.
C) person-environment congruence.
D) primary appraisal.

21. Ron is so afraid that his job performance will be evaluated negatively that he
feels considerable stress driving to work each day. Ron's fear is an example of:
A) learned helplessness.
B) social-evaluative threat.
C) employee disengagement.
D) stereotype threat.

22. Scarcity and enhancement are two competing hypotheses regarding women and:
A) burnout.
B) role overload.
C) acculturation stress.
D) cognitive appraisal.

23. Regarding the question of whether having a job as well as a home and family
enhances or threatens a woman's health, researchers have generally found that:
A) both women and men who balance vocational, marital, and parental roles generally
are healthier and happier than adults who function in only one or two of these roles.
B) women (but not men) who attempt to balance vocational, marital, and parental
roles have more health complaints than their counterparts who function in only one
or two of these roles.

Page 4
C) both women and men who attempt to balance vocational, marital, and parental
roles have more health complaints than their counterparts who function in only one
or two of these roles.
D) it is impossible to predict who will have more complaints.

24. Research studies of role overload in women have generally concluded that what
matters most is:
A) the number of roles a woman occupies.
B) the quality of a working woman's experience in her various roles.
C) the extent of each woman's social support network.
D) None of these matter.

25. Burnout results from stress that normally accompanies:

A) the loss of a close friend.
B) divorce or separation.
C) daily work stress, particularly in jobs that involve responsibility for other people.
D) daily work stress, particularly in mind-numbing manufacturing jobs.

26. Desynchronized biological rhythms, headaches, and sleep disturbances are often
associated with:
A) role ambiguity.
B) job loss.
C) inadequate career advancement.
D) shiftwork.

27. During the last half century, the average household income of Americans has
_____________ and their self-reported personal happiness has
_______________.
A) remained almost unchanged; decreased
B) increased; remained almost unchanged
C) remained almost unchanged; increased
D) remained almost unchanged; remained almost unchanged.

28. Acculturation refers to the process in which:

A) low socioeconomic status leads to illness.
B) predisposing and precipitating factors interact in determining an individual's
susceptibility to stress and illness.
C) a member of one ethnic or racial group adopts the values and customs of another
group.
D) a potential stressor is appraised as benign, challenging, or threatening.

Page 5
 29. Caregiving has been associated with:
A) overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines.
B) higher percentages of T cells.
C) underproduction of proinflammatory cytokines.
D) a stronger immune response.

30. The medical researcher who first used the term stress, believing it to be a
common cause of medical problems, was:
A) Hans Selye.
B) Richard Lazarus.
C) Walter Cannon.
D) Martin Seligman.

31. Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky has found elevated levels of _______________

among highly social and intelligent primates associated with a
________________ level of threat from predators and other life-threatening
problems.
A) epinephrine and cortisol; high
B) epinephrine and cortisol; low
C) thyroxin; high
D) oxytocin; low

32. The fight-or-flight response:

A) is never adaptive.
B) involves arousal of the parasympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system.
C) involves arousal of the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system.
D) is subject to large individual differences.

33. The fight-or-flight reaction involves an outpouring of _______________ into the

bloodstream.
A) estrogen and progesterone
B) acetylcholine and endorphins
C) lymphocytes and glucocorticoids
D) epinephrine and cortisol

34. Running like a rope through the middle of the brainstem, the _______________
plays a central role in alerting the brain to an impending threat or challenge.
A) hypothalamus
B) thalamus
C) limbic system

Page 6
D) reticular formation

35. Under instructions from the _______________, the _______________ glands

release hormones that cause the fight-or-flight response.
A) thalamus; parathyroid
B) hypothalamus; pituitary
C) sympathetic nervous system; adrenal
D) parasympathetic nervous system; thyroid

36. In response to a potential stressor that has been perceived by the sense organs, the
_______________ alerts the brain to an impending threat or challenge.
A) hypothalamus
B) reticular formation
C) pituitary gland
D) occipital lobe

37. Regarding the body's response to a potential stressor, SAM is to HPA as

_______________ is to _______________.
A) delayed response; immediate response
B) immediate response; delayed response
C) homeostasis; fight-or-flight
D) anabolism; catabolism

38. The tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state of physiological

functioning is called:
A) self-regulation.
B) homeostasis.
C) eustress.
D) physiological zero.

39. Corticosteroids are:

A) neurotransmitters produced by the hypothalamus.
B) releasing factors produced by the adrenal medulla.
C) hormones produced by the adrenal cortex that fight inflammation and trigger the
release of stored energy.
D) white blood cells that attack immunogens and pathogens.

