Stress and Emotion - MCAT Psychological and Social Foundations

Stress can be relieved by a variety of techniques, including exercise, listening to music, and watching a funny movie. Asthma is controlled by avoiding triggers such as smoke, perfumes, and dust. Exercise can be an asthma trigger. Peptic ulcers are caused by the bacterium heliobacter pylori and can be treated with antibiotics. Migraines are generally treated with drug therapy. Celiac disease is caused by a sensitivity to the protein gluten that is found in grains. A gluten-free diet can relieve symptoms.

Self-efficacy is a perception of human agency, the perception of one’s ability to face a situation. It dictates one’s ability to deal with emotion brought up by a situation, and to process it via perception.

While intriguing, the other choices are incorrect. Attitude accessibility refers to the activation of an attitude from memory. Studies have shown that accessible attitudes are change-resistant. Issue involvement is the relevance and salience of an issue or situation to an individual; it is correlated with attitude access and attitude strength—both of which are distinct from perception. Message source and features of the message being sent are on an object-subject correlative; they are not directly relevant to perception.

Epinephrine raises blood pressure and increases glucose production from stored glycogen in response to stress. When glucose is exhausted, the adrenal gland increases its output of cortisol to stimulate glucose synthesis. Dopamine works in the brain to influence bodily movements. Antidiuretic hormone decreases urine output.

Prolonged stress results in the failure of the immune system when there is not enough energy for it to function. Physical illness takes over. When the body first reacts to stress, catecholamines raise the blood pressure and increase glucose production from stored glycogen. When stress persists, glucose is exhausted and the body looks to alternative fuels to provide energy. The effects of catecholamines, which initiate the stress response, eventually cause headache and back and neck pain.

Cortisol is released in response to stress hormones such as ACTH. These stress hormones also suppress the release of thyroid stimulating hormone, which decreases thyroid activity. So during a stressful situation, ACTH levels increase, which leads to an increase in cortisol levels and a decrease in TSH

If stress is allowed to persist, exhaustion occurs when the stores of glycogen are diminished. The immune system cannot find the energy to continue functioning. This is when deep physical illness takes over. Body muscle wastes away, and heart and kidney failure or ovewhelming infection are the end results. A cerebral vascular accident, also called a stroke, occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted. Risk factors for stroke include atherosclerosis and embolism. Elecrolyte imbalances can be the result of vomiting and diarrhea. Hypertension can be caused by alcohol consumption, obesity, drug use, and pregnancy.

Stress can be relieved by a variety of techniques, including exercise, listening to music, and watching a funny movie. Asthma is controlled by avoiding triggers such as smoke, perfumes, and dust. Exercise can be an asthma trigger. Peptic ulcers are caused by the bacterium heliobacter pylori and can be treated with antibiotics. Migraines are generally treated with drug therapy. Celiac disease is caused by a sensitivity to the protein gluten that is found in grains. A gluten-free diet can relieve symptoms.

Epinephrine raises blood pressure and increases glucose production from stored glycogen in response to stress. When glucose is exhausted, the adrenal gland increases its output of cortisol to stimulate glucose synthesis. Dopamine works in the brain to influence bodily movements. Antidiuretic hormone decreases urine output.

Prolonged stress results in the failure of the immune system when there is not enough energy for it to function. Physical illness takes over. When the body first reacts to stress, catecholamines raise the blood pressure and increase glucose production from stored glycogen. When stress persists, glucose is exhausted and the body looks to alternative fuels to provide energy. The effects of catecholamines, which initiate the stress response, eventually cause headache and back and neck pain.

Cortisol is released in response to stress hormones such as ACTH. These stress hormones also suppress the release of thyroid stimulating hormone, which decreases thyroid activity. So during a stressful situation, ACTH levels increase, which leads to an increase in cortisol levels and a decrease in TSH

The correct answer is that the stress of racism on African-American women may affect birth outcomes. This is an important finding in the body of work of health equity and social determinants of health. It is not necessarily the case that health outcomes are improving in Africa, and the text does not indicate this. Women who have been exposed to a lifetime of racism in the US will not likely have better birth outcomes by traveling to Africa to deliver. The text also does not indicate that birthing in Africa is safer in the U.S. Yes, low birth weight is a risk factor for infant mortality, but this is simply repeating the text, and thus it is not an appropriate answer. Finally, it is true that Hispanic women, on average, have better birth outcomes than African-American women, but this is tangential and would be part of the evidence, not the theory.

