PSY 450 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Sympathetic Nervous System, Autonomic Nervous System, Endorphins

• School: University of Oregon
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 450
• Professor: Pranjal Mehta

Document Summary

Cumulative exam: use lecture slides and required readings. Stress: working definition (sapolsky) anything (physical or physiological insult) that disrupts homeostasis, an aversive stimulus. Selye-found aversive symptoms in both experimental and control groups: the fast arm within seconds, activation of sympathetic nervous system (sns) a branch of the autonomic nervous system, the slow arm . Increase in respiration and heart rate: mobilization of energy (i. e. glucose) and oxygen, diversion of blood to extremities and muscles, suppression of irrelevant activates during stressor (i. e. digestion, reproduction, pain responses curtailed by endorphins, etc. Acute response to stress is adaptive: adaptive in the short run (acute) good, pathological in the long run (chronic) bad more at risk for fatigue, myopathy, heart problems. Psychological factors that trigger the stress response: many of our modern day stressors are complex and psychological in nature. Four important psychological factors: control, predictability, outlets for dealing with frustration, habituation.