Applied Psychology, Health, Education and Industrial-Organizational Practice Questions | GRE Subject Test Psychology

Applied Psychology, Health, Education and Industrial-Organizational

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A graduate student runs a stress study and wants to classify each participant's experience as either (i) challenge or (ii) threat using Lazarus's appraisal framework. Participants face the same timed speech task. Some report excitement and high confidence; others report dread and low confidence. Physiological arousal (heart rate) rises in both groups.

Which operationalization best captures Lazarus's distinction in a way that is most defensible psychometrically?

Select one option.

Use heart-rate increase during the speech, because Lazarus's model treats arousal as the core determinant of threat.
Use the number of speech errors, because threat appraisals always cause worse performance.
Use ratings of perceived demands and perceived coping resources (and their balance), because the key appraisal is whether resources are judged sufficient for demands.
Use cortisol level only, because challenge and threat correspond to different endocrine systems.
Use trait neuroticism score, because appraisals are stable personality characteristics rather than context-dependent evaluations.

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