AP Psych EVERYTHING

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

A disorder characterized by restlessness, inattentiveness, and impulsivity

Centration

A preoperational thought pattern involving the inability to take into account more than one factor at a time

Imprinting

A primitive form of learning in which some young animals follow and form an attachment to the first moving object they see and hear

Unstructured interview

An interview format in which the clinician asks spontaneous questions that are based on issues that arise during the interview

Amenorrhea

The absence of menstrual cycles

Haptic perception

The active exploration of the environment by touching and grasping objects with our hands

Conditioned defensive burying

The burial of a source of aversive stimulation by rodents

Discrimination

The capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli

Comparison level

The cost-benefit ratio that people believe they deserve or could attain in another relationship

Manipulation

The creation of an artificial pattern of variation in a variable in order to determine its causal powers

Extrinsic motivation

The desire to engage in activity to achieve an external consequence, such as a reward

Geropsychology

The field of psychology concerned with the mental health of elderly people

Multicultural psychology

The field of psychology that examines the impact of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and similar factors on our behaviors and thoughts and focuses on how such factors may influence the origin, nature, and treatment of abnormal behavior

Chemoaffinity hypothesis

The hypothesis that growing axons are attracted to the correct targets by different chemicals released by the target sites

Social exchange

The hypothesis that people remain in relationships only as long as they perceive a favorable ration of costs to benefits

Person-situation controversy

The question of whether behavior is caused more by personality or by situational factors

Reasoning

A mental activity that consists of organizing information or beliefs into a series of steps to reach conclusions

Clinical psychologist

A mental health professional who has earned a doctorate in clinical psychology

Employee assistance program

A mental health program offered by a business to its employees

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

A neuroimaging technique used to visualize internal functioning of the brain or body

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

A neuroimaging technique used to visualize internal structures of the brain or body

Pick's disease

A neurological disease that affects the frontal and temporal lobes, causing a neurocognitive disorder

Paraprofessional

A person without previous professional training who provides services under the supervision of a mental health professional

Outcome expectancies

A person's assumptions about the likely consequences of a future behavior

Self-concept

A person's explicit knowledge of his or her own behaviors, traits, and other personal characteristics

Baseline data

A person's initial response level on a test or scale

Stress response

A person's particular reactions to stress

Strange situation

A behavioral test developed by Mary Ainsworth that is used to determine a child's attachment style

Olfactory bulb

A brain structure located above the nasal cavity beneath the frontal lobes

Reticular formation

A brain structure that regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal

Pons

A brain structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain

Encopresis

A disorder characterized by repeated defecating in inappropriate places, such as one's clothing

Gambling disorder

A disorder marked by persistent and recurring gambling behavior, leading to a range of life problems

Naturalistic observation

A research method in which subjects are observed in their natural environment

MAO inhibitor

An antidepressant drug that prevents the action of the enzyme monoamine oxidase

Agoraphobia

An anxiety disorder marked by a fear of being in situations in which escape may be difficult or impossible

Panic disorder

An anxiety disorder marked by recurrent and unpredictable panic attacks

Carousel apparatus

An apparatus used to study the effects of sleep deprivation in laboratory rats

Covert sensitization

A behavioral treatment for eliminating unwanted behavior by pairing the behavior with unpleasant mental images

Diencephalon

A brain area, consisting of the mammillary bodies, thalamus, and hypothalamus, that plays a key role in transforming short-term to long-term memory, among other functions

Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)

A brain region that depresses hunger when activated

Lateral hypothalamus (LH)

A brain region that produces hunger when activated

Convulsion

A brain seizure

Overregularization

Applying a grammatical rule too widely and creating incorrect forms

Normal distribution

A bell-shaped curve, describing the spread of a characteristic throughout a population

Diazepam

A benzodiazepine drug, marketed as Valium

Taste-aversion learning

A biological tendency in which an organism learns, after a single experience, to avoid a food with a certain taste, if eating is followed by illness

Shuttle box

A box separated in the middle by a barrier that an animal can jump over in order to escape or avoid shock

Operant chamber

A boxlike apparatus that can be programmed to deliver reinforcers and punishers contingent on an animal's behavior. The operant chamber is often called a "Skinner box."

Ion

A atom or group of atoms that has a positive or negative electrical charge

Histogram

A bar graph depicting a frequency distribution. The height of the bars indicates the frequency of a group of scores

Nicotine

A alkaloid (nitrogen-containing chemical) derived from tobacco or produced in the laboratory

Subintentional death

A death in which the victim plays an indirect, hidden, partial, or unconscious role

Plethysmograph

A device used to measure sexual arousal

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A disorder characterized by chronic physiological arousal, recurrent unwanted thoughts or images of the trauma, and avoidance of things that call the traumatic event to mind

Internet gaming disorder

A disorder marked by persistent, recurrent, and excessive Internet activity, particularly gaming. Recommended for further study by the DSM study group

Operant conditioning

A form of behavioral learning in which the probability of a response is changed by its consequences-that is, by the stimuli that follow the response

Catatonic excitement

A form of catatonia in which a person moves excitedly, sometimes with wild waving of the arms and legs

Severe intellectual disability

A level of intellectual disability (IQ between 20 and 34) at which individuals require careful supervision and can learn to perform basic work in a structured and sheltered setting

Self-serving bias

People's tendency to take credit for their successes but downplay responsibility for their failures

Mood-congruent memory

A memory process that selectively retrieves memories that are congruent with (match) one's mood

Major neurocognitive disorder

A neurocognitive disorder in which the decline in cognitive functioning is substantial and interferes with the ability to be independent

Tegmentum

A part of the midbrain involved in movement and arousal

Response performance

A research method in which researchers quantify perceptual or cognitive processes in response to a specific stimulus

Partial reinforcement

A type of learning in which behavior is reinforced intermittently

Type I schizophrenia

According to some theorists, a type of schizophrenia dominated by positive symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, and certain formal thought disorders

Thanatos

According to the Freudian view, the basic death instinct that functions in opposition to the life instinct

Central traits

According to trait theory, traits that form the basis of personality

Constructional praxis

Ability to motorically produce or manipulate items so that they have a particular spatial relationship

Symbolic representations

Abstract mental representations that do not correspond to the physical features of objects or ideas

Penis envy

According to Freud, the female desire to have a penis-a condition that usually results in their attraction to males

Electra complex

According to Freud, the pattern of desires all girls experience during the phallic stage, in which they develop a sexual attraction to their father

Symbolic loss

According to Freudian theory, the loss of a valued object (for example, a loss of employment) that is unconsciously interpreted as the loss of a loved one. Also called imagined loss

Calcification

Accumulation of calcium; often accompanies transneural degeneration

Disorganized behavior

Acting in strange or unusual ways, including strange movement of limbs, bizarre speech, and inappropriate self-care, such as failing to dress or properly bathe

Experimenter expectancy effect

Actual change in the behavior of the people or nonhuman animals being observed that is due to the expectations of the observer

Behaviorism

An approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior

Teratogens

Agents that damage the process of development, such as drugs and viruses

Neuroleptic drugs

An alternative term for conventional antipsychotic drugs, so called because they often produce undesired effects similar to the symptoms of neurological disorders

Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

Albert Ellis's brand of cognitive therapy, based on the idea that irrational thoughts and behaviors are the cause of mental disorders

Aprosodic

All at one pitch; type of speech deficit observed after damage to anterior regions of the right hemisphere

Dizygotic twins

Also called fraternal twins; twin siblings that result from two separately fertilized eggs and therefore are no more similar genetically than nontwin siblings

Aspartate

An amino acid neurotransmitter that is a constituent of many of the proteins that we eat

Response

An action or physiological change elicited by a stimulus

Working memory

An active processing system that keeps different types of information available for current use

Dynamic Unconscious

An active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the person's deepest instincts and desires, and the person's inner struggle to control these forces

Cocaine

An addictive stimulant obtained from the coca plant. It is the most powerful natural stimulant known

Anterior cingulate cortex

Anterior portion of the cingulate cortex, located below the frontal lobe along the medial surface. This region is characterized by a primitive cytoarchitecture (three-layered cortex) and is part of the interface between the frontal lobe and the limbic system. The anterior cingulate cortex is implicated in various executive functions, such as response monitoring, error detection, and attention

Empirical investigation

Any approach to research that relies on sensory experience and observation as research data

Cochlear nucleus

Area in the medulla where the auditory nerve synapses

Core

Area of the auditory cortex that receives input from the medial geniculate nucleus; subdivided into areas A1 (primary auditory cortex) and regions inferior to A1, referred to as the rostral and rostrotemporal fields

Association areas

Areas of the cerebral cortex that are composed of neurons that help provide sense and meaning to information registered in the cortex

Subcortical structures

Areas of the forebrain housed under the cerebral cortex near the very center of the brain

Aversion therapy

As a classical conditioning procedure, aversive counterconditioning involves presenting individuals with an attractive stimulus paired with an unpleasant (aversive) stimulation in order to condition revulsion

Monocular depth cues

Aspects of a scene that yield information about depth when viewed with only one eye

Memory misattribution

Assigning a recollection of an idea to the wrong source

Implicit personality theory

Assumptions about personality that are held by people (especially nonpsychologists) to simplify the task of understanding others

Neutralizing

Attempting to eliminate thoughts that one finds unacceptable by thinking or behaving in ways that make up for those thoughts and so put matters right internally

Decision making

Attempting to select the best alternative among several options

Cooperation

Behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit

Bottom-up attentional processing

Attention-directing schema in which some aspect of the stimulus itself causes it to be attended to or to receive priority in processing

