GLOSSARY

The glossary defines the technical words that appear in the text and some common words that have special meanings when used in psychology.
No attempt is made to give the range of meanings beyond those used in the text. For fuller definitions and other shades of meaning, consult any
standard dictionary of psychology.

A altered states of consciousness A change from an ordinary

abnormal Away from the norm. pattern of mental functioning to a state that seems different to the
absolute threshold The minimum magnitude of a stimulus that can person experiencing the change.
be reliably discriminated from no stimulus at all. alternative form reliability The consistency between two or more
abstraction Loss of information in the transformation from raw versions of the same test when given to the same person.
physical data to a percept. American College Test (ACT) An example of a group-
abstractions Properties that characterize sets of instances rather administered general-ability test.
than just single instances. American Law Institute ‘A person is not responsible for criminal
accommodation (1) The process by which the lens of the eye conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental
varies its focus. (2) In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to
the process by which an infant modifies a pre-existing schema in appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his
order to include a novel object or event. conduct to the requirements of the law.’
action potential An electrochemical impulse that travels from the amnesia Partial loss of memory.
dendritic area down to the end of the axon. amphetamines Central nervous system stimulants that produce
activation model In memory, the proposal that retrieval of an restlessness, irritability, anxiety, and rapid heart rate. Dexedrine
item depends on the activation of that item reaching a critical sulfate (‘speed’) and methamphetamine (‘meth’) are two types of
level. amphetamines.
actualizing tendency A tendency toward fulfillment or actualization amplitude (of a tone) The difference in pressure between the peak
of all the capacities of the organism. and the trough.
adaptive Adaptive behavior has survival value. amygdala A brain structure located below the cerebral cortex that
addiction A pattern of compulsive and destructive drug-taking is involved in consolidation of emotional memories.
behavior. anal stage The second stage in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of
adolescence The period of transition from childhood to adulthood. psychosexual development, following the oral stage. The sources
adolescent growth spurt A period of rapid physical growth that of gratification and conflict have to do with the expulsion and
accompanies the onset of puberty. retention of feces.
affect Emotions and feelings. analytic thought An orientation toward objects, detached from
affective neuroscience The study of how emotional phenomena their contexts, with much use of categories and formal logic and
are executed in the brain. the avoidance of contradiction.
afferent nerves Nerves that carry signals from the body to the Anderson’s theory of intelligence The theory that differences
central nervous system. in intelligence result from differences in the ‘basic processing
agency Sense of mastery, control, capability to engage in action. mechanism’ that implements thinking, which in turn yields
aggression Behavior that is intended to injure another person knowledge. Individuals vary in the speed at which basic
(physically or verbally) or to destroy property. processing occurs.
agnosia The general term for breakdowns or disorders in androgenization Influence of androgen on anatomy and brain
recognition. development.
agonists A drug that binds to receptors and activates them in much anhedonia The loss of the ability to experience joy, even in
the same way that another drug does. response to the most joyous occasions.
agoraphobia Fear of places where one might be trapped or unable anomic aphasic Patients who primarily have problems in retrieving
to receive help in an emergency. and recognizing words (as a result of some brain damage).
alliesthesia An interaction between incentive and drive theories of anorexia nervosa Self-imposed weight loss – at least 15 percent of
motivation which states that any external stimulus that corrects the individual’s minimum normal weight.
an internal trouble is experienced as pleasurable. antagonists A drug that locks onto receptors but in a way that
all-or-none law The principle that any neuron propagates its action does not activate them; the drug serves to ‘block’ the receptors
potential either at full strength, or not at all. so that another drug cannot gain access to them.

694
 GLOSSARY 695

anterior system (for attention) Designed to control when and attitudes Favorable or unfavorable evaluations of and reactions
how the perceptual features of an object (location in space, to objects, people, situations, or other aspects of the world.
shape, color) will be used for selection. See also posterior system attribution The process by which we attempt to explain the
(for attention). behavior of other people. Attribution theory deals with the
antidepressant drugs Drug used to elevate the mood of rules people use to infer the causes of observed behavior.
depressed individuals, presumably by increasing the availability of attributional styles Styles of making attributions for the events
the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and/or serotonin. Examples in one’s life.
are imipramine (Tofranil), isocarboxazid (Marplan), and fluoxetine atypical antipsychotics Drugs that reduce symptoms of
(Prozac). schizophrenia without causing so many side effects.
antisocial personality A type of personality disorder marked by auditory system The ears, parts of the brain, and the various
impulsivity, inability to abide by the customs and laws of society, connecting neural pathways.
and lack of anxiety or guilt regarding behavior (syn. sociopathic augmented network A network that includes inhibitory as well as
personality, psychopathic personality). excitatory connections.
antisocial personality disorder A disorder characterized by autism A mental disorder, first evident during early childhood,
deficits in normal emotional responding – especially for shame, in which the child shows significant deficits in communication,
guilt, and fear – as well as deficits in empathy for the emotions of social interaction, and bonding and play activities, and engages
others. in repetitive stereotyped behaviors and self-damaging acts.
anxiety A state of apprehension, tension, and worry. Synonymous automaticity The habituation of responses that initially requires
with fear for some theorists, although others view the object of conscious attention.
anxiety (such as a vague danger or foreboding) as less specific autonomic nervous system The division of the peripheral nervous
than the object of a fear (such as a vicious animal). system that regulates smooth muscle (organ and glandular)
anxiety disorders A group of mental disorders characterized by activities. It is divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic
intense anxiety or by maladaptive behavior designed to relieve divisions.
anxiety. Includes generalized anxiety and panic disorders, autonomic system Connects with the internal organs and glands.
phobic and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Major category autonomy A child’s independence from caretakers.
of ICD-10 and DSM-IV covering most of the disorders formerly availability heuristic The assumption that knowledge that is more
called neuroses. easily available (for example, because it can more easily be
aphasia Language deficits caused by brain damage. retrieved) is in fact more likely.
apnea The individual stops breathing while asleep. available wavelengths The wavelengths of the light that is
arousal Physiologically, the level of alertness of an organism. reflected off the paper reaching your eyes.
Psychologically, the tension that can accompany different levels avoidance learning The process by which an organism learns to
of arousal, ranging from calmness to anxiety. prevent an aversive event from starting (for example, avoiding a
asexuality A complete lack of sexual attraction. certain room if it was associated with a painfully loud noise in the
Asperger’s syndrome Pervasive developmental disorder past).
characterized by deficits in social skills and activities; similar axon That portion of a neuron that transmits impulses to other
to autism but does not include deficits in language or cognitive neurons.
skills.
assimilation In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the B
process by which an infant comprehends a novel object or event back projections Activities that modify the way sensory input is
in terms of a pre-existing schema. processed.
associationist psychology The view that the mind is filled with backward masking A method used in psychological testing. The
ideas that enter by way of the senses and then become participant is shown a picture for only 30 milliseconds, which is
associated through principles such as similarity and contrast. then masked by a neutral picture so that participants are unaware
associative agnosia A syndrome in which certain patients cannot of the picture’s content.
recognize visually presented objects. base-rate rule A probability rule which states that the probability of
associative learning Learning that certain contingencies (or something being a member of a class is greater the more class
relations) exist between events; learning that one event is members there are.
associated with another. basic level In a hierarchy of concepts, the level at which one first
ataque de nervios Trembling, feelings of out of control, sudden categorizes an object.
crying, screaming uncontrollably, verbal and physical aggression, basilar membrane A membrane of the ear within the coils of the
and sometimes seizure-like or fainting episodes and suicidal cochlea supporting the organ of Corti. Movements of the basilar
gestures. membrane stimulate the hair cells of the organ of Corti, producing
Atkinson-Shiffrin theory (of memory) The basis for the distinction the neural effects of auditory stimulation.
between different memories corresponding to different time behavior genetics Combines the methods of genetics and
intervals. psychology to study the inheritance of behavioral characteristics.
attachment An infant’s tendency to seek closeness to particular behavior therapy A method of psychotherapy based on learning
people and to feel more secure in their presence. principles. It uses such techniques as counterconditioning,
attention The ability to select some information for more detailed reinforcement, and shaping to modify behavior (syn. behavior
inspection, while ignoring other information. modification).
attitude bolstering Generating thoughts to support one’s original behavioral medicine The study of how social, psychological, and
attitude in the face of persuasion attempts, without directly biological factors interact to contribute to physical illness (syn.
refuting arguments within the message. health psychology).
696 GLOSSARY

behavioral perspective An approach to psychology that focuses broaden-and-build theory The theory that positive emotions
only on observable behavior, and tries to explain it in terms of its broaden our typical ways of thinking and acting and, in turn, build
relation to environmental events. our lasting personal resources.
behavioral rehearsal Role-playing. Broca’s aphasia Damage to Broca’s area leads to difficulties in
behaviorism A school or system of psychology associated with the speech production.
name of John B. Watson; it defined psychology as the study of Broca’s area That portion of the left cerebral hemisphere involved
behavior and limited the data of psychology to observable in the control of speech. Individuals with damage in this area have
activities. In its classical form it was more restrictive than the difficulty enunciating words correctly and speak in a slow and
contemporary behavioral viewpoint in psychology. labored way; their speech often makes sense, but it includes only
behaviorist approach (to personality) Emphasizes the key words.
importance of environmental, or situational, determinants of bulimia Recurrent episodes of binge eating (rapid consumption of a
behavior. large amount of food in a discrete period of time), followed by
belief bias The finding that, contrary to the rules of deductive logic, attempts to purge the excess by means of vomiting or laxatives.
humans are quite likely to judge a logically invalid conclusion as bystander effect The rule that people are less likely to help when
valid if it seems plausible to them. others are present.
benzodiazepines A class of drugs with similar chemical structures
that are effective in reducing anxiety. Examples are diazepam
(Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax). C
bias A criterion, set by the observer, for making a particular cannabis The hemp plant from which marijuana is obtained.
response. case history Biography designed for scientific use.
‘Big Five’ Five trait dimensions capture most of what we mean by categorization The process of assigning an object to a concept.
personality. They are Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, catharsis Purging an emotion by experiencing it intensely.
Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. cathartic effect The hypothesized reduction of aggression that
binding problem How activity in different parts of the brain, follows the vicarious expression of it.
corresponding to different primitives such as color and shape, are causality heuristic The use of the strength of the causal
combined into a coherent perception of an object. connections between the events in a claim to estimate the
binocular disparity (as a depth cue) The difference in the views probability of that claim.
seen by each eye. Ceci’s bioecological theory This theory proposes ‘multiple
biofeedback Receiving information (feedback) about an aspect of cognitive potentials’ rather than a single underlying general
one’s physiological state and then attempting to alter that state. intelligence. These multiple abilities are biologically based and
biological perspective An approach to psychology that tries to place limits on mental processes and their emergence is
explain behavior in terms of electrical and chemical events taking shaped by the challenges and opportunities in the individual’s
place inside the body, particularly within the brain and nervous environment, or context.
system. central core The most central portion of the brain, including
biological psychologist A psychologist concerned with the structures that regulate basic life processes.
relationship between biological processes and behavior. central nervous system All the neurons in the brain and spinal
bipolar disorders Alternating between periods of depression and cord.
periods of mania. (syn. manic-depression). central route When an individual mentally responds to and
blocking A phenomenon in classical conditioning: if one elaborates on a persuasive communication.
conditioned stimulus reliably predicts an unconditioned stimulus, cerebellum Lobed structure attached to the rear of the brain stem
and another conditioned stimulus is added, the relation between that regulates muscle tone and coordination of intricate
the added conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus movements.
will not be learned. cerebral cortex The surface layer of the cerebral hemispheres in
borderline personality disorder A mental disorder in which the higher animals, including humans, commonly called gray matter.
individual has manifested unstable moods, relationships with cerebrum The brain’s two cerebral hemispheres.
others, and self-perceptions chronically since adolescence or change blindness Not noticing a major change in a visual stimulus
childhood. that appeared a very short time ago (e.g., a second ago).
bottom-up processes Processes in perception, learning, memory, childhood amnesia The inability to recall events from the first years
and comprehension that are driven solely by the information of one’s life.
input, and that do not involve the organism’s prior knowledge childhood disintegrative disorder Pervasive developmental
and expectations. disorder in which children develop normally for the first two years
brain The part of the central nervous system encased inside the skull. of life but later show permanent loss of basic skills in social
brain imaging Techniques such as event-related potentials (ERPs), interactions, language and/or movement.
positron emission tomography (PET), and functional magnetic chromosomes Structures which carry genes, found in the nucleus
resonance imaging (fMRI). of each cell in the body.
brain’s dopamine system The neurons of this system lie in the chunking Recoding new material into larger, more meaningful units
upper brain stem and send their axons through the nucleus and storing those units in working memory.
accumbens and up to the prefrontal cortex. As their name circadian rhythms Rhythms of the body that occur approximately
implies, these neurons use the neurotransmitter dopamine to every 24 hours.
convey their message. classical conditioning A learning process in which a previously
brightness How much light appears to be reflected from a colored neutral stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus
surface. through repeated pairing with that stimulus.
 GLOSSARY 697

