In
psychophysics, the faintest (lowest-intensity) stimulus
of a given sensation (such as sound or light) that an individual
can detect. For contrast, see difference threshold. (p.
263)
accommodation
In
Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the change that
occurs in an existing mental scheme or set of schemes as
a result of the assimilation of the experience of a new
event or object. See also assimilation. (p. 409)
action
potentials
Neural
impulses; the all-or-nothing electrical bursts that begin
at one end of the axon of a neuron and move along the axon
to the other end. (p. 165)
actor-observer
discrepancy
The
observation that a person who performs an action (the actor)
is likely to attribute the action to the environmental situation,
whereas the person who observes the same action (the observer)
is likely to attribute it to the actor's inner characteristics
(personality). See also attribution. (p. 492)
additive
color mixing
The
mixing of colored lights (lights containing limited ranges
of wavelengths) by superimposing them to reflect off the
same surface. It is called additive because each light adds
to the total set of wavelengths that are reflected to the
eye. For contrast, see subtractive color mixing. (p. 247)
algorithm
A
rule specifying a set of steps that, if followed correctly,
is guaranteed to solve a particular class of problem. For
contrast, see heuristic. (p. 389)
alleles
Different
genes that can occupy the same locus on a pair of chromosomes
and thus can potentially pair with one another. (p. 59)
altruism
In
sociobiology, a type of helping behavior in which an individual
increases the survival chance or reproductive capacity of
another individual while decreasing its own survival chance
or reproductive capacity. For contrast, see cooperation.
(p. 89)
amplitude
The
amount of physical energy or force exerted by a physical
stimulus at any given moment; for sound, this physical measure
is related to the psychological experience of loudness.
(p. 235)
amygdala
A
brain structure that is part of the limbic system and is
particularly important for evaluating the emotional and
motivational significance of stimuli and generating emotional
responses. (pp. 153, 224)
analogy
In
ethology and comparative psychology, any similarity among
species that is not due to common ancestry, but rather has
evolved independently because of some similarity in their
habitats or lifestyles. For contrast, see homology. (p.
77)
anxiety
disorders
The
class of mental disorders in which fear or anxiety is the
most prominent symptom. It includes generalized anxiety
disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder,
phobias, and posttraumatic stress disorder. (p. 610)
aphasia
Any
loss in language ability due to brain damage. See also Broca's
aphasia, Wernicke's aphasia. (p. 162)
arousal
response
A
pattern of measurable physiological changes (including tense
muscles, increased heart rate, and secretion of certain
hormones) that helps prepare the body for the possible expenditure
of a large amount of energy. (p. 218)
assertiveness
training
In
behavior therapy, a direct method of training people to
express their own desires and feelings and to maintain their
own rights in interactions with others, while at the same
time respecting the others' rights. (p. 674)
assessment
In
clinical practice, the process by which a mental health
professional gathers and compiles information about a client
for the purpose of describing the person's problems or disorder
and developing a plan of treatment. (p. 647)
assessment
interview
A
dialogue through which a mental health professional learns
about a client. (p. 647)
assimilation
In
Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the process by
which experiences are incorporated into the mind, or, more
specifically, into mental schemes. See also accommodation.
(p. 409)
association
areas
Areas
of the cerebral cortex that receive input from the primary
or secondary sensory areas for more than one sensory modality
(such as vision and hearing) and are involved in associating
this input with stored memories, in the processes of perception,
thought, and decision making. (p. 154)
association
by contiguity
See
law of association by contiguity.
association
by similarity
See
law of association by similarity.
attachment
The
long-lasting emotional bonds that infants develop toward
their principal caregivers. More broadly, the long-lasting
emotional bonds that any individual develops toward any
other individual or object. (p. 447)
attention
In
perception, the process or set of processes by which the
mind chooses from among the various stimuli that strike
the senses at any given moment, allowing only some of those
stimuli to enter into higher stages of information processing.