Explicit attitudes

Attitudes that a person can report

Implicit attitudes

Attitudes that influence a person's feelings and behavior at an unconscious level

Repressive coping

Avoiding situations or thoughts that are reminders of a stressor and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint

Theory of mind

Awareness that other people base their behaviors on their own beliefs, intentions, and mental states, not on information they have no way of knowing

Antidromic conduction

Axonal conduction opposite to the normal direction; conduction from axon terminals back toward the cell body

Reciprocal altruism

Behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future

Grossly disorganized behavior

Behavior that is inappropriate for the situation or ineffective in attaining goals, often with specific motor disturbances

Preconventional level

Earliest level of moral development; at this level, self-interest and event outcomes determine what is moral

Exposure treatments

Behavioral treatments in which persons are exposed to the objects or situations they dread

Ideas of reference

Beliefs that unrelated events pertain to oneself in some important way

Developmental stages

Periods of life initiated by significant transitions or changes in physical or psychological functioning

Pheromones

Biochemical odorants emitted by other members of its species that can affect an animal's behavior or physiology

Bipolar cells

Bipolar neurons that form in the middle layer of the retina

Schedules of reinforcement

Programs specifying the frequency and timing of reinforcements

Scapegoating

Blaming an innocent person or a group for one's own troubles

Cerebral hemorrhage

Bleeding in the brain

Secondary emotions

Blends of primary emotions; they include remorse, guilt, submission, and anticipation

Cortical blindness

Blindness caused by damage to the primary visual cortex rather than the eye or optic nerve

Coronary arteries

Blood vessels that surround the heart and are responsible for carrying oxygen to the heart muscle

Antibodies

Bodily chemicals that seek out and destroy foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses

Somatic markers

Bodily reactions that arise from the emotional evaluation of an action's consequences

Primary sex characteristics

Bodily structures that are directly involved in reproduction

Secondary sex characteristics

Bodily structures that that change dramatically with sexual maturity but that are not directly involved in reproduction

Bilateral

Both sides; two-sided

Closed head injury

Brain damage sustained when the head forcefully contacts another object, but no object penetrates the brain

Cross-modal plasticity

Brain reorganization in which cortex normally devoted to one sensory modality becomes able to respond to information supplied in another modality; may occur when a person loses input from an entire sensory modality

Event-related potentials

Brain waves shown on the EEG in response to stimulation, also known as evoked potentials

Axon collateral

Branches off an axon that can transmit signals to more than one cell

Dendrites

Branchlike extensions of the neuron that detect information from other neurons

Idiographic approaches

Person-centered approaches to studying personality; they focus on individual lives and how various characteristics are integrated into unique persons

Neural pathway

Bundle of nerve cells that follow generally the same route and employ the same neurotransmitter

Gender identity

Personal beliefs about whether one is male or female

Clinical

Pertaining to illness or treatment

Apoptosis

Cell death that is actively induced by genetic programs; programmed cell death

Neuron

Cell specialized to receive and transmit information to other cells in the body-also called nerve cell. Bundles of many neurons are called nerves

Coincidence detectors

Cells in brainstem areas that take into account the different arrival times of a sound at the left and right ears; maximally stimulated when the signals from the right and left ears arrive at the cell simultaneously; codes for spatial location of the sound

Feature detectors

Cells in the cortex that specialize in extracting certain features of a stimulus

Glial cells

Cells that bind the neurons together. Glial cells also provide an insulating covering (the myelin sheath) of the axon for some neurons, which facilitates the electrical impulse

Concept cells

Cells, such as those found in the medial temporal lobe, that respond to ideas or concepts rather than to particulars. Also known as Jennifer Aniston cells

Reappraisal

Changing one's emotional experience by changing the meaning of the emotion-eliciting stimulus

Senile

Characteristic of or associated with old age

Temperaments

Characteristic patterns of emotional reactivity

Components

Characteristic portions of a scalp-recorded electrical waveform that have been linked to certain psychological processes

Narcissistic personality disorder

Characterized by a grandiose sense of self importance, a preoccupation with fantasies of success or power, and a need for constant attention or admiration

Self-monitoring

Clients' observation of their own behavior

Contusions

Closed-head injuries that involve damage to the cerebral circulatory system, which produces internal hemorrhaging

Gender schemas

Cognitive structures that reflect the perceived appropriateness of male and female characteristics and behavior

Complex emotion

Combinations of basic emotions, some of which may be socially or culturally learned, that can be identified as evolved, long-lasting feelings

Affective prosody

Communicates the emotional context or tone of an utterance

Adipsia

Complete cessation of drinking

Aphagia

Complete cessation of eating

Connectionist networks

Computational model composed of interconnected layers of units that exhibit neuron-like behavior

Artificial Concepts

Concepts defined by rules, such as word definitions and mathematical formulas

Full consciousness

Consciousness in which you know and are able to report your mental state

Active placebos

Control drugs that have no therapeutic effect but produce side effects similar to those produced by the drug under evaluation in a clinical trial

Insomnia

Difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep

Agrammatic aphasia

Difficulty producing and/or understanding the structure of sentences. Agrammatic aphasia is seen in brain-damaged patients who may speak using only content words, leaving out function words such as "the" and "a"

Inappropriate affect

Display of emotions that are unsuited to the situation; a symptom of schizophrenia

Psychosexual stages

Distinct early life stages through which personality is formed as children experience sexual pleasures from specific body areas and caregivers redirect or interfere with those pleasures

Concussion

Disturbance of consciousness following a blow to the head with no cerebral bleeding or obvious structural damage

Binocular depth cues

Cues of depth perception that arise from the fact that people have two eyes

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Depression that involves recurrent depressive episodes in a seasonal pattern

Cortical dementias

Declines in cognitive functioning that are primarily due to progressive, degenerative changes in cortical regions of the brain. Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia are the most common forms of cortical dementia

Unipolar depression

Depression without a history of mania

Cortical magnification factor

Describes the millimeters of cortical surface that are devoted to one degree of angle in the visual world

Psychomotor symptoms

Disturbances in movement sometimes found in certain disorders such as schizophrenia

Syllogistic reasoning

Determining whether a conclusion follows from two statements that are assumed to be true

Coarticulation

Differences in how the vocal muscles produce sounds (most notably vowels) depending on what prcedes or follows them; phenomenon suggestive of motor planning

Acceleration-deceleration injury

Diffuse damage created by a rapid acceleration of the head followed by a deceleration, in which the energy imparted to the brain causes it to move within the skull; main mechanism of damage in closed head injury

Personal constructs

Dimensions people use in making sense of their experiences

Callosal apraxia

Disconnection syndrome that selectively disrupts the ability to perform movements or manipulate objects with the left hand in response to verbal commands; associated with damage to the corpus callosum

Personality types

Discrete categories of people based on personality characteristics

Autoimmune disease

Disease (e.g., multiple sclerosis) that arise when the immune system begins to attack healthy body cells as if they were foreign pathogens

Developmental coordination disorder

Disorder characterized by marked impairment in the development and performance of coordinated motor activities

Muscle dysmorphia

Disorder in which people become obsessed with the incorrect belief that they are not muscular enough

Mood disorders

Disorders affecting one's emotional state, including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorders

Contingent drug tolerance

Drug tolerance that develops as a reaction to the experience of the effects of drugs rather than to drug exposure alone

Psychotropic medications

Drugs that affect mental processes

Hallucinogens

Drugs that cause powerful changes primarily in sensory perception, including strengthening perceptions and producing illusions and hallucinations. Also called a psychedelic drug

Eclectic

Either switching theories to explain different situations or building one's own theory of personality from many perspectives

Nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT)

Erection during sleep

Pseudopsychology

Erroneous assertions or practices set forth as being scientific psychology

Double-blind design

Experimental procedure in which neither the participant nor the experimenter knows whether the participant has received the experimental treatment or a placebo

Alarm reaction

First stage of the GAS, during which the body mobilizes its resources to cope with a stressor

Coup injury

Focal damage at the site of impact

Convolutions

Folds on the surface of the cerebral hemisphere

Tube and intravenous feeding

Forced nourishment sometimes provided to people with anorexia nervosa when their condition becomes life-threatening

Rape

Forced sexual intercourse or another sexual act committed against a nonconsenting person or intercourse with an underage person

Transience

Forgetting what occurs with the passage of time

Replicate

In research this refers to doing a study over to see whether the same results are obtained. As a control for bias, replication is often done by someone other than the researcher who performed the original study

Humors

Four body fluids-blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile-that, according to an ancient theory, control personality by their relative abundance

Therapeutic community

Jones's term for a program of treating mental disorders by making the institutional environment supportive and humane for patients

Mood stabilizing drugs

Psychotropic drugs that help stabilize the moods of people suffering from a bipolar mood disorder. Also known as antibipolar drugs

Chronic headaches

Frequent intense aches in the head or neck that are not caused by another medical disorder

Psychic determinism

Freud's assumption that all our mental and behavioral responses are caused by unconscious traumas, desires, or conflicts

Neurosis

Freud's term for disorders characterized by intense anxiety, attributed to a failure of a person's ego defense mechanisms to cope with unconscious conflicts

Gestalt psychology

From a German word (pronounced gush-TAWLT) that means "whole" or "form" or "configuration". The Gestalt psychologists believed that much of perception is shaped by innate factors built into the brain

Anterior

Front; in front of

Unconditional positive regard

Full, warm acceptance of a person regardless of what they say, think, or feel; a critical component of client-centered therapy

GABA

Gamma-aminobutyric acid; the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system

Fixed-action patterns

Genetically based behaviors, seen across a species, which can be set off by a specific stimulus. The concept of fixed-action patterns has replaced the older notion of instinct