client-centered therapy A method of psychotherapy developed companionate love Contrasted with passionate love. The affection
by Carl Rogers in which the therapist is nondirective and reflective we feel for those with whom our lives are deeply intertwined.
and does not interpret or advise. The operating assumption is complex cell A cell in the visual cortex that responds to a bar of
that the client is the best expert on his or her problems and can light or straight edge of a particular orientation located anywhere
work them out in a nonjudgmental, accepting atmosphere (syn. in the visual field.
nondirective counseling). compliance Going along with the wishes of the influencer without
clinical psychologist A psychologist, usually with a Ph.D. or necessarily changing our beliefs or attitudes.
Psy.D. degree, trained in the diagnosis and treatment of comprehension of language Understanding language by hearing
emotional or behavioral problems and mental disorders. sounds, attaching meanings to the sounds in the form of words,
clock-dependent alerting process The process in the brain that combining the words to create a sentence, and then somehow
arouses us at a particular time each day. extracting meaning from it.
coaction The interaction between individuals performing the same compulsion Irresistible urges to carry out certain acts or rituals that
task. reduce anxiety.
cocaine A central nervous system stimulant derived from leaves of computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT) An X-ray technique
the coca plant. Increases energy, produces euphoria, and in large used to record brain activity.
doses causes paranoia. concept The set of properties that we associate with a particular
cochlea The portion of the inner ear containing the receptors for class.
hearing. concrete operational stage Piaget’s third stage of cognitive
cognitive appraisal The interpretation of an event or situation with development (ages 7 to 11 years) during which children become
respect to one’s goals and well-being. The cognitive appraisal of capable of logical thought and conservation.
an event influences both the quality and intensity of the emotion conditioned aversion Learning that occurs when negative
experienced and the degree of perceived threat. associative memories cause something (often food) to
cognitive approach (to personality) A general empirical subsequently be experienced as unpleasant.
approach and a set of topics related to how people process conditioned reinforcer A stimulus that has become reinforcing
information about themselves and the world. through prior association with a reinforcing stimulus (syn.
cognitive behavior therapy A therapy that attempts to help secondary reinforcer).
people identify the kinds of stressful situations that produce their conditioned response (CR) The learned or acquired response to a
physiological or emotional symptoms and alter the way they cope stimulus that did not evoke the response originally (i.e., a
with these situations. conditioned stimulus).
cognitive dissonance theory This theory assumes that there conditioned satiety The idea that the fullness we feel after a meal is
is a drive toward cognitive consistency, meaning that two at least in part a product of learning.
cognitions – or thoughts – that are inconsistent will produce conditioned stimulus (CS) A previously neutral stimulus that
discomfort, which will in turn motivate the person to remove comes to elicit a conditioned response through association with
the inconsistency and bring the cognitions into harmony. an unconditioned stimulus.
cognitive map A hypothetical structure in memory that preserves cones In the eye, specialized cells of the retina found predominantly
and organizes information about the various events that occur in the fovea and more sparsely throughout the retina. The cones
in a learning situation; a mental picture of the learning mediate both chromatic and achromatic sensations.
situation. confirmation bias The tendency to give more credence to
cognitive neuroscience An interdisciplinary approach that evidence that is in line with our previous beliefs than to evidence
combines aspects of cognitive psychology and neuroscience that contradicts it.
to study how mental activities are executed in the brain. conjunction rule A probability rule which states that the probability
cognitive perspective An approach to psychology that focuses on of a proposition cannot be less than the probability of that
mental processes such as perceiving, remembering, reasoning, proposition combined with another proposition.
deciding, and problem solving, and tries to explain behavior in connectionist models Models of cognitive processes (like
terms of these mental processes. perception) that incorporate a network of nodes, with excitatory
cognitive psychologists Psychologists who take an experimental and inhibitory connections between them.
approach to understanding people’s internal mental processes, conscious Our current awareness.
such as perception and attention, thinking, problem solving, consciousness (a) Monitoring ourselves and our environment so
judgment and decision making, memory, and language. that percepts, memories, and thoughts are represented in
collective unconscious A part of the mind that is common to awareness. (b) Controlling ourselves and our environment so that
all humans and consists of primordial images or archetypes we are able to initiate and terminate behavioral and cognitive
inherited from our ancestors. activities.
collectivism Refers to cultures that emphasize the fundamental conservation The understanding that the amount of a substance
connectedness and interdependence among people. remains the same even when its form is changed.
color constancy The tendency to see a familiar object as of the constancy The brain’s ability to maintain a perception of the
same color, regardless of changes in illumination on it that alter its underlying physical characteristics of an object, such as shape,
stimulus properties. size or color, even when the sensory manifestations of these
color-matching experiment An experiment that measures an objects change drastically.
observer’s inclination to see two physically different lights as construct validity The ability of a test or assessment instrument
having the same color. to confirm predictions of the theory underlying some theoretical
commitment The cognitive component of love that reflects the concept or construct. Confirming results validate both the
intention to remain in the relationship. concept and the assessment instrument simultaneously.
698 GLOSSARY

constructive memory The part of memory that is created after the cultural psychology An interdisciplinary approach involving
event that gave rise to the memory is over. psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and other social
constructive perception What is perceived forms the basis for the scientists that is concerned with how an individual’s culture
initial memory; therefore, if what is originally perceived differs influences his or her mental representations and psychological
systematically from the objective world, the perceiver’s initial processes.
memory of what happened will likewise be distorted. cultural relativist perspective (for acceptable behavior) This
constructive processes The processes by which perception is perspective follows that people should respect each culture’s
based on prior knowledge and inference in addition to the definitions of abnormality for the members of that culture.
objective data from the environment.
contingency Event A is contingent on event B, if A is more likely to D
occur when B has occurred, than when it has not. dark adaptation The increased sensitivity to light when the subject
continuum model A model that describes the full continuum of has been continuously in the dark or under conditions of reduced
processes from stereotyping to individuation. illumination.
contrast acuity The ability to see differences in brightness. dark adaptation curve The absolute threshold decreases with the
control group In an experiment, the group in which the condition length of time a person is in darkness.
under study is absent. data-driven learning A kind of associative learning in which people
controllability The degree to which we can stop an event or bring it have no prior beliefs about the relation that has to be learned;
about. learning is driven only by the input or data.
controlled stimulation Conditions in which the perceptual debriefing The meeting between researcher and participant
experiences of an organism are systematically varied in order to following a study in which the researcher tells the participant the
determine the effect on subsequent performance. For example, reasons for keeping them in ignorance – or deceiving them –
rearing kittens in an environment where they see only vertical about the procedures or hypotheses. The researcher also deals
stripes for the first few months of life. with any of the participants’ residual emotional reactions so that
conventional level of moral development Level of moral participants leave with their dignity intact and their appreciation
development in which children evaluate actions in terms of for the research enhanced.
other people’s opinions. decibel scale A logarithmic scale of loudness. A change of
coping The process by which a person attempts to manage 10 decibels corresponds to a change in sound power of 10 times;
stressful demands. 20 decibels, a change of 100 times; and so forth.
core The part of a concept that contains the properties that are deductive validity According to logicians, it is impossible for the
more essential for determining membership in the concept. conclusion of an argument to be false if its premises are true.
core relational theme The personal meaning that results defense mechanisms Strategies that people use to deal with
from a particular pattern of appraisals about a specific anxiety, which are largely unconscious.
person–environment relationship. degradation The process in which enzymes in the membrane of a
coronary heart disease The narrowing or closing of the blood receiving neuron react with a neurotransmitter to break it up
vessels that supply the heart muscles by the gradual buildup chemically and make it inactive; one method (in addition to
of a hard, fatty substance called plaque, blocking the flow of reuptake) of terminating a neurotransmitter’s action.
oxygen and nutrients to the heart. deindividuation A feeling that one has lost his or her personal
correlation coefficient An estimate of the degree to which two identity and merged anonymously into a group.
variables are related. deinstitutionalization The movement toward discharge of
counseling psychologist A trained psychologist, usually with a institutionalized mental patients to community-based
Ph.D. or Psy.D. degree, who deals with personal problems not services.
classified as illness, such as academic, social, or vocational delusions Beliefs that most people would view as misperceptions
problems of students. He or she has skills similar to those of of reality.
the clinical psychologist but usually works in a nonmedical dendrites Branches projecting from the cell body of a neuron,
setting. which receive neural impulses from other neurons.
counterarguing Directly rebutting the arguments within a message denial A defense mechanism by which unacceptable impulses or
that aims to be persuasive. ideas are not perceived or allowed into full awareness.
criterion problem in assessment The difficulty that arises in dependent variable A variable that is hypothesized to depend on
validating a test or assessment instrument when there is no the value of the independent variable.
criterion behavior the investigator is willing to accept as the ‘true’ depolarized If the electric potential across the neuron’s cell
measure of the concept being evaluated. membrane is such that the outside of a neuron is more negatively
criterion validity The ability of a test or assessment instrument charged than the inside, the neuron is in a polarized state.
to predict the behavior it is designed to predict (syn. empirical depressants Drugs that depress the central nervous system.
validity). depressive disorders Having one or more periods of depression
critical periods Crucial time periods in a person’s life during which without a history of manic episodes.
specific events occur if development is to proceed normally. depth cues Different kinds of visual information that, logically or
cue A directing stimulus such as a small arrow that directs the mathematically, provide information about some object’s depth.
subject to attend either to the left or to the right. developmental psychologist A psychologist whose research
cultural perspective (of abnormality) The view that mental interest lies in studying the changes that occur as a function of the
disorders are not situated in the brain or mind of the individual but growth and development of the organism, in particular the
in the social context in which the individual lives. relationship between early and later behavior.
 GLOSSARY 699

