Ciccarelli - Intro To Psych Glossary

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absolute threshold

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the smallest amount of energy needed for a person to consciously detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time it is present.

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accommodation

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as a monocular clue - the brain's use of information about the changing thickness of the lens of the eye in response to looking at objects that are close or far away.

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acculturative stress

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stress resulting from the need to change and adapt a person's ways to the majority culture.

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acquired (secondary) drives

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those drives that are learned through experience or conditioning - such as the need for money or social approval.

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acrophobia

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fear of heights.

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action potential

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the release of the neural impulse consisting of a reversal of the electrical charge within the axon.

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action therapy

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therapy in which the main goal is to change disordered or inappropriate behavior directly.

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activation-information-mode model (AIM)

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revised version of the activation- synthesis explanation of dreams in which information that is accessed during waking hours can have an influence on the synthesis of dreams.

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activation-synthesis hypothesis

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explanation that states that dreams are created by the higher centers of the cortex to explain the activation by the brain stem of cortical cells during REM sleep periods.

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activity theory

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theory of adjustment to aging that assumes older people are happier if they remain active in some way - such as volunteering or developing a hobby.

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adaptive theory

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theory of sleep proposing that animals and humans evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators by sleeping when predators are most active.

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adolescence

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the period of life from about age 13 to the early twenties - during which a young person is no longer physically a child but is not yet an independent - self-supporting adult.

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adrenal glands

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endocrine glands located on top of each kidney that secrete over 30 different hormones to deal with stress - regulate salt intake - and provide a secondary source of sex hormones affecting the sexual changes that occur during adolescence.

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aerial perspective

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the haziness that surrounds objects that are farther away from the viewer - causing the distance to be perceived as greater.

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affect

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in psychology - an emotional reaction.

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afterimages

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images that occur when a visual sensation persists for a brief time even after the original stimulus is removed.

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aggression

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actions meant to harm or destroy.

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aggression

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behavior intended to hurt or destroy another person.

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agonists

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chemical substances that mimic or enhance the effects of a neurotransmitter on the receptor sites of the next cell - increasing or decreasing the activity of that cell.

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agoraphobia

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fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or impossible.

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agreeableness

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the emotional style of a person that may range from easygoing - friendly - and likeable to grumpy - crabby - and unpleasant.

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AIDS or acquired immune deficiency syndrome

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sexually transmitted viral disorder that causes deterioration of the immune system and eventually results in death due to complicating infections that the body can no longer fight.

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alcohol

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the chemical resulting from fermentation or distillation of various kinds of vegetable matter.

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algorithms

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very specific - step-by-step procedures for solving certain types of problems.

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all-or-none

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referring to the fact that a neuron either fires completely or does not fire at all.

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all-or-nothing thinking

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the tendency to believe that one's performance must be perfect or the result will be a total failure.

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alpha waves

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brain waves that indicate a state of relaxation or light sleep.

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altered state of consciousness

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state in which there is a shift in the quality or pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness.

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altruism

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prosocial behavior that is done with no expectation of reward and may involve the risk of harm to oneself.

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amphetamines

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stimulants that are synthesized (made) in laboratories rather than being found in nature.

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amygdala

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brain structure located near the hippocampus - responsible for fear responses and memory of fear.

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anal expulsive personality

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a person fixated in the anal stage who is messy - destructive - and hostile.

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anal retentive personality

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a person fixated in the anal stage who is neat - fussy - stingy - and stubborn.

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anal stage

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second stage occurring from about 1 to 3 years of age - in which the anus is the erogenous zone and toilet training is the source of conflict.

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analytical intelligence

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the ability to break problems down into component parts - or analysis - for problem solving.

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androgens

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male sex hormones.

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androgyny

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characteristic of possessing the most positive personality characteristics of males and females regardless of actual sex.

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andropause

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gradual changes in the sexual hormones and reproductive system of males.

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anorexia nervosa

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a condition in which a person reduces eating to the point that a weight loss of 15 percent below the ideal body weight or more occurs.

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antagonists

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chemical substances that block or reduce a cell's response to the action of other chemicals or neurotransmitters.

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anterograde amnesia

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loss of memory from the point of injury or trauma forward - or the inability to form new long-term memories.

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antianxiety drugs

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drugs used to treat and calm anxiety reactions - typically minor tranquilizers.

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antidepressant drugs

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drugs used to treat depression and anxiety.

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antipsychotic drugs

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drugs used to treat psychotic symptoms such as delusions - hallucinations - and other bizarre behavior.

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antisocial personality disorder

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disorder in which a person has no morals or conscience and often behaves in an impulsive manner without regard for the consequences of that behavior.

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anxiety disorders

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disorders in which the main symptom is excessive or unrealistic anxiety and fearfulness.

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applied behavior analysis (ABA)

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modern term for a form of behavior modification that uses shaping techniques to mold a desired behavior or response.

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applied psychology

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the use of psychological concepts in solving realworld problems.

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approachÐapproach conflict

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conflict occurring when a person must choose between two desirable goals.

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approachÐavoidance conflict

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conflict occurring when a person must choose or not choose a goal that has both positive and negative aspects.

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arbitrary inference

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distortion of thinking in which a person draws a conclusion that is not based on any evidence.

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archetypes

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Jung's collective - universal human memories.

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arousal theory

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theory of motivation in which people are said to have an optimal (best or ideal) level of tension that they seek to maintain by increasing or decreasing stimulation.

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artificial intelligence (AI)

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the creation of a machine that can think like a human.

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association areas

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areas within each lobe of the cortex responsible for the coordination and interpretation of information - as well as higher mental processing.

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attachment

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the emotional bond between an infant and the primary caregiver.

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attitude

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a tendency to respond positively or negatively toward a certain person - object - idea - or situation.

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attribution

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the process of explaining one's own behavior and the behavior of others.

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attribution theory

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the theory of how people make attributions.

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auditory canal

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short tunnel that runs from the pinna to the eardrum.

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auditory learners

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people who learn best by hearing and saying things out loud. I-

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auditory nerve

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bundle of axons from the hair cells in the inner ear.

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authenticity

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the genuine - open - and honest response of the therapist to the client.

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autobiographical memory

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the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story.

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automatic encoding

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tendency of certain kinds of information to enter long-term memory with little or no effortful encoding.

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autonomic nervous system (ANS)

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division of the PNS consisting of nerves that control all of the involuntary muscles - organs - and glands.

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autonomy versus shame and doubt

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second stage of personality development in which the toddler strives for physical independence.

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aversion therapy

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form of behavioral therapy in which an undesirable behavior is paired with an aversive stimulus to reduce the frequency of the behavior.

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avoidanceÐavoidance conflict

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conflict occurring when a person must choose between two undesirable goals.

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axon

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tube like structure that carries the neural message to other cells.

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axon terminals

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branches at the end of the axon.

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barbiturates

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depressant drugs that have a sedative effect.

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basal metabolic rate (BMR)

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the rate at which the body burns energy when the organism is resting.

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basic anxiety

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anxiety created when a child is born into the bigger and more powerful world of older children and adults.

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basic level type

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an example of a type of concept around which other similar concepts are organized - such as "dog" - "cat" or "pear."

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behavior modification

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the use of operant conditioning techniques to bring about desired changes in behavior.

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behavior modification or applied behavior analysis

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the use of learning techniques to modify or change undesirable behavior and increase desirable behavior.

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behavior therapies

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action therapies based on the principles of classical and operant conditioning and aimed at changing disordered behavior without concern for the original causes of such behavior.

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behavioral genetics

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field of study devoted to discovering the genetic bases for personality characteristics.

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behaviorism

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the science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only.

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bell curve

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alternate name for the normal curve - which is said to be shaped like a bell.

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benevolent sexism

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acceptance of positive stereotypes of males and females that leads to unequal treatment.

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benzodiazepines

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drugs that lower anxiety and reduce stress.

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bilateral cingulotomy

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psychosurgical technique in which an electrode wire is inserted into the cingulated gyrus area of the brain with the guidance of a magnetic resonance imaging machine for the purpose of destroying that area of brain tissue with an electric current.

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bilateral ECT

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electroconvulsive therapy in which the electrodes are placed on both sides of the head.

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bimodal

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condition in which a distribution has two modes.

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bimodal distribution

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frequency distribution in which there are two high points rather than one.

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binocular cues

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cues for perceiving depth based on both eyes.

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binocular disparity

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the difference in images between the two eyes - which is greater for objects that are close and smaller for distant objects.

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biofeedback

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the use of feedback about biological conditions to bring involuntary responses such as blood pressure and relaxation under voluntary control.

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biological model

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model of explaining behavior as caused by biological changes in the chemical - structural - or genetic systems of the body.

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biological preparedness

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referring to the tendency of animals to learn certain associations - such as taste and nausea - with only one or few pairings due to the survival value of the learning.

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biomedical therapies

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therapies that directly affect the biological functioning of the body and brain.

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biomedical therapy

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therapy for mental disorders in which a person with a problem is treated with biological or medical methods to relieve symptoms.

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biopsychological perspective

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perspective that attributes human and animal behavior to biological events occurring in the body - such as genetic influences - hormones - and the activity of the nervous system.

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bipolar disorder

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severe mood swings between major depressive episodes and manic episodes.

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bisexual

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person attracted to both men and women.

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blind spot

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area in the retina where the axons of the three layers of retinal cells exit the eye to form the optic nerve - insensitive to light.

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borderline personality disorder

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maladaptive personality pattern in which the person is moody - unstable - lacks a clear sense of identity - and often clings to others.

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bottom-up processing

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the analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete perception.

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brightness constancy

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the tendency to perceive the apparent brightness of an object as the same even when the light conditions change.

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Broca's aphasia

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condition resulting from damage to broca's area - causing the affected person to be unable to speak fluently - to mispronounce words - and to speak haltingly.

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bulimia

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a condition in which a person develops a cycle of "binging" or overeating enormous amounts of food at one sitting - and "purging" or deliberately vomiting after eating."

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burnout

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negative changes in thoughts - emotions - and behavior as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.

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bystander effect

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referring to the effect that the presence of other people has on the decision to help or not help - with help becoming less likely as the number of bystanders increases.

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caffeine

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a mild stimulant found in coffee - tea - and several other plantbased substances.

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cannon-Bard theory of emotion

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theory in which the physiological reaction and the emotion are assumed to occur at the same time.

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case study

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study of one individual in great detail.

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catastrophe

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an unpredictable - large-scale event that creates a tremendous need to adapt and adjust as well as overwhelming feelings of threat.

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catatonic

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type of schizophrenia in which the person experiences periods of statue-like immobility mixed with occasional bursts of energetic - frantic movement and talking.

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central nervous system (CNS)

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part of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.

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central-route processing

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type of information processing that involves attending to the content of the message itself.

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centration

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in Piaget's theory - the tendency of a young child to focus only on one feature of an object while ignoring other relevant features.

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cerebellum

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part of the lower brain located behind the pons that controls and coordinates involuntary - rapid - fine motor movement.

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cerebral hemispheres

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the two sections of the cortex on the left and right sides of the brain.

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cerebrum

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the upper part of the brain consisting of the two hemispheres and the structures that connect them.

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character

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value judgments of a person's moral and ethical behavior.

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chromosome

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tightly wound strand of genetic material or DNA.

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circadian rhythm

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a cycle of bodily rhythm that occurs over a 24-hour period.

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classical conditioning

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learning to make a reflex response to a stimulus other than the original - natural stimulus that normally produces the reflex.

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claustrophobia

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fear of being in a small - enclosed space.

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clinical psychology

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area of psychology in which the psychologists diagnose and treat people with psychological disorders that may range from mild to severe.

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closure

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the tendency to complete figures that are incomplete.

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cocaine

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a natural drug derived from the leaves of the coca plant.

