Online Glossary for AP Psychology

A
Absolute threshold
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

Accommodation
Adapting ones current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Accommodation
The process by which the eyes lens changes shape to focus the image of near objects on the retina

Acetylcholine (ACh)
A neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle contraction
Achievement motivation
A desire for significant accomplishment: for mastery of things, people, or ideas; for attaining a high
standard
Achievement test
A test designed to assess what a person has learned
Acoustic encoding
The encoding of sounds, especially the sound of words
Acquisition
The initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an
unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response. In
operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response

Action potential
A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential is
generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axons

membrane
Active listening
Empathetic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers clientcentered therapy
Acuity
The sharpness of vision

Adaptation-level phenomenon
Our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined
by our prior experience
Adolescence
The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Adrenal glands
A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine
(adrenaline) and nor epinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress

Aerobic exercise
Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety
Aggression
And physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

Algorithm
A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with
the usually speedier- but also more error-prone use of heuristics
Alpha waves
The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state
Altruism

Unselfish regard for the welfare of others

Alzheimers disease
A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory,
reasoning, language, and finally, physical functioning
Amnesia
The loss of memory

Amphetamines
Drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded up body functions and associated energy and
mood changes
Amygdala
Two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to
emotion
Anorexia nervosa
An eating disorder in which a normal-weight person (usually and adolescent female) diets and
becomes significantly (15 percent or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve

Antisocial personality disorder

A personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for
wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever
con artist

Anxiety disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors
that reduce anxiety
Aphasia
Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Brocas area (impairing
speaking) or to Wernike's area (impairing understanding)

Applied research
Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

Aptitude test
A test designed to predict a persons future performance, aptitude is the capacity to learn

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Science of designing and programming computer systems to do intelligent things and to stimulate
human thought process such as intuitive reasoning, learning, and understanding language. Includes
practical implications (chess playing, industrial robots, expert systems) and efforts to model human
thinking inspired by our current understanding of how the brain works
Assimilation
Interpreting ones new experience in terms of ones existing schemas
Association areas
Areas of cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are
involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking
Associative learning
Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical
conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning)
Attachment
An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the
caregiver and showing distress on separation
Attitude
A belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

Attribution theory
The theory that we tend to give a casual explanation for someones behavior, often by crediting either
the situation or the persons disposition
Audition

The sense of hearing

Automatic processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of welllearned information, such as word meanings
Autonomic nervous system
The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal
organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms
Availability heuristic
Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to
mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common
Aversive conditioning
A type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted
behavior (such as drinking alcohol)
Axon
The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages are sent to
other neurons or to muscles or glands
B
Babbling stage
Beginning at 3 to 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously
utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

Barbiturates
Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing
memory and judgment
Basal metabolic rate
The bodys resting rate of energy expenditure
Basic research
Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Basic trust
According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed
during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers
Behavior genetics
The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Behavior therapy
Therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors
Behavioral medicine
An interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that
knowledge to health and disease

Behaviorism
The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without
reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2)
Belief bias
The tendency for ones preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid
conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid

Belief perseverance
Clinging to ones initial conceptions after the basis on which they formed has been discredited
Binocular cues
Depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes
Bio-psycho-social perspective
A contemporary perspective which assumes that biological, psychological and sociocultural factors
combine and interact to produce psychological disorders
Biofeedback
A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle

physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

Biological psychology
A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. (Some biological
psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists,
physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists

Biological rhythms
Periodic physiological fluctuations
Bipolar disorder
A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression
and the overexcited state of mania
Blind spot
The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a blind spot because no receptor cells are
located there
Bottom-up processing
Analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory
information
Brainstem
The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the
skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions
Brocas area
An area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements
involved in speech
Bulimia nervosa
An eating disorder characterized by private binge-purge episodes of overeating, usually of highly
caloric foods, followed by vomiting or laxative use
Burnout
Physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion brought on by persistent job-related stress
Bystander effect

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
C
Cannon-Bard theory
The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses
and (2) the subjective experience of emotion
Case study
An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal
principles
Catharsis
Emotional release. In psychology, the catharsis hypothesis maintains that releasing aggressive
energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Central nervous system (CNS)

the brain and spinal cord
Cerebellum
The little brain attached to the rear of the brainstem; it helps coordinate voluntary movement and
balance
Cerebral cortex
The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the bodys
ultimate control and information-processing center

Chromosomes
Threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Circadian rhythm
The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that

occur on a 24- hour cycle

Classical conditioning
A type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals
an unconditioned response (UCS) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the
unconditioned stimulus (also called Pavlovian Conditioning)

Client-centered therapy
A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as
active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients growth. (Also
called person-centered therapy)
Clinical psychology
A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and trests people with psychological disorders
Cochlea
A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering
Cognitive-behavior therapy
A popular integrated therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking)
with behavior therapy (changing behavior)
Cognitive dissonance theory
The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts
(cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions
clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes
Cognitive map
A mental representation of the layout of ones environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats
act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it
Cognitive therapy
Therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the
assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