(p. 302) In the modal model of the mind, the process that
controls the flow of information from the sensory store
into working memory. More broadly, any focusing of mental
activity along a specific track, whether that track consists
purely of inner memories and knowledge or is based on external
stimuli. (p. 322)
attitude
Any
belief or opinion that has an evaluative component--a belief
that something is good or bad, likable or unlikable, attractive
or repulsive. (p. 487)
attribution
In
social cognition, any inference about the cause of a person's
behavioral action or set of actions. More generally, any
inference about the cause of any observed action or event.
(p. 488)
auditory
masking
The
phenomenon by which one sound (usually a lower-frequency
sound) tends to prevent the hearing of another sound (usually
a higher-frequency sound). (p. 239)
auditory
nerve
The
cranial nerve that contains the sensory neurons for hearing
and the vestibular sense (important for balance). (p. 237)
auditory
neurons
The
sensory neurons for hearing, which run from the cochlea
of the inner ear, through the auditory nerve, into the brain.
(p. 237)
autism
A
congenital (present-at-birth) disorder, typically marked
by severe deficits in social interaction, severe deficits
in language acquisition, a tendency to perform repetitive
actions, and a restricted focus of attention and interest.
(p. 425)
autonomic
motor system
The
set of motor neurons that act upon visceral muscles and
glands. (p. 147)
aversion
treatment
In
behavior therapy, a method for eliminating an undesired
habit by applying some painful or unpleasant stimulus immediately
after the unwanted response occurs or immediately after
the person has experienced stimuli that would normally elicit
the response. (p. 673)
axon
A
thin, tubelike extension from a neuron that is specialized
to carry neural impulses (action potentials) to other cells.
(p. 144)
axon
terminal
A
swelling at the end of an axon that is designed to release
a chemical substance (neurotransmitter) onto another neuron,
muscle cell, or gland cell. (p. 145)
B
basal
ganglia
The
large masses of gray matter in the brain that lie on each
side of the thalamus; they are especially important for
the initiation and coordination of deliberate movements.
(p. 152)
basilar
membrane
A
flexible membrane in the cochlea of the inner ear; the wavelike
movement of this structure in response to sound stimulates
the receptor cells for hearing. See also hair cells. (p.
236)
behavior
The
observable actions of an individual person or animal. (p.
3)
behavioral
genetics
The
study of the effects of genes on behavior. (p. 49)
behavioral
monitoring
Any
assessment procedure that involves counting or recording
actual instances of desired or undesired behaviors. (p.
650)
behavior
therapy
The
psychotherapy approach based on the philosophy of behaviorism
and rooted in basic behavioral research on learning. In
this approach, psychological problems are considered to
stem from learned habits, and learning techniques are used
to treat them. (p. 670)
behaviorism
A
school of psychological thought that holds that the proper
subject of study is observable behavior, not the mind, and
that behavior should be understood in terms of its relationship
to observable events in the environment rather than in terms
of hypothetical events within the individual. (pp. 14, 100)
bias
A
technical term referring to nonrandom (directed) effects
on research results, caused by some factor or factors extraneous
to the research hypothesis. For contrast, see error. (p.
