Identify the psychologist who popularized the stress management technique known as stress inoculation, and describe how you could utilize this technique to reduce stress
What will be an ideal response?
Answer will include that psychologist Donald Meichenbaum popularized the technique called stress inoculation. In it, clients learn to fight fear and anxiety with an internal monologue of positive coping statements. First, clients learn to identify and monitor negative self-statements, which are self-critical thoughts that increase anxiety. Negative thoughts are a problem because they tend to directly elevate physical arousal. To counter this effect, clients learn to replace negative statements with coping statements from a supplied list. Eventually they are encouraged to make their own lists. Coping statements are reassuring and self-enhancing. They are used to block out, or counteract, negative self-talk in stressful situations. Before giving a short speech, for instance, you would replace "I'm scared," "I can't do this," "My mind will go blank and I'll panic," or "I'll sound stupid and boring" with "I'll give my speech on something I like," or "I'll breathe deeply before I start my speech," or "My pounding heart just means I'm psyched up to do my best." Meichenbaum cautions that saying the "right" things to yourself may not be enough to improve stress tolerance. You must practice this approach in actual stress situations. Also, it is important to develop your own personal list of coping statements by finding what works for you. Ultimately, the value of learning this, and other stress management skills, ties back into the idea that much stress is self-generated. Knowing that you can manage a demanding situation is in itself a major antidote for stress. In one study, college students who learned stress inoculation not only had less anxiety and depression but better self-esteem as well.
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Lucia, who experiences extreme anxiety when taking an exam, practices meditation breathing to reduce her anxiety prior to taking a test. Her meditation breathing is an example of ____
a. ?negative punishment b. ?negative reinforcement c. ?positive punishment d. ?positive reinforcement
In conditioned fear research with rats, which of the following might be used by the experimenters as a conditioned response?
a. working to postpone an electric shock b. increased salivation c. reductions in working for food d. increases in working for food
If some aspect of behavior is influenced by genetic factors, then
(a) that behavior cannot be changed (b) that behavior must be good for the culture (c) that behavior must be good for the individual (d) none of the above
"Sometimes I am helpful like Big Bird, but sometimes I am a grouch, just like Oscar on Sesame Street," explained Olivia. Assuming Olivia learned these behaviors by observing Big Bird and Oscar, you can say that her learning reflects
a. the cognitive theory. b. the social cognitive theory. c. instrumental conditioning. d. classical conditioning.