第80章
Many climbers dream of scaling the majestic domed cliff that rises 3200 feet from California’s
Yosemite Valley, but few succeed. Mark Wellman had more than the normal number of obstacles to
overcome and number of reasons for not trying. In 1982, a fall from another Yosemite peak had
paralyzed both his legs. However, seven years later, Mark announced that he would climb El
Capitan.
For six months, 29-year old Mark strengthened the muscles of his upper body with daily weight
training and many practice climbs, climbing only with his arms. Finally, he was ready to do what
most others thought impossible. In July 1989, Mark looked up the sheer rock face at its handholds
on the arduous ascent. Mark grabbed the first rope and pulled himself up, six inches at a time. He
grasped the next rope, another six inches closer to his goal. For a week, Mike placed ropes and
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CHAPTER 12: MOTIVATION
Mark did pull-ups, hundreds a day, six inches at a time.
On some afternoons, the temperature topped 100°F. The heat, however, was never as bad as the
wind, which gusted fiercely between 11 A.M. and 8 P.M. everyday. At times, the wind pushed them
out from the cliff face, but they persevered. On the eighth night of their adventure, Mark and Mike
tied themselves into their sleeping bags and bivouacked on a narrow ledge. The next morning they
would begin their final ascent: 300 feet for Mike, 600 pull-ups for Mark. After a total of more then
7,000 pull-ups, Mark’s body ached. Nevertheless, the next day pain gave way to euphoria as Mark
pulled himself up the last six inches to the top of El Capitan. He had achieved what some thought
impossible.
What motivates someone to try what others deem impossible? Having already become paralyzed
from one fall, why did he choose to risk another? What distinguishes him from those of us who,
with all limbs functioning, can barely roll out of bed in the morning to hit the snooze button on the
alarm clock? What about Mark’s friend, Mike? What made him take on the major responsibility of
helping Mark? Centuries ago, the gallant Sir Walter Raleigh, in the company of Queen Elizabeth,
wrote on a fogged windowpane, “Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.” The Queen responded, “If
thy heart fails thee, climb not at all.”
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CHAPTER 13
Emotion, Stress, and Health
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
On completion of this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define emotion in term of its psychological, physiological, and cultural constraints
2. Explain Darwin’s perspective of the adaptive function of emotional response
3. Discuss the universality of emotional response relative to cultural constraints
4. Discuss the physiological aspects of emotion
5. Explain the impact of emotion on cognitive functioning
6. Describe the physiological responses to both acute and chronic stress
7. Define and describe the field of psychoneuroimmunology
8. Describe the biopsychosocial model of health and the field of health psychology
9. Identify relationships between personality type and health
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Emotions
A. Basic Emotions and Culture
1. Are Some Emotional Responses Innate?
a) Tompkins observed that infants respond with immediate, unlearned
affective reactions to certain stimuli, such as loud sounds
b) Research confirms that some emotional responses are universal
c) Emotional responses are less well differentiated in infants than in
older individuals
2. Are Emotional Expressions Universal?