42)
biased
sample
A
subset of the population under study that is not representative
of the population as a whole. (p. 42)
binocular
disparity
The
cue for depth perception that stems from the separate (disparate)
views that the two eyes have of any given visual object
or scene; the farther away the object is, the more similar
are the two views of it. (p. 289)
biofeedback
training
A
variety of operant conditioning in which a signal, such
as a tone or light, is made to come on whenever a certain
desirable physiological change occurs, and the person is
instructed to try to keep the signal on for increasing periods
of time. It is used as a treatment for such problems as
headaches and high blood pressure. (p. 113)
bipolar
cells
The
class of neurons in the retina that receive input from the
receptor cells (rods and cones) and form synapses on ganglion
cells (which form the optic nerve). (p. 245)
bipolar
disorder
A
mood disorder characterized by episodes of extreme depression
alternating with episodes of extreme mania. (pp. 614, 619)
blind
In
scientific research, the condition in which those who collect
the data are deliberately kept uninformed about aspects
of the study's design (such as which subjects have had which
treatment) that could lead them either unconsciously or
consciously to bias the results. See also bias, observer-expectancy
effect. (p. 45)
blind
spot
The
place in the retina of the eye where the axons of visual
sensory neurons come together to form the optic nerve. Because
the blind spot lacks receptor cells, light that strikes
it is not seen. (p. 243)
blocking
effect
In
classical conditioning, the failure of a new stimulus to
become a conditioned stimulus if it is accompanied by an
already-effective conditioned stimulus during the conditioning
trials. (p. 123)
blood-brain
barrier
The
tight capillary walls and the surrounding glial cells that
prevent many chemical substances from entering the brain
from the blood. (p. 178)
bottom-up
processes
In
theories of perception, mental processes that bring the
individual stimulus features recorded by the senses together
to form a perception of the larger object or scene. For
contrast, see top-down processes. (p. 276)
brainstem
The
primitive, stalklike portion of the brain that can be thought
of as an extension of the spinal cord into the head; it
consists of the medulla, pons, and midbrain. (p. 150)
Broca's
aphasia
A
specific syndrome of loss in language ability that occurs
due to damage in a particular part of the brain called Broca's
area; it is characterized by telegraphic speech in which
the meaning is usually clear but the small words and word
endings that serve grammatical purposes are missing; also
called nonfluent aphasia. For contrast, see Wernicke's aphasia.
(p. 162)
C
catatonic
behavior
A
symptom of schizophrenia in which the person is unresponsive
to the environment. It may take the form of active resistance,
excited motor activity, or a complete lack of movement or
awareness of the environment. (p. 631)
cell
body
The
widest part of a neuron, which contains the cell nucleus
and other basic machinery common to all cells. (p. 144)
cell
membrane
The
thin, porous outer covering of a neuron or other cell that
separates the cell's intracellular fluid from extracellular
fluid. (p. 165)
central
drive system
According
to the central-state theory of drives, a set of neurons
in the brain that, when active, most directly promotes a
specific motivational state, or drive. (p. 188)
central
executive
In
Baddeley's theory, a component of the mind responsible for
coordinating all the activities of working memory and for
bringing new information into working memory. (p. 319)
central
nervous system
The
brain and spinal cord. (p. 144)
central
route to attitude construction
The
logical analysis of available information for the purpose
of developing or modifying an attitude. For contrast, see
peripheral route to attitude construction. (p. 517)
central
traits
In
trait theories of personality, the relatively small set
of basic traits (personality characteristics) that are inferred
from statistical intercorrelations among various surface
traits. See also surface traits. (p. 564)
central-state
theory of drives
The
theory that the most direct physiological bases for motivational
states, or drives, lie in neural activity in the brain.
According to most versions of this theory, different drives
correspond to activity in different, localizable sets of
neurons. See also central drive system. (p. 188)
cerebellum
The
relatively large, conspicuous, convoluted portion of the
brain attached to the rear side of the brainstem; it is
especially important for the coordination of rapid movements.
(p. 152)
cerebral
cortex
The
outermost, evolutionarily newest, and (in humans) by far
the largest portion of the brain; it is divisible into two
hemispheres (right and left), and each hemisphere is divisible
into four lobes--the occipital, temporal, parietal, and
frontal. (p. 154)
chromosomes
The
structures within the cell nucleus that contain the genetic
material (DNA). (p. 56)
chunking
A
strategy for improving the ability to remember a set of
items by grouping them mentally to form fewer items. (p.
339)
circadian
rhythm
Any
cyclic physiological or behavioral change in a person or
other living thing that has a period of about one day even
in the absence of external cues signaling the time of day.