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th the drug to achieve the same effect), withdrawal (unpleasant
edition The classification of mental disorders used by most mental physical and psychological reactions if the drug is discontinued),
health professionals in the United States. and compulsive use (taking more of the drug than intended,
dichromatism Color blindness in which either the red-green or the being unable to control drug use, or spending a great deal of time
blue-yellow system is lacking. The red-green form is relatively trying to obtain the drug).
common; the blue-yellow form is the rarest of all forms of color drug tolerance The decreased effect of a drug when it is taken
blindness. repeatedly.
difference-reduction method A problem-solving strategy in which dynamic control theory A theory that, instead of an early,
one sets up subgoals that, when obtained, put one in a state hard-wired system sensitive to a small number of visual primitives,
closer to the goal. there is a malleable system whose components can be quickly
difference threshold The smallest difference in stimulus intensity reconfigured to perform different tasks at different times.
that is noticeable.
difficult temperament Term used to describe a child who is E
irritable, has irregular sleeping and eating patterns, and responds eardrum The membrane at the inner end of the auditory canal,
intensely and negatively to new situations. leading to the middle ear.
diffusion of responsibility The tendency for persons in a group easy temperament Term used to describe a child who is playful,
situation to fail to take action (as in an emergency) because others regular in his or her sleeping and eating patterns, and adapts
are present, thus diffusing the responsibility for acting. A major readily to new situations.
factor in inhibiting bystanders from intervening in emergencies. eclectic approach An approach to looking at topics within
dimensional appraisal theories A group of appraisal theories that psychology using multiple psychological perspectives.
identify a range of appraisal dimensions thought to be sufficient to educational psychologist A psychologist whose research interest
account for differences among emotions. lies in the application of psychological principles to the education
direct observation The observation of a particular phenomenon of children and adults in schools.
under study as it occurs naturally. efferent nerves Nerves that carry signals from the central nervous
discrimination A reaction to differences. system to the body.
disorganized Term used to describe a child who exhibits ego The executive of the personality.
contradictory behaviors related to attachment to his or her egocentrism The condition of being unaware of perspectives other
caretaker. than one’s own and believing that everyone perceives the
displacement (a) A defense mechanism whereby a motive that may environment in the same way.
not be directly expressed (such as sex or aggression) appears in elaboration A memory process wherein one expands verbal material
a more acceptable form. (b) The principle of loss of items from so as to increase the number of ways to retrieve the material.
short-term memory as too many new items are added. elaboration likelihood model According to this model, if a person
display rules A culture’s rules for the types of emotions people is at the high end of the continuum – willing and able to think
should experience in certain situations, and the behaviors deeply – then persuasion is said to follow a central route, relying
(including facial expressions) appropriate for each emotion. on controlled and effortful thinking; if a person is at the low end of
dispositional attribution Attributing a person’s actions to internal the continuum – for whatever reasons not willing or able to think
dispositions (attitudes, traits, motives), as opposed to situational deeply – then persuasion is said to follow a peripheral route,
factors. relying on automatic and effortless thinking.
dissociation Under certain conditions some thoughts and actions electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) A mild electric current is applied
become split off, or dissociated, from the rest of consciousness to the brain to produce a seizure similar to an epileptic convulsion.
and function outside of awareness. Also known as electroshock therapy.
dissociative identity disorder The existence in a single individual emergent features Features that owe their existence to the
of two or more distinct identities or personalities that alternate configuration of other features.
in controlling behavior. Formerly called multiple personality emotion A complex condition that arises in response to certain
disorder. affectively toned experiences.
distress Feelings of anxiety, depression, or agitation, or emotion-focused coping Ways of reducing anxiety or stress that
experiences such as insomnia, loss of appetite, or numerous do not deal directly with the emotion-producing situation; defense
aches and pains. mechanisms are a form of emotion-focused coping.
dizygotic Dizigotic (or ‘fraternal’) twins have developed from different emotion regulation People’s responses to their own emotions.
egg cells and are no more alike genetically than ordinary siblings. emotional intelligence The ability to perceive, express,
dream analysis Talking about the content of one’s dreams and understand, use, and manage emotions.
then free associating to that content. encoding Creating a memory representation of an event.
dreaming An altered state of consciousness in which remembered encoding stage Occurs when environmental information is
images and fantasies are temporarily confused with external translated into and stored as a meaningful entity.
reality. engineering psychologist A psychologist who specializes in the
drive theories Theories of motivation that emphasize the role of relationship between people and machines, seeking, for example,
internal factors. to design machines that minimize human error.
drug misuse Continued use of a drug by a person who is not escape learning The process by which an organism learns to
dependent on it (that is, shows no signs of tolerance, withdrawal, terminate an ongoing aversive event (for example, leaving a room
or compulsive craving), despite serious consequences. if there is a painfully loud noise there).
drug dependence A pattern of compulsive drug use usually event-related potentials (ERP) A technique to measure
characterized by tolerance (the need to take more and more of the electrical activity of the brain at the scalp (using
700 GLOSSARY

electroencephalograms, EEGs), as it occurs in response to a the investigator to compute the minimum number of determiners
stimulus or preceding a motor response. (factors) required to account for the intercorrelations among
evocative interaction The interaction between individuals and their the scores on the tests making up the battery.
environments that arises because the behavior of different false-alarm rate The proportion of false alarms over all the trials in
individuals evokes different responses from others. an experiment.
evolutionary psychology An area of research that studies how false alarms The response of incorrectly responding yes when only
psychological processes have evolved by means of natural noise is present.
selection; those behaviors that aided survival or increased the family therapy Psychotherapy with the family members as a group
chance of reproduction have tended to persist through the rather than treatment of the patient alone.
course of evolutionary history. feature-integration theory A cornerstone of understanding object
excitation threshold If the electric potential is raised above the perception that was initially proposed by Anne Treisman.
excitation threshold (for most neurons, around 55 mV) the cell fetal alcohol syndrome Mental retardation and multiple
membrane becomes temporarily unstable, resulting in an action deformities of the infant’s face and mouth due to exposure to
potential. alcohol in the womb.
excitatory Synaptic transmission is excitatory if it allows positively fight-or-flight response A pattern of bodily responses that
charged ions to enter the post-synaptic neuron; this depolarization prepares the organism for an emergency. Includes increases in
of the cell makes it more likely to generate an action potential. pupil size, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, muscle tension,
excitatory conditioning The ability of a CS to increase the and the secretion of epinephrine, norepinephrine, ACTH and
probability or magnitude of a given behavior. other hormones; decreases in saliva, mucous, digestive activity,
excitatory connections Connections between two nodes in a and the size of blood vessels.
connectionist network that are positive: An increase in one leads figure The objects of interest, which appear more solid than the
to an increase in the other. ground and appear in front of it. The figure and ground regions
exotic-becomes-erotic A theory about the determinants of sexual are the two most elementary forms of perceptual organization.
orientation that integrates nature and nurture views. fixation In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, arrested development
expectation A belief, based on past experience, that something will through failure to pass beyond one of the earlier stages of
occur. psychosexual development or to change the objects of
experiment The strongest test of hypotheses about cause and attachment (such as fixation at the oral stage or fixation
effect in which an investigator carefully controls conditions and on the mother).
takes measurements to discover the causal relationships among fixed interval schedule The organism is reinforced for its first
variables. response after a certain amount of time has passed since its last
experimental group In an experiment, the group of subjects given reinforcement.
the treatment whose effect is under investigation. fixed ratio schedule (FR) The number of responses that has to be
exploratory behavior The (human) desire to discover and learn made before reinforcement is fixed at a particular value.
new things. flashbulb memory A vivid and relatively permanent record of the
explicit memory The kind of memory that underlies a conscious circumstances in which one learned of an emotionally charged,
recollection of something in the past. significant event.
exponent (of a power function) A unique number that foot-in-the-door technique To get people to say ‘yes’ to requests
characterizes the function of each sensory modality. that would ordinarily lead to ‘no’, this technique suggests
extinction (a) The experimental procedure, following classical or beginning with a small request that few would refuse.
operant conditioning, of presenting the conditioned stimulus forebrain The structures located in the front, or anterior, part of the
without the usual reinforcement. (b) The reduction in response brain.
that results from this procedure. formal operational stage Piaget’s fourth stage of cognitive
extracellular thirst The psychological manifestation of the need for development in which the child becomes able to use abstract
water that occurs when our bodies lose water because we have rules.
gone without drinking or have exercised intensively. fovea In the eye, a small area in the central part of the retina, packed
extrinsic motivation Motivation that derives from external factors, with cones; the most sensitive part of the retina for detail vision
such as (financial) rewards. and color vision in daylight.
eye fixations Periods during which the eyes are stationery and are free association A patient is instructed to say everything that comes
acquiring information. to mind, regardless of how trivial or embarrassing it may seem.
frequency (of a tone) The number of cycles per second.
F Freudian slip In psychoanalytic theory, a mistake or substitution of
facial expressions The muscle actions that move facial landmarks words in speaking or writing that is contrary to the speaker’s
in particular ways. conscious intention and presumably expresses wishes or
facial feedback hypothesis The hypothesis that people’s thoughts repressed to the unconscious.
subjective experience of an emotion is determined by feedback frustration–aggression hypothesis The hypothesis that
from the physiological arousal caused by engaging in specific frustration (thwarting a person’s goal-directed efforts) induces an
facial expressions. aggressive drive, which, in turn, motivates aggressive behavior.
facial preference In infants, an inborn, unlearned preference for functional fixedness When a person has difficulty with a problem,
faces. presumably because they represent components of the problem
factor analysis A statistical method used in test construction and in as having a different function than that needed to solve the
interpreting scores from batteries of tests. The method enables problem.
 GLOSSARY 701

