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285 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Absolute refractory period
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- The period during which a neuron lies dormant after an action potential has been completed.
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Absolute threshold
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- The minimum amount of stimulation needed for a person to detect the stimulus 50 percent of the time.
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Accommodation
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- The process by which the shape of an eye’s lens adjusts to focus light from objects nearby or far away. Also: the modification of a schema as new information is incorporated.
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Acetylcholine
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- A neurotransmitter involved in muscle movement, attention, arousal, memory, and emotion.
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Achievement motive
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- An impulse to master challenges and reach a high standard of excellence.
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Achievement tests
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- An assessment that measures skills and knowledge that people have already learned.
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Acronym
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- A word made out of the first letters of several words.
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Acrostic
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- A sentence or phrase in which each word begins with a letter that acts as a memory cue.
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Action potential
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- A short-lived change in electric charge inside a neuron.
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Absolute refractory period
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- The period during which a neuron lies dormant after an action potential has been completed.
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Absolute threshold
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- The minimum amount of stimulation needed for a person to detect the stimulus 50 percent of the time.
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Accommodation
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- The process by which the shape of an eye’s lens adjusts to focus light from objects nearby or far away. Also: the modification of a schema as new information is incorporated.
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Acetylcholine
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- A neurotransmitter involved in muscle movement, attention, arousal, memory, and emotion.
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Achievement motive
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- An impulse to master challenges and reach a high standard of excellence.
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Achievement tests
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- An assessment that measures skills and knowledge that people have already learned.
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Acronym
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- A word made out of the first letters of several words.
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Acrostic
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- A sentence or phrase in which each word begins with a letter that acts as a memory cue.
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Action potential
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- A short-lived change in electric charge inside a neuron.
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Activation-synthesis theory
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- A theory proposing that neurons in the brain activate randomly during REM sleep.
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Active listening
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- A feature of client-centered th erapy that involves empathetic listening, by which the therapist echoes, restates, and clarifies what the client says.
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Adaptation
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- An inherited characteristic that increases in a population because it provides a survival or reproductive advantage.
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Adaptive behaviors
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- Behaviors that increase reproductive success.
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Additive strategy
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- The process of listing the attributes of each element of a decision, weighing them according to importance, adding them up, and determining which one is more appealing based on the result.
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Adoption studies
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- Studies in which researchers examine trait similarities between adopted children and their biological and adoptive parents to figure out whether that trait might be inherited.
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Adrenal cortex
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- The outer part of the adrenal glands, which secretes corticosteroids.
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Adrenal medulla
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- The inner part of the adrenal glands, which secretes catecholamines.
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Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
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- A hormone released by the pituitary gland that stimulates release of corticosteroids from the adrenal cortex.
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Afferent nerves
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- Bundles of axons that carry information from muscles and sense organs to the central nervous system.
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Afterimage
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- A color we perceive after another color is removed.
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Age of viability
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- The point at which a fetus has some chance of surviving outside the mother if born prematurely.
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Agonists
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- Chemicals that mimic the action of a particular neurotransmitter.
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Agoraphobia
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- A disorder involving anxiety about situations from which escape would be difficult or embarrassing or places where there might be no help if a panic attack occurred.
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Algorithm
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- A step-by-step procedure that is guaranteed to solve a problem.
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All-or-none law
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- States that neurons fire to generate an action potential only if stimulation reaches a minimum threshold.
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Alpha waves
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- Type of brain waves present when a person is very relaxed or meditating.
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Acetylcholine
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- A neurotransmitter involved in muscle movement, attention, arousal, memory, and emotion.
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Acronym
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- A word made out of the first letters of several words.
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Acrostic
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- A sentence or phrase in which each word begins with a letter that acts as a memory cue.
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Action potential
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- A short-lived change in electric charge inside a neuron.
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Adaptation
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- An inherited characteristic that increases in a population because it provides a survival or reproductive advantage.
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Adaptive behaviors
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- Behaviors that increase reproductive success.
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Alternate-forms reliability
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- The ability of a test to produce the same results when two different versions of it are given to the same group of people.
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Amygdala
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- A part of the limbic system of the brain that is involved in regulating aggression and emotions, particularly fear.
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Anterograde amnesia
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- An inability to remember events that occurred after a brain injury or traumatic event.