Analogous

Having a similar structure because of convergent evolution (e.g., a bird's wing and a bee's wing are analogous)

Affective

Having an emotional value, either positive or negative; not neutral

Conscious motivation

Having the desire to engage in an activity and being aware of the desire

Self-help support groups

Groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, that provide social support and an opportunity for sharing ideas about dealing with common problems. Such groups are typically organized and run by laypersons, rather than professional therapists

Addicts

Habitual drug users who continue to use a drug despite its adverse effects on their health and social life and despite their repeated efforts to stop using it

Audition

Hearing; the sense of sound perception

Essential hypertension

High blood pressure caused by a combination of psychosocial and physiological factors

Coronary heart disease

Illness of the heart caused by a blockage of the coronary arteries

Ambiguous figures

Images that are capable of more than one interpretation. There is no "right" way to see an ambiguous figure

Variability

In a set of numbers, how widely dispersed the values are from each other and from the mean

Secondary traits

In trait theory, preferences and attitudes

Anterograde disorientation

Inability to construct new representations of environments, although patients are still able to navigate successfully around previously learned environments

Shaping

Learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior

Altruistic suicide

Suicide committed by people who intentionally sacrifice their lives for the well-being of society

Concept hierarchies

Levels of concepts, from most general to most specific, in which a more general level includes more specific concepts-as the concept of "animal" includes "dog", "giraffe", and "butterfly"

Backward referral hypothesis

Libet's hypothesis that the awareness of a neural event is delayed approximately 500 milliseconds after the onset of the stimulating event, and this awareness is referred back in time to the onset of the stimulating event

Photoreceptors

Light-sensitive cells (neurons) in the retina that convert light energy to neural impulses. The photoreceptors are as far as light gets into the visual system

Retina

Light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eyeball

Hypnotic amnesia

Loss of memory produced by hypnotic suggestion

Availability Heuristic

Making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind

Brodmann map

Map (named after its creator) that divides the brain into distinct areas based on similarities in the laminar organization and nature of cells

Need hierarchy

Maslow's arrangement of needs, in which basic survival needs must be met before people can satisfy higher needs

Face validity

Measures whether a test looks like it tests what it is supposed to test

Family resemblance theory

Members of a category have features that appear to be characteristic of category members but may not be possessed by every member

Conspecifics

Members of the same species

Psychophysics

Methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer's sensitivity to that stimulus

Cell adhesion molecules (CAMS)

Molecules on the surface of cells that have the ability to recognize specific molecules on the surface of other cells and bind to them

Second-generation antidepressants

New antidepressant drugs that differ structurally from tricyclics and MAO inhibitors

Cross-cuing

Nonneural communication between hemispheres that have been separated by commissurotomy

Amino acids

Smallest and most basic buiding blocks of proteins; act as the main excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain

Automatic thoughts

Numerous unpleasant thoughts that help to cause or maintain depression, anxiety, or other forms of psychological dysfunction

Data

Objective observations or measurements

Behavior

Observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals

Somnambulism (sleepwalking)

Occurs when the person arises and walks around while asleep

Contralateral

On the opposite side

Contention scheduling

One component of a two-component system that influences the choice of behavior; a cognitive system that enables relatively automatic processing, which has been developed over time through learning

Barbiturates

One group of sedative hypnotic drugs that reduce anxiety and help produce sleep

Social role

One of several socially defined patterns of behavior that are expected of persons in a given setting or group

Chemotopic

Organized, like the olfactory bulb, according to a map of various odors

Chunking

Organizing pieces of information into a smaller number of meaningful units (or chunks)-a process that frees up space in working memory

Mind

Our private inner experience of perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings

Complementary colors

Pairs of colors that produce white or gray when combined in equal measures; every color has a complementary color

Antagonistic muscles

Pairs of muscles that act in opposition

Color-opponent system

Pairs of visual neurons that work in opposition

Belief bias

People's judgments about whether to accept conclusions depend more on how believable the conclusions are than on whether the arguments are logically valid

Secondary appraisals

Part of the coping process during which people evaluate their response options and choose coping behaviors

Primary appraisals

Part of the coping process that involves making decisions about whether a stimulus is stressful, benign, or irrelevant

Learned helplessness

Pattern of failure to respond to noxious stimuli after an organism learns its responses are ineffective

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Pattern of general physical responses that take essentially the same form in responding to any serious chronic stressor

Paraphilias

Patterns in which a person has recurrent and intense sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors involving nonhuman objects, children, nonconsenting adults, or experiences of suffering or humiliation

Central sensorimotor programs

Patterns of activity that are programmed into the sensorimotor system

Blobs

Peglike, cytochrome oxidase-rich, dual-opponent color columns

Mentally ill chemical abusers (MICAs)

People suffering from both schizophrenia (or another severe psychological disorder) and a substance-related disorder. Also called dual-diagnosis patients

Analytic processing

Perceptual analysis that emphasizes the component parts of an object. Reading is thought to be a prime example of analytic processing in that the recognition of words requires the analysis of at least some of the component letters. Compare holistic processing

Auditory-verbal working memory

Phonological store; memory of the contents of immediately preceding verbal utterances

Cones

Photoreceptors in the retina that are especially sensitive to colors but not to dim light. You may have guessed that cones are cone-shaped

Coronal

Planar view of the brain in which the brain is sliced ear to ear to separate the front from the back

Parallel processing

Processing multiple types of information at the same time

Congenital

Present at birth

Secondary prevention

Prevention interventions that are designed to address disorders quickly, before they become more serious problems

Primary prevention

Prevention interventions that are designed to prevent disorders altogether

Dreams

Products of an altered state of consciousness in which images and fantasies are confused with reality

Variable interval (VI) schedules

Programs by which the time period between reinforcements varies from trial to trial

Birth complications

Problematic biological conditions during birth that can affect the physical and psychological well-being of the child

Attentional set

Process that designates which information is task relevant

Cognitive control

Processes that facilitate information processing. Control operations are thought to help coordinate activity across different neural regions; for example, the representation of a current goal in the prefrontal cortex can help control the retrieval of information in long-term memory. See also executive functions

Prospect theory

Proposes that people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risk when evaluating potential gains

Tertiary prevention

Prvention interventions that are designed to provide effective treatment for moderate or severe disorders as soon as it is needed so that the disorders do not become long-term problems

State hospitals

Public mental institutions in the United States, run by the individual states

Perceptual set

Readiness to detect a particular stimulus in a given context-as when a person who is afraid interprets an unfamiliar sound in the night as a threat

Theoretical reasoning

Reasoning directed toward arriving at a belief

Type

Refers to especially important dimensions or clusters of traits that are not only central to a person's personality but are found with essentially the same pattern in many people

Set point

Refers to the tendency of the body to maintain a certain level of body fat and body weight

Alpha waves

Regular, 8 to 12 per second, high amplitude EEG waves that typically occur during relaxed wakefulness and just before falling asleep

Blindsight

Residual visual abilities within a field defect in the absence of awareness. Blindsight can be observed when there is damage in the primary visual cortex. The residual function is usually observed with indirect measures such as by prodding the patient to look or point at the location of a stimulus, even if the patient denies having seen the stimulus

Display rules

Rules learned through socialization that dictate which emotions are suitable to given situations

Normal range

Scores falling near the middle of a normal distribution

Stage of resistance

Second stage of the GAS, during which the body adapts to and uses resources to cope with a stressor

Cross-section

Section cut at a right angle to any long, narrow structure of the CNS

Sociopathy

See Antisocial personality disorder

Complex partial seizures

Seizures that are characterized by various complex psychological phenomena and are thought to result from temporal lobe discharges

Attention

Selective process by which the brain chooses specific information for further processing; inherently limited by the amount of information the brain can process at any one time

Afterimages

Sensations that linger after the stimulus is removed. Most visual afterimages are negative afterimages, which appear in reversed colors

Baroreceptors

Sensitive nerves in the blood vessels that are responsible for signaling the brain that blood pressure is becoming too high

Sensory adaptation

Sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions

Stimulus

Sensory input from the environment

Skin senses

Sensory systems for processing touch, warmth, cold, texture, and pain

Copulation

Sexual intercourse

Bisexual

Sexually attracted to members of both sexes

Psychoanalytic theory

Sigmund Freud's approach to understanding human behavior that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors

Neurotic needs

Signs of neurosis in Horney's theory, these 10 needs are normal desires carried to a neurotic extreme

Constituent cognitive processes

Simple cognitive processes that combine to produce complex cognitive processes and that are assumed to be mediated by neural activity in particular areas of the brain

Spinal reflexes

Simple pathways in the nervous system that rapidly generate muscle contractions

Dyssomnias

Sleep-wake disorders, such as insomnia disorder and hypersomnolence disorder, in which the amount, quality, or timing of sleep is disturbed

Parasomnias

Sleep-wake disorders, such as sleepwalking, sleep terrors, and nightmare disorder, characterized by the occurrence of abnormal events during sleep

Bradyphrenia

Slowing of thought processes; part of the cognitive compromise exhibited by individuals with Parkinson's disease

Inferential statistics

Statistical techniques (based on probability theory) used to assess whether the results of a study are reliable or whether they simply might be the result of chance. Inferential statistics are often used to determine whether two or more groups are essentially the same or different

Descriptive statistics

Statistics that summarize the data collected in a study

Anabolic steroids

Steroid drugs that are similar to testosterone and have powerful anabolic (growth-promoting) effects

Amphetamines

Stimulant drugs that are manufactured in the laboratory

Contact comfort

Stimulation and reassurance derived from the physical touch of a caregiver

Cataplexy

Sudden loss of muscle control

Brain lesion

Structural damage to the white or gray matter of the brain. Lesions result from many causes, including tumor, stroke, and degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease

