Health psychology Content

Worked examples (9)

• 1Describe the HPA axis (4 marks)
• 2Distinguish the SAM pathway from the HPA axis (4 marks)
• 3Explain why cortisol is adaptive acutely and damaging chronically (4 marks)
• 4Research methods: a flawed cortisol study (4 marks)
• 5Identify the roles of three brain regions (4 marks)
• 6Describe Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (5 marks)
• 7Apply the alarm reaction to a scenario (3 marks)
• 8Challenge a causal claim about hippocampal volume (4 marks)
• 9Interpret a cortisol curve (3 marks)

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Worked examples (9)

• 1Describe the Holmes and Rahe stress scale (4 marks)
• 2Explain how the SRRS was constructed (3 marks)
• 3Give two weaknesses of the SRRS (4 marks)
• 4Compare daily hassles with major life events (4 marks)
• 5Describe Type A personality (3 marks)
• 6Describe the Western Collaborative Group Study (4 marks)
• 7Assess the claim that Type A personality causes heart disease (5 marks)
• 8Identify types of social support in a scenario (4 marks)
• 9Distinguish buffering from direct effects (4 marks)

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Worked examples (9)

• 1Describe primary and secondary appraisal (4 marks)
• 2Classify coping strategies in a scenario (4 marks)
• 3Distinguish the three coping foci (3 marks)
• 4Apply goodness of fit to two stressors (4 marks)
• 5Recommend and justify a coping strategy (4 marks)
• 6Describe stress inoculation training (4 marks)
• 7Evaluate positive stress-management techniques (5 marks)
• 8Explain why smoking is a maladaptive coping technique (3 marks)
• 9Research methods: measuring coping (4 marks)

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Worked examples (9)

• 1Describe how an SSRI works (4 marks)
• 2Explain the therapeutic delay (3 marks)
• 3Distinguish SSRIs from SNRIs (3 marks)
• 4Explain why a patient stops taking her medication (3 marks)
• 5Distinguish discontinuation syndrome from addiction (3 marks)
• 6Describe CBT for a specific anxiety disorder (4 marks)
• 7Explain why exposure fails when safety behaviours remain (4 marks)
• 8Evaluate the effectiveness of CBT for anxiety (5 marks)
• 9Recommend a treatment and justify it (4 marks)

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