THE THEORY OF

COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT

JEAN PIAGET
JEAN PIAGET

Formulated the Theory of Cognitive Development. The bulk

of his research was concerned with the child’s thinking at
particular periods of life and with studying differences
among well children of a specific age.
Piaget's theory is based on the idea that developing child
builds cognitive structures.
He believes that the child's cognitve structure increases with
the development.

WHAT IS COGNITION?
Derived from the latin word “cognoscere” which means
“to know” or “to recognise” or “to conceptualize”

Cognition is “the mental action or process of acquiring

knowledge and understanding through thought,
experience and the senses”.
WHAT IS COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT?
Cognitive development is the emergence of the ability to think and
understand.
The acquisition of the ability to think, reason and problem solve.
It is the process by which people’s thinking changes across the
lifespan.
Piaget studied Cognitive Development by observing children in
particular, to examine how their thought processes changed with
age.
It is the growing apprehension and adaptation to the physical and
social environment.

 HOW COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

OCCURS?

Cognitive development is a gradual and orderly changes by which mental

process becomes more complex and sophisticated.

The essential development of cognition is the establishment of new schemes.

Assimilation and Accommodation are both the process of the ways of

Cognitive Development.

The equilibrium is the symbol of a new stage of Cognitive Development.

Key Concepts:
Schema is an internal representation of the
world, and can be seen as categories which
SCHEMA have certain pre-conceived ideas in them.

Example:
My schema for Christmas includes:
Christmas tress, presents, giving, money,
green, red, gold, winter, Santa Claus etc.
Someone else have an entirely different
schema, such as Jesus, birth, Church,
holiday, Christianity etc.
Key Concepts:
It is using an existing schema to deal with a
ASSIMILATION new object or situation. Here, the learner fits
the new idea into what he already knows. In
Assimilation, the schema is not changed, it is
only modified.

Example:
A 2 year old child sees a man who is bald on
top of his head and has long frizzy hair on
the sides. To his father’s horror, the toddler
shouts “Clown, clown”
 This happens when the existing schema (knowledge)
s: ON
t
p AT I does not work and needs to be changed to deal with a
ce
on O D new object or situation. In Accommodation, the
y C M
e
K OM schema is altered: a new schema may be developed.
C C
A
Example:
In the “clown” incident, the boys father explained to
this son that the man was not a clown and that even
though his hair was like a clown’s, he wasn’t wearing a
funny costume and wasn’t doing silly things to make
people laugh.
*With this new knowledge, the boy was able to change
his schema of “clown” and make this idea fit better to
a standard concept of “clown”.
 Piaget believed that cognitive development did
Key Concepts:
not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps
EQUILIBRATION
and bounds. Equilibrium occurs when a child’s
schemas can deal with most new information
through assimilation. As a child progresses
through the stages of cognitive development, it is
important to maintain a balance between
applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and
changing behavior to account for new knowledge
(accommodation). Equilibrium helps explain how
children are able to move from one stage of
thought to the next.
 THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
BIRTH TO 2 YEARS INFANCY

•Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating

sensory experiences (seeing, hearing) with motor actions (reaching,
touching).

•Develop Object Permanence (memory) – realize that object exist

even if they are out of sight.

•Infants progress from reflexive, instinctual actions at birth to the

beginning of problem solving (intellectual) and symbolic abilities
(language) toward the end of this stage.
 PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
(2-7 YRS OLD) TODDLER & EARLY CHILDHOOD

•This stage begins when the child starts to use symbols and language. This is a
period of developing language and concepts. So, the child is capable of more
complex mental representations (i.e., words and images). He is still unable to use
‘operations’, i.e., logical mental rules as rules of arithmetic. This stage is further
divided into 2 sub-stages:

•Preconceptual stage (2-4yrs): increased use of verbal representation but speech is

egocentric. The child uses symbols to stand for actions; a toy doll stands for a real
baby or the child role plays mummy or daddy.
•Intuitive stage (4-7yrs): Speech becomes more social, less egocentric. Here the child
base their knowledge on what they feel or sense to be true, yet they cannot explain
the underlying principles behind what they feel or sense.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THEY KEY FEATURES OF
THIS STAGE:

•Egocentrism: the child’s thoughts and communications are typically

egocentric (i.e., about themselves or their own point of view). Ex: “If I cant see
you, you cant see me”. It is the inability to see the world from anyone else’s
eyes. It is well explained by Piaget as Three mountain task.