Caudate nuclei

Structures in the brain, within the region known as the basal ganglia, that help convey sensory information into thoughts and actions

Clinical trials

Studies conducted on human subjects to assess the therapeutic efficacy of an untested drug or other treatment

Prototype

The "best" or "most typical" member of a category

Proximodistal rule

The "inside-to-outside" rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery

Prosocial

Tending to benefit others

Violence and aggression

Terms that refer to behavior that is intended to cause harm

Response inventories

Tests designed to measure a person's responses in one specific area of functioning, such as affect, social skills, or cognitive processes

Cranial nerves

The 12 major nerves originating in the brain; some are responsible for receipt of sensory information and motor control of the head, others are responsible for the neural control of internal organs

Germinal stage

The 2-week period of prenatal development that begins at conception

Blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD)

The BOLD signal is the change in magnetic resonance signal intensity of hydrogen ion concentration in the brain, which results from changes in local tissue oxygenation state. When neurons become more active, this triggers an increase in the amount of oxygenated blood entering local capillaries in the tissue. This alters the ratio of oxygenated to deoxygenated hemoglobin in the tissue. Because deoxygenated hemoglobin is paramagnetic, it disrupts the local magnetic properties of the tissue, and the MR signal intensity drops. Conversely, when oxygenated blood increases in response to local neuron activity, the MR signal intensity increases and this is known as the BOLD response. The BOLD signal is an indirect measure of neural activity, and is delayed with respect to the measure of neural activity that leads to the BOLD signal, taking about 2-3 seconds to begin, and about 5-6 seconds after the onset of neural activity to peak.

Acuity

The ability to see the details of objects

Sex chromosomes

The X and Y chromosomes that determine our physical sex characteristics

Power

The ability of a measure to detect the concrete conditions specified in the operational definition

Predictive validity

The ability of a test or other assessment tool to predict future characteristics or behaviors

Resiliency

The ability to avoid or recover from the effects of negative circumstances

Mean

The averaged value of all the measurements

Fear

The central nervous system's physiological and emotional response to a serious threat to one's well-being

Anxiety

The central nervous system's physiological and emotional response to a vague sense of threat or danger

Cornea

The clear outer covering of the eye

Zone of proximal development

The difference between what a child can do with help and what the child can do without any help or guidance

Anandamide

The first endogenous endocannabinoid to be discovered and characterized

Crystallized intelligence

The knowledge a person has acquired, plus the ability to access that knowledge

Whole method

The mnemonic strategy of first approaching the material to be learned "as a whole", forming an impression of the overall meaning of the material. The details are later associated with this overall impression

Overjustification

The process by which extrinsic (external) rewards can sometimes displace internal motivation, as when children receive money for playing video games

Basal metabolic rate

The rate at which an individual utilizes energy to maintain bodily processes

Vestibular sense

The sense of body orientation with respect to gravity. The vestibular sense is closely associated with the inner ear and, in fact, is carried to the brain on a branch of the auditory nerve

Prevalence

The total number of cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time

Opponent-process theory

Theory of emotion which theorizes that emotions have pairs. When one is triggered, the other is suppressed (for example, when we feel happy, sad is the suppressed emotion)

Out-group

Those outside of the group with which an individual identifies

Caudal

Toward the back (in an animal, toward the tail)

Cerebral commisures

Tracts that connect the left and right cerebral hemispheres

Ritalin

Trade name of methylphenidate, a stimulant drug that is helpful in many cases of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Critical incident stress debriefing

Training in how to help the victims of disasters or other horrifying events talk about their feelings and reactions to the traumatic incidents.

Biological therapies

Treatment based on medical approaches to illness and disease

Experimental groups

Treatment groups; the participants in a study that receive intervention

Benign tumors

Tumors that are surgically removable with little risk of further growth in the body

Athetosis

Type of hyperkinesia characterized by involuntary writhing contractions and twisting of the body into abnormal positions

Chorea

Type of hyperkinesia that produces uncontrollable, jerking movements such as twitiching and abrupt jerking of the body

Complex cells

Types of striate cortex cells; respond best to certain line orientations and motion in a particular direction

Color blindness

Typically a genetic disorder (although sometimes the result of trauma) that prevents an individual from discriminating certain colors. The most common form is red-green color blindness

Defense mechanism

Unconscious mental strategies that the mind uses to protect itself from distress

Deductive reasoning

Using general rules to draw conclusions about specific instances

Inductive reasoning

Using specific instances to draw conclusions about general rules

Confounding or extraneous variables

Variables that have an unwanted influence on the outcome of an experiment

Deviance

Variance from common patterns of behavior

Natural language mediators

Words associated with new information to be remembered

Meta-worry

Worrying about the fact that one is worrying too much

Contrast X-ray techniques

X-ray techniques that involve the injection into one compartment of the body a substance that absorbs X-rays either less than or more than surrounding tissue

Monoamine oxidase (MAO)

a body chemical that destroys the neurotransmitter norepinephrine

Bottleneck

a stage of processing where not all of the inputs can gain access or pass through

Flashbulb memories

detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events

Learning

experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner

Implicit learning

learning that takes place without awareness of the process or the products of information acquisition

Vicarious learning

learning the consequences of an action by watching others be rewarded or punished for performing the action

Stimulus discrimination

learning to respond to one stimulus but not to stimuli that are similar

Compensation

making up for one's real or imagined deficiencies

Cardinal traits

personality components that define people's lives; very few individuals have cardinal traits

Reaction formation

A defense mechanism that involves unconsciously replacing threatening inner wishes and fantasies with an exaggerated version of their opposite

Asomatognosia

A deficiency in the awareness of parts of one's own body that is typically produced by damage to the parietal lobe

Ecstasy (MDMA)

A drug chemically related to amphetamines and hallucinogens, used illicitly for its euphoric and hallucinogenic effects

Down syndrome

A form of intellectual disability caused by an abnormality in the twenty-first chromosome

Serial position effect

A form of interference related to the sequence in which information is presented. Generally, items in the middle of the sequence are less well remembered than items presented first or last

Hallucinosis

A form of intoxication caused by hallucinogens, consisting of perceptual distortions and hallucinations

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

A form of neurocognitive disorder caused by a slow-acting virus that may live in the body for years before the disease unfolds

Delayed ejaculation

A male dysfunction characterized by persistent inability to ejaculate or very delayed ejaculations during sexual activity with a partner

Male hypoactive sexual desire disorder

A male dysfunction marked by a persistent reduction or lack of interest in sex and hence a low level of sexual activity

Generic drug

A marketed drug that is comparable to a trade-name drug in dosage, form, strength, and performance

Inter-rater reliability

A measure of how similarly two different test scorers would score a test

Split-half reliability

A measure of reliability in which a test is split into two parts and an individual's scores on both halves are compared

Statistical significance

A measure of the probablity that a study's findings occurred by chance rather than because of the experimental manipulation

Heritability

A measure of the variability of behavioral traits among individuals that can be accounted for by genetic factors

Central tendency

A measure that represents the typical response or behavior of a group as a whole

Alternative splicing

A mechanism by which the actions of individual genes can be controlled or "edited" so that one gene can produce two or more proteins

Asthma

A medical problem marked by narrowing of the trachea and bronchi, which results in shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and a choking sensation

Psychiatry

A medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders

Misattribution

A memory fault that occurs when memories are retrieved but are associated with the wrong time, place, or person

Psychiatric social worker

A mental health specialist who is qualified to conduct psychotherapy upon earning a master's degree or doctorate in social work

Counseling psychology

A mental health specialty similar to clinical psychology that offers its own graduate training program

Creativity

A mental process that produces novel responses that contribute to the solutions of problems

Repression

A mental process that removes unacceptable thoughts and memories from consciousness

Cognitive map

A mental representation of a physical space

Core affect

A mental representation of the sensory input from the body and from the world

Template

A mental representation that can be directly compared to a viewed shape in the retinal image

Concept

A mental representation that groups or categorizes shared features of related objects, events, or other stimuli

Representativeness heuristic

A mental shortcut that involves making a probability judgment by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

A metabolic disorder caused by the body's inability to break down the amino acid phenylalanine, resulting in intellectual disability and other symptoms

Tay-Sachs disease

A metabolic disorder that causes progressive loss of intellectual functioning, vision, and motor functioning, resulting in death

Experimental neurosis

A pattern of erratic behavior resulting from a demanding discrimination learning task, typically one that involves aversive stimuli

Catatonia

A pattern of extreme psychomotor symptoms, found in some forms of schizophrenia, which may include catatonic stupor, rigidity, or posturing

Cocktail party phenomenon

A phenomenon in which people tune in one message even while they filter out others nearby

Additive color mixing

A process of color mixing that occurs when different wavelengths of light interact within the eye's receptors; a psychological process

Subtractive color mixing

A process of color mixing that occurs within the stimulus itself; a physical, not a psychological process

Modeling

A process of learning in which a person acquires responses by observing and imitating others. Also, a therapy approach based on the same principle

Means-ends analysis

A process of searching for the means or steps to reduce differences between the current situation and the desired goal

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

A process where communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier

Synaptic pruning

A process whereby the synaptic connections in the brain that are frequently used are preserved, and those that are not used are lost

Therapist

A professional clinician who applies a system of therapy to help a person overcome psychological difficulties

Ratio schedule

A program by which reinforcement depends on the number of correct responses

Interval schedule

A program by which reinforcement depends on the time interval elapsed since the last reinforcement