Collective unconscious
Carl Jungs concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species history

Collectivism
Giving priority to the goals of ones group and defining ones identity accordingly
Color constancy
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the
wavelengths reflected by the object

Companionate love
The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those whom are lives are intertwined
Complementary and alternative medicine
Unproven health care treatments not taught widely in medical school, not used in hospitals, and not
usually reimbursed by insurance companies
Computer neural networks
Computer circuits that mimic the brains interconnected neural cells, performing tasks such as
learning to recognize visual patterns and smells

Concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
Concrete operational stage
In Piagets theory, the stage of cognitive development from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age during
which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
Conditioned reinforcer
A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power though its association with a primary reinforcer

Conditioned response (CR)

In classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS)

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

In classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an
unconditioned stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a conditioned response
Conduction hearing loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
Cones
Receptor cells that are concentrates near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in
well-lit conditions. The cones detect finel detail and give rise to color sensations

Confirmation bias
A tendency to search for information that confirms ones preconceptions
Conflict
A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
Conformity
Adjusting ones behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
Consciousness
Our awareness of ourselves and our environments

Conservation
The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties
such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Content validity
The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is interest (such as driving test samples driving
tasks)
Continuous reinforcement

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Control condition
The condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serces as a
comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment
Convergence
A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at
an object
Coronary heart disease
The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in the United
States
Corpus callosum
The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages
between them
Correlation coefficient
A statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus, of how well either
factor predicts the other

Counterconditioning
A behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted
behaviors; based on classical conditioning
Creativity
The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
Criterion
The behavior (such as college grades) that a test (such as the SAT) is designed to predict; thus, the
measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity

Critical period
An optimal period shortly after birth when an organisms exposure to certain stimuli or experiences
produces proper development

Critical thinking
Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions,
discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions

Cross-sectional study
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Crystallized intelligence
Ones accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with a ge
CT (computer tomography scan)
A series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a
composite representation of a slice through the body
Culture
The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitude, and traditions shared by a large group of people and
transmitted from one generation to the next
D
Defense mechanisms
In psychoanalytic theory, the egos protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously
distorting reality
Deindividuation
The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and
anonymity
Dj vu
That eerie sense that Ive experienced this before. Cues form the current situation may
subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
Delta waves
The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

Delusions

False beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders
Dendrite
The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the
cell body
Dependent variable
The experimental factor- in psychology, the behavior or mental process that is being measured; the
variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable
Depressants
Drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body
functions
Depth perception
The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are twodimensional; allows us to judge distance
Developmental psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
Difference threshold
The minimum difference that a person can detect two stimuli. We experience the difference
threshold as a just noticeable difference
Discrimination
In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other
stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus
Displacement
Defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less
threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet
Dissociation
A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with
others
Dissociative disorders
Disorder in which conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts, or

feelings
Dissociative identity disorder
A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating
personalities
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes A DNA
molecule has two strands forming a double helix held together by bonds between pairs of
nucleotides
Double-blind procedure
An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are
ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or placebo. Commonly
used in drug evaluation studies
Down syndrome
A condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in ones
genetic makeup
Dream
A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping persons mind. Dreams are
notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and for the dreamers
delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it

Drive-reduction theory
The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an
organism to satisfy the need
DSM-IV
The American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a
widely used system for classifying psychological disorders

Dualism
The presumption that mind and body are two distinct entities that interact
E

Ego
In Psychoanalytical theory, the part of the personality which maintains a balance between our
impulses (id) and our conscience (superego).
Egocentric
The thinking in the preoperational stage of cognitive development where children believe everyone
sees the world fro the same perspective as he or she does.
Ego Defense Mechanisms
See Defenses
Ego Ideal
In psychoanalytic thought, this is the ideal or desired behavior of the ego according to the superego.
Ellis, Albert
A cognitive Psychologist who developed the concept of Rational-Emotive Therapy.
Emotion
Feelings about a situation, person, or objects that involves changes in physiological arousal and
cognitions.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
The awareness of and ability to manage one's emotions in a healthy and productive manner.
Encoding
The transformation of information to be stored in memory.
Endorphins
A neurotransmitter involved in pain relief, and feelings of pleasure and contentedness.
Epinephrine
A neurotransmitter involved in energy and glucose metabolism. Too little has been associated with
depression.
Episodic Memory
Subcategory of Declarative memory where information regarding life events are stored.
Equal Intervals

Characteristic of a scale of measurement where the individual units possess the qualities of equal
intervals. The difference between each unit of measurement is exactly the same.
Equity Theory
The theory that argues a couple must see each other as contributing and benefiting equally to the
relationship for them both to feel comfortable in the relationship.
Error
The amount of other variables (aside from what you are measuring) that can impact the observed
score
Error Level
The level of accepted error within a given set of data. The greater the error level, the wider the
confidence interval.
Escape Conditioning
Operant conditioning based on the idea that a behavior is more likely to be repeated if it results in
the cessation of a negative event.
Estimate
An idea about a characteristic of a population based on sample data (e.g., the sample mean IQ was
102 so we estimate that the population mean IQ is also 102)
Eta
A correlational technique used primarily for non-linear relationships. (Example, income and age are
positively correlated until older age at which point the correlation reverses itself to some extent.
Etiology
Causal relationships of diseases; theories regarding how the specific disease or disorder began.
Experimental Group
In research, the group of subjects who receive the independent variable.
Experimental Method
Research method using random assignment of subjects and the manipulation of variables in order to
determine cause and effect.
Experimenter Bias
Errors in a research study due to the predisposed notions or beliefs of the experimenter.