•Animism: treating inanimate objects are living ones. Ex: children dressing
and feeding their dolls as if they are alive.

•Concentration: the process of concentrating on one limited aspect of a

stimulus and ignoring other aspects. It is noticed in Conservation
Conservation on the other hand is the knowledge that quantity is unrelated to
the arrangement and physical appearance of objects. Children stage are
unaware of conservation
CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
(7-12 YRS) CHILDHOOD & EARLY ADOLESCENCE.

The concrete operational stage is characterized by the appropriate use of logic.

Important processes during this stage are:

Seriation: the ability to sort objects in an order according to sizes, shape or any other
characteristic. Ex: if given different-sized objects, they may place them accordingly.

Transitivity: the ability to recognize logical relationships among elements in serial

order. Ex: if A is taller than B and B is taller than C, then A must be taller than C.

Classification: the ability to group objects together on the basis od common features.
The child also begins to get the idea that one set can include another. Ex. There is a
class called dogs. There is also a class called animals. But all dogs are also animals,
so the class of animals includes that of dogs.
CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE: (CONT...)

Decentring: the ability to take multiple aspects of a situation into account. Ex

the child will no longer perceive an exceptionally wide but short cup to contain
less than a normally-wide taller cup.

Reversibility: the child understands that numbers or objects can be changed,

then returned to their original state. Ex. The child will rapidly determine that if
4+4=8 then 8-4=4, the original quantity.

Conservation: understanding the quantity, length or number of items is

unrelated to the arrangement or appearance of the object or item.

Elimination of Egocentrism: the ability to view things from another’s

perspective.

•the child performs operations: combining, separating, multiplying, repeating,

diving etc.

FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE

(12 YRS & ABOVE) ADOLESENSE & ADULTHOOD

The thought becomes increasingly flexible and abstract, i.e., can carry out systematic
experiments.

The ability to systematically solve the problem in a logical and methodological way.

Understands that nothing is absolute; everything is relative.

Develop skills such as logical thought deductive reasoning as well as inductive

reasoning and systematic planning etc.

Understands that the rules of any game or social system are developed by a man by
mutual agreement and hence could be changed or modified.

The child ways of thinking is at its most advanced, although the knowledge it has to
work with, will change
FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE
(12 YRS & ABOVE) ADOLESENSE & ADULTHOOD

Piaget’s theory helped educators, parents and investigators to comprehend the

capacity of children in their different stages.

He made us conscious with the way children and adults think.A lot of school programs
have been redesigned taking as base Piaget’s discoveries.