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Aptitude tests
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- An assessment that predicts people’s future ability to acquire skills or knowledge.
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Auditory nerve
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- A nerve that sends impulses from the ear to the brain.
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Axon
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- A fiber that extends from a neuron and sends signals to other neurons.
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Behavior therapies
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- Treatments involving complex conversations between therapists and clients that are aimed at directly influencing maladaptive behaviors through the use of learning principles.
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Beta waves
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- The type of brain waves present when a person is awake and alert.
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Bias
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- The distortion of results by a variable that is not part of the hypothesis.
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Borderline personality disorder
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- A disorder characterized by impulsive behavior and unstable relationships, emotions, and self-image.
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Brain
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- The main organ in the nervous system.
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Brain waves
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- Tracings that show the electrical activity of the brain.
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Broca’s area
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- A part of the brain, in the left frontal lobe, that is involved in speech production.
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Case study
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- A research method in which an individual subject is studied in depth.
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Central nervous system
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- The part of the nervous system that includes the brain and the spinal cord.
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Chunking
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- The process of combining small bits of information into bigger, familiar pieces.
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Classical conditioning
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- A type of learning in which a subject comes to respond to a neutral stimulus as he would to another stimulus by learning to associate the two stimuli. It can also be called respondent conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning.
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Cognition
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- Thinking. It involves mental activities such as understanding, problem solving, decision making, and creativity.
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Cognitive development
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- The development of thinking capacity.
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Cognitive schema
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- A mental model of some aspect of the world.
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Computerized tomography (CT)
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- A method for studying the brain that involves taking x-rays of the brain from different angles.
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Concept
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- A mental category that groups similar objects, events, qualities, or actions.
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Conditioned response
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- In classical and operant conditioning, a response that resembles an unconditioned response, achieved by pairing a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.
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Conditioned stimulus
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- In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus that comes to evoke a response similar to an unconditioned response through pairing with an unconditioned stimulus.
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Cones
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- Photoreceptor cells in the retina that allow people to see in color.
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Confabulation
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- A phenomenon in which a person thinks he or she remembers something that did not really happen.
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Confirmation bias
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- The tendency to look for and accept evidence that supports what one wants to believe and to ignore or reject evidence that refutes those beliefs.
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Conscious
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- The part of the mind that contains all the information that a person is paying attention to at a particular time.
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Consciousness
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- The awareness people have of themselves and the environment around them.
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Consolidation
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- Transfer of information into long-term memory.
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Continuous reinforcement
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- A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement happens every time a particular response occurs.
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Control group
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- A group of subjects in an experiment that receives the same treatment and is treated exactly like the experimental group, except with respect to the independent variable.
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Correlation coefficient
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- A measurement that indicates the strength of the relationship between two variables. In a positive correlation, one variable increases as the other increases. In a negative correlation, one variable decreases as the other increases.
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Correlational research method
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- A research method that provides information about the relationship between variables. It is also called a descriptive research method.
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Criterion validity
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- A test’s ability to predict another criterion of the characteristic being measured.
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Decay theory
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- A theory stating that memory traces fade with time.
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Declarative memory
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- The remembering of factual information. Declarative memory is usually considered explicit.
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Deductive reasoning
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- The process by which a particular conclusion is drawn from a set of general premises or statements.
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Delta waves
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- The type of brain waves present when a person is deeply asleep.
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Dementia
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- A condition characterized by several significant psychological deficits.
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Dendrite
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- A fiber that extends from a neuron. It received signals from other neurons and sends them toward the cell body.
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Dendritic trees
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- Highly branched fibers extending from neurons.
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Dependent variable
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- The variable that is observed in an experiment and that may be affected by manipulations of the independent variable.
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Descriptive statistics
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- Numbers that researchers use to describe their data so it can be organized and summarized.
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Discriminative stimulus
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- In operant conditioning, a cue that indicates the kind of consequence that’s likely to occur after a response.
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Dissociative amnesia
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- A disorder characterized by an inability to remember extensive, important personal information, usually about something traumatic or painful.
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Divergent thinking
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- A style of thinking in which people’s thoughts go off in different directions as they try to generate many different solutions to a problem.
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Dopamine
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- A neurotransmitter involved in voluntary movement, learning, memory, and emotion.