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cochlea

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snail-shaped structure of the inner ear that is filled with fluid.

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cognitive arousal theory

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theory of emotion in which both the physical arousal and the labeling of that arousal based on cues from the environment must occur before the emotion is experienced.

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cognitive development

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the development of thinking - problem solving - and memory.

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cognitive dissonance

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sense of discomfort or distress that occurs when a person's behavior does not correspond to that person's attitudes.

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cognitive perspective

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modern perspective that focuses on memory - intelligence - perception - problem solving - and learning.

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cognitive perspective

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modern theory in which classical conditioning is seen to occur because the conditioned stimulus provides information or an expectancy about the coming of the unconditioned stimulus.

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cognitive psychologists

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psychologists who study the way people think - remember - and mentally organize information.

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cognitive therapy

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therapy in which the focus is on helping clients recognize distortions in their thinking and replace distorted - unrealistic beliefs with more realistic - helpful thoughts.

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cognitive universalism

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theory that concepts are universal and influence the development of language.

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cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

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action therapy in which the goal is to help clients overcome problems by learning to think more rationally and logically.

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cognitive-mediational theory

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theory of emotion in which a stimulus must be interpreted (appraised) by a person in order to result in a physical response and an emotional reaction.

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collective unconscious

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Jung's name for the memories shared by all members of the human species.

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College Undergraduate Stress Scale (CUSS)

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assessment that measures the amount of stress in a college student's life over a one-year period resulting from major life events.

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companionate love

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type of love consisting of intimacy and commitment.

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comparative psychology

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area of psychology in which the psychologists study animals and their behavior for the purpose of comparing and contrasting it to human behavior.

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compensation (substitution)

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defense mechanism in which a person makes up for inferiorities in one area by becoming superior in another area.

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compliance

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changing one's behavior as a result of other people directing or asking for the change.

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computed tomography (CT)

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brain-imaging method using computercontrolled X-rays of the brain.

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concentrative meditation

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form of meditation in which a person focuses the mind on some repetitive or unchanging stimulus so that the mind can be cleared of disturbing thoughts and the body can experience relaxation.

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conception

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the moment at which a female becomes pregnant.

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concepts

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ideas that represent a class or category of objects - events - or activities.

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concrete operations stage

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third stage of cognitive development in which the school-age child becomes capable of logical thought processes but is not yet capable of abstract thinking.

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conditional positive regard

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positive regard that is given only when the person is doing what the providers of positive regard wish.

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conditioned emotional response (CER)

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emotional response that has become classically conditioned to occur to learned stimuli - such as a fear of dogs or the emotional reaction that occurs when seeing an attractive person.

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conditioned response (CR)

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learned reflex response to a conditioned stimulus.

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conditioned stimulus (CS)

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stimulus that becomes able to produce a learned reflex response by being paired with the original unconditioned stimulus.

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conditioned taste aversion

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development of a nausea or aversive response to a particular taste because that taste was followed by a nausea reaction - occurring after only one association.

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cones

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visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina - responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision.

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confirmation bias

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the tendency to search for evidence that fits one's beliefs while ignoring any evidence that does not fit those beliefs.

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conflict

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psychological experience of being pulled toward or drawn to two or more desires or goals - only one of which may be attained.

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conformity

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changing one's own behavior to match that of other people.

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conscience

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part of the superego that produces pride or guilt - depending on how well behavior matches or does not match the ego ideal.

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conscientiousness

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the care a person gives to organization and thoughtfulness of others; dependability.

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conscious mind

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level of the mind that is aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions.

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consciousness

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a person's awareness of everything that is going on around him or her at any given moment.

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conservation

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in Piaget's theory - the ability to understand that simply changing the appearance of an object does not change the object's nature.

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consolidation

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the changes that take place in the structure and functioning of neurons when an engram is formed.

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constructive processing

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referring to the retrieval of memories in which those memories are altered - revised - or influenced by newer information.

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consumer psychology

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branch of psychology that studies the habits of consumers in the marketplace.

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contiguity

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the tendency to perceive two things that happen close together in time as being related.

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contingency contract

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a formal - written agreement between the therapist and client (or teacher and student) in which goals for behavioral change - reinforcements - and penalties are clearly stated.

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continuity

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the tendency to perceive things as simply as possible with a continuous pattern rather than with a complex - broken-up pattern.

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continuous reinforcement

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the reinforcement of each and every correct response.

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control group

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subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment.

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conventional morality

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second level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the child's behavior is governed by conforming to the society's norms of behavior.

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convergence

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the rotation of the two eyes in their sockets to focus on a single object - resulting in greater convergence for closer objects and lesser convergence if objects are distant.

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convergent thinking

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type of thinking in which a problem is seen as having only one answer - and all lines of thinking will eventually lead to that single answer - using previous knowledge and logic.

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conversion disorder

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somatoform disorder in which the person experiences a specific symptom in the somatic nervous system's functioning - such as paralysis - numbness - or blindness - for which there is no physical cause.

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coping strategies

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actions that people can take to master - tolerate - reduce - or minimize the effects of stressors.

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corpus callosum

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thick band of neurons that connects the right and left cerebral hemispheres.

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correlation

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a measure of the relationship between two variables.

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correlation coefficient

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a number that represents the strength and direction of a relationship existing between two variables.

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cortex

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outermost covering of the brain consisting of densely packed neurons - responsible for higher thought processes and interpretation of sensory input.

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counseling psychology

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area of psychology in which the psychologists help people with problems of adjustment.

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counterconditioning

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replacing an old conditioned response with a new one by changing the unconditioned stimulus.

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creative intelligence

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the ability to deal with new and different concepts and to come up with new ways of solving problems.

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creativity

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the process of solving problems by combining ideas or behavior in new ways.

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critical periods

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times during which certain environmental influences can have an impact on the development of the infant.

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critical thinking

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making reasoned judgments about claims.

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cross-sectional design

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research design in which several different age groups of participants are studied at one particular point in time.

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cross-sequential design

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research design in which participants are first studied by means of a cross-sectional design but also followed and assessed for a period of no more than six years.

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cult

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any group of people with a particular religious or philosophical set of beliefs and identity.

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cultural relativity

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the need to consider the unique characteristics of the culture in which behavior takes place.

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culture-bound syndromes

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disorders found only in particular cultures.

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curve of forgetting

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a graph showing a distinct pattern in which forgetting is very fast within the first hour after learning a list and then tapers off gradually.

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cybertherapy

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psychotherapy that is offered on the Internet. Also called online - Internet - or Web therapy or counseling.

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cyclothymia

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disorder that consists of mood swings from moderate depression to hypomania and lasts two years or more.

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dark adaptation

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the recovery of the eye's sensitivity to visual stimuli in darkness after exposure to bright lights.

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decay

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loss of memory due to the passage of time - during which the memory trace is not used.

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declarative memory

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type of long-term memory containing information that is conscious and known.

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deep lesioning

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insertion of a thin - insulated wire into the brain through which an electrical current is sent that destroys the brain cells at the tip of the wire.

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delta waves

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long - slow waves that indicate the deepest stage of sleep.

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delusional disorder

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a psychotic disorder in which the primary symptom is one or more delusions.

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delusions

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false beliefs held by a person who refuses to accept evidence of their falseness.

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dendrites

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branchlike structures that receive messages from other neurons.

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denial

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psychological defense mechanism in which the person refuses to acknowledge or recognize a threatening situation.

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dependent variable

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variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of the subjects in the experiment.

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depersonalization disorder

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dissociative disorder in which a person feels detached and disconnected from themselves - their bodies - and their surroundings.

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depressants

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drugs that decrease the functioning of the nervous system.

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depth perception

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the ability to perceive the world in three dimensions.

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descriptive statistics

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a way of organizing numbers and summarizing them so that patterns can be determined.

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developmental psychology

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area of psychology in which the psychologists study the changes in the way people think - relate to others - and feel as they age.

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developmentally delayed

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condition in which a person's behavioral and cognitive skills exist at an earlier developmental stage than the skills of others who are the same chronological age. A more acceptable term for mental retardation.

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deviation IQ scores

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a type of intelligence measure that assumes that IQ is normally distributed around a mean of 100 with a standard deviation of about 15.

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diffusion of responsibility

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occurring when a person fails to take responsibility for actions or for inaction because of the presence of other people who are seen to share the responsibility.

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direct observation

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assessment in which the professional observes the client engaged in ordinary - day-to-day behavior in either a clinical or natural setting.

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directive

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therapy in which the therapist actively gives interpretations of a client's statements and may suggest certain behavior or actions.

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discrimination

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treating people differently because of prejudice toward the social group to which they belong.

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discriminative stimulus

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any stimulus - such as a stop sign or a doorknob - that provides the organism with a cue for making a certain response in order to obtain reinforcement.

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disorganized

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type of schizophrenia in which behavior is bizarre and childish and thinking - speech - and motor actions are very disordered.

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displaced aggression

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taking out one's frustrations on some less threatening or more available target - a form of displacement.

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displacement

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psychological defense mechanism in which emotional reactions and behavioral responses are shifted to targets that are more available or less threatening than the original target.

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display rules

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learned ways of controlling displays of emotion in social settings.

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dispositional cause

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cause of behavior attributed to internal factors such as personality or character.

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dissociative amnesia

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loss of memory for personal information - either partial or complete.

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dissociative disorders

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disorders in which there is a break in conscious awareness - memory - the sense of identity - or some combination.

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dissociative fugue

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traveling away from familiar surroundings with amnesia for the trip and possible amnesia for personal information.

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dissociative identity disorder

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disorder occurring when a person seems to have two or more distinct personalities within one body.

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distress

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the effect of unpleasant and undesirable stressors.

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disuse

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another name for decay - assuming that memories that are not used will eventually decay and disappear.

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divergent thinking

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type of thinking in which a person starts from one point and comes up with many different ideas or possibilities based on that point.

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dizygotic twins

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often called fraternal twins - occurring when two eggs each get fertilized by two different sperm - resulting in two zygotes in the uterus at the same time.

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DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

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special molecule that contains the genetic material of the organism.

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dominant

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referring to a gene that actively controls the expression of a trait.

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door-in-the-face technique

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asking for a large commitment and being refused - and then asking for a smaller commitment.

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double approachÐavoidance conflict

Back 230

conflict in which the person must decide between two goals - with each goal possessing both positive and negative aspects.

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double-blind study

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study in which neither the experimenter nor the subjects knows if the subjects are in the experimental or control group.

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drive

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a psychological tension and physical arousal arising when there is a need that motivates the organism to act in order to fulfill the need and reduce the tension.

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drive-reduction theory

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approach to motivation that assumes behavior arises from physiological needs that cause internal drives to push the organism to satisfy the need and reduce tension and arousal.

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dysthymia

Back 234

a moderate depression that lasts for two years or more and is typically a reaction to some external stressor.

Front 235

echoic memory

Back 235

the brief memory of something a person has just heard.

Front 236

eclectic therapies

Back 236

therapy style that results from combining elements of several different therapy techniques.

Front 237

educational psychology

Back 237

area of psychology in which the psychologists are concerned with the study of human learning and development of new learning techniques.

Front 238

ego

Back 238

part of the personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality - mostly conscious - rational - and logical.

Front 239

ego ideal

Back 239

part of the superego that contains the standards for moral behavior.

Front 240

egocentrism

Back 240

the inability to see the world through anyone else's eyes.

Front 241

eidetic imagery

Back 241

the ability to access a visual memory for 30 seconds or more.

Front 242

elaboration likelihood model

Back 242

model of persuasion stating that people will either elaborate on the persuasive message or fail to elaborate on it - and that the future actions of those who do elaborate are more predictable than those who do not.

Front 243

elaborative rehearsal

Back 243

a method of transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information meaningful in some way.