Aftercare

A program of post-hospitalization care and treatment in the community

Day center

A program that offers hospital-like treatment during the day only. Also known as a day hospital

Suicide prevention program

A program that tries to identify people who are at risk of killing themselves and to offer them crisis intervention

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective personality test in which individual interpretations of the meaning of a set of unstructured inkblots are analyzed to identify a respondent's inner feelings and interpret his or her personality structure

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective personality test in which respondents reveal underlying motives, concerns, and the way they see the social world through the stories they make up about ambiguous pictures of people

Biological preparedness

A propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others

Content validity

A property exhibited by a test in which each item is representative of the larger body of knowledge about the subject that the test covers

Test-retest reliability

A property exhibited by a test on which people get about the same scores when they take the test more than once

Criterion validity

A property exhibited by a test that accurately measures performance of the test taker against a specific learning goal

Variable

A property whose value can vary across individuals or over time

Alpha fetoprotein

A protein that is present in the blood of many mammals during the perinatal period and that deactivates circulating estradiol by binding to it

C-reactive protein (CRP)

A protein that spreads throughout the body and causes inflammation and various illnesses and disorders

Free association

A psychodynamic technique in which the patient describes any thought, feeling, or image that comes to mind, even if it seems unimportant

Social-cognitive-behavioral approach

A psychological alternative to the medical model that views psychological disorder through a combination of the social, cognitive, and behavioral perspectives

Retrospective analysis

A psychological autopsy in which clinicians and researchers piece together information about a person's suicide from the person's past

Hypochondriasis

A psychological disorder in which a person is preoccupied with minor symptoms and develops an exaggerated belief that the symptoms signify a life-threatening illness. Now known as illness anxiety disorder

Brightness

A psychological sensation caused by the intensity of light waves

Drive

A psychological state that, by creating arousal, motivates an organism to satisfy a need

Clang

A rhyme used by some people with schizophrenia as a guide to forming thoughts and statements

Sleep debt

A sleep deficiency caused by not getting the amount of sleep that one requires for optimal functioning

Breathing-related sleep disorder

A sleep disorder in which sleep is frequently disrupted by a breathing problem, causing excessive sleepiness or insomnia

Circadian rhythm disorder

A sleep-wake disorder characterized by a mismatch between a person's sleep-wake pattern and the sleep-wake schedule of most other people

Hypersomnolence disorder

A sleep-wake disorder characterized by an extreme need for extra sleep and feelings of excessive sleepiness

Sleep apnea disorder

A sleep-wake disorder characterized by frequent awakenings each night due to periodic deprivation of oxygen to the brain during sleep

Insomnia disorder

A sleep-wake disorder characterized by severe difficulty falling asleep or maintaining sleep at least three nights per week

Parkinson's disease

A slowly progressive neurological disease, marked by tremors and rigidity, that may also cause dementia

Synaptic vesicle

A small "container" holding neurotransmitter molecules that connects to the presynaptic membrane, releasing the neurotransmitter into the synapse

Locus ceruleus

A small area of the brain that seems to be active in the regulation of emotions. Many of its neurons use norepinephrine

Beta-amyloid protein

A small molecule that forms sphere-shaped deposits called senile plaques, linked to aging and Alzheimer's disease

Broca's area

A small portion of the left frontal region of the brain, crucial for the production of language

Participant modeling

A social learning technique in which a therapist demonstrates and encourages a client to imitate a desired behavior

Reward theory of attraction

A social-learning view that says we like the best those who give us maximum rewards at minimum cost

Sick role

A socially recognized set of rights and obligations linked with illness

Carbon monoxide

A soluble gas neurotransmitter

Loudness

A sound's intensity

Mantra

A sound, uttered or thought, used to focus one's attention and to turn away from ordinary thoughts and concerns during meditation

Rush

A spasm of warmth and ecstasy that occurs when certain drugs, such as heroin, are ingested

Group home

A special home where people with disorders or disabilities live and are taught self-help, living, and working skills

Auditory agnosia

A specific inability to link basic auditory information to meaning; inability to recognize the meaning of sounds

Loosening of associations

A speech pattern among some people with schizophrenia in which their thoughts are disorganized or meaningless. Also known as derailment

Sensorimotor stage

A stage of development that begins at birth and lasts through infancy in which infants acquire information about the world by sensing it and moving around within it

Postconventional stage

A stage of moral development at which the morality of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core values

Conventional stage

A stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by they extent to which it conforms to social rules

REM sleep

A stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and a high level of brain activity

Projective techniques

A standard series of ambiguous stimuli designed to elicit unique responses that reveal inner aspects of an individual's personality

Equity

A state of affairs in which the cost-benefit ratios of two partners are roughly equal

Mental incompetence

A state of mental instability that leaves defendants unable to understand the legal charges and proceedings they are facing and unable to prepare an adequate defense with their attorney

Spectator role

A state of mind that some people experience during sex, focusing on their sexual performance to such an extent that their performance and enjoyment are reduced

Burnout

A state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, created by long-term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lowered performance and motivation

Deindividuation

A state of reduced individuality, reduced self-awareness, and reduced attention to personal standards; this phenomenon may occur when people are part of a group

Mania

A state or episode of euphoria or frenzied activity in which people may have an exaggerated belief that the world is theirs for the taking

State school

A state-supported institution for people with intellectual disability

Algorithm

A well-defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantees a solution to a problem

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

A well-researched, clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems

Arcuate fasciculus

A white matter tract that connects the posterior temporal region with frontal brain regions and is believed to transmit language-related information between the posterior and anterior brain regions

M'Naghten test

A widely used legal test for insanity that holds people to be insane at the time they committed a crime if, because of a mental disorder, they did not know the nature of the act or did not know right from wrong. Also known as the M'Naghten rule

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A widely used personality test based on Jungian types

Elaborative rehearsal

A working-memory process in which information is actively reviewed and related to information already in long-term memory

Maintenance rehearsal

A working-memory process in which information is merely repeated or reviewed to keep it from fading while in working memory. Maintenance rehearsal involves no active elaboration

Stress-reduction and problem-solving seminar

A workshop or series of group sessions offered by a business, in which mental health professionals teach employees how to cope with and solve problems and reduce stress

Informed consent

A written agreement to participate in a study made by an adult who has been informed of all the risks that participation may entail

Analytical intelligence

According to Sternberg, the ability measured by most IQ tests; includes the ability to analyze problems and find correct answers

Creative intelligence

According to Sternberg, the form of intelligence that helps people see new relationships among concepts; involves insight and creativity

MRI or magnetic resonance imaging

An imaging technique that relies on cells' responses in a high-intensity magnetic field

PET scanning or positron emission tomography

An imaging technique that relies on the detection of radioactive sugar consumed by active brain cells

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder

A childhood disorder marked by severe recurrent temper outbursts along with persistent irritable or angry mood

Trisomy

A chromosomal abnormality in which a person has three chromosomes of one kind rather than the usual two

Persistent depressive disorder

A chronic form of unipolar depression marked by ongoing and repeated symptoms of either major or mild depression

Bullying

A chronic social threat that induces subordination stress in members of our species

Butyrophenones

A class of antischizophrenic drugs that bind primarily to D2 receptors

Anti-anxiety drugs (anxiolytics)

A class of psychotropic medications used for the treatment of anxiety. Also called minor tranquilizers

Antidepressants

A class of psychotropic medications used for the treatment of depression

Antipsychotics (neuroleptics)

A class of psychotropic medications used for the treatment of schizophrenia and other disorders that involve psychosis

Amino acid neurotransmitters

A class of small-molecule neurotransmitters, which includes the amino acids glutamate and GABA

Latent learning

A condition in which something is learned but is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future

Buerger's disease

A condition in which the blood vessels, especially those supplying the legs, are constricted whenever nicotine enters the bloodstream, the ultimate result being gangrene and amputation

Split brain

A condition in which the corpus callosum is surgically cut and the two hemispheres of the brain do not receive information directly from each other

REM rebound

A condition of increased REM sleep caused by REM-sleep deprivation

Relaxation response

A condition of reduced muscle tension, cortical activity, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure

Alcohol myopia

A condition that results when alcohol hampers attention, leading people to respond in simple ways to complex situations

Reward-deficiency syndrome

A condition, suspected to be present in some people, in which the brain's reward center is not readily activated by the usual events in their lives

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

A conflict in which one must choose between options that both have negative consequences

Multiple approach-avoidance conflict

A conflict in which one must choose between options that have both many attractive and many negative aspects

Approach-approach conflict

A conflict in which one must choose between two equally attractive options

Approach-avoidance conflict

A conflict in which there are both appealing and negative aspects to a possible course of action

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia

A congenital deiciency in the release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex, which leads to the excessive release of adrenal androgens

Natural correlation

A correlation observed in the world around us

Convergence

A cue of binocular depth perception; when a person views a nearby object, the eye muscles turn the eyes inward

Norm

A customary standard for behavior that is widely shared by members of a culture

Action-outcome decision

A decision that involves some form of evaluation (not necessarily conscious) of the expected outcomes

Social loafing

A decrease in performance due to the belief that others in the group will do the work

Alogia

A decrease in speech or speech content; a symptom of schizophrenia. Also known as poverty of speech

Regression

A defense mechanism in which the ego deals with internal conflict and perceived threat by reverting to an immature behavior or earlier stage of development

Identification

A defense mechanism that helps deal with feelings of threat and anxiety by enabling us unconsciously to take on the characteristics of another person who seems more powerful or better able to cope. Also unconsciously incorporating the values and feelings of one's parents and fusing them with one's identity

Projection

A defense mechanism that involves attributing one's own threatening feelings, motives, or impulses to another person or group