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Double-blind
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- A procedure in which neither the subjects nor the experimenter knows which subjects belong to the experimental and control groups.
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Echoic memory
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- Auditory sensory memory.
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Elaboration
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- A type of deep processing in which information being learned is associated with other meaningful material.
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Electric stimulation of the brain
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- An invasive method of studying the brain, in which an implanted electrode activates a particular brain structure.
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Electrocardiograph (EKG)
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- An instrument that records the activity of the heart.
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Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
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- A biomedical treatment that uses electrical shocks to treat severe depression.
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Electroencephalograph (EEG)
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- A device that records the overall electrical activity of the brain, via electrodes placed on the scalp.
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Electromyograph (EMG)
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- An instrument that records muscle activity.
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Electrooculograph (EOG)
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- An instrument that records eye movements.
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Encoding
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- The process of putting information into memory.
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Episodic memory
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- The remembering of personal facts.
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Ethics
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- A system of moral values.
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Etiology
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- The cause or origin of a disorder.
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Evolution
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- A change in the frequency of genes in a population.
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Expected value
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- The process of adding the value of a win times the probability of a win to the value of a loss times the probability of a loss in order to make a decision.
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Experiment
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- A research method that provides information about causal relationships between variables.
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Experimental group
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- A group of subjects in an experiment for whom the independent variable is manipulated.
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Experimenter bias
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- A source of error that arises when researchers’ preferences or expectations influence the outcome of research.
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Explicit memory
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- Conscious, intentional remembering of information.
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Extinction
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- In classical conditioning, the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus is not followed by an unconditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, it’s the gradual disappearance of a response after it stops being reinforced.
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Extraneous variable
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- A variable other than the independent variable that could affect the dependent variable. It is not part of the hypothesis.
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Factor analysis
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- A statistical procedure that clusters variables into dimensions depending on similarities among the variables.
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Falsifiability
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- The ability of a theory or hypothesis to be rejected.
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Fixed-interval schedule
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- A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement happens after a set amount of time.
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Fixed-ratio schedule
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- A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement happens after a set number of responses.
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Flashbulb memories
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- Vivid, detailed memories of important events.
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Forebrain
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- The biggest and most complex part of the brain, which includes structures such as the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the limbic system, and the cerebrum.
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Forgetting curve
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- A graph that shows how quickly learned information is forgotten over time.
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Frequency
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- The number of times per second a sound wave cycles from the highest to the lowest point.
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GABA
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- The main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.
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Galvanic skin response
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- An increase in the skin’s rate of electrical conductivity. It is also known as an electrodermal response.
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Gambler’s fallacy
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- The false belief that a chance event is more likely if it hasn’t happened recently.
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Gender
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- A learned distinction between masculinity and femininity.
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Group
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- A social unit composed of two or more people who interact and depend on one another in some way.
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Hierarchical classification
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- The ability to classify according to more than one level.
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Higher-order conditioning
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- In classical conditioning, the process by which a neutral stimulus comes to act as a conditioned stimulus by being paired with another stimulus that already evokes a conditioned response.
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Hindsight bias
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- The tendency to interpret the past in a way that fits the present.
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Histogram or bar graph
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- A plot that shows how data are distributed.
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Hormones
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- Chemicals that are produced in glands and released into the bloodstream, involved in regulating body functions.
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Hypothesis
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- A testable prediction of what is going to happen given a certain set of conditions.
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Iconic memory
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- Visual sensory memory.
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Implicit memory
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- Unconscious retention of information that affects thoughts and behavior.
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Incentive
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- An environmental stimulus that pulls people to act in a particular way.
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Independent variable
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- The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.
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Inductive reasoning
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- The drawing of a general conclusion from certain premises or statements.
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Inferential statistics
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- Statistics used to determine the likelihood that a result is just due to chance.
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Informed consent
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- A subject’s voluntary agreement to participate in a research study, given after he or she has learned enough about the study to make a knowledgeable decision to participate.
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Ingroup
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- A group to which one belongs.
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Innate abilities
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- Abilities that are present from birth.
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Intelligence quotient (IQ)
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- A person’s mental age divided by his or her chronological age and multiplied by 100.
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Interference theory
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- States that people forget information because of interference from other learned information.