Piaget made a revolution with the developmental psychology concentrating all his
attention to the mental process and his role with behavior.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Emphasis on discovery approach in learning.
Curriculum should provide specific educational experience hased on children's
developmental level.
Arrange classroom activities so that they assist and encourage self learning.
Social interactions have a great educational value for Piaget. Positive social
actions, thereffore should be encouraged.
Instruction should be geared to the level of the child. as the level of the child
changes at each stage, the level of instruction or exploratory activities should
also change.
Simple to Complex and Project method of teaching.
Co-curricular activities have equal importance as that of curricular experiences
in the cognitive development of children.
Major Goals of education accorsing to Piaget are critical and creative thinking.
CONTRIBUTION TO EDUCATION
Piaget's theory helped educators, parents and
investigators to comprehend the capacity of children in
their different stages.
He made us conscious with the way child and adults think.
A lot of school programs have been redesigned taking as
base Piaget's discoveries
Piaget made a revolution with the developmental
psychology
BY CLAUDIA ALVES
concentrating all his attention to the mental
process and his role with behavior.
Cognitive Therapy
AARON BECK
What is Cognitive Behavior
Therapy?
"CBT IS A PROCESS OF TEACHING, COACHING AND
REINFORCING POSITIVE BEHAVIORS. CBT HELPS PEOPLE
TO INDETIFY CIGNITIVE PATTERNS OR THOUGHTS AND
EMTIONS THAT ARE LINKED WITH BEHAVIORS."
Thinking: Different people can think differently about the same event. The
way in which we think about an event influences how we feel and how we
act. A classic example is that when looking at a glass of water filled halfway,
one person will see it half empty and feel discouraged and the other sees it
half full and feels optimistic
Behavior: What we do affects how we feel and think. The
individual, who deals with an upcoming exam by putting
off his studies until the last minute, is likely to experience
more distress on the day of the exam than an individual
who has studies well in advance. CBT helps people to learn
new behaviors and new ways of coping with events, often
involving the learning of particular skills.
Therapy: Besides its special focus on the relationships
between how we think, feel and behave, the following are
fundamental to the practice of CBT.
Qualities of the Therapeutic Relationship
Goal-setting
Focus on the Present
Structure
Beck's is based on the theoretical rationale that the way people
feel and behave is determined by how the perceive and
structure their experience.
The theoretical assumptions of CBT are:
1. That people's communication is accessible to
introspections.
2. That client's beliefs have highly personal meanings.
3. That these meanings can be discovered by the client
rather than being taught or interpreted by the
therapists.
Principles of CBT
BASIC PRINCIPLES
Cognition affect behavior and emotion.
Cognition may be made aware, monitored and altered.
Desired emotional and behavioral change can be achieved
through cognitive change,
Change mood states by using cognitive and behavioral
strategies:
Identifying/modifying automatic thought and core
beliefs,
Regulating routine, and
Minimizing avoidance
Principles of CBT
BASIC PRINCIPLES

Emphasis on 'here and now'

Preference for concrete examples
Start with specific situation (complete thought
log)
Reliance on Socratic questioning
Ask open-ended questions
Empirical approach to test beliefs
Challenge thoughts not based on evidence
Cognitive restructuring
CBT has several defining elements. They are as follows:
ACTIVE: the clients must involved in the therapeutic
process not as an observer or as an occasional visitor, but
as a core and key participant.
MOTIVATIONAL: the therapist needs to take responsibility
for helping to motivate the client toward a change in
behavior, affect, or thinking. The therapist must be able to
set up the format, and rationale for the client to consider
change of value
DIRECTIVE: the therapost must be able to develop a
treatment plan and them help the client to understand,
contribute to and see the treatment plan as a temple for
change.
STRUCTURED: CBT is structureed in two ways. First, the
overall theraphy follow structure that approximates the
treatment plan. Sessions have identifiable beginning, middle
and end.
COLLABORATIVE: Therapeutic collaboration cannot be 50/5o.
For severe depressed client the possibility to generate 50% of
the therapeutic effort is impossible. Initially, the collaboration
may be 90/10. For each client, the therapist must evaluate the
client's ability and motivation for the therapy.
PROBLEM-ORIENTED: CBT focuses on discrete problems
rather than vague and amorphous goals of feeling good,
getting better or increasing self-esteem.
PSYCO EDUCATION: The therapist works as a change agent. Many
problems that bring people therapy involve skill deficits. The
therapist may have to teach by direct instruction, modeling, role
playing.
SOLUTION-FOCUSED: The CBT therapist works with the client on
generating solutions not simply gaining insight into the problem.
DYNAMICS: The dynamic level of CBT is to help clients to identify,
understand, modify their schema. The schema are the basic
templates for understanding one's world. Schema may be personal,
religious, cultural, gender-related.
TIME-LIMITED: Each therapy session should ideally stand alone. A
time-limited focus is not a number of sessions, but rather way of
looking at therapy.
 Basic Features of CBT
RATIONALE OF CBT