Front 244

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

Back 244

form of biomedical therapy to treat severe depression in which electrodes are placed on either one or both sides of a person's head and running an electric current through the electrodes that is strong enough to cause a seizure or convulsion.

Front 245

electroencephalograph (EEG)

Back 245

machine designed to record the brain wave patterns produced by electrical activity of the surface of the brain.

Front 246

embryo

Back 246

name for the developing organism from two weeks to eight weeks after fertilization.

Front 247

embryonic period

Back 247

the period from two to eight weeks after fertilization - during which the major organs and structures of the organism develop.

Front 248

emotion

Back 248

the "feeling" aspect of consciousness - characterized by a certain physical arousal - a certain behavior that reveals the emotion to the outside world - and an inner awareness of feelings."

Front 249

emotional intelligence

Back 249

the awareness of and ability to manage one's own emotions as well as the ability to be self-motivated - able to feel what others feel - and socially skilled.

Front 250

emotion-focused coping

Back 250

coping strategies that change the impact of a stressor by changing the emotional reaction to the stressor.

Front 251

empathy

Back 251

the ability of the therapist to understand the feelings of the client.

Front 252

encoding

Back 252

the set of mental operations that people perform on sensory information to convert that information into a form that is usable in the brain's storage systems.

Front 253

encoding failure

Back 253

failure to process information into memory.

Front 254

encoding specificity

Back 254

the tendency for memory of information to be improved if related information (such as surroundings or physiological state) available when the memory is first formed is also available when the memory is being retrieved.

Front 255

endocrine glands

Back 255

glands that secrete chemicals called hormones directly into the bloodstream.

Front 256

environmental psychology

Back 256

area of psychology in which the focus is on how people interact with and are affected by their physical environments.

Front 257

episodic memory

Back 257

type of declarative memory containing personal information not readily available to others - such as daily activities and events.

Front 258

equal status contact

Back 258

contact between groups in which the groups have equal status - with neither group having power over the other.

Front 259

escape or withdrawal

Back 259

leaving the presence of a stressor - either literally or by a psychological withdrawal into fantasy - drug abuse - or apathy.

Front 260

estrogens

Back 260

female sex hormones.

Front 261

eustress

Back 261

the effect of positive events - or the optimal amount of stress that people need to promote health and well-being.

Front 262

evolutionary perspective

Back 262

perspective that focuses on the biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share.

Front 263

excitatory neurotransmitter

Back 263

neurotransmitter that causes the receiving cell to fire.

Front 264

expectancy-value theories

Back 264

incentive theories that assume the actions of humans cannot be predicted or fully understood without understanding the beliefs - values - and the importance that a person attaches to those beliefs and values at any given moment in time.

Front 265

experiment

Back 265

a deliberate manipulation of a variable to see if corresponding changes in behavior result - allowing the determination of causeand- effect relationships.

Front 266

experimental group

Back 266

subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent variable.

Front 267

experimental psychology

Back 267

area of psychology in which the psychologists primarily do research and experiments in the areas of learning - memory - thinking - perception - motivation - and language.

Front 268

experimenter effect

Back 268

tendency of the experimenter's expectations for a study to unintentionally influence the results of the study.

Front 269

explicit memory

Back 269

memory that is consciously known - such as declarative memory.

Front 270

extinction

Back 270

the disappearance or weakening of a learned response following the removal or absence of the unconditioned stimulus (in classical conditioning) or the removal of a reinforcer (in operant conditioning).

Front 271

extinction

Back 271

the removal of a reinforcer to reduce the frequency of a behavior.

Front 272

extraversion

Back 272

dimension of personality referring to one's need to be with other people.

Front 273

extraverts

Back 273

people who are outgoing and sociable.

Front 274

extrinsic motivation

Back 274

type of motivation in which a person performs an action because it leads to an outcome that is separate from or external to the person.

Front 275

eye-movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR)

Back 275

controversial form of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and similar anxiety problems in which the client is directed to move the eyes rapidly back and forth while thinking of a disturbing memory.

Front 276

facial feedback hypothesis

Back 276

theory of emotion that assumes that facial expressions provide feedback to the brain concerning the emotion being expressed - which in turn causes and intensifies the emotion.

Front 277

false positive

Back 277

error of recognition in which people think that they recognize some stimulus that is not actually in memory.

Front 278

family counseling (family therapy)

Back 278

a form of group therapy in which family members meet together with a counselor or therapist to resolve problems that affect the entire family.

Front 279

fertilization

Back 279

the union of the ovum and sperm.

Front 280

fetal period

Back 280

the time from about eight weeks after conception until the birth of the child.

Front 281

fetus

Back 281

name for the developing organism from eight weeks after fertilization to the birth of the baby.

Front 282

figureÐground

Back 282

the tendency to perceive objects - or figures - as existing on a background.

Front 283

five-factor model (Big Five)

Back 283

model of personality traits that describes five basic trait dimensions.

Front 284

fixation

Back 284

disorder in which the person does not fully resolve the conflict in a particular psychosexual stage - resulting in personality traits and behavior associated with that earlier stage.

Front 285

fixed interval schedule of reinforcement

Back 285

schedule of reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is always the same.

Front 286

fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement

Back 286

schedule of reinforcement in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is always the same.

Front 287

flashbulb memories

Back 287

type of automatic encoding that occurs because an unexpected event has strong emotional associations for the person remembering it.

Front 288

flat affect

Back 288

a lack of emotional responsiveness.

Front 289

flooding

Back 289

technique for treating phobias and other stress disorders in which the person is rapidly and intensely exposed to the fear-provoking situation or object and prevented from making the usual avoidance or escape response.

Front 290

foot-in-the-door technique

Back 290

asking for a small commitment and - after gaining compliance - asking for a bigger commitment.

Front 291

forensic psychology

Back 291

area of psychology concerned with people in the legal system - including profiling of criminals - jury selection - and expert witnessing.

Front 292

formal concepts

Back 292

concepts that are defined by specific rules or features.

Front 293

formal operations

Back 293

Piaget's last stage of cognitive development in which the adolescent becomes capable of abstract thinking.

Front 294

free association

Back 294

Freudian technique in which a patient was encouraged to talk about anything that came to mind without fear of negative evaluations.

Front 295

free-floating anxiety

Back 295

anxiety that is unrelated to any realistic - known source.

Front 296

frequency count

Back 296

assessment in which the frequency of a particular behavior is counted.

Front 297

frequency distribution

Back 297

a table or graph that shows how often different numbers or scores appear in a particular set of scores.

Front 298

frequency theory

Back 298

theory of pitch that states that pitch is related to the speed of vibrations in the basilar membrane.

Front 299

frontal lobes

Back 299

areas of the cortex located in the front and top of the brain - responsible for higher mental processes and decision making as well as the production of fluent speech.

Front 300

frustration

Back 300

the psychological experience produced by the blocking of a desired goal or fulfillment of a perceived need.

Front 301

fully functioning person

Back 301

a person who is in touch with and trusting of the deepest - innermost urges and feelings.

Front 302

functional fixedness

Back 302

a block to problem solving that comes from thinking about objects in terms of only their typical functions.

Front 303

functionalism

Back 303

early perspective in psychology associated with William James - in which the focus of study is how the mind allows people to adapt - live - work - and play.

Front 304

fundamental attribution error (actor-observer bias)

Back 304

the tendency to overestimate the influence of internal factors in determining behavior while underestimating situational factors.

Front 305

g factor

Back 305

the ability to reason and solve problems - or general intelligence.

Front 306

gender

Back 306

the psychological aspects of being male or female.

Front 307

gender identity

Back 307

the individual's sense of being male or female.

Front 308

gender roles

Back 308

the culture's expectations for masculine or feminine behavior - including attitudes - actions - and personality traits associated with being male or female in that culture.

Front 309

gender schema theory

Back 309

theory of gender identity acquisition in which a child develops a mental pattern - or schema - for being male or female and then organizes observed and learned behavior around that schema.

Front 310

gender stereotype

Back 310

a concept held about a person or group of people that is based on being male or female.

Front 311

gender typing

Back 311

the process of acquiring gender role characteristics.

Front 312

gene

Back 312

section of DNA having the same arrangement of chemical elements.

Front 313

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Back 313

the three stages of the body's physiological reaction to stress - including alarm - resistance - and exhaustion.

Front 314

generalized anxiety disorder

Back 314

disorder in which a person has feelings of dread and impending doom along with physical symptoms of stress - which lasts six months or more.

Front 315

generativity

Back 315

providing guidance to one's children or the next generation - or contributing to the well-being of the next generation through career or volunteer work.

Front 316

genetics

Back 316

the science of inherited traits.

Front 317

germinal period

Back 317

first two weeks after fertilization - during which the zygote moves down to the uterus and begins to implant in the lining.

Front 318

Gestalt psychology

Back 318

early perspective in psychology focusing on perception and sensation - particularly the perception of patterns and whole figures.

Front 319

Gestalt therapy

Back 319

form of directive insight therapy in which the therapist helps clients to accept all parts of their feelings and subjective experiences - using leading questions and planned experiences such as roleplaying.

Front 320

gifted

Back 320

the 2 percent of the population falling on the upper end of the normal curve and typically possessing an IQ of 130 or above.

Front 321

glial cells

Back 321

grey fatty cells that provide support for the neurons to grow on and around - deliver nutrients to neurons - produce myelin to coat axons - and clean up waste products and dead neurons.

Front 322

glucagons

Back 322

hormones that are secreted by the pancreas to control the levels of fats - proteins - and carbohydrates in the body by increasing the level of glucose in the bloodstream.

Front 323

gonads

Back 323

the sex glands that secrete hormones that regulate sexual development and behavior as well as reproduction.

Front 324

grammar

Back 324

the system of rules governing the structure and use of a language.

Front 325

groupthink

Back 325

kind of thinking that occurs when people place more importance on maintaining group cohesiveness than on assessing the facts of the problem with which the group is concerned.

Front 326

gustation

Back 326

the sensation of taste.

Front 327

habits

Back 327

in behaviorism - sets of well-learned responses that have become automatic.

Front 328

habituation

Back 328

tendency of the brain to stop attending to constant - unchanging information.

Front 329

hallucinations

Back 329

false sensory perceptions - such as hearing voices that do not really exist.

Front 330

hallucinogens

Back 330

drugs that cause false sensory messages - altering the perception of reality.

Front 331

halo effect

Back 331

tendency of an interviewer to allow positive characteristics of a client to influence the assessments of the client's behavior and statements.

Front 332

hardy personality

Back 332

a person who seems to thrive on stress but lacks the anger and hostility of the Type A personality.

Front 333

hassles

Back 333

the daily annoyances of everyday life.

Front 334

health psychology

Back 334

area of psychology in which the psychologists focus on the relationship of human behavior patterns and stress reaction to physical health.

Front 335

hermaphroditism

Back 335

the condition of possessing both male and female sexual organs.

Front 336

heroin

Back 336

narcotic drug derived from opium that is extremely addictive.

Front 337

hertz (Hz)

Back 337

cycles or waves per second - a measurement of frequency.

Front 338

heterosexual

Back 338

person attracted to the opposite sex.

Front 339

heuristic

Back 339

" an educated guess based on prior experiences that helps narrow down the possible solutions for a problem. Also known as ""rule of thumb."""

Front 340

higher-order conditioning

Back 340

occurs when a strong conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus - causing the neutral stimulus to become a second conditioned stimulus.

Front 341

hindsight bias

Back 341

the tendency to falsely believe - through revision of older memories to include newer information - that one could have correctly predicted the outcome of an event.

Front 342

hippocampus

Back 342

curved structure located within each temporal lobe - responsible for the formation of long-term memories and the storage of memory for location of objects.

Front 343

histogram

Back 343

a bar graph showing a frequency distribution.

Front 344

homeostasis

Back 344

the tendency of the body to maintain a steady state.