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Intermittent reinforcement
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- A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement happens only on some of the occasions a particular response occurs. It is also called partial reinforcement.
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Internal locus of control
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- The tendency to believe that one has control over one’s circumstances.
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Interpretation
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- A psychoanalytic technique that involves suggesting the hidden meanings of free associations, dreams, feelings, memories, and behavior to the client.
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Interval schedule
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- The schedule in which reinforcement happens after a particular time interval.
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Kinesthesis
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- The sense of the position and movement of body parts.
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Laboratory observation
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- An observational research method in which information about subjects is collected in a laboratory setting.
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Law of effect
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- A law proposed by Edward Thorndike stating that any behavior that has good consequences will tend to be repeated, and any behavior that has bad consequences will tend to be avoided.
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Learning
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- A change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience.
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Long-term memory
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- A memory system that stores an unlimited amount of information permanently.
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Long-term potentiation
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- A lasting change at synapses that occurs when long-term memories form.
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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
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- A method for studying the brain that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce pictures of the brain.
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Matching hypothesis
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- The idea that people tend to pick partners who are about equal in level of attractiveness to themselves.
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Maturation
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- Genetically programmed growth and development.
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Mean
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- The arithmetic average of a set of scores.
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Measures of central tendency
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- The mean, median, and mode.
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Median
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- The middle score in a set when all scores are arranged in order from lowest to highest.
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Memory
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- The capacity for storing and retrieving information.
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Method of loci
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- The process of imagining oneself physically in a familiar place in order to remember something.
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Mnemonics
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- Strategies for improving memory.
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Mode
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- The most frequently occurring score in a set of scores.
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Motivated forgetting
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- The idea that people forget things they don’t want to remember; also called psychogenic amnesia.
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Motor development
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- The increasing coordination of muscles that makes physical movements possible.
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Naturalistic observation
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- A method of collecting information about subjects in a natural setting without interfering with them in any way.
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Negative correlation
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- A relationship between two variables in which one variable increases as the other one decreases.
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Negatively skewed distribution
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- A data distribution with a few very low scores.
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Negative punishment
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- In operant conditioning, the removal of a stimulus after a response so that the response will be less likely to occur.
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Negative reinforcement
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- In operant conditioning, the removal of a stimulus after a response so that the response will be more likely to occur.
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Nervous system
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- A complex, highly coordinated network of tissues that communicate via electrochemical signals.
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Neurons
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- Nervous system cells that communicate via electrochemical signals.
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Neurotransmitters
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- Chemicals that are released from a neuron and activate another neuron.
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Normal distribution
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- A symmetrical bell-shaped curve that represents how characteristics such as IQ are distributed in a large population.
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Observational learning
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- A change in behavior or knowledge that happens by watching others. It can also be called vicarious conditioning.
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Occam’s razor
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- See principle of parsimony.
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Operant conditioning
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- A type of learning in which responses come to be controlled by their consequences.
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Operational definition
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- A way of stating precisely how a variable will be measured.
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Outgroup
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- A group to which one does not belong.
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Overlearning
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- Continuing to practice material even after it is learned in order to increase retention.
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Partial reinforcement effect
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- Phenomenon in which responses resist extinction because of partial or intermittent schedules of reinforcement.
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Peg word method
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- Process of remembering a rhyme that associates numbers with words and words with the items to be remembered.
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Percentile score
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- A score that indicates the percentage of people who achieved the same as or less than a particular score.
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Phoneme
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- The smallest distinguishable unit in a language.
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Phonemic encoding
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- A way of encoding verbal information that emphasizes how words sound.
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Placebo effect
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- The effect on a subject of receiving a fake drug or treatment. Expectations of improvement contribute to placebo effects.
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Population
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- The collection of individuals from which a sample is drawn.
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Positive correlation
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- A relationship between two variables in which as one variable increases, the other does too.
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Positively skewed distribution
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- A data distribution with a few very high scores.
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Positive punishment
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- In operant conditioning, the presentation of a stimulus after a response so that the response will be less likely to occur.
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Positive reinforcement
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- In operant conditioning, the presentation of a stimulus after a response so that the response will be more likely to occur.
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Positron emission tomography (PET)
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- A method for studying the brain that involves injecting a radioactive substance, which collects in active brain areas.
