PS 550 Midterm exam 2023
Fixed Marker - correct answer things you can't change (ex. genes, gender, race)
Variable Markers - correct answer Anything that can change:education, living, income
Causal Risk Factors - correct answer subset of variable markers: if you change them, risk can change;
ex: being overweight BUT not all variable markers work like this; ie if you move to a higher income area
but your income doesn't change
Cumulative Risk Gradient - correct answer at a group level, those with more environmental risks
have worse outcomes; very powerful predictor of later adaptation.
Transactional Stress - correct answer psychological stress involves a particular relationship between
the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her
resources and endangering his or her well being
Objective Stress - correct answer environmental events or chronic conditions that objectively
threaten the physical and/or psychological health or well being of individuals of a particular age in a
particular society; stressful for everyone
how to measure stress - correct answer 1) objective checklist of stressful life events
2) perceived stress scale
3) combination: What has happened to you and how stressful did you find it?
4) physiological measures such as heart rate and stress hormone level
homeostasis - correct answer our bodies perform best when they are in perfect balance; this state is
when physiological functions such as temperature, oxygenation, and glucose level are as close to ideal as
possible
stressor - correct answer anything in the environment that knocks the body out of homeostasis