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) A brain imaging grain size A limiting feature in both imaginal and perceptual
technique that measures brain activity by measuring the magnetic processing. It can be thought of as our images are occurring in a
changes that result from oxygen consumption. mental medium whose grain limits the amount of detail we can
functionalism Studying how the mind works so that an organism detect in an image.
can adapt to and function in its environment. grammatical morpheme A morpheme that is not a word,
fundamental attribution error The tendency to underestimate including what are commonly referred to as articles and
situational influences on behavior and assume that some prepositions.
personal characteristic of the individual is responsible. ground The region that appears to be behind the figure. The figure
and ground regions are the two most elementary forms of
G perceptual organization.
group polarization effect The tendency of groups to arrive at
g General intelligence factor.
decisions that are in the same direction but are more extreme
ganglia (sing. ganglion) A group of neuronal cell bodies found
than the mean of the pre-discussion decisions of the individuals in
outside the brain and spinal cord.
the group.
ganzfeld procedure Tests for telepathic communication between
group therapy A group discussion or other group activity with a
a participant who serves as the ‘receiver’ and another participant
therapeutic purpose participated in by more than one client or
who serves as the ‘sender’.
patient at a time.
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences The theory that there
grouping by proximity If the vertical distance between dots is
are seven distinct kinds of intelligence that are independent of
reduced columns will most likely be seen.
one another, each operating as a separate system (or module)
grouping by similarity Grouping like with like.
in the brain according to its own rules. These are (1) linguistic,
groupthink A phenomenon in which members of a group are
(2) musical, (3) logical-mathematical, (4) spatial, (5) bodily-
led to suppress their own dissent in the interests of group
kinesthetic, (6) intrapersonal, and (7) interpersonal.
consensus.
gate control theory of pain According to this theory, the sensation
of pain requires not only that pain receptors be activated, but also
that a neural gate in the spinal cord allow these signals to H
continue to the brain. Pressure stimulation tends to close the habit A learned stimulus-response sequence.
gate; this is why rubbing a hurt area can relieve pain. Attitudes, habituation The reduction in the strength of a response to a
suggestions, and drugs may act to close the gate. repeated stimulus.
gender identity A firm sense of oneself as either male or female. habituation method A technique used to study perception in
gender schema A mental structure that organizes the person’s infants. It is based on the fact that while infants look directly at
perceptual and conceptual world into gender categories novel objects they soon tire of doing so (habituation). Hence one
(male–female, masculine–feminine). can determine the degree to which an infant perceives an object
genes Segments of DNA molecules that are the basic hereditary as novel by measuring the time spent looking at it.
units. hair cells In audition, hairlike receptors in the cochlea that bend due
general adaptation syndrome A set of responses that is to vibration of the basilar membrane and then send electrical
displayed by all organisms in response to stress. impulses to the brain.
general learning disability Deficits in intellectual and practical skills hallucinations Sensory experiences in the absence of relevant or
far below average. adequate external stimulation.
general paresis A gradual decline in mental and physical functioning, hallucinogens Drugs whose main effect is to change perceptual
marked changes in personality, and delusions and hallucinations. experience (syn. psychedelic drugs).
generalization (a) In learning, the detection of a characteristic hardiness Resistance to becoming physically or emotionally
or principle common to a class of objects or events. (b) In impaired even in the face of major stressful events.
conditioning, the principle that once a conditioned response hashish A form of cannabis commonly used in the Middle East.
has been established to a given stimulus, similar stimuli will also Hebbian learning rule The idea that repetition of the same
evoke that response. response will lead to permanent changes at the synapses
generalized anxiety disorder A constant sense of tension and between neurons. In particular, if input from neuron A repeatedly
dread. increases the firing rate of neuron B, then the connection between
genital stage In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the final stage neurons A and B will grow stronger.
of psychosexual development, beginning at puberty and hemispheres Structures on the left and right sides of the brain that
culminating in mature adult sexuality. are connected by the corpus callosum.
geons In perception, geometric forms (such as cylinders, cones, heritability The percentage of the variance in any trait that is
blocks, and wedges) that comprise the features of objects. accounted for by genetic differences among the individuals in a
Recognition of an object is good to the extent that the geons of population.
the object can be recovered. heroin An extremely addictive central nervous system depressant
Gestalt A German word meaning ‘form’ or ‘configuration’. Gestalt derived from opium.
psychologists are interested primarily in perception and believe hertz (Hz) The unit used to measure the frequency of a sound
that perceptual experiences depend on the patterns formed wave, specifically the number of cycles per second.
by stimuli and on the organization of experience. heuristic A short-cut procedure that is relatively easy to apply and
glial cell A supporting cell (not a neuron); glial cells compose a can often yield the correct answer, but not inevitably so.
substantial portion of brain tissue; recent speculation suggests hidden observer A part of the mind that is not within awareness
that they may play a role in neural conduction. seems to be watching the person’s experience as a whole.
702 GLOSSARY

hierarchy of needs Maslow’s way of classifying needs and ideology A set of beliefs and attitudes.
motives, from the basic biological needs to the more complex illusion A percept that is false or distorted.
psychological motivations that become important only after the illusory conjunction An incorrect combination of two separate
basic needs have been satisfied. attributes of an object.
hindbrain All the structures located in the hind, or posterior, part of imaginal mode A form of thought based in (visual) imagery.
the brain, closest to the spinal cord. imaginal thought Images, particularly visual ones, that we can
hippocampus A brain structure located below the cerebral cortex ‘see’ in our mind.
that is involved in the consolidation of new memories; its role implicit egotism The non-conscious tendency to be attracted to
seems to be that of a cross-referencing system, linking together people, places and objects that subtly remind one of oneself.
aspects of a particular memory that are stored in separate parts implicit leniency contract To appear fair, majority members let
of the brain. minority members have their say, but by doing so they unwittingly
hit rate The proportion of hits over all the trials in an experiment. open the door to minority influence.
hits The response of correctly responding ‘yes’ when a signal is implicit memory The kind of memory that underlies perceptual and
present. cognitive skills. It is often expressed as an improvement on some
holistic thought An orientation toward the entire context or field perceptual or cognitive task without any conscious recollection
and assigning causality to it, making relatively little use of of the experiences that led to the improvement.
categories and formal logic, and relying instead on dialectical imprinting A type of early learning in which a newborn forms an
reasoning, which involves recognizing and transcending apparent attachment with some kind of model (normally, a parent).
contradictions. inattentional blindness Not ‘seeing’ something because one is
homeostasis The normal level of functioning that is characteristic of not paying attention to it.
the healthy organism (Chapter 2); a constant internal state in vivo exposure A method of therapy highly similar to systematic
(Chapter 10). desensitization that requires the client to actually experience the
homeostatic sleep drive A physiological process that strives to anxiety-producing situations.
obtain the amount of sleep required for a stable level of daytime incentive motivation Wanting something.
alertness. incentive The expected reward of a behvior.
hormones Chemicals secreted by the endocrine glands into the incentive salience Objects and events that have become linked
bloodstream and transported to other parts of the body, where with anticipated affect, which serves to grab attention and steer
they have specific effects on cells that recognize their message. seeking behavior.
hue The quality best described by the color’s name. incentive theory A theory of motivation that emphasizes the
humanistic therapies A general term for approaches to importance of negative and positive incentives in determining
psychotherapy that emphasize the individual’s subjective behavior; internal drives are not the sole instigators of activity.
experiences, free will, and ability to solve his or her own problems. incus One of three small bones located in the middle ear.
Client-centered therapy and Gestalt therapy are examples. independent variable A variable that is independent of what the
hypercomplex cell A cell in the visual cortex that responds to a participant does.
particular orientation and length. individualism Refers to cultures that emphasize the fundamental
hyperpolarized If the cell is more polarized than it is at rest, it is separateness and independence of individuals.
called hyperpolarized. individuation Assessing an individual’s personal qualities on a
hypnosis A willing and cooperative individual relinquishes some person-by-person basis.
control over his or her behavior to the hypnotist and accepts inductive reasoning Reasoning about arguments in which it is
some distortion of reality. improbable that the conclusion is false if the premises are true.
hypothalamus A small but very important structure located just inductive strength It is improbable that the conclusion is false if the
above the brain stem and just below the thalamus. Considered a premises are true.
part of the central core of the brain, it includes centers that govern inferences (a) A perceptual or memorial process based on what
motivated behavior such as eating, drinking, sex, and emotions; is believed to be true rather than what necessarily is true.
it also regulates endocrine activity and maintains body homeostasis. (b) Judgments that go beyond the information given.
hypothesis A statement that can be tested. information-processing model In general, a model based on
assumptions regarding the flow of information through a system;
I usually best realized in the form of a computer program. In
id The most primitive part of the personality and the part from which cognitive psychology, theories of how the mind functions are
the ego and the superego later develop. often represented in the form of an information-processing
ideal self Image of self that represents the best self one can be or model. By simulating the model on a computer, one can study the
aspires to be. properties and implications of the theory.
identification Respecting or admiring other individuals or groups information-processing skills Skills that help one gather and
and obeying their norms and adopting their beliefs, attitudes, and analyze information from the environment.
behaviors in order to be like them and identify with them. informational social influence We conform because we believe
identity confusion Occurs when a person has no consistent sense that other people’s interpretations of an ambiguous situation are
of self or set of internal standards for evaluating his or her self- more correct than our own.
worth in major areas of life. informed consent The participants must enter a study voluntarily
identity crisis In Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, a and be permitted to withdraw from it at any time without penalty if
period of self-doubt and active questioning about one’s definition they so desire.
of self (‘Who am I?’ ‘Where am I going?’) which typically takes inhibitory Synaptic transmission is inhibitory if it allows positively
place during adolescence. charged ions to leave the post-synaptic neuron, or negatively
 GLOSSARY 703

charged ions to enter it; this hyperpolarization of the cell makes it orientation is turned inward toward the self or outward toward the
more likely to generate an action potential. external world. At the introversion end are shy individuals who tend
inhibitory conditioning The ability of a CS to decrease the to withdraw into themselves; at the extroversion end are sociable
probability or magnitude of a behavioral response. individuals who prefer to be with others.
inhibitory connections Connections between two nodes in a inversion effect The relative difficulty of recognizing upside-down
connectionist network that are negative: An increase in one leads faces compared to other upside-down visual stimuli (such as cars
to a decrease in the other. or houses).
insecurely attached Term used to describe a child who is ion Electrically charged molecule.
ambivalent and/or shows resistance to his or her caretaker during ion channel A specialized protein molecule that permits specific
a reunion episode. ions to enter or leave cells. Some ion channels open or close
insight An understanding of a situation, leading to the solution of a in response to appropriate neurotransmitter molecules; others
problem (contrast with trial-and-error learning). open or close in response to voltage changes across the cell
insomnia Dissatisfaction with the amount or quality of one’s sleep. membrane. This process regulates depolarization and the firing of
institutional norms Like social norms – implicit or explicit rules for nerve impulses.
acceptable behavior and beliefs – except they are applied to ion pump Protein structure that helps to maintain the uneven
entire institutions, or organizations of the same type. distribution of ions across the cell membrane by pumping them
instrumental conditioning Certain responses that are learned into or out of the cell.
because they operate on, or affect, the environment.
intellectualization A defense mechanism whereby a person tries to J
gain detachment from an emotionally threatening situation by James–Lange theory A classical theory of emotion, named for the
dealing with it in abstract, intellectual terms. two men who independently proposed it. The theory states that the
intelligence (a) That which a properly standardized intelligence test stimulus first leads to bodily responses, and then the awareness of
measures. (b) The ability to learn from experience, think in these responses constitutes the experience of emotion.
abstract terms, and deal effectively with one’s environment. just noticeable difference (jnd) The minimum difference in
intelligence quotient (IQ) A ratio of mental age to chronological stimulus magnitude necessary to tell two stimuli apart.
age.
intensity How strong a particular stimulus is. K
interference A factor that can impair retrieval from long-term
knowledge According to knowledge acquisition approaches to
memory. It arises when different items are associated with the
development, the child’s understanding of how facts in a
same retrieval cue; attempted retrieval of one of these items can
particular domain are organized.
be blocked by the inadvertent retrieval of the other item.
interjudge reliability The consistency achieved by two or more
observers when assessing or rating some behavior (for example, L
in rating the aggressiveness of nursery-school children). Also language A multilevel system for relating thoughts to speech by
called interrater agreement. means of word and sentence units.
internal conflicts Unresolved issues that may be either conscious latency period In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, a period in middle
or unconscious. childhood, roughly the years 6–12, when both sexual and
internal consistency A form of test reliability. Specifically, the aggressive impulses are said to be in a quiescent state.
homogeneity of a set of items on a test, the degree to which they latent learning Learning that has taken place, but that is not
are all measuring the same variable. manifesting itself in a change in behavior.
International Classification of Diseases System to classify lateral hypothalamic syndrome An apparent total lack of hunger
mental disorders. caused by the destruction of the lateral hypothalamus.
interneuron A neuron that connects sensory and motor neurons. law of effect The principle that any behavior that is followed by
interpersonal therapy A style of therapy that tends to be more reinforcement is strengthened; from the infinite pool of possible
structured and short-term than traditional psychoanalysis. responses, those that lead to reinforcement are repeated,
interposition (as a depth cue) If one object is positioned so that it whereas those that do not are extinguished.
obstructs the view of the other, the viewer perceives the learned helplessness A condition of apathy or helplessness
overlapping object as being nearer. created experimentally by subjecting an organism to unavoidable
interrater agreement See interjudge reliability. trauma (such as shock, heat, or cold). Being unable to avoid or
interval schedules Reinforcement is available only after a certain escape an aversive situation produces a feeling of helplessness
time interval has elapsed. that generalizes to subsequent situations.
intimacy The emotional component of love which involves learned taste aversion An aversion to eat a particular food, as a
closeness and sharing of feelings. result of an experience in which the food became associated with
intracellular thirst The psychological manifestation of the need for illness.
water that is caused by osmosis – the tendency of water to move learning A relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as
from zones where it is plentiful to zones where it is relatively rare. the result of practice.
intrinsic motivation Motivation that derives from internal factors, libido (Latin for ‘lust’.) In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the psychic
such as feeling satisfaction, pride, and competence. energy of the id.
introspection The observation and recording of one’s own liking In the study of motivation, liking refers to the pleasure
perceptions, thoughts, and feelings. experienced while sought-after rewards are consumed, whereas
introversion–extroversion The personality dimension first identified in the study of interpersonal relationships, liking refers to
by Carl Jung that refers to the degree to which a person’s basic friendship and the early stages of more intimate relationships.
704 GLOSSARY