Expert Power
Power derived through advanced knowledge or experience in a particular subject.
Ex-Post-Facto (After the Fact) Research
Research method in which the independent variable is administered prior to the study without the
researchers control and its effects are investigated afterward
External Locus of Control
The belief that the environment has more control over life circumstances than the individual does.
External Validity
The extent to which the data collected from a sample can be generalized to the entire population.
Extinction
The reduction and eventual disappearance of a learned or conditioned response after it is no longer
paired with the unconditioned stimulus-response chain.
Extrinsic Motivation The desire or push to perform a certain behavior based on the potential
external rewards that may be received as a result.
Extroversion
Personality style where the individual prefers outward and group activity as opposed to inward and
individual activity.
F
Factor Analysis
A statistical technique used to determine the number of components in a set of data. These
components are then named according to their characteristics allowing a researcher to break down
information into statistical groups.
Factorial ANOVA
An Analysis of Variance used when there are two or more independent variables. When there are
two, the ANOVA is called a Two-Way ANOVA, three independent variables would use a Three-Way
ANOVA, etc.
Family Therapy
Treatment involving family members which seeks to change the unhealthy familial patterns and
interactions.
Fixation

In Freud's theory of psychosexual development, the failure to complete a stage successfully which
results in a continuation of that stage into later adulthood.
Fixed Interval Schedule
A schedule in which the reinforcement is presented after a specific period of time.
Fixed Ratio Schedule
A schedule in which the reinforcement is presented after a specific number of responses.
Fetish
A condition in which arousal and/or sexual gratification is attained through inanimate objects
(shoes, pantyhose) or non-sexual body parts (feet, hair). Is considered a problem when the object is
needed in order to obtain arousal or gratification and the individual can not can not complete a
sexual act without this object present.
Frequency Distribution
A table showing the number of occurrences for each score
Frequency Effect
The phenomenon in memory which states that we tend to remember information better if it is
repeated.
Freud, Sigmund
Dr. Freud is often referred to as the father of clinical psychology. His extensive theory of personality
development (psychoanalytical theory) is the cornerstone for modern psychological thought, and
consists of (1) the psychosexual stages of development, (2) the structural model of personality (id,
ego, superego), and (3) levels of consciousness (conscious, subconscious, and unconscious). See
Psychoanalysis.
Flooding
A behavioral technique used to treat phobias in which the client is presented with the feared stimulus
until the associated anxiety disappears.
Fluid Intelligence
According to Cattell, the part of intelligence which involves the use, as opposed to the acquisition, of
information.
Formal Operational Stage
Pavlov's fourth and final stage of cognitive development where thinking becomes more abstract.

Framing
Presenting information either positively or negatively in order to change the influence is has on an
individual or group.
Free Association
The psychoanalytic technique of allowing a patient to talk without direction or input in order to
analyze current issues of the client.
Frontal Lobe
The lobe at the front of the brain associated with movement, speech, and impulsive behavior.
Frustration
The feelings, thoughts, and behaviors associated with not achieving a particular goal or the belief
that a goal has been prematurely interrupted.
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
The theory arguing that aggression is the natural reaction to frustration.
Functionalism
The school of thought popular in the 19th century emphasizing conscious experiences as a precursor
to behavior
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to over estimate the internal attributes of another person's actions.
G
g
General intelligence. Typically compared to s which represents specific intelligences. G is the
culmination of all possible s's.
GABA (Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid)
A neurotransmitter involved in the inhibition of anxiety and excitation. Too little GABA has been
associated with anxiety disorders.
Gender Identity
The internal sense of being either male or female. Usually congruent with biological gender, but not
always as in Gender Identity Disorder.
Gender Role

The accepted behaviors, thoughts, and emotions of a specific gender based upon the views of a
particular society or culture.
Gender Typing
The process of developing the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions associated with a particular gender.
Generalization
The tendency to associate stimuli, and therefore respond similarly to, due to their closeness on some
variable such as size, shape, color, or meaning.
Genital Stage
Freud's final stage of psychosexual development where healthy sexual development is defined as
attraction to a same aged, opposite sexed peer.
Gestalt
German word typically translated as meaning 'whole' or 'form.'
Gestalt Therapy
Treatment focusing on the awareness and understanding of one's feelings.
Grouped Frequency Distribution
A table showing the number of occurrences for a grouping of scores. Used a lot in educational
settings where a score of 90 to 100 may be grouped as an A, a score of 80 to 90 may be grouped as a
B, etc.
Group Polarization
The tendency for members of a cohesive group to make more extreme decisions due to the lack of
opposing views.
Group Therapy
Psychotherapy conducted with at least three or four non-related individuals who are similar in some
are, such as gender, age, mental illness, or presenting problem.
Group Think
The tendency for members of a cohesive group to reach decisions without weighing all the facts,
especially those contradicting the majority opinion.
Gustation
Sense of taste.