Front 345

homosexual

Back 345

person attracted to the same sex.

Front 346

hormones

Back 346

chemicals released into the bloodstream by endocrine glands.

Front 347

human development

Back 347

the scientific study of the changes that occur in people as they age from conception until death.

Front 348

human factors psychology

Back 348

area of industrial/organizational psychology concerned with the study of the way humans and machines interact with each other.

Front 349

humanistic perspective

Back 349

" the ""third force"" in psychology that focuses on those aspects of personality that make people uniquely human - such as subjective feelings and freedom of choice."

Front 350

hypnosis

Back 350

state of consciousness in which the person is especially susceptible to suggestion.

Front 351

hypochondriasis

Back 351

somatoform disorder in which the person is terrified of being sick and worries constantly - going to doctors repeatedly - and becoming preoccupied with every sensation of the body.

Front 352

hypothalamus

Back 352

small structure in the brain located below the thalamus and directly above the pituitary gland - responsible for motivational behavior such as sleep - hunger - thirst - and sex.

Front 353

hypothesis

Back 353

tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on observations.

Front 354

iconic memory

Back 354

visual sensory memory - lasting only a fraction of a second.

Front 355

id

Back 355

part of the personality present at birth and completely unconscious.

Front 356

ideal self

Back 356

one's perception of whom one should be or would like to be.

Front 357

identification

Back 357

defense mechanism in which a person tries to become like someone else to deal with anxiety.

Front 358

identity versus role confusion

Back 358

fifth stage of personality development in which the adolescent must find a consistent sense of self.

Front 359

imaginary audience

Back 359

type of thought common to adolescents in which young people believe that other people are just as concerned about the adolescent's thoughts and characteristics as they themselves are.

Front 360

immune system

Back 360

the system of cells - organs - and chemicals of the body that responds to attacks from diseases - infections - and injuries.

Front 361

implicit memory

Back 361

memory that is not easily brought into conscious awareness - such as procedural memory.

Front 362

implicit personality theory

Back 362

sets of assumptions about how different types of people - personality traits - and actions are related to each other.

Front 363

impression formation

Back 363

the forming of the first knowledge that a person has concerning another person.

Front 364

incentive approaches

Back 364

theories of motivation in which behavior is explained as a response to the external stimulus and its rewarding properties.

Front 365

incentives

Back 365

things that attract or lure people into action.

Front 366

independent variable

Back 366

variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter.

Front 367

individualized educational program (IEP)

Back 367

a special education plan drawn up by teachers for children with special needs such as giftedness or mental retardation.

Front 368

industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology

Back 368

area of psychology concerned with the relationships between people and their work environment.

Front 369

industry versus inferiority

Back 369

fourth stage of personality development in which the adolescent strives for a sense of competence and self-esteem.

Front 370

infantile amnesia

Back 370

the inability to retrieve memories from much before age 3.

Front 371

inferential statistics

Back 371

statistical analysis of two or more sets of numerical data to reduce the possibility of error in measurement and to determine if the differences between the data sets are greater than chance variation would predict.

Front 372

information-processing model

Back 372

model of memory that assumes the processing of information for memory storage is similar to the way a computer processes memory in a series of three stages.

Front 373

in-groups

Back 373

social groups with whom a person identifies; "us."

Front 374

inhibitory neurotransmitter

Back 374

neurotransmitter that causes the receiving cell to stop firing.

Front 375

initiative versus guilt

Back 375

third stage of personality development in which the preschool-aged child strives for emotional and psychological independence and attempts to satisfy curiosity about the world.

Front 376

insight

Back 376

the sudden perception of relationships among various parts of a problem - allowing the solution to the problem to come quickly.

Front 377

insight therapies

Back 377

therapies in which the main goal is helping people to gain insight with respect to their behavior - thoughts - and feelings.

Front 378

insomnia

Back 378

the inability to get to sleep - stay asleep - or get a good quality of sleep.

Front 379

instinct approach

Back 379

approach to motivation that assumes people are governed by instincts similar to those of animals.

Front 380

instinctive drift

Back 380

tendency for an animal's behavior to revert to genetically controlled patterns.

Front 381

instincts

Back 381

the biologically determined and innate patterns of behavior that exist in both people and animals.

Front 382

insulin

Back 382

a hormone secreted by the pancreas to control the levels of fats - proteins - and carbohydrates in the body by reducing the level of glucose in the bloodstream.

Front 383

integrity

Back 383

sense of wholeness that comes from having lived a full life and the ability to let go of regrets; the final completion of the ego.

Front 384

intelligence

Back 384

the ability to learn from one's experiences - acquire knowledge - and use resources effectively in adapting to new situations or solving problems.

Front 385

intelligence quotient (IQ)

Back 385

a number representing a measure of intelligence - resulting from the division of one's mental age by one's chronological age and then multiplying that quotient by 100.

Front 386

interneuron

Back 386

a neuron found in the center of the spinal cord that receives information from the sensory neurons and sends commands to the muscles through the motor neurons. Interneurons also make up the bulk of the neurons in the brain.

Front 387

interpersonal attraction

Back 387

liking or having the desire for a relationship with another person.

Front 388

interposition (overlap)

Back 388

the assumption that an object that appears to be blocking part of another object is in front of the second object and closer to the viewer.

Front 389

intersex

Back 389

alternate term for hermaphroditism.

Front 390

intersexed - intersexual

Back 390

a person who possesses ambiguous sexual organs - making it difficult to determine actual sex from a visual inspection at birth.

Front 391

interview

Back 391

method of personality assessment in which the professional asks questions of the client and allows the client to answer - either in a structured or unstructured fashion.

Front 392

intimacy

Back 392

an emotional and psychological closeness that is based on the ability to trust - share - and care - while still maintaining a sense of self.

Front 393

intrinsic motivation

Back 393

type of motivation in which a person performs an action because the act itself is rewarding or satisfying in some internal manner.

Front 394

introversion

Back 394

dimension of personality in which people tend to withdraw from excessive stimulation.

Front 395

introverts

Back 395

people who prefer solitude and dislike being the center of attention.

Front 396

irreversibility

Back 396

in Piaget's theory - the inability of the young child to mentally reverse an action.

Front 397

James-Lange theory of emotion

Back 397

theory in which a physiological reaction leads to the labeling of an emotion.

Front 398

jigsaw classroom

Back 398

educational technique in which each individual is given only part of the information needed to solve a problem - causing the separate individuals to be forced to work together to find the solution.

Front 399

just noticeable difference (jnd or the differential threshold)

Back 399

the smallest difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50 percent of the time.

Front 400

kinesthetic learners

Back 400

people who prefer to learn by doing and being active.

Front 401

kinesthetic sense

Back 401

sense of the location of body parts in relation to the ground and each other.

Front 402

language

Back 402

a system for combining symbols (such as words) so that an unlimited number of meaningful statements can be made for the purpose of communicating with others.

Front 403

latency

Back 403

fourth stage occurring during the school years - in which the sexual feelings of the child are repressed while the child develops in other ways.

Front 404

latent content

Back 404

the symbolic or hidden meaning of dreams.

Front 405

latent learning

Back 405

learning that remains hidden until its application becomes useful.

Front 406

Law of Effect

Back 406

law stating that if a response is followed by a pleasurable consequence - it will tend to be repeated - and if followed by an unpleasant consequence - it will tend not to be repeated.

Front 407

learned helplessness

Back 407

the tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of a history of repeated failures in the past.

Front 408

learning style

Back 408

the particular way in which a person takes in information.

Front 409

learning/performance distinction

Back 409

referring to the observation that learning can take place without actual performance of the learned behavior.

Front 410

leptin

Back 410

a hormone that - when released into the bloodstream - signals the hypothalamus that the body has had enough food and reduces the appetite while increasing the feeling of being full.

Front 411

levels-of-processing model

Back 411

" model of memory that assumes information that is more ""deeply processed - "" or processed according to its meaning rather than just the sound or physical characteristics of the word or words - will be remembered more efficiently and for a longer period of time."

Front 412

libido

Back 412

the instinctual energy that may come into conflict with the demands of a society's standards for behavior.

Front 413

light adaptation

Back 413

the recovery of the eye's sensitivity to visual stimuli in light after exposure to darkness.

Front 414

limbic system

Back 414

a group of several brain structures located under the cortex and involved in learning - emotion - memory - and motivation.

Front 415

linear perspective

Back 415

the tendency for parallel lines to appear to converge on each other.

Front 416

linguistic relativity hypothesis

Back 416

the theory that thought processes and concepts are controlled by language.

Front 417

longitudinal design

Back 417

research design in which one participant or group of participants is studied over a long period of time.

Front 418

long-term memory (LTM)

Back 418

the system of memory into which all the information is placed to be kept more or less permanently.

Front 419

lowball technique

Back 419

getting a commitment from a person and then raising the cost of that commitment.

Front 420

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)

Back 420

powerful synthetic hallucinogen.

Front 421

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Back 421

brain imaging method using radio waves and magnetic fields of the body to produce detailed images of the brain.

Front 422

magnification

Back 422

the tendency to interpret situations as far more dangerous - harmful - or important than they actually are.

Front 423

magnification and minimization

Back 423

distortions of thinking in which a person blows a negative event out of proportion to its importance (magnification) while ignoring relevant positive events (minimization).

Front 424

maintenance rehearsal

Back 424

practice of saying some information to be remembered over and over in one's head in order to maintain it in short-term memory.

Front 425

major depression

Back 425

severe depression that comes on suddenly and seems to have no external cause.

Front 426

maladaptive

Back 426

anything that does not allow a person to function within or adapt to the stresses and everyday demands of life.

Front 427

mammary glands

Back 427

glands within the breast tissue that produce milk when a woman gives birth to an infant.

Front 428

manic

Back 428

having the quality of excessive excitement - energy - and elation or irritability.

Front 429

manifest content

Back 429

the actual content of one's dream.

Front 430

marijuana (pot or weed)

Back 430

mild hallucinogen derived from the leaves and flowers of a particular type of hemp plant.

Front 431

MDMA (Ecstasy or X)

Back 431

designer drug that can have both stimulant and hallucinatory effects.

Front 432

mean

Back 432

the arithmetic average of a distribution of numbers.

Front 433

meansÐend analysis

Back 433

heuristic in which the difference between the starting situation and the goal is determined and then steps are taken to reduce that difference.

Front 434

measures of central tendency

Back 434

numbers that best represent the most typical score of a frequency distribution.

Front 435

measures of variability

Back 435

measurement of the degree of differences within a distribution or how the scores are spread out.

Front 436

median

Back 436

the middle score in an ordered distribution of scores - or the mean of the two middle numbers; the 50th percentile.

Front 437

meditation

Back 437

mental series of exercises meant to refocus attention and achieve a trancelike state of consciousness.

Front 438

medulla

Back 438

the first large swelling at the top of the spinal cord - forming the lowest part of the brain - which is responsible for life-sustaining functions such as breathing - swallowing - and heart rate.

Front 439

memory

Back 439

an active system that receives information from the senses - organizes and alters it as it stores it away - and then retrieves the information from storage.

Front 440

memory trace

Back 440

physical change in the brain that occurs when a memory is formed.

Front 441

menopause

Back 441

the cessation of ovulation and menstrual cycles and the end of a woman's reproductive capability.

Front 442

menstrual cycle

Back 442

monthly shedding of the blood and tissue that line the uterus in preparation for pregnancy when conception does not occur.

Front 443

mental images

Back 443

mental representations that stand for objects or events and have a picture-like quality.

Front 444

mental set

Back 444

the tendency for people to persist in using problem-solving patterns that have worked for them in the past.

Front 445

mescaline

Back 445

natural hallucinogen derived from the peyote cactus buttons.

Front 446

microsleeps

Back 446

brief sidesteps into sleep lasting only a few seconds.