40. Which of the following structures is not involved in the HPA system?
A) adrenal cortex
B) hypothalamus

Page 7
C) pituitary gland
D) adrenal medulla

41. Unrelenting stress can damage the ______________, causing levels of the
hormone ___________ to spiral upward.
A) amygdala; dopamine
B) pituitary gland; ACTH
C) adrenal cortex; epinephrine
D) hippocampus; cortisol

42. The condition of ________________, as well as a more prolonged activation of

the ___________ system, has been linked to the rate of cognitive decline in
people with Alzheimer's disease.
A) hypercortisolism; HPA
B) hypocortisolism; HPA
C) hypercortisolism; SAM
D) hypocortisolism; SAM

43. Josh is a participant in a study in which prompts from his smart phone require
him to report on his mood, social interactions, and other variables throughout the
day. Evidently, Josh's study is making use of the procedure called:
A) 360-degree feedback.
B) ecological momentary assessment.
C) noncontingent signal recording.
D) objective-structured examination.

44. In Ader and Cohen's taste-aversion experiment with rats, the sweet-tasting water
functioned as a(n) _______________, and the drug it was paired with functioned
as a(n) _______________.
A) conditioned stimulus; unconditioned stimulus
B) unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus
C) precipitating factor; predisposing factor
D) predisposing factor; precipitating factor

45. Protein molecules produced by immune cells that can bind to receptor sites on
brain cells and trigger nerve impulses are called:
A) neurotransmitters.
B) erythrocytes.
C) leukocytes.
D) cytokines.

Page 8
 46. Ader and Cohen's research was instrumental in the development of the new field
of biomedical research known as:
A) allopathic medicine.
B) behavioral medicine.
C) pharmacokinetics.
D) psychoneuroimmunology.

47. Psychoneuroimmunology is a field that focuses on:

A) how neurobiologists and psychologists work together to explain health and illness.
B) why the levels of certain hormones change in response to different environmental
events.
C) how psychological factors affect immunity through the neuroendocrine system.
D) behavioral factors in health and illness.

48. Divorce, bereavement, unemployment and exam periods are often accompanied
by:
A) immunosuppression.
B) an increase in T cells.
C) an increase in natural killer cells.
D) an increase in the total number of lymphocytes.

49. In one study, researchers found that patients who reported higher levels of
preoperative stress before undergoing hernia surgery had:
A) lower serum corticosteroid levels.
B) slower rates of wound healing.
C) less painful recovery periods.
D) less inflammation.

50. According to the direct effect hypothesis:

A) immunosuppression is part of the body's natural response to stress.
B) stress encourages maladaptive behaviors that weaken the immune system.
C) people sleep less when experiencing stress, causing immunosuppression.
D) All of the answers are correct.

51. According to the indirect effect hypothesis:

A) immunosuppression is part of the body's natural response to stress.
B) stress encourages maladaptive behaviors that weaken the immune system.
C) stress hormones attach to the receptors of T cells and B cells.
D) stress hormones attach to the receptors of lymphocytes, suppressing the immune
response.

Page 9
 52. Allostatic load refers to:
A) any event or situation that triggers coping adjustments.
B) the process by which we perceive and respond to threatening events.
C) the cumulative long-term effects of the body's physiological response.
D) the body's initial, rapid-acting response to stress.

53. The allostatic load is highest for stressors that are:

A) predictable and controllable.
B) too brief in duration to be prepared for.
C) experienced when coping resources are plentiful.
D) unpredictable or uncontrollable.

54. According to the glucocorticoid-resistance model, chronic stress:

A) interferes with the immune system's sensitivity to hormones that promote
inflammation.
B) interferes with the immune system's sensitivity to hormones that terminate the
inflammatory response.
C) triggers hypercortisolism.
D) triggers hypocortisolism.

55. Who first suggested that stress is a nonspecific response of the body?
A) Richard Lazarus
B) Hans Selye
C) Martin Seligman
D) Walter Cannon

56. In order, the three phases of the general adaptation syndrome are:
A) resistance, alarm, exhaustion.
B) alarm, exhaustion, resistance.
C) exhaustion, alarm, resistance.
D) alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

57. According to Selye, the _______________ phase of the general adaptation

syndrome is responsible for the physiological damage related to stress.
A) alarm
B) resistance
C) exhaustion
D) recovery

Page 10
 58. In one study, laboratory rats that were chronically stressed suffered significant
atrophying of neurons in the _______________, a brain area that plays a crucial
role in _______________.
A) hippocampus; memory
B) thalamus; mood
C) hypothalamus; motivation
D) occipital cortex; vision

59. According to its critics, Selye's model:

A) fails to offer a general theory of reactions to a wide variety of stressors over time.
B) fails to offer a physiological mechanism for the stress-illness relationship.
C) places too much emphasis on individual differences in response to stress.
D) fails to consider the role of situational and psychological factors in stress.