H
Habituation
The decrease in response to a stimulus due to repetition (e.g., not hearing the ticking of a clock after
getting used to it)
Hallucination
False perception of reality (e.g., hearing voices that aren't there or seeing people who do not exist)
[auditory (hearing); visual (sight); olfactory (smell); tactile (touch); and taste].
Halo Effect
The tendency to assign generally positive or generally negative traits to a person after observing one
specific positive or negative trait, respectively.
Hawthorne Effect
The phenomenon that subject behavior changes by the mere fact that they are being observed.
Health Psychology
The specific field in psychology concerned with psychologys impact on health, physical well being,
and illness.
Heterosexuality
Being attracted to or aroused by members of the opposite gender. See Sexual Orientation.
Heuristic
A rule of thumb based on experience used to make decisions.
Hierarchy of Needs
Maslows Theory of Motivation which states that we must achieve lower level needs, such as food,
shelter, and safety before we can achieve higher level needs, such as belonging, esteem, and selfactualization.
Higher Order Conditioning Pairing a second conditioned stimulus with the first conditioned
stimulus in order to produce a second conditioned response.
Hippocampus
Part of the limbic system. Involved more in memory, and the transfer of information from shortterm to long-term memory.
History

External events that take place during a research study that are not part of the study but have an
effect on the outcome
Homeostasis
The tendency of the body (and the mind) to natural gravitate toward a state of equilibrium or
balance.
Homophobia
An irrational hostility, hatred, or fear of homosexuals.
Homosexuality
Being attracted to or aroused by members of the same gender. See Sexual Orientation.
Humanistic Psychology
A theoretical view of human nature which stresses a positive view of human nature and the strong
belief in psychological homeostasis.
Humanistic Therapy
Treatment focused on increasing awareness of one's self concept.
Hypnosis
A deep state of relaxation where an individual is more susceptible to suggestions.
Hypnotherapist A trained, and often licensed, therapist who utilizes the therapeutic technique of
hypnosis as part of a treatment regimen.
Hypnotist
An individual, most likely unlicensed, who uses hypnosis techniques or variations of these
techniques for a variety of reasons, including treatment and/or entertainment.
Hypothalamus
A part of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, and therefore maintains the bodys
homeostasis (controls body temperature, metabolism, and appetite. Also translates extreme
emotions into physical responses.
Hypothesis
A prediction about the relationship between two or more variables.
I

Id
In Psychoanalytical theory, the part of the personality which contains our primitive impulses such as
sex, anger, and hunger.
Ideal Self
Humanistic term representing the characteristics, behaviors, emotions, and thoughts to which a
person aspires.

Illusion
Misperception of reality (e.g., the illusion of a lake in the middle of a desert).
Imagery
Utilizing the mind to create a mental representation of a sensory experience.
Inappropriate Affect
Expressing contradictory behavior when describing or experiencing an emotion (e.g., smiling when
discussing something sad; laughing when talking about the death of a loved one).
Independent Samples
Sample data that is independent or not related to each other.
Independent Variable
The variable in an experiment that is manipulated or compared.
Inductive Reasoning
Decision making process in which ideas are processed from the specific to the general.
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
The area or specialty in psychology focused on the application of psychological principles in the work
force.
Inferential Statistics
The branch of statistics that focuses on describing in numerical format what might be happening or
what might happen (estimation) in the future (probability). Inferential statistics required the testing
of only a sample of the population. (Example: 100 students rather than all students).
Inhalant
Substances such as spray paint, freon, and glue that produce an intoxicating effect when inhaled.

Innate
Occurring without learning, inborn.
Insanity
A legal term representing the inability to know right from wrong or the inability to understand the
consequences of one's actions.
Insight
The understanding of a relationship between current thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviors and where
these originated or how they are maintained.
Instinct A behavior we are born with and therefore does not need to be learned.
Intelligence
The degree to which one can adapt to ones environment.
Intelligence Quotient [IQ]
The scores achieved on psychological tests aimed at quantifying intellectual ability.
Interaction Effects
When the effect of one variable on another is contingent on a third variable, this contingency is
called an interaction effect.
Internal Consistency
An estimate of how reliable a test is when items on the test are compared to each other. See split-half
and odd-even reliability.
Internal Locus of Control
The belief that an individual has more control over life circumstances than the environment does.
Internal Validity
A measure of the trustworthiness of a sample of data. Internal validity looks at the subject, testing,
and environment in which the data collection took place.
Interquartile Range
The difference between the scores (or estimated scores) at the 75th percentile and the 25th
percentile. Used more than the range because it eliminates extreme scores.
Interval Estimation

Estimating the population statistic based on a range around a sample statistic.