Front 447

minimization

Back 447

the tendency to give little or no importance to one's successes or positive events and traits.

Front 448

misinformation effect

Back 448

the tendency of misleading information presented after an event to alter the memories of the event itself.

Front 449

mnemonic

Back 449

a strategy or trick for aiding memory.

Front 450

mode

Back 450

the most frequent score in a distribution of scores.

Front 451

modeling

Back 451

learning through the observation and imitation of others.

Front 452

monocular cues (pictorial depth cues)

Back 452

cues for perceiving depth based on one eye only.

Front 453

monozygotic twins

Back 453

identical twins formed when one zygote splits into two separate masses of cells - each of which develops into a separate embryo.

Front 454

mood disorders

Back 454

disorders in which mood is severely disturbed.

Front 455

morphemes

Back 455

the smallest units of meaning within a language.

Front 456

morphine

Back 456

narcotic drug derived from opium - used to treat severe pain.

Front 457

motion parallax

Back 457

the perception of motion of objects in which close objects appear to move more quickly than objects that are farther away.

Front 458

motivation

Back 458

the process by which activities are started - directed - and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met.

Front 459

motor cortex

Back 459

section of the frontal lobe located at the back - responsible for sending motor commands to the muscles of the somatic nervous system.

Front 460

motor neuron

Back 460

a neuron that carries messages from the central nervous system to the muscles of the body. Also called efferent neuron.

Front 461

motor pathway

Back 461

nerves coming from the CNS to the voluntary muscles - consisting of motor neurons.

Front 462

multiple approachÐavoidance conflict

Back 462

conflict in which the person must decide between more than two goals - with each goal possessing both positive and negative aspects.

Front 463

myelin

Back 463

fatty substances produced by certain glial cells that coat the axons of neurons to insulate - protect - and speed up the neural impulse.

Front 464

MŸller-Lyer illusion

Back 464

illusion of line length that is distorted by inwardturning or outward-turning corners on the ends of the lines - causing lines of equal length to appear to be different. 56 -

Front 465

narcolepsy

Back 465

sleep disorder in which a person falls immediately into REM sleep during the day without warning.

Front 466

narcotics

Back 466

a class of opium-related drugs that suppress the sensation of pain by binding to and stimulating the nervous system's natural receptor sites for endorphins.

Front 467

natural concepts

Back 467

concepts people form as a result of their experiences in the real world.

Front 468

natural killer cell

Back 468

immune system cell responsible for suppressing viruses and destroying tumor cells.

Front 469

nature

Back 469

the influence of our inherited characteristics on our personality - physical growth - intellectual growth - and social interactions.

Front 470

need

Back 470

a requirement of some material (such as food or water) that is essential for survival of the organism.

Front 471

need for achievement (nAch)

Back 471

a need that involves a strong desire to succeed in attaining goals - not only realistic ones but also challenging ones.

Front 472

need for affiliation (nAff )

Back 472

the need for friendly social interactions and relationships with others.

Front 473

need for power (nPow)

Back 473

the need to have control or influence over others.

Front 474

negative reinforcement

Back 474

the reinforcement of a response by the removal - escape from - or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus.

Front 475

negative symptoms

Back 475

symptoms of schizophrenia that are less than normal behavior or an absence of normal behavior; poor attention - flat affect - and poor speech production.

Front 476

negatively skewed

Back 476

a distribution of scores in which scores are concentrated in the high end of the distribution.

Front 477

neo-Freudians

Back 477

followers of Freud who developed their own competing theories of psychoanalysis.

Front 478

nerves

Back 478

bundles of axons coated in myelin that travel together through the body.

Front 479

nervous system

Back 479

an extensive network of specialized cells that carries information to and from all parts of the body.

Front 480

neurofeedback

Back 480

form of biofeedback using brain-scanning devices to provide feedback about brain activity in an effort to modify behavior.

Front 481

neuron

Back 481

the basic cell that makes up the nervous system and that receives and sends messages within that system.

Front 482

neuroscience

Back 482

a branch of the life sciences that deals with the structure and function of neurons - nerves - and nervous tissue - especially focusing on their relationship to behavior and learning.

Front 483

neurotic personalities

Back 483

maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships in Horney's theory.

Front 484

neuroticism

Back 484

degree of emotional instability or stability.

Front 485

neurotransmitter

Back 485

chemical found in the synaptic vesicles that - when released - has an effect on the next cell.

Front 486

neutral stimulus (NS)

Back 486

stimulus that has no effect on the desired response.

Front 487

nicotine

Back 487

the active ingredient in tobacco.

Front 488

night terrors

Back 488

relatively rare disorder in which the person experiences extreme fear and screams or runs around during deep sleep without waking fully.

Front 489

nightmares

Back 489

bad dreams occurring during REM sleep.

Front 490

nondirective

Back 490

therapy style in which the therapist remains relatively neutral and does not interpret or take direct actions with regard to the client - instead remaining a calm - nonjudgmental listener while the client talks.

Front 491

norm of reciprocity

Back 491

assumption that if someone does something for a person - that person should do something for the other in return.

Front 492

normal curve

Back 492

a special frequency polygon in which the scores are symmetrically distributed around the mean - and the mean - median - and mode are all located on the same point on the curve with scores decreasing as the curve extends from the mean.

Front 493

NREM (non-REM) sleep

Back 493

any of the stages of sleep that do not include REM.

Front 494

nurture

Back 494

the influence of the environment on personality - physical growth - intellectual growth - and social interactions.

Front 495

obedience

Back 495

changing one's behavior at the command of an authority figure.

Front 496

object permanence

Back 496

the knowledge that an object exists even when it is not in sight.

Front 497

objective introspection

Back 497

the process of examining and measuring one's own thoughts and mental activities.

Front 498

observational learning

Back 498

learning new behavior by watching a model perform that behavior.

Front 499

observer bias

Back 499

tendency of observers to see what they expect to see.

Front 500

observer effect

Back 500

tendency of people or animals to behave differently from normal when they know they are being observed.

Front 501

obsessive-compulsive disorder

Back 501

disorder in which intruding - recurring thoughts or obsessions create anxiety that is relieved by performing a repetitive - ritualistic behavior (compulsion).

Front 502

occipital lobe

Back 502

section of the brain located at the rear and bottom of each cerebral hemisphere containing the visual centers of the brain.

Front 503

Oedipus complex

Back 503

situation occurring in the phallic stage in which a child develops a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent and jealousy of the same-sex parent.

Front 504

olfaction (olfactory sense)

Back 504

the sensation of smell.

Front 505

olfactory bulbs

Back 505

areas of the brain located just above the sinus cavity and just below the frontal lobes that receive information from the olfactory receptor cells.

Front 506

olfactory bulbs

Back 506

two projections just under the front of the brain that receive information from the receptors in the nose located just below.

Front 507

openness

Back 507

one of the five factors; willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences.

Front 508

operant

Back 508

any behavior that is voluntary.

Front 509

operant conditioning

Back 509

the learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses.

Front 510

operational definition

Back 510

definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly measured.

Front 511

opium

Back 511

substance derived from the opium poppy from which all narcotic drugs are derived.

Front 512

opponent-process theory

Back 512

theory of color vision that proposes four primary colors with cones arranged in pairs

Front 513

optimists

Back 513

people who expect positive outcomes.

Front 514

oral stage

Back 514

first stage occurring in the first year of life in which the mouth is the erogenous zone and weaning is the primary conflict.

Front 515

organic or stress-induced dysfunction

Back 515

sexual problem caused by physical disorder or psychological stress.

Front 516

orgasm

Back 516

a series of rhythmic contractions of the muscles of the vaginal walls or the penis - also the third and shortest phase of sexual response.

Front 517

out-groups

Back 517

" social groups with whom a person does not identify; ""they."""

Front 518

ovaries

Back 518

the female gonads.

Front 519

ovaries

Back 519

the female sexual glands.

Front 520

overgeneralization

Back 520

distortion of thinking in which a person draws sweeping conclusions based on only one incident or event and applies those conclusions to events that are unrelated to the original.

Front 521

overgeneralization

Back 521

the tendency to interpret a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat and failure.

Front 522

ovum

Back 522

the female sex cell - or egg.

Front 523

pancreas

Back 523

endocrine gland that controls the levels of sugar in the blood.

Front 524

panic attack

Back 524

sudden onset of intense panic in which multiple physical symptoms of stress occur - often with feelings that one is dying.

Front 525

panic disorder

Back 525

disorder in which panic attacks occur frequently enough to cause the person difficulty in adjusting to daily life.

Front 526

panic disorder with agoraphobia

Back 526

fear of leaving one's familiar surroundings because one might have a panic attack in public.

Front 527

parallel distributed processing (PDP) model

Back 527

a model of memory in which memory processes are proposed to take place at the same time over a large network of neural connections.

Front 528

parameter

Back 528

a number representing some measure of central tendency or variability within a population.

Front 529

paranoid

Back 529

type of schizophrenia in which the person suffers from delusions of persecution - grandeur - and jealousy - together with hallucinations.

Front 530

paraphilia

Back 530

a sexual disorder in which the person's preferred method of sexual arousal and fulfillment is through sexual behavior that is unusual or socially unacceptable.

Front 531

parapsychology

Back 531

the study of ESP - ghosts - and other subjects that do not normally fall into the realm of ordinary psychology.

Front 532

parasympathetic division

Back 532

part of the ANS that restores the body to normal functioning after arousal and is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the organs and glands.

Front 533

parietal lobes

Back 533

sections of the brain located at the top and back of each cerebral hemisphere containing the centers for touch - taste - and temperature sensations.

Front 534

partial reinforcement effect

Back 534

the tendency for a response that is reinforced after some - but not all - correct responses to be very resistant to extinction.

Front 535

participant modeling

Back 535

technique in which a model demonstrates the desired behavior in a step-by-step - gradual process while the client is encouraged to imitate the model.

Front 536

participant observation

Back 536

a naturalistic observation in which the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed.

Front 537

PCP

Back 537

synthesized drug now used as an animal tranquilizer that can cause stimulant - depressant - narcotic - or hallucinogenic effects.

Front 538

peak experiences

Back 538

according to Maslow - times in a person's life during which self-actualization is temporarily achieved.

Front 539

pedophile

Back 539

a person who has recurring sexual thoughts - fantasies - or engages in sexual actions toward prepubescent (nonsexually mature) children.

Front 540

pedophilia

Back 540

deriving sexual arousal and pleasure from touching or having sexual relations with prepubescent (nonsexually mature) children or fantasizing about such contact.

Front 541

perception

Back 541

the method by which the sensations experienced at any given moment are interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion.

Front 542

perceptual set (perceptual expectancy)

Back 542

the tendency to perceive things a certain way because previous experiences or expectations influence those perceptions.

Front 543

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Back 543

all nerves and neurons that are not contained in the brain and spinal cord but that run through the body itself.

Front 544

peripheral-route processing

Back 544

type of information processing that involves attending to factors not involved in the message - such as the appearance of the source of the message - the length of the message - and other noncontent factors.

Front 545

personal fable

Back 545

type of thought common to adolescents in which young people believe themselves to be unique and protected from harm.

Front 546

personal unconscious

Back 546

Jung's name for the unconscious mind as described by Freud.

Front 547

personality

Back 547

the unique and relatively stable ways in which people think - feel - and behave.

Front 548

personality disorders

Back 548

disorders in which a person adopts a persistent - rigid - and maladaptive pattern of behavior that interferes with normal social interactions.

Front 549

personality inventory

Back 549

paper and pencil or computerized test that consists of statements that require a specific - standardized response from the person taking the test.

Front 550

personality psychology

Back 550

area of psychology in which the psychologists study the differences in personality among people.

Front 551

personalization

Back 551

distortion of thinking in which a person takes responsibility or blame for events that are unconnected to the person.