Sublimation

A defense mechanism that involves channeling unacceptable sexual or aggressive drives into socially acceptable and culturally enhancing activities

Displacement

A defense mechanism that involves shifting unacceptable wishes or drives to a neutral or less-threatening alternative

Rationalization

A defense mechanism that involves supplying a reasonable-sounding explanation for unacceptable feelings and behavior to conceal (mostly from oneself) one's underlying motives or feelings

Kleptomania

An impulse-control disorder characterized by the recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects not needed for personal use or monetary value

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors

Antidepressant drugs that lower MAO activity and thus increase the level of norepinephrine activity in the brain

Aggression

Any behavior that involves the intention to harm someone else

Alcohol

Any beverage containing ethyl alcohol, including beer, wine, and liquor

Nonconscious processes

Any brain process that does not involve conscious processing, including both preconscious memories and unconscious processes

Emotional expression

Any observable sign of an emotional state

Psychopathology

Any pattern of emotions, behaviors, or thoughts inappropriate to the situation and leading to personal distress or the inability to achieve important goals. Other terms having essentially the same meaning include mental illness, mental disorder, and psychological disorder

Coping response

Any response an organism makes to avoid, escape from, or minimize an aversive stimulus

Punisher

Any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Reinforcer

Any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Psychosocial stages

In Erikson's theory, the developmental stages are defined by eight major challenges that appear successively across the lifespan, which require an individual to rethink his or her goals, and relationship with others

Cytokines

Hormonelike chemicals facilitating communication between brain and immune system. Cause inflammation and fever

Amino acid derivative hormones

Hormones that are synthesized in a few simple steps from amino acids

Surface structure

How a sentence is worded

Binding problem

How features are linked together so that we see unified objects in our visual world rather than free-floating or miscombined features

Pitch

How high or low a sound is

Phenomenology

How things seem to the conscious person

Aprosodia

Impairment or deficits in comprehension of prosody, resulting from brain damage

Generativity

In Erikson's theory, a process of making a commitment beyond oneself to family, work, society, or future generations

Source misattribution

Memory distortion that occurs when people misremember the time, place, person, or circumstances involved with a memory

Cued recall

Memory test in which the person is given prompts to help them remember information that was previously encoded

Explicit memory

Memory that has been processed with attention and can be consciously recalled

Ironic processes of mental control

Mental processes that can produce ironic errors because monitoring for errors can itself produce them

Cognitions

Mental processes, such as thinking, memory, sensation, and perception

Natural concepts

Mental representations of objects and events drawn from our direct experience

Analogical representations

Mental representations that have some of the physical characteristics of objects; they are analogous to objects

Psychoneuroimmunology

Multidisciplinary field that studies the influence of mental states on the immune system

Anti bipolar drugs

Psychotropic drugs that help stabilize the moods of people suffering from a bipolar disorder. Also known as mood stabilizers

Source memory

Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired

Center-surround receptive field

Receptive field structure of retinal ganglion cells and LGN cells; light stimulation in the center (or surround) excites cell firing, whereas light stimulation in the surround (or center) inhibits cell firing; helps to enhance contrast

Olfactory receptor neurons (ORNS)

Receptor cells that initiate the sense of smell

Autoreceptors

Receptors located on the presynaptic neuron that bind the same neurotransmitter as released by that neuron; regulate the responsiveness of cells by working as a negative feedback mechanism

Category-specific deficit

Recognition impairment that is restricted to a certain class of objects. Some rare individuals demonstrate an impairment in their ability to recognize living things, yet exhibit near-normal performance in recognizing nonliving things. Such deficits are useful in the development of models about how perceptual and semantic knowledge is organized in the brain

Cortical visual areas

Regions of the visual cortex that are identified on the basis of their direct retinotopic maps. The areas are specialized to represent certain types of stimulus information, and through their integrated activity they provide the neural basis for visually based behavior

Variable ratio (VR) schedules

Reinforcement programs by which the number of responses required for reinforcement varies from trial to trial

Primary reinforcers

Reinforcers, such as food and sex, which have an innate basis because of their biological value to an organism

Neurological

Relating to the structure or activity of the brain

Reinforcement contingencies

Relationships between a response and the changes in stimulation that follow the response

Objective measures

Relatively direct assessments of personality, usually based on information gathered through self-report questionnaires or observer ratings

Prospective memory

Remembering to do things in the future

Mind-body dualism

Rene Descartes's position that the mind is separate from the body

Ex post facto

Research in which we choose subjects based on a pre-existing condition

Coordinate (metric) spatial relations

Schema that specifies the distance between two locations; may be specialized to the right hemisphere

Categorical spatial relations

Schema that specifies the position of one location relative to another in dichotomous categorical terms; may be specialized to the left hemisphere

Response prevention

See Exposure and response prevention

Tension headache

See Muscle contraction headache

Sodium pentobarbital (Pentothal)

See Sodium amobarbital

Psychopathy

See antisocial personality disorder

Gene

Segment of a chromosome that encodes the directions for the inherited physical and mental characteristics of an organism. Genes are the functional units of a chromosome

Sensation

Simple stimulation of a sense organ

Proactive interference

Situations in which information learned earlier impairs memory for information acquired later

Retroactive interference

Situations in which information learned later impairs memory for information acquired earlier

Bradykinesia

Slowness in the initiation and execution of movements. A prominent symptom in Parkinson's disease

Nodes of Ranvier

Small gaps of exposed axon, between the segments of myelin sheath, where action potentials are transmitted

Rites of passage

Social rituals that mark the transition between developmental stages, especially between childhood and adulthood

Sexual scripts

Socially learned ways of responding in sexual situations

Analogical problem solving

Solving a problem by finding a similar problem with a know solution and applying that solution to the current problem

Mental operations

Solving problems by manipulating images in one's mind

Two-factor theory of intelligence

Spearman's theory suggesting that every task requires a combination of a general ability (which he called g) and skills that are specific to the task (which he called s)

Hair cells

Specialized auditory receptor neurons embedded in the basilar membrane

Computational models

Specific algorithms used in neural networks to stimulate human mental functions; the basic component of most computational models is a "unit," which exhibits behavior like an individual neuron

Operational definitions

Specific descriptions of concepts involving the conditions of a scientific study. Operational definitions are stated in terms of how the concepts are to be measured or what operations are being employed to produce them

Stressors

Specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person's well-being

Reflexes

Specific patterns of motor response that are triggered by specific patterns of sensory stimulation

Telegraphic speech

Speech that is devoid of function morphemes and consists mostly of content words

Senile plaques

Sphere-shaped deposits of beta-amyloid protein that form in the spaces between certain brain cells and in certain blood vessels as people age. People with Alzheimer's disease have an excessive number of such plaques

Central fissure

Split or chasm that separates each hemisphere of the brain in an anterior-posterior dimension; sometimes called the Rolandic fissure

Action tremor

Staggered, jerky, and zigzag motion that occurs during the performance of an act, especially as the person zeroes in on the target

Coma

State in which a person is unresponsive to and unaware of the outside world

Deinstitutionalization

The discharge, begun during the 1960s, of large numbers of patients from long-term institutional care so that they might be treated in community programs

Bias

The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollections of previous experiences

Misinformation effect

The distortion of memory by suggestions or misinformation

Comparative psychology

The division of biopsychology that studies evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness behavior, often by using the comparative approach

Anterolateral system

The division of the somatosensory that ascends in the anterolateral portion of spinal white matter and carries signals related to pain and temperature

Encoding specificity principle

The doctrine that memory is encoded and stored with specific cues related to the context in which it was formed. The more closely the retrieval cues match the form in which the information was encoded, the better it will be remembered.

Alpha male

The dominant male of a colony

Natural selection

The driving force behind evolution, by which the environment "selects" the fittest organisms

Tympanic membrane

The eardrum

Motor development

The emergence of the ability to execute physical action

Cognitive development

The emergence of the ability to think and understand

Nervous system

The entire network of neurons in the body, including the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system, and their subdivisions

Electromagnetic spectrum

The entire range of electromagnetic energy, including radio waves, x rays, microwaves, and visible light

Convergent evolution

The evolution in unrelated species of similar solutions to the same environmental demands

Self-regulation

The exercise of voluntary control over the self to bring the self into line with preferred standards

Sleep paralysis

The experience of waking up unable to move

Angular gyrus

The gyrus of the posterior cortex at the boundary between the temporal and parietal lobes, which in the left hemisphere is thought to play a role in reading

Deja vu

The haunting sense of having previously seen or experienced a new scene or situation

Endocrine system

The hormone system-the body's chemical messenger system, including the endocrine glands: pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenals, pancreas, ovaries, and testes

Self-actualization

The humanistic process by which people fulfill their potential for goodness and growth

Gestalt therapy

The humanistic therapy developed by Fritz Perls in which clinicians actively move clients toward self-recognition and self-acceptance by using techniques such as role playing and self-dsicovery exercises

Facial feedback hypothesis

The hypothesis that emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they signify

Universality hypothesis

The hypothesis that emotional expressions have the same meaning for everyone

Aromatization hypothesis

The hypothesis that the brain is masculinized by estradiol that is produced from perinatal testosterone in a process called aromatization

Expectancy theory

The idea that alcohol effects can be produced by people's expectations of how alcohol will influence them in a particular situation

Opponent-process theory

The idea that cells in the visual system process colors in complementary pairs, such as red or green or as yellow or blue. The opponent-process theory explains color sensation from the bipolar cells onward in the visual system

Feature integration theory

The idea that focused attention is not required to detect the individual features that comprise a stimulus, but is required to bind those individual features together

