Health Psychology (Midterm 1)- Chapters 1, 6, 7, &
Lecture Notes UCSB WInter 2013 David Sherman|
Updated New 2026
health psychology
study of understanding psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become
ill, and how they respond when they do get ill
health
"a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity"
wellness
the balance among physical, mental, and social well-being
e ology
origins or causes of illness
mind-body rela onship
philosophical posi on regarding whether the mind and body operate indis nguishably as a
single system or whether they act as two separate systems; the view guiding health psychology
is that the mind and body are indis nguishable
coversion hysteria
Frued's theory that specific unconscious conflicts can produce par cular physical disturbances
that symbolize repressed psychological conflicts; no longer a dominant view in health
psychology
psychosoma c medicine
a field within psychiatry, related to health psychology, that developed in the early 1900s to
study and treat par cular diseases believed to be caused by emo onal conflicts, such as ulcers,
hypertension, and asthma. the term is now used more broadly to mean an approach to health-
related problems and diseases that examines psychological as well as soma c origins
acute disorders
, illness or other medical problems that occur over a short me, that are usually the result of an
infec ous process, that are reversible
biomedical model
viewpoint that illness can be explained on the basis aberrant soma c processes and that
psychological and social processes are largely independent of the disease process; the dominant
model in medical prac ce un l recently
chronic illness
illnesses that are long las ng and usually irreversible
correla onal research
measuring two variables and determining whether they are associated with each other. studies
related to smoking to lung cancer are correla onal, for example
epidemiology
the study of the frequency, distribu on, and causes of infec ous and noninfec ous disease in a
popula on, based on an inves ga on of the physical and social environment. thus, for example,
epidemiologists not only study who has what kind of cancer but also address ques ons such as
why certain cancers are more prevalent in par cular geographic ares than other cancers are
longitudinal research
the repeated observa on and measurement of the same individuals over a period of me
morbidity
the number of cases of a disease that exist at a given point in me; it may be expressed as the
number of new cases (incidence) or as the total number of exis ng cases (prevalence).
mortality
the number of death due to par cular causes
prospec ve research
a research strategy in which people are followed forward in me to examine the rela onship
between one set of variables and later occurences. for example, prospec ve research can
enable researchers to iden fy risk factors for disease that develop at a later me
randomized clinical trials
Lecture Notes UCSB WInter 2013 David Sherman|
Updated New 2026
health psychology
study of understanding psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become
ill, and how they respond when they do get ill
health
"a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity"
wellness
the balance among physical, mental, and social well-being
e ology
origins or causes of illness
mind-body rela onship
philosophical posi on regarding whether the mind and body operate indis nguishably as a
single system or whether they act as two separate systems; the view guiding health psychology
is that the mind and body are indis nguishable
coversion hysteria
Frued's theory that specific unconscious conflicts can produce par cular physical disturbances
that symbolize repressed psychological conflicts; no longer a dominant view in health
psychology
psychosoma c medicine
a field within psychiatry, related to health psychology, that developed in the early 1900s to
study and treat par cular diseases believed to be caused by emo onal conflicts, such as ulcers,
hypertension, and asthma. the term is now used more broadly to mean an approach to health-
related problems and diseases that examines psychological as well as soma c origins
acute disorders
, illness or other medical problems that occur over a short me, that are usually the result of an
infec ous process, that are reversible
biomedical model
viewpoint that illness can be explained on the basis aberrant soma c processes and that
psychological and social processes are largely independent of the disease process; the dominant
model in medical prac ce un l recently
chronic illness
illnesses that are long las ng and usually irreversible
correla onal research
measuring two variables and determining whether they are associated with each other. studies
related to smoking to lung cancer are correla onal, for example
epidemiology
the study of the frequency, distribu on, and causes of infec ous and noninfec ous disease in a
popula on, based on an inves ga on of the physical and social environment. thus, for example,
epidemiologists not only study who has what kind of cancer but also address ques ons such as
why certain cancers are more prevalent in par cular geographic ares than other cancers are
longitudinal research
the repeated observa on and measurement of the same individuals over a period of me
morbidity
the number of cases of a disease that exist at a given point in me; it may be expressed as the
number of new cases (incidence) or as the total number of exis ng cases (prevalence).
mortality
the number of death due to par cular causes
prospec ve research
a research strategy in which people are followed forward in me to examine the rela onship
between one set of variables and later occurences. for example, prospec ve research can
enable researchers to iden fy risk factors for disease that develop at a later me
randomized clinical trials