Front 552

person-centered therapy

Back 552

a nondirective insight therapy based on the work of Carl Rogers in which the client does all the talking and the therapist listens.

Front 553

persuasion

Back 553

the process by which one person tries to change the belief - opinion - position - or course of action of another person through argument - pleading - or explanation.

Front 554

pessimists

Back 554

people who expect negative outcomes.

Front 555

phallic stage

Back 555

third stage occurring from about 3 to 6 years of age - in which the child discovers sexual feelings.

Front 556

phobia

Back 556

an irrational - persistent fear of an object - situation - or social activity.

Front 557

phonemes

Back 557

the basic units of sound in language.

Front 558

phototherapy

Back 558

the use of lights to treat seasonal affective disorder or other disorders.

Front 559

physiological psychology

Back 559

area of psychology in which the psychologists study the biological bases of behavior.

Front 560

pineal gland

Back 560

endocrine gland located near the base of the cerebrum that secretes melatonin.

Front 561

pitch

Back 561

psychological experience of sound that corresponds to the frequency of the sound waves; higher frequencies are perceived as higher pitches.

Front 562

pituitary gland

Back 562

gland located in the brain that secretes human growth hormone and influences all other hormone-secreting glands (also known as the master gland).

Front 563

place theory

Back 563

theory of pitch that states that different pitches are experienced by the stimulation of hair cells in different locations on the organ of Corti.

Front 564

placebo effect

Back 564

the phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior.

Front 565

pleasure principle

Back 565

principle by which the id functions; the immediate satisfaction of needs without regard for the consequences.

Front 566

polygon

Back 566

line graph showing a frequency distribution.

Front 567

pons

Back 567

the larger swelling above the medulla that connects the top of the brain to the bottom and that plays a part in sleep - dreaming - leftÐright body coordination - and arousal.

Front 568

population

Back 568

the entire group of people or animals in which the researcher is interested.

Front 569

positive psychology movement

Back 569

a viewpoint that recommends shifting the focus of psychology away from the negative aspects to a more positive focus on strengths - well-being - and the pursuit of happiness.

Front 570

positive regard

Back 570

warmth - affection - love - and respect that come from significant others in one's life.

Front 571

positive reinforcement

Back 571

the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experiencing of a pleasurable stimulus.

Front 572

positive symptoms

Back 572

symptoms of schizophrenia that are excesses of behavior or occur in addition to normal behavior; hallucinations - delusions - and distorted thinking.

Front 573

positively skewed

Back 573

a distribution of scores in which scores are concentrated in the low end of the distribution.

Front 574

positron emission tomography (PET)

Back 574

brain-imaging method in which a radioactive sugar is injected into the subject and a computer compiles a color-coded image of the activity of the brain with lighter colors indicating more activity.

Front 575

postconventional morality

Back 575

third level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the person's behavior is governed by moral principles that have been decided on by the individual and which may be in disagreement with accepted social norms.

Front 576

postpartum depression

Back 576

depression occurring within a year after giving birth in about 10 percent of women and that includes intense worry about the baby - thoughts of suicide - and fears of harming the baby.

Front 577

postpartum psychosis

Back 577

a rare and severe form of depression that occurs in women just after giving birth and includes delusional thinking and hallucinations.

Front 578

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Back 578

a disorder resulting from exposure to a major stressor - with symptoms of anxiety - nightmares - poor sleep - reliving the event - and concentration problems - lasting for more than one month.

Front 579

practical intelligence

Back 579

the ability to use information to get along in life and become successful.

Front 580

pragmatics

Back 580

aspects of language involving the practical ways of communicating with others - or the social "niceties" of language.

Front 581

preconscious mind

Back 581

level of the mind in which information is available but not currently conscious.

Front 582

preconventional morality

Back 582

first level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the child's behavior is governed by the consequences of the behavior.

Front 583

prefrontal lobotomy

Back 583

psychosurgery in which the connections of the prefrontal lobes of the brain to the rear portions are severed.

Front 584

prejudice

Back 584

negative attitude held by a person about the members of a particular social group.

Front 585

preoperational stage

Back 585

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development in which the preschool child learns to use language as a means of exploring the world.

Front 586

pressure

Back 586

the psychological experience produced by urgent demands or expectations for a person's behavior that come from an outside source.

Front 587

primacy effect

Back 587

tendency to remember information at the beginning of a body of information better than the information that follows.

Front 588

primary appraisal

Back 588

the first step in assessing a stress - which involves estimating the severity of a stressor and classifying it as either a threat or a challenge.

Front 589

primary drives

Back 589

those drives that involve needs of the body such as hunger and thirst.

Front 590

primary reinforcer

Back 590

any reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic biological need - such as hunger - thirst - or touch.

Front 591

primary sex characteristics

Back 591

sexual organs present at birth and directly involved in human reproduction.

Front 592

proactive interference

Back 592

memory retrieval problem that occurs when older information prevents or interferes with the retrieval of newer information.

Front 593

problem solving

Back 593

process of cognition that occurs when a goal must be reached by thinking and behaving in certain ways.

Front 594

problem-focused coping

Back 594

coping strategies that try to eliminate the source of a stress or reduce its impact through direct actions.

Front 595

procedural (nondeclarative) memory

Back 595

type of long-term memory including memory for skills - procedures - habits - and conditioned responses. These memories are not conscious but are implied to exist because they affect conscious behavior.

Front 596

projection

Back 596

defense mechanism involving placing - or "projecting" - one's own unacceptable thoughts onto others - as if the thoughts actually belonged to those others and not to oneself."

Front 597

projection

Back 597

psychological defense mechanism in which unacceptable or threatening impulses or feelings are seen as originating with someone else - usually the target of the impulses or feelings.

Front 598

projective tests

Back 598

personality assessments that present ambiguous visual stimuli to the client and ask the client to respond with whatever comes to mind.

Front 599

prosocial behavior

Back 599

socially desirable behavior that benefits others.

Front 600

prostate gland

Back 600

gland that secretes most of the fluid holding the male sex cells or sperm.

Front 601

prototype

Back 601

an example of a concept that closely matches the defining characteristics of a concept.

Front 602

proximity

Back 602

physical or geographical nearness.

Front 603

proximity

Back 603

the tendency to perceive objects that are close to each other as part of the same grouping.

Front 604

pseudopsychologies

Back 604

systems of explaining human behavior that are not based on or consistent with scientific evidence.

Front 605

psilocybin

Back 605

natural hallucinogen found in certain mushrooms.

Front 606

psychiatric social worker

Back 606

a social worker with some training in therapy methods who focuses on the environmental conditions that can have an impact on mental disorders - such as poverty - overcrowding - stress - and drug abuse.

Front 607

psychiatrist

Back 607

a medical doctor who has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders.

Front 608

psychoactive drugs

Back 608

drugs that alter thinking - perception - and memory.

Front 609

psychoanalysis

Back 609

an insight therapy based on the theory of Freud - emphasizing the revealing of unconscious conflicts.

Front 610

psychoanalysis

Back 610

Freud's term for both the theory of personality and the therapy based on it.

Front 611

psychoanalysis

Back 611

the theory and therapy based on the work of Sigmund Freud.

Front 612

psychoanalyst

Back 612

either a psychiatrist or a psychologist who has special training in the theories of Sigmund Freud and his method of psychoanalysis.

Front 613

psychodynamic perspective

Back 613

modern version of psychoanalysis that is more focused on the development of a sense of self and the discovery of other motivations behind a person's behavior than sexual motivations.

Front 614

psychodynamic therapy

Back 614

a newer and more general term for therapies based on psychoanalysis - with an emphasis on transference - shorter treatment times - and a more direct therapeutic approach.

Front 615

psychogenic drugs

Back 615

drugs including hallucinogens and marijuana that produce hallucinations or increased feelings of relaxation and intoxication.

Front 616

psychological defense mechanisms

Back 616

unconscious distortions of a person's perception of reality that reduce stress and anxiety.

Front 617

psychological dependence

Back 617

the feeling that a drug is needed to continue a feeling of emotional or psychological well-being.

Front 618

psychological disorders

Back 618

any pattern of behavior that causes people significant distress - causes them to harm others - or harms their ability to function in daily life.

Front 619

psychologist

Back 619

a professional with an academic degree and specialized training in one or more areas of psychology.

Front 620

psychology

Back 620

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Front 621

psychoneuroimmunology

Back 621

the study of the effects of psychological factors such as stress - emotions - thoughts - and behavior on the immune system.

Front 622

psychopathology

Back 622

the study of abnormal behavior.

Front 623

psychopharmacology

Back 623

the use of drugs to control or relieve the symptoms of psychological disorders.

Front 624

psychophysiological disorder

Back 624

modern term for psychosomatic disorder.

Front 625

psychosexual stages

Back 625

five stages of personality development proposed by Freud and tied to the sexual development of the child.

Front 626

psychosomatic disorder

Back 626

disorder in which psychological stress causes a real physical disorder or illness.

Front 627

psychosurgery

Back 627

surgery performed on brain tissue to relieve or control severe psychological disorders.

Front 628

psychotherapy

Back 628

therapy for mental disorders in which a person with a problem talks with a psychological professional.

Front 629

psychotic

Back 629

the break away from an ability to perceive what is real and what is fantasy.

Front 630

puberty

Back 630

the physical changes that occur in the body as sexual development reaches its peak.

Front 631

punishment

Back 631

any event or object that - when following a response - makes that response more likely to happen again.

Front 632

punishment by application

Back 632

the punishment of a response by the addition or experiencing of an unpleasant stimulus.

Front 633

punishment by removal

Back 633

the punishment of a response by the removal of a pleasurable stimulus.

Front 634

random assignment

Back 634

process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control groups randomly - so that each subject has an equal chance of being in either group.

Front 635

range

Back 635

the difference between the highest and lowest score in a distribution.

Front 636

rapid eye movement (REM)

Back 636

stage of sleep in which the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids and the person is typically experiencing a dream.

Front 637

rating scale

Back 637

assessment in which a numerical value is assigned to specific behavior that is listed in the scale.

Front 638

rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

Back 638

cognitive-behavioral therapy in which clients are directly challenged in their irrational beliefs and helped to restructure their thinking into more rational belief statements.

Front 639

rationalization

Back 639

psychological defense mechanism in which a person invents acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior.

Front 640

reaction formation

Back 640

psychological defense mechanism in which a person forms an opposite emotional or behavioral reaction to the way he or she really feels to keep those true feelings hidden from self and others.

Front 641

real self

Back 641

one's perception of actual characteristics - traits - and abilities.

Front 642

realistic conflict theory

Back 642

theory stating that prejudice and discrimination will be increased between groups that are in conflict.

Front 643

reality principle

Back 643

principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when negative consequences will not result.

Front 644

recall

Back 644

type of memory retrieval in which the information to be retrieved must be "pulled" from memory with very few external cues.

Front 645

recency effect

Back 645

tendency to remember information at the end of a body of information better than the information ahead of it.

Front 646

receptive meditation

Back 646

form of meditation in which a person attempts to become aware of everything in immediate conscious experience - or an expansion of consciousness.

Front 647

receptor sites

Back 647

holes in the surface of the dendrites or certain cells of the muscles and glands - which are shaped to fit only certain neurotransmitters.

Front 648

recessive

Back 648

referring to a gene that only influences the expression of a trait when paired with an identical gene.

Front 649

reciprocal determinism

Back 649

Bandura's explanation of how the factors of environment - personal characteristics - and behavior can interact to determine future behavior.

Front 650

reciprocity of liking

Back 650

tendency of people to like other people who like them in return.

Front 651

recognition

Back 651

the ability to match a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact.

Front 652

reflection

Back 652

therapy technique in which the therapist restates what the client says rather than interpreting those statements.

Front 653

reflex arc

Back 653

the connection of the sensory neurons to the interneurons to the motor neurons - resulting in a reflex action.