(p. 211)
classical
conditioning
A
training procedure or learning experience in which a neutral
stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) comes to elicit a reflexive
response through its being paired with another stimulus
(usually an unconditioned stimulus) that already elicits
that reflexive response; originally studied by Pavlov. See
also conditioned response, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned
response, unconditioned stimulus. (p. 102)
client-centered
therapy
The
humanistic approach to psychotherapy developed by Rogers,
in which the therapist refrains from offering advice or
leading the course of therapy, but rather listens to the
client with empathy and respect and reflects the client's
thoughts and feelings back to him or her. (p. 664)
clinical
psychology
The
field of practice and research that is directed toward helping
people who suffer from psychological problems and disorders.
(p. 641)
closure
principle
See
Gestalt principles of grouping.
cochlea
A
coiled structure in the inner ear in which the receptor
cells for hearing are located. (p. 236)
cochlear
implant
A
type of hearing aid used to treat sensorineural deafness;
it transforms sounds into electrical impulses and directly
stimulates the tips of auditory neurons within the cochlea.
(p. 237)
coding
In
sensation, the process by which information about the quality
and quantity of a stimulus is preserved in the pattern of
action potentials sent through sensory neurons to the central
nervous system. (p. 233)
cognitive
dissonance theory
Festinger's
theory that people seek to relieve the discomfort associated
with the awareness of inconsistency between two or more
of one's own cognitions (beliefs or bits of knowledge).
(p. 510)
cognitive
map
The
mental representation of the spatial layout of a familiar
environment, inferred from the individual's ability to move
in that environment as if guided by a map. (p. 126)
cognitive
psychology
The
study of people's ability to acquire, organize, remember,
and use knowledge to guide behavior; it involves the construction
of hypothetical mental processes to explain observable behavior.
(pp. 22, 119)
cognitive
therapy
An
approach to psychotherapy that begins with the assumption
that people disturb themselves through their own thoughts
and that they can overcome their problems through changing
the way they think about their experiences. (p. 667)
cognitive-behavior
therapy
The
psychotherapy approach that stems from a union of cognitive
and behavioral theory; it usually characterizes psychological
problems as learned habits of thought and action, and its
approach to treatment is to help people change those habits.
See also behavior therapy, cognitive therapy. (p. 671)
common
movement principle
See
Gestalt principles of grouping.
concept
A
rule or other form of mental information for categorizing
stimuli into groups. (p. 121)
conceptual
priming
The
class of priming in which the priming stimulus makes certain
mental concepts more accessible to one's flow of thoughts.
See priming. For contrast, see perceptual priming. (p. 346)
concordance
In
behavioral genetics research, an index of heritability that
is found by identifying a set of individuals who have a
particular trait or disorder and then determining the percentage
of some specific class of their relatives (such as identical
twins) who have the same trait or disorder. (p. 633)
concrete-operational
scheme
In
Piaget's theory, the type of mental stimulus that allows
a child to think logically about reversible actions (operations)
but only when applied to objects with which the child has
had direct (concrete) experience. See also operations. (p.
411)
conditioned
reflex
In
classical conditioning, a reflex that occurs only because
of previous conditions in the individual's experience; a
learned reflex. For contrast, see unconditioned reflex.
(p. 102)
conditioned
response
In
classical conditioning, a reflexive response that is elicited
by a stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) because of the
previous pairing of that stimulus with another stimulus
(the unconditioned stimulus) that already elicits a reflexive
response. For contrast, see unconditioned response. (p.
102)
conditioned
stimulus
In
classical conditioning, a stimulus that comes to elicit
a reflexive response (the conditioned response) because
of its previous pairing with another stimulus (the unconditioned
stimulus) that already elicits a reflexive response. For
contrast, see unconditioned stimulus. (p. 102)
conduction
deafness
Deafness
that occurs when the ossicles of the middle ear become rigid
and cannot carry sounds inward from the tympanic membrane
to the cochlea. (p. 237)
cone
vision
The
high-acuity color vision that occurs in moderate-to-bright
light and is mediated by cones in the retina; also called
photopic or bright-light vision. See cones. For contrast,
see rod vision. (p. 243)
cones
The
class of receptor cells for vision that are located in and
near the fovea of the retina, operate in moderate-to-bright
light, and are most important for the perception of color
and fine detail. For contrast, see rods. (p. 242)
consciousness
In
perception, the experiencing of percepts or other mental
events in such a manner that one can report on them to others.