Negative emotions are elicited by cognitive process developed through

influences of learning and temperament.
Adverse life events elicit automatic processing, which is viewed as the
causal factor.
Cognitive Triad: Negative automatic thoughts center around our
understanding of:
Ourselves
Others (the world)
Future
Focus on examination of cognitive beliefs and developing rational
responses to negative automatic thoughts.
Cognitive Specificity Hypothesis
Distorted appraisals follow themes relevant to the specific psychiatric
condition.
Psychological disorders are characterized by a different psychological
profile.
Depression: Negative view of self, others, and future. Core beliefs
associated with helplessness, failure, incompetence, and
unlovability.
Anxiety: Overestimation of physical and psychological threats.
Core beliefs linked with risk, dangerousness and uncontrollability.
 Cognitive Specificity
Negative Triad Associated with Depression
Self "I am incompetent/unlovable"
Others "People do not care about me"
Future "The future is bleak"

Negative Triad Associated with Anxiety

Self "I am unable to protect myself"
Others "People will humiliate me"
Future "It's a matter of time before I am embarrassed"
 Core Beliefs
Core beliefs underlie and produce automatic thoughts.
These assumptions influence information processing and
organize understanding about ourselves, others and the
future.
These core beliefs remain dormant until activated by stress or
negative events.
Categories of core beliefs (helpless, worthless, unlovable

CORE AUTOMATIC
BELIEFS THOUGHTS
 Automatic Thoughts
Thoughts that automaticakky come to mind when a particular
situation occurs is called as automatic thoughts.

Happen spontaneously in response to situation.

Do not arise from reasoning

No logical sequence

AUTOMATIC NEGATIVE
STRESSFUL SITUATION EMOTIONS
THOUGHTS
 Cognitive Distortions
The systemic errors in reasoning that lead to faulty assumptions and misconceptions which are termed as
cognitive distortions.
Arbitrary Inference: refers to making conclusions without supporting and relevant evidence. This
includes "catastrophizing" or thinking of absolute worst scenario and outcomes for most situations.
Selective Abstraction: consists of forming conclusions based on an isolation detail of an event. In this
process other information is ignored of a single incident and applying them inappropriately to dissimilar
events and settings.
Magnification and minimization: consist of perceiving a case or situation in a greater or lesser light than
it truly deserves.
Personalization: is a tendency for individuals to relate external events to themselves, even when there is
no basis for making this connection
Labelling and Mislabeling: involve portraying one's identity on the basis of imperfections and mistakes
made past and allowing them to define one's true identity
Polarized Thinking: involve thinking and interpreting in all-or-nothing in terms, or categorizing
experiences in either or extremes. With such dichotomous thinking, events are labeled in black or white
terms
Beck contends that people with emotional
difficulties tend to commit characteristic "logical
error" that tilt objective reality in the direction of
self-destruction. Cognitive therapy perceives
psychological problems as stemming from
common place processes such as a faulty
thinking, making incorrect inferences on the basis
of inadequate or incorrect information and failing
to distinguish between fantasy and reality
 Techniques of CBT
The cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are an interesting set of exercises that
help modify a person's behavioral patterns. The behavioral patterns are modified in
order to bring about positive changes in the personality.