Front 654

refractory period

Back 654

time period in males just after orgasm in which the male cannot become aroused or achieve erection.

Front 655

regression

Back 655

psychological defense mechanism in which a person falls back on childlike patterns of responding in reaction to stressful situations.

Front 656

reinforcement

Back 656

the strengthening of a response by following it with a pleasurable consequence or the removal of an unpleasant stimulus.

Front 657

reinforcement

Back 657

the strengthening of a response that occurs when that response is followed by a pleasurable consequence.

Front 658

reinforcer

Back 658

any event or object that - when following a response - increases the likelihood of that response occurring again.

Front 659

relative size

Back 659

perception that occurs when objects that a person expects to be of a certain size appear to be small and are - therefore - assumed to be much farther away.

Front 660

reliability

Back 660

the tendency of a test to produce the same scores again and again each time it is given to the same people.

Front 661

REM behavior disorder

Back 661

a rare disorder in which the mechanism that blocks the movement of the voluntary muscles fails - allowing the person to thrash around and even get up and act out nightmares.

Front 662

REM rebound

Back 662

increased amounts of REM sleep after being deprived of REM sleep on earlier nights.

Front 663

replicate

Back 663

in research - repeating a study or experiment to see if the same results will be obtained in an effort to demonstrate reliability of results.

Front 664

representative sample

Back 664

randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects.

Front 665

repression

Back 665

psychological defense mechanism in which the person refuses to consciously remember a threatening or unacceptable event - instead pushing those events into the unconscious mind.

Front 666

residual

Back 666

type of schizophrenia in which there are no delusions and hallucinations - but the person still experiences negative thoughts - poor language skills - and odd behavior.

Front 667

resistance

Back 667

occurring when a patient becomes reluctant to talk about a certain topic - either changing the subject or becoming silent.

Front 668

resolution

Back 668

the final phase of the sexual response in which the body is returned to a normal state.

Front 669

resting potential

Back 669

the state of the neuron when not firing a neural impulse.

Front 670

restorative theory

Back 670

theory of sleep proposing that sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage.

Front 671

reticular formation (RF)

Back 671

an area of neurons running through the middle of the medulla and the pons and slightly beyond that is responsible for selective attention.

Front 672

retrieval

Back 672

getting information that is in storage into a form that can be used.

Front 673

retrieval cue

Back 673

a stimulus for remembering.

Front 674

retroactive interference

Back 674

memory retrieval problem that occurs when newer information prevents or interferes with the retrieval of older information.

Front 675

retrograde amnesia

Back 675

loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards - or loss of memory for the past.

Front 676

reuptake

Back 676

process by which neurotransmitters are taken back into the synaptic vesicles.

Front 677

reversible figures

Back 677

visual illusions in which the figure and ground can be reversed.

Front 678

rods

Back 678

visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina - responsible for noncolor sensitivity to low levels of light.

Front 679

romantic love

Back 679

type of love consisting of intimacy and passion.

Front 680

Rorschach inkblot test

Back 680

projective test that uses 10 inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli.

Front 681

S factor

Back 681

the ability to excel in certain areas - or specific intelligence.

Front 682

sample

Back 682

group of subjects selected from a larger population of subjects - usually selected randomly.

Front 683

scaffolding

Back 683

process in which a more skilled learner gives help to a less skilled learner - reducing the amount of help as the less skilled learner becomes more capable.

Front 684

scheme (plural schemas)

Back 684

a mental concept formed through experiences with objects and events.

Front 685

schizophrenia

Back 685

severe disorder in which the person suffers from disordered thinking - bizarre behavior - hallucinations - and is unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

Front 686

school psychology

Back 686

area of psychology in which the psychologists work directly in the schools - doing assessments - educational placement - and diagnosing educational problems.

Front 687

scientific management

Back 687

older theory of management - also known as Theory X - in which it is assumed that workers do not want to work and only do so because they are getting paid - and also that there is only one correct way to perform any task.

Front 688

scientific method

Back 688

system of gathering data so that bias and error in measurement are reduced.

Front 689

scrotum

Back 689

external sack that holds the testes.

Front 690

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Back 690

a mood disorder caused by the body's reaction to low levels of sunlight in the winter months.

Front 691

secondary appraisal

Back 691

the second step in assessing a threat - which involves estimating the resources available to the person for coping with the stressor.

Front 692

secondary reinforcer

Back 692

any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer - such as praise - tokens - or gold stars.

Front 693

secondary sex characteristics

Back 693

sexual organs and traits that develop at puberty and are indirectly involved in human reproduction.

Front 694

selective attention

Back 694

the ability to focus on only one stimulus from among all sensory input.

Front 695

selective thinking

Back 695

distortion of thinking in which a person focuses on only one aspect of a situation while ignoring all other relevant aspects.

Front 696

self

Back 696

archetype that works with the ego to manage other archetypes and balance the personality.

Front 697

self-actualization

Back 697

according to Maslow - the point that is seldom reached at which people have sufficiently satisfied the lower needs and achieved their full human potential.

Front 698

self-actualizing tendency

Back 698

the striving to fulfill one's innate capacities and capabilities.

Front 699

self-concept

Back 699

the image of oneself that develops from interactions with important - significant people in one's life.

Front 700

self-determination theory (SDT)

Back 700

theory of human motivation in which the social context of an action has an effect on the type of motivation existing for the action.

Front 701

self-efficacy

Back 701

individual's perception of how effective a behavior will be in any particular circumstance.

Front 702

self-fulfilling prophecy

Back 702

the tendency of one's expectations to affect one's behavior in such a way as to make the expectation more likely to be occur.

Front 703

self-help groups (support groups)

Back 703

a group composed of people who have similar problems and who meet together without a therapist or counselor for the purpose of discussion - problem solving - and social and emotional support.

Front 704

semantic memory

Back 704

type of declarative memory containing general knowledge - such as knowledge of language and information learned in formal education.

Front 705

semantic network model

Back 705

model of memory organization that assumes information is stored in the brain in a connected fashion - with concepts that are related stored physically closer to each other than concepts that are not highly related.

Front 706

semantics

Back 706

the rules for determining the meaning of words and sentences.

Front 707

seminal fluid

Back 707

fluid released from the penis at orgasm that contains the sperm.

Front 708

sensation

Back 708

the activation of receptors in the various sense organs.

Front 709

sensation seeker

Back 709

someone who needs more arousal than the average person.

Front 710

sensorimotor stage

Back 710

Piaget's first stage of cognitive development in which the infant uses its senses and motor abilities to interact with objects in the environment.

Front 711

sensory adaptation

Back 711

tendency of sensory receptor cells to become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging.

Front 712

sensory conflict theory

Back 712

an explanation of motion sickness in which the information from the eyes conflicts with the information from the vestibular senses - resulting in dizziness - nausea - and other physical discomforts.

Front 713

sensory memory

Back 713

the very first stage of memory - the point at which information enters the nervous system through the sensory systems.

Front 714

sensory neuron

Back 714

a neuron that carries information from the senses to the central nervous system. Also called afferent neuron.

Front 715

sensory pathway

Back 715

nerves coming from the sensory organs to the CNS consisting of sensory neurons.

Front 716

serial position effect

Back 716

tendency of information at the beginning and end of a body of information to be remembered more accurately than information in the middle of the body of information.

Front 717

sexism

Back 717

prejudice about males and/or females leading to unequal treatment.

Front 718

sexual deviance

Back 718

behavior that is unacceptable according to societal norms and expectations.

Front 719

sexual dysfunction

Back 719

a problem in sexual functioning.

Front 720

sexual orientation

Back 720

a person's sexual attraction preference for members of a particular sex.

Front 721

shape constancy

Back 721

the tendency to interpret the shape of an object as being constant - even when its shape changes on the retina.

Front 722

shaping

Back 722

the reinforcement of simple steps in behavior that lead to a desired - more complex behavior.

Front 723

short-term memory (STM) (working memory)

Back 723

the memory system in which information is held for brief periods of time while being used.

Front 724

significant difference

Back 724

a difference between groups of numerical data that is considered large enough to be due to factors other than chance variation.

Front 725

similarity

Back 725

the tendency to perceive things that look similar to each other as being part of the same group.

Front 726

single-blind study

Back 726

study in which the subjects do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group.

Front 727

situational cause

Back 727

cause of behavior attributed to external factors - such as delays - the action of others - or some other aspect of the situation.

Front 728

situational context

Back 728

the social or environmental setting of a person's behavior.

Front 729

size constancy

Back 729

the tendency to interpret an object as always being the same actual size - regardless of its distance.

Front 730

skewed distribution

Back 730

frequency distribution in which most of the scores fall to one side or the other of the distribution.

Front 731

skin senses

Back 731

the sensations of touch - pressure - temperature - and pain.

Front 732

sleep apnea

Back 732

disorder in which the person stops breathing for nearly half a minute or more.

Front 733

sleep deprivation

Back 733

any significant loss of sleep - resulting in problems in concentration and irritability.

Front 734

sleepwalking (somnambulism)

Back 734

occurring during deep sleep - an episode of moving around or walking around in one's sleep.

Front 735

social categorization

Back 735

the assignment of a person one has just met to a category based on characteristics the new person has in common with other people with whom one has had experience in the past.

Front 736

social cognition

Back 736

the mental processes that people use to make sense of the social world around them.

Front 737

social cognitive

Back 737

referring to the use of cognitive processes in relation to understanding the social world.

Front 738

social cognitive learning theorists

Back 738

theorists who emphasize the importance of both the influences of other people's behavior and of a person's own expectancies on learning.

Front 739

social cognitive view

Back 739

learning theory that includes cognitive processes such as anticipating - judging - memory - and imitation of models.

Front 740

social comparison

Back 740

the comparison of oneself to others in ways that raise one's self-esteem.

Front 741

social facilitation

Back 741

the tendency for the presence of other people to have a positive impact on the performance of an easy task.

Front 742

social identity

Back 742

the part of the self-concept including one's view of self as a member of a particular social category.

Front 743

social identity theory

Back 743

theory in which the formation of a person's identity within a particular social group is explained by social categorization - social identity - and social comparison.

Front 744

social influence

Back 744

the process through which the real or implied presence of others can directly or indirectly influence the thoughts - feelings - and behavior of an individual.

Front 745

social learners

Back 745

people who prefer to learn with other people or in groups.

Front 746

social loafing

Back 746

the tendency for people to put less effort into a simple task when working with others on that task.

Front 747

social phobia

Back 747

fear of interacting with others or being in social situations that might lead to a negative evaluation.

Front 748

social psychology

Back 748

area of psychology in which the psychologists focus on how human behavior is affected by the presence of other people.

Front 749

social psychology

Back 749

the scientific study of how a person's thoughts - feelings - and behavior are influenced by the real - imagined - or implied presence of others.

Front 750

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

Back 750

assessment that measures the amount of stress in a person's life over a one-year period resulting from major life events.

Front 751

social role

Back 751

the pattern of behavior that is expected of a person who is in a particular social position.

Front 752

social support system

Back 752

the network of family - friends - neighbors - coworkers - and others who can offer support - comfort - or aid to a person in need.

Front 753

social-cognitive theory of hypnosis

Back 753

theory that assumes that people who are hypnotized are not in an altered state but are merely playing the role expected of them in the situation.

Front 754

sociocultural perspective

Back 754

perspective that focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture.

Front 755

soma

Back 755

the cell body of the neuron responsible for maintaining the life of the cell.

Front 756

somatic nervous system

Back 756

division of the PNS consisting of nerves that carry information from the senses to the CNS and from the CNS to the voluntary muscles of the body.

Front 757

somatization disorder

Back 757

somatoform disorder in which the person dramatically complains of a specific symptom such as nausea - difficulty swallowing - or pain for which there is no real physical cause.