(p. 302)
content
morphemes
Words,
including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, that are
most essential to the meaning of a sentence. For contrast,
see grammatical morphemes. (p. 428)
context-dependent
memory
The
improved ability to retrieve information from memory that
occurs when an individual is in the same environment as
that in which the memory was originally encoded. (p. 337)
contingency
contract
In
behavior therapy, a formal, usually written agreement in
which certain specified services or rewards provided by
one party are made contingent upon the actions of the other
party. (p. 674)
control
processes
In
the modal model of the mind, the mental processes that operate
on information in the memory stores and move information
from one store to another. See attention, encoding, retrieval.
(p. 316)
conversion
disorder
A
category of somatoform disorder in which the person, for
psychological reasons, loses some bodily function. (p. 621)
cooperation
In
sociobiology, a type of helping behavior in which interaction
among two or more individuals increases the survival chance
or reproductive capacity of each individual involved in
the interaction. For contrast, see altruism. (p. 89)
cornea
The
curved, transparent tissue at the front of the eyeball that
helps to focus light rays as they first enter the eye. (p.
242)
corpus
callosum
A
massive bundle of axons connecting the right and left hemispheres
of the higher parts of the brain, including the cerebral
cortex. (p. 160)
correlational
study
Any
scientific study in which the researcher observes or measures
(without directly manipulating) two or more variables to
find relationships between them. Such studies can identify
lawful relationships but cannot determine whether change
in one variable is the cause of change in another. (p. 34)
correlation
coefficient
A
numerical measure of the strength and direction of the relationship
between two variables. (pp. 39, A-7)
cranial
nerve
A
nerve that extends directly from the brain. See nerves.
For contrast, see spinal nerve. (p. 147)
creole
language
A
new language, with grammatical rules, that develops from
a pidgin language in colonies established by people who
had different native languages. See pidgin language. (p.
435)
critical
period
A
relatively restricted time period in an individual's development
during which a particular form of learning can best occur.
See imprinting. (p. 136)
crystallized
intelligence
In
Cattell's theory, the variety of intelligence that derives
directly from previous experience. It includes one's accumulated
knowledge and verbal skills. For contrast, see fluid intelligence.
(p. 361)
cultural
psychology
The
study of the relationship between the culture in which a
person develops and the person's thoughts, feelings, and
behavior. Cultural psychologists may focus on just one culture
or may compare people living in different cultures. (p.
20)
cyclothymia
A
mood disorder similar to bipolar disorder but involving
less extreme depression and mania. See bipolar disorder.
(p. 619)
D
dark
adaptation
The
increased visual sensitivity that occurs when the eyes are
exposed for a period of time to dimmer light than was present
before the adaptation period. For contrast, see light adaptation.
(p. 244)
deductive
reasoning
Logical
reasoning from the general to the specific; the reasoner
begins by accepting the truth of one or more general premises
or axioms and uses them to assert whether a specific conclusion
is true, false, or indeterminate. For contrast, see inductive
reasoning. (p. 382)
defense
mechanisms
In
psychoanalytic theory, self-deceptive means by which the
mind defends itself against anxiety. See displacement, projection,
rationalization, reaction formation, repression, sublimation.
(p. 585)
deindividuation
The
reduced sense of personal responsibility that can occur
when in a crowd or when distracted by highly arousing external
stimulation, which can lead a person to perform actions
that run counter to his or her personal beliefs or morals.
(p. 535)
delusion
A
false belief that is maintained despite compelling evidence
to the contrary. (p. 630)
dendrites
The
thin, tubelike extensions of a neuron that typically branch
repeatedly near the neuron's cell body and are specialized
for receiving signals from other neurons. (p. 144)
dependent
variable
In
an experiment, the variable that is believed to be dependent
upon (affected by) another variable (the independent variable).