Cognitive unconscious

The mental processes that give rise to the person's thoughts, choices, emotions, and behavior even though they are not experienced by the person

Superego

The mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly learned as parents exercise their authority

Absorptive phase

The metabolic phase during which the body is operating on the energy from a recently consumed meal and is storing the excess as body fat, glycogen, and proteins

Cephalic phase

The metabolic phase during which the body prepares for food that is about to be absorbed

Mesmerism

The method employed by Franz Anton Mesmer to treat hysterical disorders; a precursor of hypnotism

Just noticeable difference (JND)

The minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected

Absolute Threshold

The minimum intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus

Alertness and arousal

The most basic levels or attention; conditions of responsiveness to the outside world

Benzodiazepines

The most common group of anti anxiety drugs, which includes Valium and Xanax

Law of Prägnanz

The most general Gestalt principle, which states that the simplest organization, requiring the least cognitive effort, will emerge as the figure. Prägnanz shares a common root with pregnant, and so it carries the idea of a "fully developed figure". That is, our perceptual system prefers to see fully developed Gestalt, such as a complete circle-as opposed to a broken circle

Anterior commissure

The nerve bundle connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres and that is located anterior to the corpus callosum

Plasticity

The nervous system's ability to adapt or change as the result of experience. Plasticity may also help the nervous system adapt to physical damage

Choroid plexus

The network of capillaries that protrude into the ventricles from the pia mater and continuosuly produce cerebrospinal fluid

Accommodation

The process by which we create a new schema or drastically alter an existing schema to include new information that otherwise would not fit into the schema

Assimilation

The process by which we place new information into an existing schema

Axon

The process extending away from a neuron down which action potentials travel. The terminals of axons contact other neurons at synapses

Standardization

The process in which a test is administered to a large group of people whose performance then serves as a standard or norm against which any individual's score can be measured

Reciprocal determinism

The process in which cognitions, behaviors, and the environment mutually influence each other

Retrieval

The process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored

Organizational encoding

The process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items

Item analysis

The process of examining each question on a test to see how it is related to the objectives being tested

Self-hypnosis

The process of hypnotizing oneself, sometimes for the purpose of forgetting unpleasant events

Rehearsal

The process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it

Memory storage

The process of maintaining information in memory over time

Storage

The process of maintaining information in memory over time

Visual imagery encoding

The process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures

Scientific method

The process of systematically gathering and evaluating information through careful observations to gain an understanding of a phenomenon

Bereavement

The process of working through the grief that one feels when a loved one dies

Reuptake

The process whereby a neurotransmitter is taken back into the presynaptic terminal buttons, thereby stopping its activity

Social cognition

The processes by which people come to understand others

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

The proposal that language shapes the nature of thought

Frequency format hypothesis

The proposal that our minds evolved to notice how frequently things occur, not how likely they are to occur

Altruism

The providing of help when it is needed, without any apparent reward for doing so

Working through

The psychoanalytic process of facing conflicts, reinterpreting feelings, and overcoming one's problems

Ego theory

The psychodynamic theory that emphasizes the ego and considers it an independent force

Self theory

The psychodynamic theory that emphasizes the role of the self---a person's unified personality

Object relations theory

The psychodynamic theory that views the desire for relationships as the key motivating force in human behavior

Clinical view

The psychological perspective emphasizing mental health and mental illness. Psychodynamic and humanistic psychology are variations on the clinical view

Yerkes-Dodson law

The psychological principle that performance increases with arousal up to an optimal point, after which it decreases with increasing arousal

Motivation

The purpose for or psychological cause of an action

Pleasure principle

The pursuit of gratification that characterizes id functioning

Grief

The reaction a person experiences when a loved one is lost

Reality principle

The recognition, characterizing ego functioning, that we cannot always express or satisfy our id impulses

Flashback

The recurrence of LSD-induced sensory and emotional changes, long after the drug has left the body, or, in posttraumatic stress disorder, the reexperiencing of past traumatic events

Non-REM (NREM) sleep

The recurring periods, mainly associated with the deeper stages of sleep, when a sleeper is not showing rapid eye movements

Tolerance

The reduced effectiveness a drug has after repeated use

Hypnotic analgesia

The reduction of pain through hypnosis in people who are susceptible to hypnosis

Belt

The region of the auditory cortex that surrounds (and receives most of its input from) the core; also receives some direct input from the medial geniculate

CA1 subfield

The region of the hippocampus that is commonly damaged by cerebral ischemia

Brain stem

The region of the nervous system that contains groups of motor and sensory nuclei, nuclei of widespread modulatory neurotransmitter systems, and white matter tracts of ascending sensory information and descending motor signals. In general, it regulates reflex activities that are critical for survival (e.g., heart rate and respiration)

Receptive field

The region of the sensory surface that, when stimulated, causes a change in the firing rate of that neuron

Synaptic transmission

The relaying of information across the synapse by means of chemical neurotransmitters

Catharsis

The reliving of past repressed feelings in order to settle internal conflicts and overcome problems

Negative punishment

The removal of a stimulus to decrease the probability of a behavior's recurring

Omission training (negative punishment)

The removal of an appetitive stimulus after a response, leading to a decrease in behavior

Negative reinforcement

The removal of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus, contingent on particular behavior

Bilateral medial temporal lobectomy

The removal of the medial portions of both temporal lobes, including the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the adjacent cortex

Expectancy bias

The researcher allowing his or her expectations to affect the outcome of a study; or, in memory, a tendency to distort recalled events to make them fit one's expectations

Behaviors

The responses an organism makes to its environment

Grammar

The rules of language, specifying how to use words, morphemes, and syntax to produce understandable sentences

Abnormal psychology

The scientific study of abnormal behavior undertaken to describe, predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of behavior

Psychology

The scientific study of mind and behavior

Biopyschology

The scientific study of the biology of behavior

Subtyping

The tendency for people who are faced with disconfirming evidence to modify their stereotypes rather than abandon them

Spontaneous recovery

The tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period

Observer drift

The tendency of an observer who is arting subjects in an experiment to change criteria gradually and involuntarily, thus making the data unreliable

Cerebral dominance

The tendency of each brain hemisphere to exert control over different functions, such as language or perception of spatial relationships

Rebound effect of thought suppression

The tendency of thought to return to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression

Compliance

The tendency to agree to do things requested by others

Confirmation bias

The tendency to attend to evidence that complements and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not

Obedience

The tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do

Suggestibility

The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections

Correspondence bias

The tendency to make a dispositional attribution even when a person's behavior was caused by the situation

Actor-observer effect

The tendency to make situational attributions for our own behavior while making dispositional attributions for the identical dbehavior of others

Functional fixedness

The tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed

Mental set

The tendency to responds to a new problem in the manner used for a previous problem

Self-verification

The tendency to seek evidence to confirm the self concept

Type A behavior pattern

The tendency toward easily aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings

Hindsight bias

The tendency, after learning about an event, to "second guess" or believe that one could have predicted the event in advance

Triarchic theory

The term for Sternberg's theory of intelligence; so called because it combines three main forms of intelligence

Humanistic model

The theoretical perspective that human beings are born with a natural inclination to be friendly, cooperative, and constructive and are driven to self-actualize

Existential model

The theoretical perspective that human beings are born with the total freedom either to face up to one's existence and give meaning to one's life or to shrink from that responsibility

Psychodynamic approach

The theoretical perspective that sees all human functioning as being shaped by dynamic (interacting) psychological forces and explains people's behavior by reference to unconscious internal conflicts

Associationism

The theory that the aggregate of a person's experience determines the course of mental development

"Control of behavior" versus "conscious perception" theory

The theory that the dorsal stream mediates behavioral interactions with objects and the ventral stream mediates conscious perception of objects

Cognitive map theory

The theory that the main function of the hippocampus is to store memories of spatial locations

Need to belong theory

The theory that the need for interpersonal attachments is a fundamental motive that has evolved for adaptive purposes

Collectivism

The view, common in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, that values group loyalty and pride over individual distinction

Individualism

The view, common in the Euro-American world, which places a high value on individual achievement and distinction

Visual cortex

The visual processing areas of the cortex in the occipital and temporal lobes

Completion

The visual system's automatic use of information obtained from receptors around the blind spot, or scotoma, to create a perception of the missing portion of the retinal image

Cytoarchitectonics

The way in which cells differ between brain regions

Extinction (in classical conditioning)

The weakening of a conditioned response in the absence of an unconditioned stimulus

Weight set point

The weight level that a person is predisposed to maintain, controlled in part by the hypothalamus

Caffeine

The world's most widely used stimulant, most often consumed in coffee

Transduction

What takes place when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into encoded neural signals sent to the central nervous system

Group polarization

When individuals in a group have similar, though not identical, views, their opinions become more extreme

Change blindness

When people fail to detect changes to the visual details of a scene

Framing effects

When people give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is phrased (or framed)

Conjunction fallacy

When people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event

Reactivity

When the knowledge that one is being observed alters the behavior being observed

Action-outcome

When there is a causal relationship between the action and the reward

Lymphocytes

White blood cells that produce antibodies that fight infection

Commissure

White matter tracts that cross from the left to the right side, or vice versa, of the CNS

Hypertension

Chronic high blood pressure

Brodmann Area 25

A brain structure whose abnormal activity has been linked to depression

Absolute refractory period

A brief period (typically 1 to 2 milliseconds) after the initiation of an action potential during which it is impossible to elicit another action potential in the same neuron

Tyramine

A cehmical that, if allowed to accumulate, can raise blood pressure dangerously. It is found in many common foods and is broken down by MAO

Personality trait

A characteristic; a dispositional tendency to act in a certain way over time and across circumstances