Interval Scale
Any scale of measurement possessing magnitude and equal intervals, but not an absolute zero.
Interview
A subjective personality and mental health assessment typically consisting of questions and answers.
Intrinsic Motivation
The motivation or desire to do something based on the enjoyment of the behavior itself rather than
relying on or requiring external reinforcement.
Introspection
The process of examining one's own consciousness.
Introversion
The tendency to focus energy inward resulting in decreased social interaction.
J
Just Noticeable Difference
The smallest change in a sensory perception that is detectable 50% of the time.
Jung, Carl
A student of Freud who split from the Psychoanalytic Society because of his disagreements with
Freud, especially his view of the collective unconscious.
K
Kurtosis
The shape of a curve or distribution of scores (See Leptokurtic, Mesokurtic, and Platykurtic).
L
Latency Stage
Freud's fourth stage of psychosexual development where sexuality is repressed in the unconscious
and children focus on identifying with their same sex parent and interact with same sex peers.
Latent Content
Freud's term for the underlying or hidden content represented in the symbols of dreams.

Latent Learning
Learning that occurs without apparent reinforcement but is not demonstrated until such time as
reinforcement occurs.
Law of Effect
Theory proposed by Thorndike stating that those responses that are followed by a positive
consequence will be repeated more frequently than those that are not.

Learned Helplessness
A condition that occurs after a period of negative consequences where the person begins to believe
they have no control.
Learning
A relatively permanent change in behavior due to an interaction with the environment.
Learning Theory
Based on the idea that changes in behavior result more from experience and less from our
personality or how we think or feel about a situation.
Legitimate Power
Power derived through one's position, such as a police officer or elected official.
Libido
Sigmund Freuds terminology of sexual energy or sexual drive.
Limbic System
A brain system that plays a role in emotional expression, particularly in the emotional component of
behavior, memory, and motivation.
Locus of Control
A belief about the amount of control a person has over situations in their life.
Longitudinal Study
A research design that assesses the effects of development (maturation) by using the same subjects
over an extended period of time
Long Term Memory

Relatively permanent memory.

Lower Confidence Limit
The lower limit of a confidence interval. If prediction states that the true score falls between 80 and
90, then the lower confidence level is 80.
Lucid Dream
A dream in which you are aware of dreaming and are sometimes able to manipulate the dream.
M
Magnitude
Characteristic of a scale of measurement where the individual units possess the qualities of greater
than, equal to, or less than.
Main Effect
The effect of one variable on another without any other variables or subgroups involvement.
Manifest Content
According to Freud, the story-like superficial content of a dream, often representing only the daily
activities and little underlying unconscious material.
Maslow, Abraham
Humanistic Theorist most famous for the development of the Hierarchy of Needs.
Maturation
Changes due to the natural process of aging as determined by your genetics
Mean
A measure of central tendency determined by adding all scores together and dividing by the number
of scores. Often referred to as the statistical average.

Measure of Central Tendency

An average (see Mean, Median, and/or Mode)
Measurement, Scales of
Categories of data based on their numerical characteristics (See Ratio, Interval, Ordinal, and

Nominal Scales)
Median
A measure of central tendency that uses the middle most occurring score in a distribution (the score
that occurs at exactly the 50th percentile).
Medulla Oblongata
Part of the brainstem that controls vital life-sustaining functions such as heartbeat, breathing, blood
pressure, and digestion.
Memory Effect
Error in research that results from subjects recalling previous testing and applying that knowledge to
current testing.
Mesokurtic
A curve or distribution that has a balanced amount of variance so that is resembles a normal curve.
Meta Analysis
The statistical procedure used to combine numerous and independent research results into one
study. Each research study becomes one subject in the meta-analysis.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, 2nd. Edition
An Objective test utilizing 567 items which have been empirically derived to measure a variety of
psychological concerns.
MMPI-2
See Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, 2nd. Edition.
Mode
A measure of central tendency that uses the most frequently occurring score. A distribution with two
or more scores that are equal and occur most frequently is called multi-modal.
Modeling
Learning through the imitation or observation of others.
Mortality
Subject drop-out in a research study. Mortality becomes a problem when a disproportionate drop out
rate occurs between two or more groups (Example: 30% of males drop out of group one while only
2% of males drop out in group two, resulting in uneven groups).

Motivation
The process that energizes and/or maintains a behavior.
Motive
Internal states that provide direction for one's behaviors.
Multiple Correlation
A correlational technique used when there is one X and two or more Y. (Example: the correlation
between age and (math and English ability).
N
N
Symbol used for the number of subjects or data in a distribution. A study with 10 subjects would
have an N equal to 10.
Naturalistic Observation
A research method where the subject(s) is(are) observed without interruption under normal or
natural circumstances.
NCE Score
A standard score that sets the mean to fifty and standard deviation to 21.06, allowing the 99th
percentile to have a score of 99 and the first percentile a score of 1.
Negative Correlation
a correlation where one two variables tend to move in the opposite direction (example: the number
of pages printed and the amount of ink left in your printer are negatively correlated. The more pages
printed, the less ink you have left.)
Negative Skew
A curve or distribution of scores that has extreme scores below the mean that are atypical of the
majority of scores.
Neuron
A specialized nerve cell.
Neurotransmitter
A chemical found in animals that plays a role in our behavior, cognitions, and emotions.
Nightmare

A frightening dream occurring in REM sleep.