Cognitive Rehearsal
In this technique, the patient is asked to recall a problematic situation of the
past.
The therapist and patient both work together to find out a solution for the
problem or a way in which the difficult situation, if it occurs in the future can be
sorted out.
The therapist asks the patient to rehearse positive thoughts cognitively in order
to make appropriate changes to the latter's thought processes.
Power of imagination proves to be of great use in such exercises.
 Validity Testing
In this technique the therapist tests validity of beliefs/thoughts of the patient.
The patient is allowed to defend his viewpoint by means of objective evidence.
The faulty nature or invalidity of the beliefs of the patient is exposed if he/she is
unable to produce any kind of objective evidence.
Writing a Journal
It is the practice of maintaining a diary to keep an account of situations that
arise in day-to-day life.
Thoughts that are associated with these situations and the behavior exhibited
in response to them are also mentioned in the diary.
The therapist and patient together review the matter written in the journal and
find out maladaptive thought pattern.
the discussion that takes place between them proves to be useful in finding
different ways in which behavior of the patient gets affected.
 Guided Discovery
The objective or purpose behind using this technique is that of helping
patients by enabling them to understand their cognitive distortions.
Patients are made aware of and assisted by therapists in understanding
how they process information.
The activity of understanding how information is processed allows
patients to alter the same (information processing) if required.
Basically, the patient's perception of the world undergoes great change
and he/she sees things in a different way than earlier.
This change in perception allows the patient to modify his/her behavior
in a better manner.
 Modeling
It is one of the cognitive therapy techniques in which therapists perform role
playing exercises aimed at responding in a way that is helpful to overcome
difficult situations.
The patient makes use of this behavior of the therapist as a model in order to
solve problems he/she comes across

Homework
The homework is actually a set of assignments given by the therapists to
patients.
The patient may have to take notes during sessions with therapist, review
audiotapes of a particular session or read articles/books related to the therapy.
 Aversive Conditioning
Amongst the different CBT techniques used by therapists, aversive
conditioning technique makes use of dissuasion so as to lessen the
appeal of a maladaptive behavior.
The patient while being engaged in a particular behavior or thought
for which he has to be treated, is exposed to an unpleasant
stimulus.
Thus, unpleasant stimulus gets associated with these
thoughts/behavior and then the patient exhibits an aversive
behavior towards them.
 Systematic Positive
Reinforcement
The systematic positive reinforcement is one of the techniques of
CBT therapy in which certain (positive) behavior of a person are
rewarded with positive reinforcement.
A reinforcement system is established for the of certain positive
behavior.

Just like positive reinforcement proves to be helpful in encouraging a

particular behavior, withholding the reinforcement deliberately also is
instrumental in eradicating a maladaptive behavior
 Self-Instructional
Methods
In self-instructional coping methods, the therapist attempts not to
completely change the way you think, but rather teaches coping
methods that equip you to handle harmful thought processes. One
such therapeutic process is stress inoculation training.

This therapy -- which helps the patient deal with stressful events'
aftermath -- aims to prevent negative reactions to stress inducing
factors by teaching the patient to break down these situations into
short-term and long-tern coping goals.
 Compute-Assisted
Therapy
One method of conducting cognitive behavioral therapy is through
computer-based programs. This therapy tends to decrease time
spent with an actual therapist. Since computer-assisted CBT is
relatively new, as of publication, most of the information is the
testing phase.
However, Primary-care treatment programs that have begun
integrating the method for treating co-morbid anxiety and mood
disorders have found promise in this type of therapy, states
researchers in "Depression and Anxiety", the official journal of the
Anxiety Disorders Association of America.
 Albert Ellis
Rational Emotive
Behavior Therapy
 Albert Ellis
Broke with psychoanalysis
New approach to change client's self-defeating beliefs and behaviors.
Reduce irrational beliefs
"I must be perfect"
"Everyone must love me"

Dating Experiment:
As teenager Ellis was extremely shy around women.
Wanted to change behavior.
Forced himself to talk to 100 women in one month at Bronx Botanical
Gardens.
No dates but lost his fear of rejection
 Basics of REBT
HUMANISTIC APPROACH: individuals have the
capacity to create their own self-enhancing and
self-defeating emotions.
HAPPINESS IS GOAL: an individual's belief system
affects the level of happiness and self-actualization.
SOURCE OF UNHAPPINES: people inadvertently
create personality and emotional disturbances
through their irrational beliefs.
ABC Model
A. Activating event (thought or image

B. Beliefs about the event

C. Beliefs with lead to emotional and/or

behavioral Consequences
 Belief leads to consequence
A. Someone zips into the parking space you had your eye on.
B. What are some possible beliefs?
C. What are the consequences of those beliefs?