In psychological experiments, it is usually some measure
of behavior. (p. 33)
depressive
disorders
The
class of mood disorders characterized by prolonged or frequent
bouts of depression. See dysthymia, major depression. (p.
614)
deprivation
experiment
An
experiment in which animals are raised in ways that deprive
them of some of their usual experiences in order to determine
what experiences are essential (or not) for a particular
species-typical behavior to develop. (p. 76)
descriptive
statistics
Mathematical
methods for summarizing sets of data. (p. 38)
descriptive
study
Any
study in which the researcher describes the behavior of
an individual or set of individuals without systematically
investigating relationships between specific variables.
(p. 35)
deterministic
fallacy
The
mistaken belief that genes control, or determine, behavior
in a manner that is independent of environmental influences.
(p. 91)
developmental
psychology
The
branch of psychology that charts changes in people's abilities
and styles of behaving as they get older and tries to understand
the factors that produce or influence those changes. (p.
401)
difference
threshold
In
psychophysics, the minimal difference that must exist between
two otherwise similar stimuli for an individual to detect
them as different; also called the just-noticeable difference
(jnd). (p. 265)
differential
lighting of surfaces
A
pictorial cue for perceiving depth in which the amount of
light reflecting on different surfaces indicates the position
of objects relative to the light source. (p. 293)
direct-perception
theory
The
theory that perceptual mechanisms register directly the
critical stimulus relationships that are present in the
external environment, such that perception is not dependent
upon mental inference. For contrast, see unconscious-inference
theory of perception. (p. 299)
discrimination
training
The
procedure, in both classical and operant conditioning, by
which generalization between two stimuli is diminished or
abolished by reinforcing the response to one stimulus and
extinguishing the response to the other. See extinction,
generalization, reinforcement. (pp. 105, 138)
discriminative
stimulus
In
operant conditioning, a stimulus that serves as a signal
that a particular response will produce a particular reinforcer.
(p. 115)
disorganized
speech
A
symptom of schizophrenia in which the person's speech contains
loose associations and logical inconsistencies that are
believed to reflect an underlying disorganization in thought.
(p. 631)
displacement
The
defense mechanism by which a drive is diverted from one
goal to another that is more realistic or acceptable. Also
called sublimation in cases where the goal toward which
the drive is diverted is highly valued by society. (p. 586)
dissociation
A
process by which some portion of a person's experiences
are cut off mentally from the rest of his or her experiences,
such that they cannot be recalled or can only be recalled
under special conditions. (p. 627)
dissociative
disorders
The
class of mental disorders that are characterized by dissociation.
They include dissociative identity disorder, dissociative
amnesia, and dissociative fugue. (p. 628)
dissociative
identity disorder
A
mental disorder in which two or more distinct personalities
or self-identities are manifested in the same person at
different times. Formerly called multiple-personality disorder.
(p. 628)
dominant
gene
A
gene that will produce its observable effects in either
the homozygous or the heterozygous condition. (p. 59)
double
blind experiment
An
experiment in which both the observer and the subjects are
blind with respect to the subjects' treatment conditions.
See also blind. (p. 46)
drive
See
motivational state.
drug
abuse
The
persistent taking of a drug in a way that is harmful to
the self or that causes one to behave in a way that is harmful
or threatening to others. (p. 624)
drug
dependence
The
condition, which may or may not stem from physiological
withdrawal symptoms, in which a person feels compelled to
take a particular drug on a regular basis; also called drug
addiction. (p. 625)
drug
tolerance
The
phenomenon by which a drug produces successively smaller
physiological and behavioral effects, at any given dose,
if it is taken repeatedly. (p. 179)
dualism
The
philosophical theory that two distinct systems--the material
body and the immaterial soul--are involved in the control
of behavior. For contrast, see materialism. (p. 4)
dysthymia
A
mental disorder characterized by feelings of depression
that are less severe than those in major depression, but
which last for at least a 2-year period. See also major
depression. (p. 615)
E
early-selection
theories
Theories
of attention that posit that the selective process of attention
occurs relatively early in the mind's analysis of sensory
information, before the information has been analyzed for
meaning. For contrast, see late-selection theories. (p.