Nominal Scale
Any scale that contains no magnitude. Often nominal is thought of as name only, meaning that the
variables of a nominal scale can be identified but not measured.
Nondeclarative Memory
A subsystem within Long term memory which consists of skills we acquire through repetition and
practice (e.g., dance, playing the piano, driving a car)
Nonparametric Test
Any statistic that is designed for ordinal or nominal data or data that is not normally distributed
Norepinephrine
A neurotransmitter associated with eating and alertness. Too little has been associated with
depression and too much has been associated with schizophrenia.
Norm
An expectation based on multiple observations.
Normal Curve
A graphical interpretation of a population that is bell shaped as it has the highest frequency in the
middle and this frequency diminishes the farther you get from the center on either end. The mean,
median, and mode are all equal in a perfect normal curve.
Normal Distribution
The scores of a sample or population that, when graphed, fall on or close to a normal curve. A
normal distribution is often ideal in research because the data can then be said to have all of the
characteristics of a normal curve.
Null Hypothesis
The hypothesis that states there is no difference between two or more sets of data.
O
Object Permanence
The understanding that objects exist even when they are not directly observed.

Objective Techniques

A generic term for the psychological procedures used to measure personality which rely on
measurable or objective techniques such as the MMPI-2 and WAIS-III.
Obsession
A persistent and seemingly uncontrollable thought.
Occipital Lobe
One of for lobes of the brain. Contains the visual cortex and therefore plays a major role in the
interpretation of visual information.
Odd-Even Reliability
The correlation coefficient determined by comparing odd items of the measurement to the even
items. One method to determine the internal consistency of a test or measuring device.
Olfaction
The sense of smell.
One-Way ANOVA
An Analysis of Variance used when there is only one main effect.
Operant Conditioning
Learning that occurs due to the manipulation of the possible consequences.
Optimal Level of Arousal
Theory arguing that humans are driven to increase or decrease arousal to produce a comfortable
level that is not over- nor under stimulating.
Oral Aggressive Personality
Stemming from the Oral stage, a child who becomes fixated due to over stimulation transfers his or
her unresolved oral issues into aggression and hostility.
Oral Receptive Personality
Stemming from the Oral stage, a child who becomes fixated due to under stimulation transfers his or
her unmet oral needs into smoking, drinking, talking, biting fingernails, or sucking one's own thumb,
for example.
Oral Stage
Freud's first stage of psychosexual development where the primary sexual focus is on the mouth
through sucking, tasting, and verbalizing.

Order Effects
The effects of administering treatments in a particular order
Ordered Array
A table consisting of data in order of highest to lowest or lowest to highest where each data is given a
numbered rank depicting it's difference from the highest or lowest score
Ordinal Scale
Any scale that reflects only magnitude but does not contain equal intervals or an absolute zero
Overlearning
A technique used to improve memory where information is learned to the point that it can be
repeated without mistake more than one time.
P
Panic disorder
An anxiety disorder marked by a minutes-long episode of intense dread in which a person
experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations.
Parallel processing
The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brains natural mode of
information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial)
processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.
Parapsychology
The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis.
Parasympathetic nervous system
The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.
Parietal
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; includes the
sensory cortex.
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement
Reinforcing a response only part of the timely results in slower acquisition of a response but much
greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement.

Passionate love
An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love
relationship.
Perception
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful
objects and events.
Perceptual adaptation
In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaces or even inverted visual field.
Perceptual constancy
Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as
illumination and retinal images change.
Perceptual set
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the
body.

Personal control
Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feelings helpless.
Personal space
The buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies
Personality
An individuals characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Personality disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social
functioning.
Personal inventory
A questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items

designed to gauge a wide range of feeling and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.
PET (positron emission tomography) scan
A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain
performs a given task
Phi phenomenon
An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in succession
Phobia
An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or
situation.
Phoneme
In a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
Physical dependence
A psychological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is
discontinued.
Pitch
A tones highness or lowness; depends on frequency.
Pituitary gland
The endocrine systems most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the
pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.
Place theory
In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochleas membrane is
stimulated
Placebo
An inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed active agent, such
as a drug, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent.

Placebo effect
any effect on behavior caused by a placebo

plasticity
the brains capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially
in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development.

Polygraph
A machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies that measures several of the physiological
responses accompanying emotion (such as perspiration, heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing
changes).
Population
All the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study.
Positive psychology
The scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote condition that
enable individuals and communities to thrive.
Posthypnotic amnesia
Supposed inability to recall what one experienced during hypnosis; induced by the hypnotists
suggestion.

Posthypnotic suggestion
A suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out of the subject is no longer
hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors.
Preconscious
Information that is not conscious but is retrievable into conscious awareness.
Predictive validity
The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by
computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior
Prejudice
An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally
involved stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
Preoperational stage

In Piagets theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learned to use
language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.
Primary reinforcer
An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfied a biological need.
Primary sex characteristics
The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.
Priming
The activation, often unconsciously, of a particular associations in memory.
Proactive interference
The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information
Projection
The defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing
them to others.
Projective test
A personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger
projection of ones inner dynamics.
Prosocial behavior
Positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite and antisocial behavior.
Prototype
A mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to the prototype provides a quick
and easy method for including items in a category (as when comparing feathered creatures to a
prototypical bird, such as a robin.)
Psychiatry
a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes
provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy
Psychoactive drug
A chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood
Psychoanalysis

Freuds theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes our thoughts and actions to
unconscious motives and conflicts. Freud believed the patients free associations, resistances,
dreams, and transferences-and the therapists interpretations of them-released previously repressed
feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight.
Psychological dependence
A psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions.