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Primary auditory cortex
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- In the temporal lobe of the cerebrum, the brain part involved in processing auditory information.
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Primary motor cortex
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- In the frontal lobe of the cerebrum, the brain part involved in controlling muscle movement.
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Primary punisher
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- In operant conditioning, a consequence that is naturally unpleasant.
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Primary reinforcer
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- In operant conditioning, a consequence that is naturally satisfying.
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Primary visual cortex
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- In the occipital lobe of the cerebrum, the brain part involved in handling visual information.
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Priming
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- The retrieval of a particular memory by activating information associated with that memory.
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Principle of parsimony
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- The principle of applying the simplest possible explanation to any set of observations; also called Occam’s razor.
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Procedural memory
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- Memory of how to do things. Procedural memory is usually considered implicit.
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Projective test
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- A test that requires psychologists to make judgments based on a subject’s responses to ambiguous stimuli. It is used to assess a psychological disorder.
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Psychological test
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- An instrument that is used to collect information about personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, values, or behaviors.
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Psychometric approach
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- A method of understanding intelligence that emphasizes people’s performance on standardized aptitude tests.
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Punishment
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- The delivery of a consequence that decreases the likelihood that a response will occur.
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Random assignment
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- A way of placing subjects into either an experimental or a control group such that subjects have an equal chance of being placed in either one group or the other.
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Range
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- The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a set of scores.
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Ratio schedule
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- A schedule in which reinforcement happens after a certain number of responses.
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Reaction time
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- The amount of time a subject takes to respond to a stimulus.
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Recall
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- The process of remembering without any external cues.
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Recognition
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- The process of identifying learned information by using external cues.
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Reflex
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- An innate response to a stimulus.
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Regression toward the mean
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- The tendency for extreme states to move toward the average when assessed a second time.
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Rehearsal
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- The process of practicing material in order to remember it.
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Reinforcement
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- The delivery of a consequence that increases the likelihood that a response will occur.
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Reinforcement schedule
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- The pattern in which reinforcement is given over time.
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Relearning
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- A method for measuring forgetting and retention, which involves assessing the amount of time it takes to memorize information a second time.
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Reliability
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- The ability of a test to produce the same result when administered at different times to the same group of people.
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Replicability
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- The ability of research to repeatedly yield the same results when done by different researchers.
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Representativeness heuristic
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- A rule-of-thumb strategy that estimates the probability of an event based on how typical that event is.
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Representative sample
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- A sample that corresponds to the population from which it is drawn in terms of age, sex, and other qualities on the variables being studied.
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Response tendency
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- A learned tendency to behave in a particular way.
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Retention
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- The proportion of learned information that is retained or remembered.
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Retrieval
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- The process of getting information out of memory.
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Retrieval cues
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- Stimuli that help to get information out of memory.
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Retroactive interference
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- Forgetting of old information because of newly learned information.
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Retrograde amnesia
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- An inability to remember events that occurred before a brain injury or traumatic event.
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Reuptake
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- The process by which neurotransmitter molecules return to presynaptic neurons.
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Reversibility
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- The ability to reverse actions mentally.
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Rods
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- Photoreceptor cells in the retina that allow people to see in dim light.
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Sample
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- A collection of subjects, drawn from a population, that a researcher studies.
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Sampling bias
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- A source of error that arises when the sample is not representative of the population that the researcher wants to study.
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Scalloped response pattern
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- The phenomenon in which responses are slow in the beginning of the interval and faster just before reinforcement happens. It occurs as a result of a fixed-interval schedule.
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Schema
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- A mental model of an object or event that includes knowledge about it as well as beliefs and expectations.
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Scientific method
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- A standardized way of making observations, gathering data, forming theories, testing predictions, and interpreting results.
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Secondary process thinking
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- Thinking that is logical and rational.
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Secondary punisher
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- In operant conditioning, a consequence that is unpleasant because it has become associated with a primary punisher. It is also called a conditioned punisher.
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Secondary reinforcer
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- In operant conditioning, a consequence that is satisfying because it has become associated with a primary reinforcer. It is also called a conditioned reinforcer.
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Selective attention
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- The ability to focus on some pieces of sensory information and ignore others.
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Self-report data
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- Information that people being surveyed give about themselves.
