Session 6: Environmental Stress  Readings  Chapter 5  This chapter gives you a general overview of stress and a brief discussion of environmental stress. The environment can be a source of stress to us in many ways. How may of us have been bothered by rush hour traffic, noise from planes, cars, construction, loud parties? Many of these sources of stress are chronic and long-term while others are sudden and acute. Researchers have distinguished these stressors in terms of chronic and acute stressors. You book briefly discusses some common environmental stressors. Stress can be defined from a response-based or stimulus-based perspective. Many researchers use the response-based approach. A response-based definition of stress is that it is a an adaptive response, this is a consequence of any action, situation, or event that places special demands on a person. A stressor is any antecedent environmental condition that is perceived as stressful to the person and requires an adaptive response. This definition emphasizes the important the role of perception and appraisal in the stress process. Before we evaluate the environment, we need to perceive and interpret it in terms of the demands it makes on us. The appraisal process including the different kinds of appraisals we make is discussed in detail in your book. The stressors studied in environmental psychology are related to the environmental event or condition, for e.g. noise level or pollution.  Stress can operate at the psychological, physiological and behavioral level. The aversive consequence of the stressor is sometimes called a strain. A psychological strain could be anxiety, a physiological rapid heart beat and a behavioral strain could be violent behavior. Stressors can be measured in terms of intensity, duration, rate and controllability. Several methods of measuring the stress response is described. In addition some coping mechanisms to cope with the stressors are also discussed. These are several variables that can moderate or alter the stress response. These are called moderators of stress. Some of those discussed in your book include attitudes, control, personality and social support. Most of this chapter deals with stress in general rather than specifically with the environment and this chapter reads like a chapter on general stress. We will supplement the reading by having you review an article on stress and the environment. Assignments Essay questions Several different sources of stress are discussed in your book. Briefly describe four sources of environmental stress. Activities Complete the time-out exercise on page 127 in your text. Briefly describe your findings in a page or less. This assignment is due by February 22nd. Find an article on environmental stress. You can look at several electronic databases such as UMI proquest. If you have questions or problems in your search contact a library staff member. Discuss this article briefly in a page or less. This assignment is due by February 22nd.