304)
echoic
memory
Sensory
memory for the sense of hearing. (p. 317)
ecological
perspective
In
research on learning, the view that different learning mechanisms
have developed through natural selection to serve different
survival needs and that these mechanisms are best understood
in relation to daily life in the natural environment. (p.
130) More generally, the view that behavioral or mental
capacities are best understood by considering how they serve
the individual's needs in the environment. (p. 385)
elaboration
The
process of thinking about an item of information in such
a way as to tie the item mentally to other information in
memory, which helps to encode the item into long-term memory;
also called elaborative rehearsal. (p. 325)
elaboration
likelihood model
A
theory of persuasion postulating that people are more likely
to think logically about a message (that is, elaborate upon
the message) if it is personally relevant than if it is
not. (p. 518)
electroencephalogram
(EEG)
A
record of the electrical activity of the brain that can
be obtained by amplifying the weak electrical signals picked
up by recording electrodes pasted to the person's scalp.
It is usually described in terms of wave patterns. (p. 206)
emotion
A
subjective feeling, the intensity of which is typically
related to the degree of physiological arousal that accompanies
it. (p. 219)
empiricism
The
idea that all human knowledge and thought ultimately come
from sensory experience; the philosophical approach to understanding
the mind that is based on that idea. For contrast, see nativism.
(p. 6)
encoding
In
the modal model of the mind, the mental process by which
long-term memories are formed. See also long-term memory.
(p. 322)
encoding
rehearsal
Any
active mental process by which a person strives to encode
information into long-term memory. For contrast, see maintenance
rehearsal. (p. 325)
encoding-specificity
principle
The
principle that the stimuli that were most prominent in a
person's experience at the time of encoding a specific item
of information into long-term memory are powerful cues for
subsequent retrieval of that item from long-term memory.
(p. 337)
endocrine
glands
Glands
that are specialized to secrete hormones into the circulatory
system. (p. 174)
environmentality
The
proportion of the variability in a particular characteristic,
in a particular group of individuals, that is due to environmental
rather than genetic differences among the individuals. For
contrast, see heritability. (p. 369)
episodic
memory
Explicit
memory of past events (episodes) in one's own life. For
contrast, see semantic memory, implicit memory. (p. 343)
error
A
technical term referring to random variability in research
results. For contrast, see bias. (p. 41)
ethology
The
study of animal behavior in the natural environment, which
uses evolutionary adaptation as its primary explanatory
principle. (pp. 16, 72)
excitatory
synapse
A
synapse at which the neurotransmitter increases the likelihood
that an action potential will occur, or increases the rate
at which they are already occurring, in the neuron on which
it acts. For contrast, see inhibitory synapse. (p. 168)
experiment
A
research design for testing hypotheses about cause-effect
relationships, in which the researcher manipulates one variable
(the independent variable) in order to assess its effect
on another variable (the dependent variable). (p. 33)
explication
In
Karmiloff-Smith's theory, the mental process by which previously
implicit memories are transformed into explicit memories.
(p. 417)
explicit
memory
The
class of memory that can be consciously recalled and used
to answer explicit questions about what one knows or remembers.
See episodic memory, semantic memory. For contrast, see
implicit memory. (p. 343)
exposure
treatment
Any
method of treating fears--including flooding and systematic
desensitization--that involves exposing the client to the
feared object or situation (either in reality or imagination)
so that the process of extinction or habituation of the
fear response can occur. (p. 671)
extinction
In
classical conditioning, the gradual disappearance of a conditioned
reflex that results when a conditioned stimulus occurs repeatedly
without the unconditioned stimulus. (p. 105) In operant
conditioning, the decline in response rate that results
when an operant response is no longer followed by a reinforcer.