Three of these answer choices represent key theories on the ways that emotional sensation is processed and perceived.

The James-Lange theory is represented by the answer choice that states "an external stimulus causes physiological arousal, which causes emotional sensation."

The Cannon-Bard theory is represented by the answer choice that states "an external stimulus engages the thalamus, which results in simultaneous physiological arousal and emotional sensation."

The Schachter-Singer theory is represented by the answer choice that states "physiological arousal will result in different emotional sensations depending on available environmental cues."

The answer choice regarding neurons is accurate for the processing of stimuli, but is not discussed in emotional theories with the minor exception of the role of thalamic processing in the Cannon-Bard theory. The answer choice regarding the evolutionary and adaptive role of emotion is not related to any of these theories.

The body's initial response to stress in initiated by the hormone epinephrine, which raises blood pressure, raises cardiac output, and increases glucose production from stored glycogen. If stress is allowed to persist, the adrenal gland increases its output of cortisol to stimulate glucose synthesis. Insulin and glucagon are secreted by the pancreas. Insulin is secreted in response to high levels of blood sugar while glucagon is secreted in response to low levels of blood sugar. Gastrin is secreated by the stomach and secretion diminishes in times of stress.

The stress response is initated when epinephrine raises blood pressure and increases the production of glucose from stored glycogen. Glycogen is thus diminished when stress occurs. Glucagon is a hormone secreted by the pancreas in response to low blood glucose that causes the liver to release glucose into the bloodstream. Glycol is an alcohol related to ethylene glycol, which is found in antifreeze. A glycoside is a substance in which a sugar and a functional group are attached via a glycosidic bond. Gluten is a group of proteins that give flour its stickiness. Gluten sensitivity causes gastrointestinal problems.

According to the “James Lange theory,” an external stimulus will cause a physiological reaction, which is then interpreted by the brain and translated to an emotion. In this scenario, the boys saw something, reacted, and interpreted this reaction as an emotion: scared.

The other answers are incorrect choices. “Cannon-Bard theory” states that emotion and physiological response occur at the same time. “Two-factor theory” of emotion includes an element of examining one’s environment to help decipher physiological responses. Last, “appraisal theory” hypothesizes that emotions are based on personal evaluations of a given situation. For example, a student that believes a test went very well would feel happy. In this situation, we do not know how the boys evaluated the situation before they felt fear.

The correct answer is that the stress of racism on African-American women may affect birth outcomes. This is an important finding in the body of work of health equity and social determinants of health. It is not necessarily the case that health outcomes are improving in Africa, and the text does not indicate this. Women who have been exposed to a lifetime of racism in the US will not likely have better birth outcomes by traveling to Africa to deliver. The text also does not indicate that birthing in Africa is safer in the U.S. Yes, low birth weight is a risk factor for infant mortality, but this is simply repeating the text, and thus it is not an appropriate answer. Finally, it is true that Hispanic women, on average, have better birth outcomes than African-American women, but this is tangential and would be part of the evidence, not the theory.

The correct answer is that the stress of racism on African-American women may affect birth outcomes. This is an important finding in the body of work of health equity and social determinants of health. It is not necessarily the case that health outcomes are improving in Africa, and the text does not indicate this. Women who have been exposed to a lifetime of racism in the US will not likely have better birth outcomes by traveling to Africa to deliver. The text also does not indicate that birthing in Africa is safer in the U.S. Yes, low birth weight is a risk factor for infant mortality, but this is simply repeating the text, and thus it is not an appropriate answer. Finally, it is true that Hispanic women, on average, have better birth outcomes than African-American women, but this is tangential and would be part of the evidence, not the theory.

Self-efficacy is a perception of human agency, the perception of one’s ability to face a situation. It dictates one’s ability to deal with emotion brought up by a situation, and to process it via perception.

While intriguing, the other choices are incorrect. Attitude accessibility refers to the activation of an attitude from memory. Studies have shown that accessible attitudes are change-resistant. Issue involvement is the relevance and salience of an issue or situation to an individual; it is correlated with attitude access and attitude strength—both of which are distinct from perception. Message source and features of the message being sent are on an object-subject correlative; they are not directly relevant to perception.

Epinephrine raises blood pressure and increases glucose production from stored glycogen in response to stress. When glucose is exhausted, the adrenal gland increases its output of cortisol to stimulate glucose synthesis. Dopamine works in the brain to influence bodily movements. Antidiuretic hormone decreases urine output.