60. Richard Lazarus and his colleagues view stress as primarily a consequence of:
A) environmental events.
B) the number of life change units in a person's daily life.
C) a disruption of homeostasis.
D) how a person appraises environmental events and the person's coping resources.

61. The process of primary appraisal involves the evaluation of one's:

A) current emotional state.
B) perception of the event.
C) coping ability.
D) resources.

62. The process of secondary appraisal involves the evaluation of one's:

A) current emotional state.
B) perception of the event.
C) coping ability and resources.
D) allostatic load.

63. Which of the following is the best example of a person's use of primary appraisal
in reacting to a new job?
A) deciding whether one's skills are sufficient to perform the job
B) changing one's impressions of a job in light of new information
C) deciding whether the job enhances one's self-efficacy
D) determining whether one has the ability to cope with the stress of the job

Page 11
 64. Secondary appraisal refers to:
A) a person's initial determination of an event's meaning.
B) a person's determination of whether his or her resources are sufficient to meet the
demands of a threatening event.
C) the process by which challenging events are constantly reevaluated.
D) All of these represent secondary appraisal.

65. Cognitive reappraisal of potential stressors involves assessing:

A) whether an event threatens a person's well-being.
B) whether there are sufficient personal resources for coping with a demand.
C) whether a coping strategy is working.
D) All of these are involved.

66. One implication of the transactional model is that:

A) some situations or events are inherently stressful.
B) cognitive appraisals are not influenced by changes in mood, health, or motivation.
C) the body's stress response is nearly the same, whether a situation is actually
experienced or merely imagined.
D) most stressors are controllable.

67. According to the diathesis-stress model, disease outcomes result from:

A) the stressors a person experiences.
B) physiological vulnerabilities.
C) changes in health behavior.
D) the interaction between a person's psychological and physiological vulnerabilities
and the stressors he or she experiences.

68. Some individuals are more vulnerable to illness because their biological systems
respond more strongly to environmental triggers. These individuals show greater:
A) primary appraisal.
B) reactivity.
C) secondary appraisal.
D) reappraisal.

69. A psychological disorder triggered by exposure to an extreme stressor such as

combat is referred to as:
A) conversion disorder.
B) bipolar disorder.
C) post-traumatic stress disorder.
D) panic attack.

Page 12
 70. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with:
A) temporary changes in the brain, involving the amygdala.
B) decreased cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.
C) biochemical and hormonal alterations that last over a long period.
D) temporary hormonal changes.

71. Regarding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which of the following is NOT
true?
A) Individuals who develop PTSD are also more vulnerable to other psychological
disorders.
B) People who feel a lack of social support are more likely to develop symptoms of
PTSD.
C) Female soldiers who experience harassment or sexual assault report higher-than-
average symptoms of PTSD.
D) Most combat-stress veterans eventually develop symptoms of PTSD.

72. A year after her combat duty in the war in Iraq, Sheila began having nightmares
and unwanted flashbacks about her traumatic experience. Sheila would probably
be diagnosed as suffering from:
A) hypochondriasis.
B) post-traumatic stress disorder.
C) bipolar disorder.
D) burnout.

73. Shelley Taylor has proposed that females are more likely than males to respond
to the same stressors with:
A) fight-or-flight.
B) arousal of the sympathetic nervous system.
C) arousal of the parasympathetic nervous system.
D) tend-and-befriend behaviors.

74. The tend-and-befriend response to stress:

A) is especially characteristic of low-SES females.
B) is related to the release of the stress hormone, oxytocin.
C) does not make sense from an evolutionary perspective.
D) involves an exaggerated sympathetic nervous system response.

75. The primary biological factor in the tend-and-befriend mechanism is:

A) HPA activation.
B) oxytocin.

Page 13
C) cortisol.
D) GSA.

Page 14
Answer Key

1. C
2. C
3. C
4. D
5. D
6. A
7. A
8. A
9. C
10. B
11. C
12. D
13. C
14. B
15. B
16. A
17. A
18. D
19. D
20. A
21. B
22. B
23. A
24. B
25. C
26. D
27. B
28. B
29. A
30. C
31. B
32. C
33. D
34. D
35. C
36. A
37. B
38. B
39. C
40. A
41. D
42. A
43. B
44. A

Page 15
45. D
46. D
47. C
48. A
49. B
50. A
51. B
52. C
53. D
54. B
55. B
56. D
57. C
58. C
59. D
60. D
61. B
62. C
63. A
64. B
65. C
66. C
67. D
68. B
69. C
70. C
71. D
72. B
73. D
74. B
75. B

Page 16