limbic system A set of structures that are closely interconnected most important difference between them; eliminating this
with the hypothalamus and appear to impose additional controls difference then becomes the main subgoal.
over some of the instinctive behaviors regulated by the measurement A system for assigning numbers to variables.
hypothalamus and the brain stem. meditation Achieving an altered state of consciousness by
literature review A scholarly summary of the existing body of performing certain rituals and exercises.
research on a given topic. medulla The lowest section of the brainstem, a slight enlargement
lithium Drug used to treat mania. of the spinal cord as it enters the skull; the point at which the
lobes Large regions of the cerebral cortex that perform diverse major nerve tracts cross over so that the right cerebral
functions. hemisphere controls the left side of the body, and the left cerebral
localization Determining where objects are in space. hemisphere controls the right side.
lock-and-key action A model of synaptic transmission based in melatonin A hormone that induces sleep.
which a neurotransmitter affects only those receptor sites into memory illusion Memories for events that never occurred.
which it ‘fits’ (like a key in a lock). menarche The first menstrual period.
long-term depression A long-lasting decrease in synaptic mental imagery Mental representations that are picture-like. Not
transmission at synapses in the cerebellar cortex. the same as eidetic imagery.
long-term memory Semi-permanent memory. mental model A concrete mental representation of a problem
long-term potentiation A phenomenon concerning the neural situation that may be useful in solving the problem.
bases of learning. Once stimulated, neurons will show an increase mental rotation The notion that a mental image of an object can be
in their rate of activity when subsequently stimulated (at least up rotated in the mind in fashion analogous to rotating the real object.
to a period of months). mental set A disposition to organize knowledge in a particular way.
long-term store The large repository of information where we mere exposure effect The finding that familiarity all by itself
maintain all information that is generally available to us. increases liking.
loosening of associations Occurs when the individual’s ideas shift meta-analysis A form of literature review in which authors use
from one topic to another in ways that appear unrelated. statistical techniques to combine and draw conclusions about
loudness An intensity dimension of hearing correlated with the studies previously conducted.
amplitude of the sound waves that constitute the stimulus. metacognition Thinking about thinking.
Greater amplitudes yield greater loudnesses. metamers A pair of such matching lights – that is, two lights with
LSD A potent drug that produces hallucinations at very low doses. different physical makeups that appear identical.
See also hallucinogen. methadone An agonist drug used in treating heroin-dependent
lucid dream A dream in which events seem so normal (lacking the individuals.
bizarre and illogical character of most dreams) that the dreamer method of loci An aid to serial memory. Verbal material is
believes he or she is awake and conscious. transformed into mental images, which are then located at
successive positions along a visualized route, such as an imaged
M walk through the house or down a familiar street.
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) A computer-based scanning midbrain The middle of the brain.
procedure that uses strong magnetic fields and radio-frequency middle ear The part of the ear that transmits sound waves from the
pulses to generate a picture of a cross section of the brain or eardrum to the oval window of the inner ear by means of three
body. Provides greater precision than the CT scanner. tiny connecting bones (malleus, incus, and stapes).
maladaptive Having adverse effects on the individual or on minimal risk The principle that risks anticipated in the research
society. should be no greater than those ordinarily encountered in daily life.
malleus One of three small bones located in the middle ear. minimalist appraisal theories A group of appraisal theories that
manic episode An episode in which an individual is energetic, are based on reducing the number of appraisal dimensions to
enthusiastic, full of self-confidence, talks continually, rushes minimum, often based on fundamental themes.
from one activity to another with little need for sleep, and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) A pencil-
makes grandiose plans, paying little attention to their and-paper version of a psychiatric interview that consists of more
practicality. than 550 statements concerning attitudes, emotional reactions,
marijuana The dried leaves of the hemp plant (cannabis); also physical and psychological symptoms, and experiences Test
known as hashish, ‘pot’, or ‘grass’. Hashish is actually an takers respond to each statement by answering, ‘True’, ‘False’,
extract of the plant material and, hence, is usually stronger than or ‘Cannot say’.
marijuana. Intake may enhance sensory experiences and produce minority influence Minorities can move majorities toward their
a state of euphoria. point of view if they present a consistent position without
marital therapy Psychotherapy with both members of a couple appearing rigid, dogmatic, or arrogant.
aimed at resolving problems in their relationship (syn. couples misattribution of arousal Lingering physiological arousal can be
therapy). mistakenly attributed to subsequent circumstances and intensify
maturation An innately determined sequence of growth and our emotional reactions to those circumstances.
change that is relatively independent of external events. mnemonic system A strategy or set of strategies for efficiently
McGurk effect Results from conflicting auditory and visual remembering things.
information. model of the environment A representation of the world within
mean The technical term for an arithmetic average. our brains that we use to consciously perceive, make decisions,
meaning The concept named by a word. and behave.
means–ends analysis A problem-solving strategy in which one monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors One of the enzymes
compares one’s current state to the goal state in order to find the responsible for the breakdown of a group of neurotransmitters
 GLOSSARY 705

called biogenic amines (norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin neural sensitization Potentially permanent changes in the brain
are examples); believed to be important in the regulation of that follow drug addition whereby dopamine neurons are
emotion. Drugs that inhibit the action of this enzyme (MAO activated more highly by drugs and drug-related stimuli.
inhibitors) are used in treating depression. neuron A specialized cell that transmits neural impulses or
monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) A class of drugs used to messages to other neurons, glands, and muscles.
treat depression; the drug inhibits the action of an enzyme neurosis (pl. neuroses) A mental disorder in which the individual
(monoamine oxidase) that breaks down certain neurotransmitters is unable to cope with anxieties and conflicts and develops
(such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin), thereby symptoms that he or she finds distressing, such as obsessions,
prolonging the action of these neurotransmitters. compulsions, phobias, or anxiety attacks. In Freud’s
monochromatism Total color blindness, the visual system being psychoanalytic theory, neurosis results from the use of defense
achromatic. A rare disorder. mechanisms to ward off anxiety caused by unconscious conflicts.
monozygotic Monozygotic (or ‘identical’) twins have developed No longer a diagnostic category of DSM-IV.
from a single fertilized egg cell and share exactly the same genes. neurotic anxiety Fear that is out of proportion to the actual danger
mood disorders Mental disorders characterized by disturbances of posed (such as stage fright).
mood. Depression, mania (exaggerated excitement), and bipolar neuroticism The name of the emotional instability–stability
disorders in which the individual experiences both extremes of dimension in Eysenck’s factor-analytic theory of personality.
mood are examples. Moody, anxious, and maladjusted individuals are at the
moods Free-floating and diffuse affective states. neurotic or unstable end; calm, well-adjusted individuals are
moral judgment Children’s understanding of moral rules and social at the other.
conventions. neurotransmitter A chemical that diffuses across the synaptic gap
morpheme Any small linguistic unit that carries meaning. and stimulates the next neuron.
motivation A condition that energizes behavior and gives it neutral stimulus In classical conditioning, any stimulus that does
direction. not naturally elicit the conditioned response.
motor neuron A neuron that carries outgoing signals from the nodes of Ranvier Small interruptions in the myelin sheath.
central nervous system to muscles and glands. noise Anything in the environment irrelevant to what the observer is
multivariate experiment A type of experiment that involves trying to detect.
the simultaneous manipulation of several independent variables. non-associative learning Learning about a single stimulus.
Munsell system A scheme for specifying colored surfaces by non-REM sleep (or NREM sleep) Refers to the other four sleep
assigning them one of 10 hue names and two numbers, one stages (besides REM) in which eye movements are virtually
indicating saturation and the other brightness. absent, heart and breathing rates decrease markedly, the
myelin sheath A sheet of glial cells wrapped around the axon. muscles are relaxed, and the brain’s metabolic rate decreases 25
to 30 percent compared to wakefulness.
N normality Appropriate perception of reality, ability to exercise
naïve realism People’s tendency to take their constructed, voluntary control over behavior, self-esteem and acceptance,
subjective realities to be faithful renderings of an objective world. ability to form affectionate relationships, and productivity.
naltrexone An antagonist drug that blocks the action of heroin normative social influence We conform to a group’s social norms
because it has a greater affinity for the opioid receptors than does or typical behaviors to become liked and accepted.
heroin itself. noun phrase A phrase that centers on a noun and specifies the
narcolepsy Recurring, irresistible attacks of drowsiness with the subject of an underlying proposition.
likelihood of falling asleep at any time. nuclei (sing. nucleus) A collection of nerve cell bodies grouped in
narrative review A form of literature review in which authors use the brain or spinal cord.
words to describe studies previously conducted and to discuss nurture view The view that human knowledge is acquired through
the strength of the available psychological evidence. experiences and interactions with the world.
nature view The view that human beings enter the world with an
inborn store of knowledge and understanding of reality. O
nature–nurture debate The problem of determining the relative obese Being 30 percent or more above the weight level that would
importance of heredity (nature) and the result of upbringing in a be appropriate for a person’s body structure and height.
particular environment (nurture) on behavior. object recognition Determining what an object is based on its
negative hallucinations In a hypnotic state, when a person does physical characteristics.
not perceive something that normally would be perceived. object permanence The awareness that an object continues to
negative punishment Decreasing the response frequency by exist even when it is not present.
the removal of a pleasant or appetitive stimulus following the object relations theory An outgrowth of psychoanalytic theory
response. that deals with the person’s attachments to others over the
negative reinforcement Reinforcing a response by the removal of course of development. Emphasizes ego functioning more than
an aversive stimulus. did classical psychoanalytic theory.
negatively correlated As the value of one variable increases, the objectification theory A sociocultural account of how being raised
value of another decreases. in a culture that sexually objectifies the female body fundamentally
nerve A bundle of elongated axons belonging to hundreds or alters girls’ and women’s self-views and well-being.
thousands of neurons. objective anxiety Fear that is proportionate to the danger
nervous system The full system of neural tissue. posed.
neural plasticity The ability of the neural system to change in observational learning People can learn by observing the actions
response to experience. of others and noting the consequences of those actions.
706 GLOSSARY

