Psychology 2036A/B Chapter Notes -Immunology, Phytohaemagglutinin

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2036A/B
• Professor: Bruce Morrison

Document Summary

Immunocompetence: the extent to which an immune system is functioning properly to ward off microorganisms: psychoneuroimmunology: the study of the relationship between psychological states and the functioning of the immune system, our psychology (psycho) affects nervous system functioning (neuro), which, in turn, affects our immunity to disease (immunology, pni is interested in the interaction among three of the bodys systems: the nervous system, the endocrine system, and the immune system, the dependent variable in an experiment is the variable we measure to determine if our treatment or manipulation has had any effect. The manipulation, or the independent variable, is usually some psychological state: hard to find immune system cells so we must assess cellular activity in the blood stream or mucus instead, possible that one psychological state might influence one aspect of immune functioning and not another, means that researchers must assess a number of immune system cellular functions to ascertain the potential impact of a situation or mood state.