Another example:
A. Your best friend hasn't return your phone calls for several
days.
B. You think _________.
C. What is the consequence of that belief?
 Consequence
A. You and your partner have a fight.
B. You think "I never do anything right"
C. You feel (or do) _________________.
Alternative belief
A. You and your partner have a fight.
B. You think she (he) was in an awful mood.
C. You feel (or do) _________.
Another alternative belief
A. You and your partner have a fight.
B. I can always clear up misunderstandings.
C. You feel or (or do)_____________.
 the ABC Model at work
ABC model helps people understand the connection between belief
and consequence.
Individuals are influenced by what they tell themselves (what they
believe to be true).
Most people begin only seeing that thhe consequence stems from
activating event.

For example: I yelled at the jerk who stole my parking place.

Don't stop to consider or challenge their belief.
 Rationality is the key

We all have the potential to think rationally

Emotional disturbances comes from irrational thinking.
REBT theory holds that if you think more rationally in the face
of negative events, you will have less emotional distress.
Rationality is the key to achieving happiness.
 Ways of Thinking
RATIONAL IRRATIONAL

Empirically consistent inconsistent with reality, lacks

with reality, testable empirical validity.
Logical Illogical
Preferential: expresses a Dogmatic, nonflexible
Demanding: states demand
desire not a demand
rather than a desire, Ellis calls
this "musturbation"
 Handling negative emotions
Adversity may lead to negative emotions. Some
negative emotions are more rational than others.
Appropriate Inappropriate

SADNESS (I lost something I DEPRESSION (I'm no good,

cared about) worthless)

REMORSE (I'm sorry) GUILT (I've sinned)

CONCERN (I need to take care ANXIETY (I'll never be able to

handle this)
of this)
Three REBT insights
Beliefs, not events, cause disturbance. We remain
disturbed by adhering to irrational beliefs.
We perpetuate these beliefs by suing them repeatedly.
We make the same connections again and again, thereby
strengthening our irrational beliefs.
We will have to work hard to restructure the beliefs
that create unhappiness.
 REBT Techniques
HOMEWORK: Clients are asked to complete homework,
assignments, keeping track of ABC connections.
EMOTIVE TECHNIQUES: try out techniques through
role playing, group sessions, using emotive imagery,
laughter.
BEHAVIORAL TECHNIQUES: relaxation excercise,
distraction, rewards
 Homework assignment
Until next class, work the A, B, C's
Adversity: describe situation being as objective as
possible.
Belief: how did you interpret the adversity.
Separate thoughts and feelings.
Beliefs can evaluated.
Emotions must be accepted.
Consequences: what you did
 Next step
A. Smell cigarette smoke
B. I could start again and control it.
C. Bum a cigarette
D. Stop (Distraction or Disputation
 Doing the "D"
Distraction: think about something else.
think stop sign or snap wrist band
Disputation: argument with self.
remember negative consequences
find good evidence
come up with alternatives
consider the implications
decastastrophize
 Active disputation
Therapist engaging client by asking questions:
Why is __ so terrible or awful?
Is there another way you can think about this?
What is preventing you from doing so?
Why must you have it this way>
What is the worst that could happen if you give up
this belief?
What is the best that could happen?
 Last step: Energize
Act on the energy created by resolution
Release the burden of carrying around negative thoughts and feelings.