Front 758

somatoform disorders

Back 758

disorders that take the form of bodily illnesses and symptoms but for which there are no real physical disorders.

Front 759

somatosensory cortex

Back 759

area of neurons running down the front of the parietal lobes responsible for processing information from the skin and internal body receptors for touch - temperature - body position - and possibly taste.

Front 760

somesthetic senses

Back 760

the body senses consisting of the skin senses - the kinesthetic sense - and the vestibular senses.

Front 761

source traits

Back 761

the more basic traits that underlie the surface traits - forming the core of personality.

Front 762

spatial neglect

Back 762

condition produced by damage to the association areas of the right hemisphere resulting in an inability to recognize objects or body parts in the left visual field.

Front 763

specific phobia

Back 763

fear of objects or specific situations or events.

Front 764

spinal cord

Back 764

a long bundle of neurons that carries messages to and from the body to the brain that is responsible for very fast - lifesaving reflexes.

Front 765

spontaneous recovery

Back 765

the reappearance of a learned response after extinction has occurred.

Front 766

sports psychology

Back 766

area of psychology in which the psychologists help athletes and others to prepare themselves mentally for participation in sports activities.

Front 767

standard deviation

Back 767

the square root of the average squared deviations from the mean of scores in a distribution; a measure of variability.

Front 768

statistic

Back 768

a measure of central tendency or variability computed from a sample.

Front 769

statistically significant

Back 769

referring to differences in data sets that are larger than chance variation would predict.

Front 770

statistics

Back 770

branch of mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of numerical data.

Front 771

stem cells

Back 771

special cells found in all the tissues of the body that are capable of manufacturing other cell types when those cells need to be replaced due to damage or wear and tear.

Front 772

stereotype

Back 772

a concept held about a person or group of people that is based on superficial - irrelevant characteristics.

Front 773

stereotype

Back 773

a set of characteristics that people believe is shared by all members of a particular social category.

Front 774

stereotype vulnerability

Back 774

the effect that people's awareness of the stereotypes associated with their social group has on their behavior.

Front 775

stimulants

Back 775

drugs that increase the functioning of the nervous system.

Front 776

stimulatory hallucinogenics

Back 776

drugs that produce a mixture of psychomotor stimulant and hallucinogenic effects.

Front 777

stimulus discrimination

Back 777

the tendency to stop making a generalized response to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus because the similar stimulus is never paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Front 778

stimulus generalization

Back 778

the tendency to respond to a stimulus that is only similar to the original conditioned stimulus with the conditioned response.

Front 779

stimulus motive

Back 779

a motive that appears to be unlearned but causes an increase in stimulation - such as curiosity.

Front 780

stimulus substitution

Back 780

original theory in which Pavlov stated that classical conditioning occurred because the conditioned stimulus became a substitute for the unconditioned stimulus by being paired closely together.

Front 781

storage

Back 781

holding onto information for some period of time.

Front 782

stress

Back 782

the term used to describe the physical - emotional - cognitive - and behavioral responses to events that are appraised as threatening or challenging.

Front 783

stressors

Back 783

events that cause a stress reaction.

Front 784

stress-vulnerability model

Back 784

explanation of disorder that assumes a biological sensitivity - or vulnerability - to a certain disorder will develop under the right conditions of environmental or emotional stress.

Front 785

structuralism

Back 785

early perspective in psychology associated with Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener - in which the focus of study is the structure or basic elements of the mind.

Front 786

subjective

Back 786

referring to concepts and impressions that are only valid within a particular person's perception and may be influenced by biases - prejudice - and personal experiences.

Front 787

subjective discomfort

Back 787

emotional distress or emotional pain.

Front 788

sublimation

Back 788

channeling socially unacceptable impulses and urges into socially acceptable behavior.

Front 789

subordinate concept

Back 789

the most specific category of a concept - such as one's pet dog or a pear in one's hand.

Front 790

successive approximations

Back 790

small steps in behavior - one after the other - that lead to a particular goal behavior.

Front 791

superego

Back 791

part of the personality that acts as a moral center.

Front 792

superordinate concept

Back 792

the most general form of a type concept - such as "animal" or "fruit"

Front 793

surface traits

Back 793

aspects of personality that can easily be seen by other people in the outward actions of a person.

Front 794

sympathetic division (fight-or-flight system)

Back 794

part of the ANs that is responsible for reacting to stressful events and bodily arousal.

Front 795

synapse (synaptic gap)

Back 795

microscopic fluid-filled space between the synaptic knob of one cell and the dendrites or surface of the next cell.

Front 796

synaptic knob

Back 796

rounded areas on the end of the axon terminals.

Front 797

synaptic vesicles

Back 797

saclike structures found inside the synaptic knob containing chemicals.

Front 798

synesthesia

Back 798

disorder in which the signals from the various sensory organs are processed in the wrong cortical areas - resulting in the sense information being interpreted as more than one sensation.

Front 799

syntax

Back 799

the system of rules for combining words and phrases to form grammatically correct sentences.

Front 800

systematic desensitization

Back 800

behavior technique used to treat phobias - in which a client is asked to make a list of ordered fears and taught to relax while concentrating on those fears.

Front 801

tactile learners

Back 801

people who need to touch objects in order to learn about them.

Front 802

temperament

Back 802

the behavioral characteristics that are fairly well established at birth - such as easy - difficult - and slow to warm up.

Front 803

temperament

Back 803

the enduring characteristics with which each person is born.

Front 804

temporal lobes

Back 804

areas of the cortex located just behind the temples containing the neurons responsible for the sense of hearing and meaningful speech.

Front 805

teratogen

Back 805

any factor that can cause a birth defect.

Front 806

testes

Back 806

the male gonads.

Front 807

testes (testicles)

Back 807

the male sex glands.

Front 808

texture gradient

Back 808

the tendency for textured surfaces to appear to become smaller and finer as distance from the viewer increases.

Front 809

thalamus

Back 809

part of the limbic system located in the center of the brain; this structure relays sensory information from the lower part of the brain to the proper areas of the cortex and processes some sensory information before sending it to its proper area.

Front 810

that's-not-all technique

Back 810

a sales technique in which the persuader makes an offer and then adds something extra to make the offer look better before the target person can make a decision.

Front 811

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Back 811

projective test that uses 20 pictures of people in ambiguous situations as the visual stimuli.

Front 812

therapeutic alliance

Back 812

the relationship between therapist and client that develops as a warm - caring - accepting relationship characterized by empathy - mutual respect - and understanding.

Front 813

therapy

Back 813

treatment methods aimed at making people feel better and function more effectively.

Front 814

theta waves

Back 814

brain waves indicating the early stages of sleep.

Front 815

thinking (cognition)

Back 815

mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is organizing and attempting to understand information and communicating information to others.

Front 816

thyroid gland

Back 816

endocrine gland found in the neck that regulates metabolism.

Front 817

time-out

Back 817

an extinction process in which a person is removed from the situation that provides reinforcement for undesirable behavior - usually by being placed in a quiet corner or room away from possible attention and reinforcement opportunities.

Front 818

token economy

Back 818

the use of objects called tokens to reinforce behavior in which the tokens can be accumulated and exchanged for desired items or privileges.

Front 819

token economy

Back 819

type of behavior modification in which desired behavior is rewarded with tokens.

Front 820

top-down processing

Back 820

the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole.

Front 821

trait

Back 821

a consistent - enduring way of thinking - feeling - or behaving.

Front 822

trait theories

Back 822

theories that endeavor to describe the characteristics that make up human personality in an effort to predict future behavior.

Front 823

traitÐsituation interaction

Back 823

the assumption that the particular circumstances of any given situation will influence the way in which a trait is expressed.

Front 824

transference

Back 824

In psychoanalysis - the tendency for a patient or client to project positive or negative feelings for important people from the past onto the therapist.

Front 825

transvestism

Back 825

deriving sexual arousal and pleasure from dressing in the clothing of the opposite sex.

Front 826

trial and error (mechanical solution)

Back 826

problem-solving method in which one possible solution after another is tried until a successful one is found.

Front 827

triarchic theory of intelligence

Back 827

Sternberg's theory that there are three kinds of intelligences

Front 828

trichromatic theory

Back 828

theory of color vision that proposes three types of cones

Front 829

trust versus mistrust

Back 829

first stage of personality development in which the infant's basic sense of trust or mistrust develops as a result of consistent or inconsistent care.

Front 830

t-test

Back 830

type of inferential statistical analysis typically used when two means are compared to see if they are significantly different.

Front 831

Type A personality

Back 831

person who is ambitious - time conscious - extremely hardworking - and tends to have high levels of hostility and anger as well as being easily annoyed.

Front 832

Type B personality

Back 832

person who is relaxed and laid-back - less driven and competitive than Type A - and slow to anger.

Front 833

Type C personality

Back 833

pleasant but repressed person - who tends to internalize his or her anger and anxiety and who finds expressing emotions difficult.

Front 834

unconditional positive regard

Back 834

positive regard that is given without conditions or strings attached.

Front 835

unconditional positive regard

Back 835

referring to the warmth - respect - and accepting atmosphere created by the therapist for the client in clientcentered therapy.

Front 836

unconditioned response (UCR)

Back 836

an involuntary response to a naturally occurring or unconditioned stimulus.

Front 837

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Back 837

a naturally occurring stimulus that leads to an involuntary response.

Front 838

unconscious mind

Back 838

level of the mind in which thoughts - feelings - memories - and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness.

Front 839

undifferentiated

Back 839

type of schizophrenia in which the person shows no particular pattern - shifting from one pattern to another - and cannot be neatly classified as disorganized - paranoid - or catatonic.

Front 840

unilateral ECT

Back 840

electro-convulsive therapy in which the electrodes are placed on only one side of the head and the forehead.

Front 841

uterus

Back 841

the womb in which the baby grows during pregnancy.

Front 842

vagina

Back 842

the tube that leads from the outside of a female's body to the opening of the womb.

Front 843

validity

Back 843

the degree to which a test actually measures what it's supposed to measure.

Front 844

variable interval schedule of reinforcement

Back 844

schedule of reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is different for each trial or event.

Front 845

variable ratio schedule of reinforcement

Back 845

schedule of reinforcement in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is different for each trial or event.

Front 846

vestibular senses

Back 846

the sensations of movement - balance - and body position.

Front 847

vicarious conditioning

Back 847

classical conditioning of a reflex response or emotion by watching the reaction of another person.

Front 848

visual accommodation

Back 848

the change in the thickness of the lens as the eye focuses on objects that are far away or close.

Front 849

visual learners

Back 849

people who learn best by seeing - reading - and looking at images.

Front 850

volley principle

Back 850

theory of pitch that states that frequencies above 100 Hz cause the hair cells (auditory neurons) to fire in a volley pattern - or taking turns in firing.

Front 851

waking consciousness

Back 851

state in which thoughts - feelings - and sensations are clear - organized - and the person feels alert.

Front 852

weight set point

Back 852

the particular level of weight that the body tries to maintain.

Front 853

Wernicke's aphasia

Back 853

condition resulting from damage to Wernicke's area - causing the affected person to be unable to understand or produce meaningful language.

Front 854

withdrawal

Back 854

physical symptoms that can include nausea - pain - tremors - crankiness - and high blood pressure - resulting from a lack of an addictive drug in the body systems.

Front 855

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Back 855

law stating performance is related to arousal; moderate levels of arousal lead to better performance than do levels of arousal that are too low or too high. This effect varies with the difficulty of the task

Front 856

z score

Back 856

a statistical measure which indicates how far away from the mean a particular score is in terms of the number of standard deviations which exist between the mean and that score.

Front 857

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Back 857

Vygotsky's concept of the difference between what a child can do alone and what that child can do with the help of a teacher.

Front 858

zygote

Back 858

cell resulting from the uniting of the ovum and sperm.