(p. 114) See classical conditioning, operant conditioning.
eyebrow
flash
A
momentary raising of the eyebrows, lasting about one-sixth
of a second, which is a nonverbal sign of greeting in cultures
throughout the world. (p. 74)
F
fact
An
objective statement, usually based on direct observation,
that reasonable observers agree is true. In psychology,
facts are usually particular behaviors, or reliable patterns
of behaviors, of persons or animals. (p. 31)
factor
analysis
A
statistical procedure for analyzing the correlations among
various measurements (such as test scores) taken from a
given set of individuals; it identifies hypothetical, underlying
variables called factors that could account for the observed
pattern of correlations and assesses the degree to which
each factor is adequately measured by each of the measurements
that was used in the analysis. (p. 359)
Fechner's
law
The
idea that the magnitude of the sensory experience of a stimulus
is directly proportional to the logarithm of the physical
magnitude of the stimulus. For contrast, see power law.
(p. 266)
field
study
Any
scientific research study in which data are collected in
a setting other than the laboratory. (p. 36)
field
theory
Lewin's
broad social psychological theory that each person exists
in a field of psychological forces--made up of the person's
own desires, goals, and abilities and the person's perceptions
of others' expectations or judgments--that act simultaneously
to push or pull the person in various directions. (p. 529)
figure
In
perception, the portion of a visual scene that draws the
perceiver's attention and is interpreted as an object rather
than as the background. For contrast, see ground. (p. 281)
fixed
action pattern
Ethologists'
term for a behavior that occurs in essentially identical
fashion among most members of a species (though it may be
limited to one sex or the other), is elicited by a specific
environmental stimulus, and is typically more complex than
a reflex. (p. 73)
flooding
A
behavior therapy technique for treating phobias in which
the person is presented with the feared object or situation
until the fear response is extinguished or habituated. (p.
672)
fluid
intelligence
In
Cattell's theory, the variety of intelligence that enables
one to perceive relationships independent of previous specific
practice or instruction concerning those relationships.
For contrast, see crystallized intelligence. (p. 360)
foot-in-the-door
technique
A
technique for gaining compliance in which one first asks
for some relatively small contribution or favor before asking
for a larger one. Complying with the first request predisposes
the person to comply with the second. (p. 542)
formal-operational
scheme
In
Piaget's theory, the type of mental stimulus that allows
a person to reason about abstract concepts and hypothetical
ideas. See also operations, schemes. (p. 412)
four-walls
technique
A
sales trick in which the salesperson asks a set of leading
questions that cause the potential customer to say things
that would contradict (and cause cognitive dissonance with)
a subsequent refusal to purchase the product that the salesperson
is trying to sell. (p. 542)
fovea
The
pinhead-size area of the retina of the eye in which the
cones are concentrated and that is specialized for high
visual acuity. (p. 242)
fraternal
twins
Two
individuals who developed simultaneously in the same womb,
but who originated from separate zygotes (fertilized eggs)
and are therefore no more genetically similar to one another
than are nontwin siblings; also called dizygotic twins.
For contrast, see identical twins. (p. 59)
free
association
In
psychoanalysis, the procedure in which a patient relaxes,
frees his or her mind from the constraints of conscious
logic, and reports every image and idea that enters his
or her awareness. (p. 649)
free
nerve endings
The
sensitive tips of sensory neurons, located in the skin and
other peripheral tissues, that are not surrounded by specialized
end organs and are involved in the sense of pain. (p. 258)
frequency
For
any form of energy that changes in a cyclic or wave- like
way, the number of cycles or waves that occur during a standard
unit of time. For sound, this physical measure is related
to the psychological experience of pitch. (p. 235)
frequency
distribution
A
table or graph depicting the number of individual scores,
in a set of scores, that fall within each of a set of equal
intervals. (p. A-2)
frontal
lobe
The
frontmost lobe of the cerebral cortex, bounded in the rear
by the parietal and temporal lobes; it contains the motor
area and parts of the association areas involved in planning
and making judgments. (pp. 154, 224)
functionalism
A
school of psychological thought, founded by William James
and others, that focuses on understanding the functions,
or adaptive purposes, of mental processes. For contrast,
see structuralism. (p. 11)