When not to use optimism

If your goal is to plan for a risky and uncertain future.
Where the cost of failure is high.
Be careful is using optimism in cases of counseling others when future
is dim.
Important to focus on the changeable and specific
STRESS
ADAPTATION
SYNDROME
HANS SELYE
INTRODUCTION
Hans Selye (1907- 1982) was a Hungarian endocrinologist, first to give a scientific
explanation for biological stress.
Hans Selye explained his stress model based on physiology and psychobiology as
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).
His model states that an event that threatens an organism’s well-being (a stressor) leads
to a three-stage bodily response:

Stage 1: Alarm

Stage 2: Resistance

Stage 3: Exhaustion
He explained about hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) system which
prepares the body to cope with stress.
Selye also explained about a local adaptation syndrome which refers to the inflammatory
response and repair processes occur at the local site of tissue injury as in small, topical
injuries, such as contact dermatitis which may lead to GAS if the local injury is severe
enough.
Stage 1: ALARM
Upon encountering a stressor, body reacts with “fight-or-flight” response and sympathetic
nervous system is activated.
Hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin released into the bloodstream to meet the threat or
danger.
The body’s resources now mobilized.

Stage 2: RESITANCE
Parasympathetic nervous system returns many physiological functions to normal levels while
body focuses resources against the stressor.
Blood glucose levels remain high, cortisol and adrenalin continue to circulate at elevated levels,
but outward appearance of organism seems normal.
Increase HR, BP, breathing
Body remains on red alert.

Stage 3: EXHAUSTION
If stressor continues beyond body’s capacity, organism exhausts resources and becomes
susceptible to disease and death..
TERMINOLOGY
Stress: is a condition in which the human system responds to changes in its normal
balanced state.
Stressor: is any thing that is perceived as challenging, threatening or demanding.
Eustress or positive stress: Manageable stress which can lead to growth and enhanced
competence.
Distress or Negative stress: Uncontrollable, prolonged, or overwhelming stress is
destructive.
Adaptation: is the change that takes place as a result of the response to a stressor.
Coping: a balancing act between biological, psychological, and social process.
Adaptive Coping Contribute to resolution of the stress response
Maladaptive Coping –Strategies that cause further problems
Active Coping – Actively seeking resolution to the stress
Homeostasis: refers to a steady state within the body and various physiologic
mechanisms within the body respond to internal changes to maintain a relative constancy
in the internal environment.
Resilience: Resistant quality that permits a person to recovery quickly and thrive in spite of
adversity

CONCLUSION
Hans Selye's theory profoundly influenced the scientific study of
stress.

Stress is a state produced by a change in the environment and the

nature of the stressor is variable.

The individual appraises and copes with the stress, to reach the
goal of adaptation.

The process is called coping with the stress, and it is achieved

through a compensatory process with physiologic and
psychological components.
LAZARUS'
INTERACTION
MODEL
The Interactional Model of Stress
Stress is seen as interaction between
environment and the individual’s
perception of it.

It suggests that the appraisal of the event

and of your resources for dealing with it
are important in determining the level of
stress experienced.
In this model, stress depends on the
individual appraisal of:

A. How threatening an event could be.

B. Whether or not he/she is able to cope

with it
A. How threatening an event could
be
In this process individual analyses the
severity of the Event.

Example, a life event, an exam i.e. some

may see an exam as very threatening and
some may see it as a challenge, a way to
show what they know.
A. Whether or not he/she is able to
cope with it.
Primary appraisal – “Is this a threat?”
Secondary appraisal – “Have I some control and can I
cope?”
Decreasing the threat – increasing coping strategy e.g.
stress management may help here. Boosting social support
can increase self-efficacy. “of course, you can do it”. Also,
increasing information may decrease if a threat is perceived
as a result of appraisal and you can cope then the even
(threat) is not stressful.
If you cannot cope and have no resources then the threat is
stressful.
Secondary Appraisal
Individual will then engage in secondary appraisal to
work out how we can best deal with situation and
change undesirable conditions.
Evaluate internal/external coping options as well as
more specifically resources to create a more positive
environment.

1. Internal options – e.g. will power, inner strength

2. External options – peers professional health
Thus may become a reappraisal of stressor and our
coping resources