obsessions Persistent intrusions of unwelcome thoughts, images, panic disorder An anxiety disorder in which the individual has
or impulses that elicit anxiety. sudden and inexplicable episodes of terror and feelings of
obsessive-compulsive disorder An anxiety disorder taking one of impending doom accompanied by physiological symptoms of
three forms: (a) persistent intrusions of unwelcome thoughts, fear (such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, muscle
images, or impulses that elicit anxiety (obsessions); (b) irresistible tremors, faintness).
urges to carry out certain acts or rituals that reduce anxiety paranoid An individual who has delusions of persecution.
(compulsions); (c) both of these in combination. parapsychology Phenomena that are ‘beside psychology’,
Oedipal conflict In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the conflict that including telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, psychokinesis.
arises during the phallic stage of psychosexual development in parasympathetic nervous system A division of the automatic
which the individual is sexually attracted to the parent of the nervous system, the nerve fibers of which originate in the cranial
opposite sex and perceives the same-sex parent as a rival. and sacral portions of the spinal cord. Active in relaxed or
olfactory bulb A region of the brain involved in olfaction (smell); it is quiescent states of the body and to some extent antagonistic to
a way station between the receptors in the nasal passage and the the sympathetic division, or system.
olfactory cortex. partial-report procedure An experiment devised by George
olfactory cortex The area in the brain responsible for the sense of Sperling in which a varied array of letters is flashed to observers
smell. Located on the inside of the temporal lobes. for a brief period.
olfactory system The receptors in the nasal passage, certain passion The motivational component of love which consists of
regions of the brain, and interconnecting neural pathways. sexual attraction and the romantic feeling of being ‘in love’.
omission training Behavior that prevents an appetitive stimulus. passionate love Contrasted with companionate love. An intensely
operant conditioning Certain responses are learned because they emotional state in which tender and sexual feelings, elation and
operate on, or affect, the environment. pain, anxiety and relief, altruism and jealousy coexist in a
operation A mental routine for separating, combining, and confusion of feelings.
otherwise transforming information in a logical manner. PCP Sold as a hallucinogen (under such street names as ‘angel
opiates Drugs that diminish physical sensation and the capacity to dust’, ‘Shermans’, and ‘superacid’), this drug is technically a
respond to stimuli by depressing the central nervous system. dissociative anesthetic.
opponent-color theory A theory of color perception that peak experiences Transient moments of self-actualization.
postulates two types of color-sensitive units that respond in perception Constructing an internal model of the world based
opposite ways to the two colors of an opponent pair. One type of on bottom-up sensory processes combined with top-down
unit responds to red or green, the other to blue or yellow. Since a real-world knowledge.
unit cannot respond in two ways at once, reddish-greens and perceptual interference The finding that objects had to eventually
yellowish-blues cannot occur. be more focused for the observers to recognize them in the
opponent-process model of sleep and wakefulness A theory very-out-of-focus condition than in the moderately-out-of-focus
that states that the brain possesses two opponent processes condition.
that govern the tendency to fall asleep or remain awake: the periaqueductal gray A section of the brain in which neurons are
homeostatic sleep drive and the clock-dependent alerting connected to other neurons that inhibit cells that would normally
process. carry the pain signals arising in the pain receptors. This area
oral stage In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the first stage of appears to be the main place where strong painkillers such as
psychosexual development; pleasure derives from the lips and morphine affect neural processing.
mouth, as in sucking at the mother’s breast. peripheral nervous system The nerves connecting the brain and
organizational psychologist A psychologist concerned with spinal cord to other parts of the body.
selecting people who are most suitable for particular jobs or peripheral route When an individual responds to noncontent cues
designing structures that facilitate collaboration and teamwork. in a communication or to the context of a communication.
outer ear The external ear and auditory canal, whose purpose is to personal constructs The dimensions that individuals themselves
funnel sound waves towards the inner ear. use to interpret themselves and their social worlds.
oval window A membrane on the cochlea of the inner ear that personality The distinctive and characteristic patterns of thought,
receives vibrations from the ear drum via three connecting bones emotion, and behavior that define an individual’s personal style of
(malleus, incus, and stapes). Vibrations at the oval window set up interacting with the physical and social environment.
similar vibrations in the internal fluid of the cochlea, ultimately personality disorders Ingrained habitual, and rigid patterns of
activating the hair cells that serve as auditory receptors. behavior or character that severely limit the individual’s adaptive
overextension Tendency to apply a new word too widely. potential; often society sees the behavior as maladaptive whereas
overjustification effect Explaining one’s own behavior with too the individual does not.
much emphasis on salient situational causes and not enough personality inventory An inventory for self-appraisal, consisting
emphasis on personal causes, like intrinsic interest. of many statements or questions about personal characteristics
and behavior that the person judges to apply or not to apply to
P him or her.
pain threshold The minimum intensity of a stimulus that is personality psychologist A psychologist whose area of interest
perceived as painful. focuses on classifying individuals and studying the differences
pain tolerance The maximum intensity of a painful stimulus that can between them This specialty overlaps both developmental and
be endured. social psychologists to some extent.
panic attack An episode of acute and overwhelming apprehension person–environment relationship The objective situation in which
or terror. a person finds herself.
 GLOSSARY 707

perspective (as a depth cue) When parallel lines in a scene color, responsible for selecting one object among many on the
appear to converge in the image, they are perceived as vanishing basis of the features associated with that object.
in the distance. post-event information Information about an event obtained after
pervasive developmental disorders Disorders characterized the event is over that can be added to memory.
by severe and persisting impairment in several areas of post-event memory construction During memory formation, we
development. may add new information that is suggested to us by others.
phallic stage In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the third stage of posthypnotic amnesia A particular form of posthypnotic
psychosexual development in which gratification is associated suggestion in which the hypnotized person forgets what
with stimulation of the sex organs and sexual attachment is to the has happened during the hypnosis until signaled to remember.
parent of the opposite sex. posthypnotic response A response that occurs when a subject
phasic pain The kind of sharp pain experienced immediately upon who has been roused from hypnosis responds with movement to
suffering an injury; usually brief with a rapid increase in intensity a prearranged signal by the hypnotist.
followed by a decrease. post-traumatic stress disorder An anxiety disorder in which a
phenothiazines A group of antipsychotic drugs that relieve the stressful event that is outside the range of usual human
symptoms of schizophrenia by blocking the access of the experience, such as military combat or a natural disaster, brings
neurotransmitter dopamine to its receptors. Chlorpromazine in its aftermath such symptoms as a re-experiencing of the
(Thorazine) and fluphenazine (Prolixin) are examples. trauma and avoidance of stimuli associated with it, a feeling of
pheromones Chemicals that float through the air to be sniffed by estrangement, a tendency to be easily startled, nightmares,
other members of the species. recurrent dreams, and disturbed sleep.
phobia Intense fear of a stimulus or situation that most people do power function The relation between Y and F, which is (basically)
not consider particularly dangerous. Y ¼ fr.
phoneme Discrete speech categories. pragmatic rules Rules used in deductive reasoning that are less
phonological loop The part of working memory in which auditory abstract than logical rules, but still applicable to many different
repetition takes place. domains of life. An example is the permission rule.
photon The smallest unit of light energy. preconscious All the information that is not currently ‘on our mind’
physical description (of an object) A listing of all the information but that we could bring into consciousness if called upon to do so.
necessary to completely reproduce the object. preconscious memories Memories that are accessible to
physiology The study of the functions of the living organism and its consciousness.
parts. preconventional level of moral development Level of moral
pitch A sensation based on the frequency of sound. development in which children evaluate actions as right or wrong
place theory of pitch perception A theory of hearing that on the basis of anticipated punishment.
associates pitch with the place on the basilar membrane where predictability The degree to which we know if and when an event
activation occurs. will occur.
pluralistic ignorance The phenomenon in which everybody in a preferential looking method A method of examining infants’
group misleads everybody else by defining an ambiguous perceptual preferences by presenting them two stimuli
situation as a nonemergency. simultaneously and noting the amount of time the infants gaze at
polarized If the electric potential across the neuron’s cell membrane each object.
is such that the inside of a neuron is more negatively charged than prefrontal lobes The lobes just behind the forehead.
the outside, the neuron is in a polarized state. preoperational stage Piaget’s second stage of cognitive
polygenic Traits determined by a combination of many genes are development. The child thinks in terms of symbols, but does not
polygenic. yet comprehend certain rules or operations.
pons A brain structure (sitting above the medulla) which is important primacy effect The tendency for first information we receive to
for the control of attentiveness, as well as the timing of sleep have a greater impact on our overall impressions.
positive hallucinations In a hypnotic state, when a person sees primary reinforcer A reinforcer that is able to act as a reward
objects or hears voices that are not actually present. independently of prior learning.
positive psychology The study of how positive experiences, priming The increased accessibility or retrievability of information
emotions, and personality traits promote human flourishing. stored in memory produced by the prior presentation of relevant
positive punishment Decreasing the response frequency by the cues.
delivery of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus following the primitive features Qualities such as shape and color.
response. proactive interaction The interaction between individuals and their
positive reinforcement Reinforcing a response by the environments that arises because different individuals choose to
presentation of a positive stimulus. enter different situations and to shape those situations differently
positively correlated The values of two variables either increase after entering them.
together or decrease together. problem-focused coping Reducing anxiety or stress by dealing in
positron emission tomography (PET) A computer-based some way with the anxiety-producing situation. Escaping the
scanning procedure to measure brain activity using a radioactive situation or finding a way to alter it are examples.
tracer mixed with glucose. production of language Producing language by starting with a
postconventional level of moral development Level of moral thought that translates into a sentence and ends up with sounds
development in which children evaluate actions in terms of that express the sentence.
higher-order ethical principles. projection Repressing one’s own unacceptable impulses and
posterior system (for attention) Represents the perceptual expressing hostile attitudes toward others who are perceived to
features of an object, such as its location in space, shape, and possess those impulses.
708 GLOSSARY