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Self-report inventory
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- A paper-and-pen test that requires people to answer questions about their typical behavior.
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Semantic encoding
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- A way of encoding verbal information that emphasizes the meaning of words.
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Semantic memory
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- Remembering of general facts.
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Semantic slanting
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- A way of making statements so that they will evoke specific emotional responses.
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Sensory memory
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- A memory system that stores incoming sensory information for an instant.
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Serotonin
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- A neurotransmitter involved in sleep, wakefulness, appetite, aggression, impulsivity, sensory perception, temperature regulation, pain suppression, and mood.
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Sex
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- A biological distinction between males and females.
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Shaping
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- In operant conditioning, a procedure in which reinforcement is used to guide a response closer and closer to a desired response.
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Short-term memory
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- A memory system that stores a limited amount of information for a brief period.
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Single-blind
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- A procedure in which subjects don’t know whether they are in an experimental or control group.
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Skinner box
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- A device used to study operant conditioning.
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Social desirability bias
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- The tendency of some people to describe themselves in socially approved ways.
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Soma
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- The central area of a neuron; also called the cell body.
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Sound waves
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- Changes in pressure generated by vibrating molecules.
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Source amnesia
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- Inaccurate recall of the origin of information in memory. It is also called source misattribution or source monitoring error.
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Spontaneous recovery
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- In classical conditioning, the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response.
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Standard deviation
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- A statistic that indicates the degree to which scores vary around the mean of a distribution.
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Standardized tests
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- Tests with uniform procedures for administration and scoring.
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Standardization
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- The use of uniform procedures when administering and scoring tests.
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Standardization sample
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- A large group of people that is representative of the entire population of potential test takers.
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States
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- Temporary behaviors or feelings.
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Statistical significance
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- The likelihood that a result was not due to chance.
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Statistics
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- The analysis and interpretation of numerical data.
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Stimulants
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- Drugs that stimulate the central nervous system.
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Stimulus discrimination
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- In classical conditioning, the tendency not to have a conditioned response to a new stimulus that’s similar to the original conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, it’s the tendency for a response to happen only when a particular stimulus is present.
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Stimulus generalization
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- In classical conditioning, the tendency to respond to a new stimulus as if it’s the original conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, it’s the tendency to respond to a new stimulus as if it’s the original discriminative stimulus.
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Storage
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- The process of maintaining information in memory.
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Structural encoding
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- A way of encoding verbal information that emphasizes how words look.
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Subject
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- An individual person or animal that a researcher studies.
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Subject bias
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- Bias that results from the subject’s expectations or the subject’s changing of his or her behavior.
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Survey
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- A method of getting information about a specific behavior, experience, or event by means of interviews or questionnaires, using several participants.
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Symbol
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- A sound, gesture, or written character that represents an object, action, event, or idea.
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Syntax
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- A system of rules that governs how words can be meaningfully arranged to form phrases and sentences.
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Temperament
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- Innate personality features or dispositions.
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Test-retest reliability
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- The ability of a test to produce the same results when given to the same group of people at different times.
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Theory
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- An explanation that organizes separate pieces of information in a coherent way.
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Theta waves
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- The type of brain waves present when a person is lightly asleep.
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Trial and error
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- Trying out different solutions until one works.
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Twin studies
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- Studies in which researchers examine trait similarities between identical and fraternal twin pairs to figure out whether that trait might be inherited.
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Two-factor theory
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- The idea that people’s experience of emotion depends on two factors: physiological arousal and the cognitive interpretation of that arousal. When people perceive physiological symptoms of arousal, they look for an environmental explanation of this arousal.
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Unconditioned response
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- A naturally occurring response that happens without previous conditioning.
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Unconditioned stimulus
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- A stimulus that evokes an innate response.
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Validity
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- The ability of a test to measure the characteristic it is supposed to measure.
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Values
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- Perceptions of what is important in life.
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Variable
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- An event, characteristic, behavior, or condition that researchers measure and study.
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Variable-interval schedule
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- A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement happens after a particular average amount of time.
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Variable-ratio schedule
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- A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement happens after a particular average number of responses.
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Wavelength
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- The distance between the peaks of waves.
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Working memory
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- An active memory system that holds information while it’s processed or examined.
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