AP Psychology · Summary

Unit 5 summary

1. Selye's general adaptation syndrome runs alarm, resistance, then exhaustion. Long stress can weaken the immune system.
2. Problem-focused coping acts on the stressor; emotion-focused coping manages the feelings. Positive psychology studies well-being, strengths and resilience.
3. A disorder is atypical and causes significant distress or impairment. Clinicians use DSM-5-TR criteria, and the diathesis-stress model pairs a vulnerability with stress.
4. Positive symptoms of schizophrenia add experiences such as hallucinations and delusions; negative symptoms take away, such as flat affect.
5. Tell disorders apart by symptoms, triggers and duration: panic disorder means unexpected attacks, and bipolar disorder means manic or hypomanic episodes.
6. Psychodynamic therapy seeks insight, person-centered therapy offers unconditional positive regard, behavioral therapy changes learned responses, and cognitive therapy tests interpretations against evidence.
7. Biomedical treatments include SSRIs, lithium and antipsychotics. Treatments help many people, but none helps everyone, so researchers test them with controlled trials.