projective test Presents an ambiguous stimulus to which the pupil In the eye, a circular opening in the iris (the colored part of
person may respond as he or she wishes. the eye) that expands and contracts, varying according to the
proposition A statement that expresses a factual claim. intensity of light present.
propositional thought Expresses a proposition or claim.
prosopagnosia A loss in the ability to recognize faces that results Q
from brain damage. Q-sort An assessment technique by which a rater provides a
prototype The properties that describe the best examples of the systematic description of an individual’s personality by sorting a
concept. set of personality statements (for example, ‘Has a wide range of
proximity The physical distance between two people, a key interests’) into groups, ranging from those that are least
predictor of interpersonal attraction. descriptive to those that are most descriptive of the individual.
psi Processes of information and/or energy exchange that are not quality A sensory description of what a particular stimulus is like.
currently explicable in terms of known science.
psychoactive drugs Drugs that affect behavior, consciousness, R
and/or mood.
random assignment A system for assigning participants to
psychoanalysis (a) The method developed by Freud and
experimental and control groups so that each participant has an
extended by his followers for treating mental disorders. (b) The
equal chance of being assigned to any group.
theory of personality which grew out of experiences with the
ratio schedules Reinforcement schedules where reinforcement
psychoanalytic method of treatment. The theory emphasizes the
depends on the number of responses the organism makes.
role of unconscious processes in personality development and in
rationalization A defense mechanism in which self-esteem is
motivation.
maintained by assigning plausible and acceptable reasons for
psychoanalytic perspective An approach to psychology that tries
conduct entered on impulsively or for less acceptable reasons.
to explain certain kinds of behaviors in terms of unconscious
reaction formation A defense mechanism in which a person
beliefs, fears, and desires.
denies a disapproved motive through giving strong expressions
psychoanalytic theory The premise that much of what we think
to its opposite.
and do is driven by unconscious processes.
reactive interaction The interaction between individuals and their
psychodynamic therapies A style of therapy based on the idea
environments that arises because different individuals interpret,
that a person’s current problems cannot be resolved successfully
experience, and react to situations in different ways.
without a thorough understanding of their unconscious basis in
recall test When a person is asked to produce a memorized item
early relationships with parents and siblings.
using minimal retrieval cues.
psychological determinism The doctrine that all thoughts,
receptor A specialized cell sensitive to particular kinds of stimuli and
emotions, and actions have causes.
connected to nerves composed of afferent neurons (such as
psychological perspective A distinct approach or way of looking
the retina of the eye). Used more loosely, the organ containing
at topics within psychology.
these sensitive portions (such as the eye or the ear).
psychological perspectives (of abnormality) A group of theories
recognition test When a person must decide whether he or she
that see mental disorders as problems in the functioning of the
has seen a particular item before.
mind.
reconstructive processes The processes by which memory,
psychology The scientific study of behavior and mental
once formed, is systematically altered based on inference and
processes.
post-event information.
psychoneuroimmunology The study of how the body’s
reductionism Reducing psychological notions to biological ones.
immune system is affected by stress and other psychological
reference groups Groups with which we identify; we refer to them
variables.
in order to evaluate and regulate our opinions and actions.
psychophysical function Performance as a function of stimulus
reflectance characteristic Property of colored paper that
intensity.
determines how it reflects some wavelengths more than others.
psychophysical procedures Procedures used to determine
refractory period The brief period (a millisecond or so) after an
thresholds of sensory modalities.
action potential has been generated, during which another action
psychophysiological disorders Physical disorders in which
potential cannot be generated.
emotions are believed to play a central role.
rehearsal The conscious repetition of information in short-term
psychosexual stages Freud’s term for the stages (oral, anal,
memory, usually involving speech. The process facilitates the short-
phallic) during the first five years of life in which the individual
term recall of information and its transfer to long-term memory.
progresses through developmental periods that affect his or her
reinforcement (a) In classical conditioning, the experimental
personality.
procedure of following the conditioned stimulus by the
psychosis (pl. psychoses) A severe mental disorder in which
unconditioned stimulus. (b) In operant conditioning, the
thinking and emotion are so impaired that the individual is
analogous procedure of following the occurrence of the operant
seriously out of contact with reality. No longer a major diagnostic
response by the reinforcing stimulus. (c) The process that
category in DSM-IV.
increases the strength of conditioning as a result of these
psychotherapy The treatment of mental disorders by psychological
arrangements.
(rather than physical or biological) means.
relative height (as a depth cue) In perception, a monocular cue
puberty The period of sexual maturation that transforms a child into
for depth. Among identical objects, those that are higher in an
a biologically mature adult capable of sexual reproduction.
image are perceived as being farther away.
punishment A procedure used to decrease the strength of a
relative motion (as a depth cue) The different speeds of two
response by presenting an aversive stimulus whenever the
objects can be a depth cue.
response occurs.
 GLOSSARY 709

relative size (as a depth cue) In perception, a monocular cue for schema (pl. schemas) Theory about how the physical and social
depth. If an image contains an array of objects of similar shape, worlds operate (Chapter 3); a mental representation of a class of
the smaller objects are perceived as being farther away. people, objects, events, or situations (Chapter 8); a cognitive
relaxation training Training in various techniques for relaxing structure that helps us perceive, organize, process, and utilize
muscle tension. The procedure is based on Jacobson’s information (Chapter 13); organized beliefs and knowledge about
progressive relaxation method, in which the person learns how to people, objects, events, and situations.
relax muscle groups one at a time, the assumption being that schematic processing The cognitive process of searching for the
muscular relaxation is effective in bringing about emotional schema in memory that is most consistent with the incoming
relaxation. information.
reliability Yielding reproducible and consistent results. schizophrenia A group of disorders characterized by severe
REM sleep The period of sleep during which rapid eye movements personality disorganization, distortion of reality, and inability to
occur. function in daily life.
representativeness heuristic The assumption that each case is Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) An example of a group-
representative of its category. administered general-ability test.
repression The ego pushes a threatening thought or forbidden school psychologist A professional psychologist employed by a
impulse out of awareness into the unconscious. school or school system, with responsibility for testing, guidance,
resonance The degree to which a sound of a particular frequency research, and so on.
reverberates over a mathematically matched distance. scientific Research methods used to collect data are scientific
response generalization The more similar stimuli are to the when they are (1) unbiased (do not favor one hypothesis over
original conditioned stimulus, the more likely they are to evoke the another) and (2) reliable (other qualified people can repeat the
same response. observations and obtain the same results).
responses to emotion How people cope with or react to their own second-order conditioning In classical conditioning, a
emotion or the situation that elicited it. conditioned stimulus (CS) is used as the unconditioned stimiulus
resting membrane potential The electrical potential across the (US) in a new conditioning procedure.
nerve cell membrane when it is in its resting state (in other words, secondary reinforcer A reinforcer that gains its status as a reward
not responding to other neurons); the inside of the cell membrane at least partly through learning about its relationship with other
is slightly more negative than the outside. events.
resting potential The electric potential of a neuron at rest; for most securely attached Term used to describe a child who seeks to
neurons the resting potential is around –70 millivolts (mV). interact with his or her caretaker during a reunion episode.
restructuring Reorganizing the mental representation of a selective adaptation In perception, a loss of sensitivity to motion
situation – often an important step in solving a problem. that occurs when we view motion. The adaptation is selective
reticular formation A system of ill-defined nerve paths and because we lose sensitivity to the motion viewed, and to similar
connections within the brain stem, lying outside the well-defined motions, but not to motion that differs significantly in direction or
nerve pathways, and important as an arousal mechanism. speed. Presumably the result of fatigued neurons in the cerebral
retina The portion of the eye sensitive to light, containing the rods cortex.
and the cones. selective attention The process of attending to a particular part of
retrieval stage Occurs when one attempts to pull from one’s the environment while ignoring the rest.
memory information that was previously encoded and stored selective breeding A method of studying genetic influences by
there. mating animals that display certain traits and selecting for
Rett’s disorder Pervasive developmental disorder in which children breeding from among their offspring those that express the trait. If
develop normally for the first five months of life but later show the trait is primarily determined by heredity, continued selection
permanent loss of basic skills in social interactions, language, for a number of generations will produce a strain that breeds true
and/or movement. for that trait.
reuptake The process by which a neurotransmitter is ‘taken up’ selective reinforcement Strengthening of specific desired
again (reabsorbed) by the synaptic terminals from which it had behaviors.
been released. self All the ideas, perceptions, and values that characterize ‘I’ or ‘me’.
right to privacy Information about a person acquired during a self-concept An individual’s fundamental sense of self or beliefs
study must be kept confidential and not made available to others about the self.
without his or her consent. self-efficacy An individual’s belief in his or her own effectiveness.
rods In the eye, an element of the retina mediating achromatic self-expansion An increase in our potential abilities and
sensation only; particularly important in peripheral vision and night resources.
vision. self-esteem An individual’s evalation of the worthiness of the self.
Rorschach Test A projective test developed by the Swiss self-fulfilling prophecy Once activated, stereotypes can set in
psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach, consisting of a series of ten motion a chain of behavioral processes that serve to draw out
cards, each of which displays a rather complex inkblot. from others behavior that confirms the initial stereotype.
self-help groups Groups that are conducted without a professional
therapist.
S self-objectification When a person thinks about and values her
saccade The quick movement of the eyes between eye fixations. own body more from a third-person perspective, focusing on
saltatory conduction Occurs when the nerve impulse jumps from observable body attributes (‘How do I look?’), rather than from a
one node of Ranvier to the next. first-person perspective, focusing on privileged, or unobservable
saturation The purity of a color. body attributes (‘How do I feel?’).
710 GLOSSARY

self-perception theory The theory that attitudes and beliefs are short-term memory Memory held in consciousness that, if not
influenced by observations of one’s own behavior; sometimes we rehearsed, decays within about 20 seconds.
judge how we feel by observing how we act. signal What the observer is trying to detect in an experiment, as
self-regulation Monitoring, or observing, one’s own behavior. opposed to ‘noise’.
self-schema (pl. self-schemas) Cognitive generalizations about signal detection theory A theory of the sensory and decision
the self, derived from past experience, that organize and guide processes involved in psychophysical judgments, with special
the processing of self-related information. reference to the problem of detecting weak signals in noise.
sensations Experiences associated with simple stimuli. similarity heuristic The use of similarity – to a specific case or to a
sensitive periods Periods that are optimal for a particular kind of prototype – to estimate the probability of an event.
development. simple cell A cell in the visual cortex that responds to a bar of light
sensitive responsiveness A characteristic of a caretaker who or straight edge of a particular orientation and location in the
responds promptly when a baby cries and behaves affectionately visual field.
when they pick up the baby. The caregiver also tailors their simple phobia Excessive fear of a specific object, animal, or
response to the baby’s needs. situation in the absence of real danger.
sensitivity The inclination of a sensory system to respond to a situational attribution Attributing a person’s actions to factors in
stimulus. the situation or environment, as opposed to internal attitudes and
sensitization The process by which an organism learns to motives.
strengthen its reaction to a stimulus if a threatening or painful sleep disorder When inability to sleep well produces impaired
stimulus follows. daytime functioning or excessive sleepiness.
sensorimotor stage A period in which infants are busy discovering slow to warm up temperament Term used to describe a child
the relationships between their actions and the consequences of who is relatively inactive, tends to withdraw from new situations in
those actions. a mild way, and requires more time than easy infants to adapt to
sensory coding How stimuli are transmitted from the sensory new situations.
receptors to the brain. Snellen acuity Acuity measured relative to a viewer who does not
sensory memory A very brief photograph-like memory that need to wear glasses.
outlasts the physical stimulus by a second or less. spinal cord The bundle of nerves extending from the brain through
sensory neuron A neuron that transmits impulses received by the spinal canal, encased in the spinal column (the backbone).
receptors to the central nervous system. social cognition The examination of people’s subjective
sensory response The magnitude of nervous activity, which rises interpretations of their social experiences, as well as their modes
and then falls. of thinking about the social world.
sensory store The place in the memory where information arriving social-cognitive theory (of personality) Reciprocal determinism,
from the environment is first placed. in which external determinants of behavior (such as rewards
sentence unit Grammatical units that can be either a sentence or a and punishments) and internal determinants (such as beliefs,
phrase. thoughts, and expectations) are part of a system of interacting
separation anxiety Distress when a caretaker is not nearby. influences that affect both behavior and other parts of the system.
serial search (of memory) Comparing a test stimulus in sequence social desirability effects A particular form of bias that can occur
to each item in short-term memory. during a survey when some people try to present themselves in a
serotonin reuptake inhibitors A class of antidepressant drugs favorable light.
that work by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in social facilitation The effects of coaction and the presence of an
the synapse. audience.
set point The point at which body weight is set and that the body social identity approach An approach that assumes that people
strives to maintain. can identify themselves in various ways, for instance, as a human
sex-linked trait Genetically determined characteristics and being, as a member of a social group, or as an individual. The
disorders that are linked to the 23rd chromosome pair. most salient social identity in a given situation influences a
sex typing The acquisition of behaviors and characteristics that a person’s behavior in that situation.
culture considers appropriate to one’s sex. social inhibition The sometimes derailing effects of coactors and
sexual orientation The degree to which an individual is sexually audiences on performance.
attracted to members of the opposite sex and/or to members of social-learning theory The application of learning theory to the
the same sex. problems of personal and social behavior (syn. social behavior
sexual selection A special case of natural selection that yields traits theory).
that promote reproductive success in the sex with the greater social neuroscience The study of how stereotyping, attitudes,
potential reproductive rate. person perception, and self-knowledge are executed in the brain.
shading and shadows (as a depth cue) The configuration of social norms Implicit rules and expectations that dictate what we
shading and shadows provides information about an object’s ought to think and how we ought to behave.
depth. social phobia Extreme insecurity in social situations accompanied
shadowing Repeating back one auditory message. by an exaggerated fear of embarrassing oneself.
sham feeding A result of a surgical procedure so that whenever social psychologist A psychologist who studies social interaction
something is eaten, it will fall out of the body rather than be and the ways in which individuals influence one another.
digested. social psychology The study of how people think and feel about
shaping Reinforcing only variations in response that deviate in the their social world and how they interact and influence one
direction desired by the experimenter. another.
 GLOSSARY 711

