Chapter 13:
Readings

Readings

The textbook reading for this week is Chapter 13:

Chapter 13 examines emotion, stress, and health. In the first section, we explore how emotions facilitate survival and how they result in bodily responses. We learn about specific brain regions that coordinate emotional responses, and we discover the three theories of emotion. In the second section, we learn that stressors can be positive or negative, large or small. We examine Selye’s general adaptation syndrome and how stress can be both good and, more often than not, bad for us. We continue our exploration by discussing which psychophysiological illnesses are stress-related and what we can do to help prevent illness. Next, we discuss how people can moderate stress by using cognitive appraisal and control. The chapter leads us into an examination of ourselves as many will identify with negative habits such as pessimism and hostility, which promote bad health and increase our stress levels. We conclude the chapter with a section on promoting health and happiness. We discuss how aerobic exercise, relaxation training, social support, and religion and spirituality can be conducive to reducing stress and promoting good health. The chapter closes with a discussion of the genetic and cultural factors that influence happiness.

Tips for college-level reading comprehension success

Unsure on how to take good notes from a textbook chapter or other reading? UNC Chapel Hill has a short and easy to understand guide on how to take textbook notes (Links to an external site.), which is definitely both an art and an exercise in trial and error before you figure out what works for you.
Make sure you complete your reading before the week's other assignments, discussions, or quizzes.
Having a difficult time focusing? Consider some of the following techniques:
- Schedule your reading time and write it into your calendar. Tip: Try not to schedule more than two or three hours at a time if you can avoid it -- we can only absorb so much information at one time.
- If possible, do your reading in a specific, clutter-free location where you are comfortable but will remain focused and alert (such as a chair by a window -- not in your bed!). Reminder: The libraries are now open for study! Hours are frequently changing, but make sure you check out the library website for current information.
- Consider a "reading buddy" -- someone who is willing to either get together in person or get on a FaceTime or Zoom call with you and read together (cameras on, but no talking!). Note that this only works if you are not distracted by the device you are using to be on the call.
- Unless you're on a call with your reading buddy, avoid reading a physical textbook in front of a computer (which can be distracting), and if you are using an electronic version of the text, make sure you have the book "maximized" on your screen to minimize distractions from other windows.
- Unless you're on a call with your reading buddy, put your phone and any other electronic distractions on Do Not Disturb and place them in another room (or at least, somewhere that you would have to get up to retrieve them).
- Make sure you have a pen and a note pad nearby to write down things you need to come back to later (mine often is an entire an Amazon shopping list after an evening of work).
- Utilize the Pomodoro Technique (Links to an external site.) to give yourself defined, focused work periods (and breaks with definite ends!). I like BeFocusedPro (Links to an external site.) as a timer app, but there are lots of apps you can use (or just the timers on your phone).
- Put on some music without lyrics to drown out other sounds that may distract you, and to help create your mental workspace. YouTube is great for finding ambient/study music.
If you are still struggling, remember I am here to help! Please join me at office hours or make an appointment. College is hard, you don't have to tackle it alone!

Reminder

After reviewing the information from each section above, click on the Next button to continue through the module!