Psychological disorder
A harmful dysfunction in which behavior is judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive, and
unjustifiable
Psychology
The science of behavior and mental processes
Psychopharmacology
The study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior.
Psychophysics
The study of relationships between the psychical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity,
and our psychological experience of them.

Psychophysiological illness
Literally, mind-body illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some
headaches
Psychosexual stages
The childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to
Freud, the ids pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.
Psychosurgery
Surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior.
Psychotherapy
An emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers
from psychological difficulties.

Psychotic disorder
A psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas
and distorted perceptions.
Puberty
The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproduction.
Punishment
An event that decreases the behavior that hit follows.
Pupil
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters.
Q
Quasi-Experimental Research
Any research study that uses specific experimental methods but does not randomize subjects R
Random assignment
Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing
preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups.
Random sample
A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
Range
The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.
Rationalization
Defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening,
unconscious reasons for ones actions.
Reaction formation
Defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their
opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing
unconscious feelings.
Recall
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-

the-blank test.
Reciprocal determinism
The interacting influences between personality and environmental factors.
Recognitions
A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items preciously learned, as on a
multiple-choice test.
Reflex
A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response.
Refractory period
A resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm.
Regression
Defense mechanism in which an individual faces with anxiety retreated to a more infantile
psychosexual stage where some psychic energy remains fixated.

Regression toward the mean

The tendency for extremes of unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward the average.
Rehearsal
The conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for
storage.
Reinforcer
In operant condition, any even that strengthens the behavior it follows.
Relative deprivation
The perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself.
Relearning
A memory measure that asses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.
Reliability
The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two

halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting.

REM rebound
The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated
awakening during REM sleep).
REM sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur.
Also, known as paradoxical sleep because the muscles are relaxed (Accept for minor twitched) but
other body systems are active.
Replication
Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different subjects in different situations to see
whether the basic finding generalized to other participants and circumstances.
Representativeness heuristic
A rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or
match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information.
Repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts,
feelings, and memories from consciousness.
Resistance
In psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material.
Respondent behavior
Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus; Skinners term for behavior learned
through classical conditioning.
Reticular formation
A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal.
Retina
The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods, and cones, plus layers of
neurons that begin the process of visual information.
Retinal disparity
A binocular cue for perceiving depth: The greater the disparity (difference) between the two images,
the retina receives of an object, the closer the object is to the viewer.

Retrieval
The process of getting information out of memory storage.
Retroactive interference
The disruptive effect of new learning of the recall of old information.
Rods
Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and grey; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision,
when cones do not respond.
Role
A set of expectation (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to
behave.
Rooting reflex
A babys tendency, when touched on the cheek, to open the mouth, and search for the nipple.
Rorschach inkblot test
The most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to
identify peoples inner feelings, by analyzing their interpretation of the blots. S
Savant syndrome
A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill,
such as in computation or drawing.
Scapegoat theory
The theory that prejudice provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.
Scatterplot
A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the
points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter
suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation). (Also called
ascattergram or scatter diagram.)
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.
Schizophrenia

A group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed

perceptions, and body hair.
Selective attention
The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail party effect.
Self-actualization
According to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and
psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill ones potential.
Self-concept
(1) a sense of ones identity and personal worth ; (2) all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in
answer to the question, who am I?
Self-disclosure
Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.
Self-esteem
Ones feelings of high or low self-worth.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Occurs when one persons belief about others leads one to act in ways that induce the others to
appear to confirm the belief.
Self-serving bias
A readiness to perceive oneself favorably.
Semantic encoding
The encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.
Semantics
The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given
language; also, the study of meaning. (p. 383)
Sensation
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus
energies from our environment.
Sensorimotor stage

In Piagets theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world
mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.
Sensorineural hearing loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochleas receptor cells or to the auditory nerves. (Also
called nerve deafness)
Sensory adaptation
Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.
Sensory cortex
The area at the front of the parietal loves that registers and processes body sensations.
Sensory interaction
The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.
Sensory memory
The immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system.
Sensory neurons
Neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system.
Serial position effect
Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.
Set point
The point at which an individuals weight thermostat is supposedly set. When the body falls below
this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.
Sexual disorder
A problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning.
Sexual orientation
An enduring sexual attraction toward members of either ones own gender (homosexual orientation)
or the other gender (heterosexual orientation).
Sexual response cycle
The four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson excitement, plateau,
orgasm, and resolution.