social stereotype Personality traits or physical attributes given to a stress responses Reactions to events an individual perceives as
whole class of people. endangering his or her well-being. These may include bodily
sociocultural approach An approach to development that changes that prepare for emergency (the fight-or-flight response)
characterizes the child not as a physical scientist seeking ‘true’ as well as such psychological reactions as anxiety, anger and
knowledge but as a newcomer to a culture who seeks to become aggression, apathy and depression, and cognitive impairment.
a native by learning how to look at social reality through the lens of stressors Events that an individual perceives as endangering his or
that culture. her physical or psychological well-being.
somatic system Carries messages to and from the sense stroboscopic motion An illusion of motion resulting from the
receptors, muscles, and the surface of the body. successive presentation of discrete stimulus patterns arranged in
sound wave A wave defined by periodically varying air pressure a progression corresponding to movement, such as motion
over time. pictures.
source monitoring Keeping track of where various components of Stroop effect The Stroop effect or interference results because
memory originally came from. word reading is such a dominant and automatic response among
source wavelengths Wavelengths coming from some light source. skilled readers that it is difficult for them to ignore a printed
span of apprehension The number of immediately recallable items. word and name the word’s ink color when the word is a color
spontaneous recovery A phenomenon in classical conditioning that is different from the color of the ink.
discovered by Pavlov. When an organism undergoes execution of structuralism The analysis of mental structures.
a conditioned response and is then moved to a new context, the subjective experience The affective state or feeling tone.
conditioned response may reappear. subjectivist perspective An orientation toward understanding
stages of development Developmental periods, usually following a behavior and mental processes in terms of the subjective realities
progressive sequence, that appear to represent qualitative people actively construct.
changes in either the structure or the function of the organism superego The part of personality that judges whether actions are
(such as Freud’s psychosexual stages, Piaget’s cognitive stages). right or wrong.
standard An arbitrary level of stimulus intensity against which other suppression Active attempt to push thoughts or images out of
intensities are judged. consciousness.
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale Stanford revision of the Binet suprathreshold conditions Conditions in which stimulus intensity
test which measures the kinds of changes in intelligence ordinarily is above threshold.
associated with growing older. survey method A method of obtaining information by questioning a
stapes One of three small bones located in the middle ear. large sample of people.
statistical significance The trustworthiness of an obtained syllogism In logic, a deductive argument consisting of three
statistical measure as a statement about reality; for example, the propositions: two premises and one conclusion.
probability that the population mean falls within the limits symbol Anything that stands for or refers to something other than
determined from a sample. The expression refers to the reliability itself.
of the statistical finding and not to its importance. sympathetic nervous system A division of the autonomic nervous
statistics The discipline that deals with sampling data from a system, characterized by a chain of ganglia on either side of the
population of individuals and then drawing inferences about the spinal cord, with nerve fibers originating in the thoracic and
population from those data. lumbar portions of the spinal cord. Active in emotional excitement
stereotype A set of inferences about the personality traits or and to some extent antagonistic to the parasympathetic
physical attributes of a whole class of people; schemas of classes division.
of people. synapse The close functional connection between the axon of
stereotype threat The mere threat of being identified with a one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another neuron.
stereotype can raise an individual’s anxiety level, which in turn synaptic gap The slight gap between the terminal button and the
degrades his or her performance. cell body or dendrites of the receiving neuron.
Sternberg’s triarchic theory This theory has three parts or synaptic plasticity Changes in the morphology and/or physiology
subtheories. The componential subtheory, which deals with of synapses involved in learning and memory.
thought processes; the experiential subtheory, which deals with syntax A specification of the relationships between words in
the effects of experience on intelligence; and the contextual phrases and sentences.
subtheory, which considers the effects of the individual’s systematic desensitization A behavior therapy technique in which
environment and culture. hierarchies of anxiety-producing situations are imagined (or
stimulant drugs Drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperativity sometimes confronted in reality) while the person is in a state of
disorder. deep relaxation. Gradually the situations become dissociated
stimulants Drugs that increase alertness and general arousal. from the anxiety response.
stimulus discrimination The less similar stimuli are to the original
conditioned stimulus, the less likely they are to evoke the same
response. T
storage stage The maintenance of stored information over time. tabula rasa Latin, meaning ‘blank slate’. The term refers to the
strange situation An experimental paradigm for assessing view that human beings are born without any innate knowledge or
children’s attachment to adults, in which the adult (usually a ideas; all knowledge is acquired through learning and experience.
parent) leaves the room, and the child’s reaction to the adult is Proposed by the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British
observed when the adult returns. empiricists (Locke, Hume, Berkeley, Hartley).
stress Experiencing events that are perceived as endangering one’s tardive dyskinesia Involuntary movements of the tongue, face,
physical or psychological well-being. mouth, or jaw.
712 GLOSSARY

taste receptors Receptors for taste located in clusters on the tricyclic antidepressants A class of antidepressants that relieve
tongue and around the mouth. Also called taste buds. the symptoms of depression by preventing the reuptake of the
temperament Mood-related personality characteristics. neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine, thereby
temporal contiguity Events A and B are temporally continguous if prolonging their action. Imipramine (brand names, Tofranil and
they occur close together in time. Elavil) is one drug commonly prescribed.
temporal pattern The spacing sequence of electrical two-factor theory The theory that emotions result from the
impulses. combination of two factors – an initial state of unexplained arousal
temporal theory of sound A theory of pitch perception which plus a cognitive explanation (or appraisal) for that arousal.
assumes that the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the type A pattern A behavior pattern discovered in studies of coronary
auditory nerve correspond to the frequency of a tone. heart disease. Type As are people who have a sense of time
terminal buttons The small swellings at the end of the branches of urgency, find it difficult to relax, and become impatient and angry
an axon, containing neurotransmitters. when confronted with delays or with people whom they view as
test Presents a uniform situation to a group of people who vary in a incompetent. Type As are at risk for heart disease.
particular trait.
thalamus Two groups of nerve cell nuclei located just above the U
brain stem and inside the cerebral hemispheres. Considered a unconditional positive regard Feeling that oneself is valued by
part of the central core of the brain. One area acts as a sensory parents and others even when their feelings, attitudes, and
relay station, the other plays a role in sleep and waking; this behaviors are less than ideal.
portion is considered part of the limbic system. unconditioned response (UR) In classical conditioning, the
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) A participant is shown up to response given originally to the unconditioned stimulus used as
20 ambiguous pictures of persons and scenes and asked to the basis for establishing a conditioned response to a previously
make up a story about each picture. neutral stimulus.
theory An interrelated set of propositions about a particular unconditioned stimulus (US) In classical conditioning, a stimulus
phenomenon. that automatically elicits a response, typically via a reflex, without
theory of ecological optics The information from the prior conditioning.
environment – or more specifically, its two-dimensional unconscious The thoughts, attitudes, impulses, wishes,
representation on our retina – is all that is really necessary motivations, and emotions of which we are unaware (Chapter 1);
to live a normal life. contains some memories, impulses, and desires that are not
theory of mind The child’s understanding of basic mental states, accessible to consciousness (Chapter 6); impulses, wishes, and
such as desires, percepts, beliefs, knowledge, thoughts, inaccessible memories that affect our thoughts and behavior
intentions, and feelings. (Chapter 13).
thirst The psychological manifestation of the need for water. undoing effect of positive emotions Positive emotions may be
thought and action tendencies Urges to think and act in certain particularly suited for helping people recover from any lingering
ways. arousal that follows negative emotions.
timbre Our experience of the complexity of a sound.
tolerance The need for a greater amount of a drug to achieve the V
same euphoria.
validity Measuring what is intended to be measured.
tonic pain The kind of steady, long-lasting pain experienced after
variable Something that can occur with different values.
an injury has occurred; usually produced by swelling and tissue
variable interval schedule Reinforcement still depends on a
damage. In contrast to phasic pain.
certain interval having elapsed, but the interval’s duration varies
top-down feedback connections Connections that go from the
unpredictably.
higher levels to the lower levels.
variable ratio schedule The organism is reinforced only after
top-down processes Processes in perception, learning,
making a certain number of responses, but that number varies
memory, and comprehension that are driven by the organism’s
unpredictably.
prior knowledge and expectations, rather than by the input.
ventromedial hypothalamic syndrome Extreme appetites
transduction Translate physical energy into electrical signals that
caused by lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus.
can make their way to the brain.
verb phrase The section of a sentence that gives the predicate of
transference The tendency for the client to make the therapist the
the proposition.
object of emotional responses.
vicarious learning Learning by observing the behavior of others
traumatic events Situations of extreme danger that are outside the
and noting the consequences of that behavior (syn. observational
range of usual human experience.
learning).
trial-and-error learning Learning by gradual elminationn of
visceral perception Our perception of our own arousal.
ineffective responses (contrast with insight).
visual acuity The eye’s ability to resolve details.
trials The ‘components’ of an experiment, e.g. a repetition of
visual cortex The part of the brain that is concerned with vision.
stimulus presentation.
visual field The total visual array acting on the eye when it is
triangular theory of love This theory divides love into three
directed toward a fixation point.
components: intimacy, passion, and commitment.
visual neglect A patient who, although not blind, ignores everything
trichromatic theory A theory of color perception that postulates
on one side of their visual field (usually the left side).
three basic color receptors (cones), a ‘red’ receptor, a ‘green’
visual search task A task in which the observer is asked to
receptor, and a ‘blue’ receptor. The theory explains color
determine whether some target object is present in a cluttered
blindness by the absence of one or more receptor types
display.
(syn. Young-Helmholtz theory).
 GLOSSARY 713

visual-spatial sketchpad One of the two distinct stores of working whole-report performance After viewing an array of letters for a
memory that briefly stores information in a visual or spatial brief period of time, the observer is asked to report as many
code. letters as possible.
vulnerability-stress model An interactive model of physical or withdrawal The intensely aversive reaction to the cessation of drug
mental disorders that proposes that an individual will develop a use.
disorder only when he or she has both some constitutional withdrawal symptoms Unpleasant physiological and
vulnerability (predisposition) and experiences stressful psychological reactions that occur when a person suddenly stops
circumstances. Same as diathesis-stress model. taking an addictive drug; these range from nausea, anxiety, mild
tremors, and difficulty sleeping at low levels of dependence to
W vomiting, cramps, hallucinations, agitation, and severe tremors or
wanting The anticipation of pleasure, as in cravings. seizures at higher levels.
Weber fraction The constant of proportionality. word salad Unrelated words and phrases and idiosyncratic word
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale A verbal scale and a associations.
performance scale that yield separate scores as well as a working backward A problem-solving strategy in which one works
full-scale IQ. backwards from the goal towards the current state.
Wernicke’s aphasia Damage to Wernicke’s area leads to working memory Memories that are stored for only a few seconds.
difficulties in speech comprehension.
Wernicke’s area That portion of the left cerebral hemisphere Y
involved in language understanding. Individuals with damage in Yerkes-Dodson law This law states that complex tasks are best
this area are not able to comprehend words; they can hear performed at low levels of arousal, whereas simple tasks are best
words, but they do not know their meanings. performed at high levels of arousal.