Shaping
An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer
approximations of a desired goal.
Short-term memory
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while
dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.
Signal detection theory
Predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background
stimulation (noise). Assumes that there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends
partly on a persons experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue.
Sleep
Periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from
a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation.
Sleep apnea
A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent
momentary reawakenings.
Social clock
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.
Social exchange theory
The theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits
and minimize costs.
Social facilitation
Improved performance of tasks in the presence of others; occurs with simple or well-learned tasks
but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered.
Social leadership
Group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support.
Social learning theory
The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or
punished.

Social loafing
The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a
common goal than when individually accountable.
Social psychology
The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.
Social trap
A situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become
caught in mutually destructive behavior.
Somatic nervous system
The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the bodys skeletal muscles. (Also called
the skeletal nervous system.)
Source amnesia
Attributing to the wrong source an event that we have experienced, heard about, read about, or
imagined. Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false
memories. (Also called source misattribution.)
Spacing effect
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved
through massed study or practice.
Split brain
A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers
(mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them.
Spontaneous recovery

reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished conditioned respon se.

Standard deviation
A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score.
Standardization
Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested standardization
group.

Stanford-Binet
The widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binets original intelligence
test.
Statistical significance
A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance.
Stereotype
A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people.
Stimulants
Drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines and cocaine) that excite
neural activity and speed up body functions.
Storage
The retention of encoded information over time.
Stranger anxiety
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 month of age.
Stress
The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as
threatening or challenging.
Subjective well-being
Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being
(for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate peoples quality of life.
Sublimation
In psychoanalytic theory, the defense mechanism by which people rechannel their unacceptable
impulses into socially approved activities.
Subliminal
Below ones absolute threshold for conscious awareness.
Superego
The part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides
standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

Superordinate goals
Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.
Survey
A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by
questioning a representative, random sample of them.
Sympathetic nervous system
The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in
stressful situations.
Synapse
The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the
receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or cleft.
Syntax
The rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language.
Systematic desensitization
A type of counterconditioning that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing
anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias.
T
Task Leadership:
Goal oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work and focuses attention on goals.
Telegraphic Speech:
Early speech stage in which the child speaks like a telegram using mostly nouns and verbs and
omitting auxiliary words.
Temperament:
A persons characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.
Temporal Lobes:
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; including the auditory areas which
receives information from the opposite ear.
Teratogens:

Chemical and viral agents that can reach a fetus or embryo during prenatal development and cause
harm.
Testosterone:
Most important of the male sex hormones- males and females have it. Contributes to the growth of
the male sex organs in the fetus and during puberty.
Thalamus:
The brains sensory switchboard, located atop the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory
receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.
THC:
The major active ingredient in marijuana- triggers mild hallucinations.
Thematic Apperception Test:
A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they
make up from pictures.
Theory:
An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations.
Theory Of Mind:
Peoples ideas about their own and others mental states.
Theory X:
Assumes that workers need to be directed from above because they are lazy, extrinsically motivated
and error prone.
Theory Y:
Assumes that workers are motivated to achieve self esteem and express creativity if they are
challenged and have freedom.
Threshold:
The level of stimulation used to trigger a neural impulse.
Token Economy:
An operant conditioning behavior that rewards positive behavior.
Tolerance:

The diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger
doses to achieve the same effect.
Top Down Processing:
Information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as we construct perceptions
drawing on our experience.
Trait:
A characteristic pattern of behavior as assessed by self-reporting inventories and peer reports.
Transduction:
Transforming of stimulus energies to neural impulses.
Transference:
The patients transfer to the analyst of emotions linked to other relationships.
Two Factor Theory:
Schacters theory: to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the
emotion.
Two Word Stage:
Beginning at age 2, when a child speaks in mostly 2 word statements.
Type A:
Friedman and Rossmans term for competitive, hard driving personalities.
Type B:
Easygoing, relaxed people.
U
Unconditional positive regard:
An attitude of total acceptance toward another person.
Unconditioned Response:
The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus.
Unconditioned Stimulus:
A stimulus that naturally triggers a response.

Unconscious:
According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes and memories that we are
unaware.
V
Validity:
The extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to.
Variable Interval Schedule:
A schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.

Variable Ratio Schedule:

A schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.
Vestibular Sense
The sense of balance and body movement and position.
Visual Capture:
The tendency for vision to dominate the other senses.
Visual Cliff:
A laboratory devise made for testing the depth perception of infants and animals.
Visual Encoding:
The encoding of visual images.
W
Wavelength:
The distance from the peak of one sound wave to the peak of the next.
Webers Law:
To perceive a difference, two objects must differ by some minimum percentage.
Wernickes Area:

The brain area involved in language comprehension usually in the left temporal lobe.
Withdrawal:
The discomfort that follow discontinuing the use of a drug.
X
X Chromosome:
The sex chromosome found in men and woman. Females have 2 x chromosomes males have 1. XX=
female. Y
Y Chromosome:
Sex chromosome found in men only- when pared with a x chromosome from the mother, it produces
a male.
Young Hemholtz Theory: Tri-Chromatic or Three-Color Theory)
Theory that the retina contains three different color receptors- red, blue and green which when
stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color.
Z
Zygote:
The fertilized egg; it enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.