Hormone

A chemical messenger used by the endocrine system. Many hormones also serve as neurotransmitters

Neologism

A made-up word that has meaning only to the person using it

Psychoactive drug

A chemical that influences consciousness or behavior by altering the brain's chemical messenger system

Meta-analysis

A "study of studies" that combines the findings of multiple studies to arrive at a conclusion

Exposure and response prevention

A behavioral treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder that exposes a client to anxiety-arousing thoughts or situations and then prevents the client from performing their compulsive acts. Also called exposure and ritual prevention

Alprazolam

A benzodiazepine drug shown to be effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Marketed as Xanax

Code of Ethics

A body of principles and rules for ethical behavior, designed to guide decisions and actions by members of a profession

Amygdala

A brain structure that serves a vital role in our learning to associate things with emotional responses and in processing emotional information

Suicidal behavior disorder

A classification being studied for possible inclusion in a future revision of DSM-5, in which individuals have tried to commit suicide within the last two years

Script

A cluster of knowledge about sequences of events and actions expected to occur in particular settings

Fetal alcohol syndrome

A cluster of problems in a child, including low birth weight, irregularities in the hands and face, and intellectual deficits, caused by excessive alcohol intake by the mother during pregnancy

Syndrome

A cluster of symptoms that usually occur together

Intoxication

A cluster of undesirable behavioral or psychological changes, such as slurred speech or mood changes, that may develop during or shortly after the ingestion of a substance

Rescorla-Wagner model

A cognitive model of classical conditioning; it states that the strength of the CS-US association is determined by the extent to which the unconditioned stimulus is unexpected or surprising

Self-instruction training

A cognitive treatment developed by Donald Meichenbaum that teaches people to use coping self-statements at times of stress or discomfort. Also called stress inoculation training

Information-processing model

A cognitive understanding of memory, emphasizing how information is changed when it is encoded, stored, and retrieved

Assertiveness training

A cognitive-behavioral approach to increasing assertive behavior that is socially desirable

Relapse-prevention training

A cognitive-behavioral approach to treating alcohol use disorder (and applied to certain other disorders) in which clients are taught to keep track of their drinking behavior, apply coping strategies in situations that typically trigger excessive drinking, and plan ahead for risky situations and reactions

Acceptance and commitment therapy

A cognitive-behavioral therapy that teaches clients to accept and be mindful of their dysfunctional thoughts or worries

Basal ganglia

A collection of five subcortical nuclei: the caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus, and substantia nigra. The basal ganglia are involved in motor control and learning. Reciprocal neuronal loops project from cortical areas to the basal ganglia and back to the cortex. Two prominent basal ganglia disorders are Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease

Group

A collection of people who have something in common that distinguishes them from others

Language acquisition device (LAD)

A collection of processes that facilitate language learning

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

A committee at each institution where research is conducted to review every experiment for ethics and methodology

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

A committee at each institution where research is conducted to review every experiment involving animals for ethics and methodology

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

A common and normal cluster of psychological and physical discomforts that proceed menses

Cleaning compulsion

A common compulsion in which people feel compelled to keep cleaning themselves, their clothing, and their homes

Derailment

A common thinking disturbance in schizophrenia, involving rapid shifts from one topic of conversation to another. Also called loose associations

Daydreaming

A common, and quite normal, variation of consciousness in which attention shifts to memories, expectations, desires, or fantasies and away from the immediate situation

Risperidone

A commonly prescribed atypical antipsychotic drug

Clozapine

A commonly prescribed atypical antipsychotic drug. Does not produce Parkinsonian side effects and does not have a high affinity for D2 receptors

Case manager

A community therapist who offers a full range of services for people with schizophrenia or other severe disorders, including therapy, advice, medication, guidance, and protection of patients' rights

Culture

A complex blend of language, beliefs, customs, values, and traditions developed by a group of people and shared with others in the same environment

Immune system

A complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances

Anoxia

A complication of birth in which the baby is deprived of oxygen

Checking compulsion

A compulsion in which people feel compelled to check the same things over and over

Positron emission tomography (PET)

A computer-produced motion picture showing rates of metabolism throughout the brain

CT scanning or computerized tomography

A computerized imaging technique that uses X rays passed through the brain at various angles and then combined into an image

Melancholia

A condition described by early Greek and Roman philosophers and physicians as consisting of unshakable sadness. Today it is known as depression

Addiction

A condition in which a person continues to use a drug, or engage in a behavior, despite its adverse effects-often despite repeated attempts to discontinue using the drug. Addiction may be based on physical or psychological dependence

Arteriosclerosis

A condition in which blood vessels are blocked by the accumulation of fat deposits on their walls

Anterograde amnesia

A condition in which people lose the ability to form new memories

Lycanthropy

A condition in which persons believe themselves to be possessed by wolves or other animals

Osmotic thirst

A drop in intracellular fluid levels

Amnesia

A deficit in long-term memory, resulting from disease, brain injury, or psychological trauma, in which the individual loses the ability to retrieve vast quantities of information from long-term memory

Alzheimer's disease

A degenerative brain disease usually noticed first by its debilitating effects on memory

Endogenous depression

A depression that appears to be developing without external reasons

Reactive depression

A depression that appears to be triggered by clear events. Also known as exogenous depression

Binocular disparity

A depth cue; because of the distance between a person's eyes, each eye receives a slightly different retinal image

Psychological dependence

A desire to obtain or use a drug, even though there is no physical dependence

Compulsive ritual

A detailed, often elaborate, set of actions that a person often feels compelled to perform, always in an identical manner

Diagnosis

A determination that a person's problems reflect a particular disorder

Autism spectrum disorder

A developmental disorder marked by extreme unresponsiveness to others, severe communication deficits, and highly repetitive and rigid behaviors, interests, and activities

Specific learning disorder

A developmental disorder marked by impairments in cognitive skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic, or mathematical skills

Test

A device for gathering information about a few aspects of a person's psychological functioning from which broader information about the person can be inferred

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

A device for recording brain waves, typically by electrodes placed on the scalp

Measure

A device that can detect the condition to which an operational definition refers

Electromyograph (EMG)

A device that measures muscle contractions under the surface of a person's skin

Polygraph

A device that records or graphs many ("poly") measures of physical arousal, such as heart rate, breathing, perspiration, and blood pressure. A polygraph is often called a "lie detector" even though it is really an arousal detector

Brain-machine interface

A device that uses the interpretation of neuronal signals to perform desired operations with a mechanical device outside the body. For instance, signals recorded from neurons or EEG can be used to move a prosthetic arm

Diathesis-stress model

A diagnostic model that proposes that a disorder may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event

Cafeteria diet

A diet offered to experimental animals that is composed of a wide variety of palatable foods

Major depressive disorder

A disorder characterized by a severely depressed mood that lasts 2 weeks or more and is accompanied by feelings of worthlessness and lack of pleasure, lethargy, and sleep and appetite disturbances

Sexual aversion disorder

A disorder characterized by an aversion to and an avoidance of genital sexual interplay

Schizophrenia

A disorder characterized by the profound disruption of basic psychological processes; a distorted perception of reality; altered or blunted emotion; and disturbances in thought, motivation, and behavior

Delusional disorder

A disorder consisting of persistent, nonbizarre delusions that are not part of a schizophrenic disorder

Balint's syndrome

A disorder following bilateral occipitoparietal stroke, characterized by difficulty in perceiving visual objects. Patients with this disorder can correctly identify objects but have difficulty relating objects to one another. They tend to focus attention on one object to the exclusion of others when the objects are presented simultaneously

Conduct disorder

A disorder in which a child repeatedly violates the basic rights of others and displays aggression, characterized by symptoms such as physical cruelty to people or animals, the deliberate destruction of other people's property, and the commission of various crimes

Factitious disorder

A disorder in which a person feigns or induces symptoms, typically for the purpose of assuming the role of a sick person

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

A disorder in which a person has recurrent and unwanted thoughts and/or a need to perform repetitive and rigid actions

Gender dysphoria

A disorder in which a person persistently feels clinically significant distress or impairment due to their assigned gender and strongly wishes to be a member of another gender

Paraphilic disorder

A disorder in which a person's paraphilia causes great distress, interferes with social or occupational activities, or places the person or others at risk of harm---either currently or in the past

Obstructive sleep apnea

A disorder in which a person, while asleep, stops breathing because his or her throat closes; the conditioning results in frequent awakenings during the night

Schizophreniform disorder

A disorder in which all of the key features of schizophrenia are present but last only between one and six months

Conversion disorder

A disorder in which bodily symptoms affect voluntary motor and sensory functions, but the symptoms are inconsistent with known medical diseases

Oppositional defiant disorder

A disorder in which children are repeatedly argumentative and defiant, angry and irritable, and, in some cases, vindictive

Acute stress disorder

A disorder in which fear and related symptoms are experienced soon after a traumatic event and last less than a month

B-cell

A lymphocyte that produces antibodies

Body dysmorphic disorder

A disorder in which individuals become preoccupied with the belief that they have certain defects or flaws in their physical appearance. The preceived defects or flaws are imagined or greatly exaggerated

Illness anxiety disorder

A disorder in which people are chronically anxious about and preoccupied with the notion that they have or are developing a serious medical illness, despite the absence of somatic symptoms. Previously known as hypochondriasis

Somatic symptom disorder

A disorder in which people become excessively distressed, concerned, and anxious about bodily symptoms that they are experiencing, and their lives are greatly and disproportionately disrupted by the symptoms

Hoarding disorder

A disorder in which people feel compelled to save items and experience significant distress if they try to discard them, resulting in an excessive accumulation of items and possessions

Trichotillomania

A disorder in which people repeatedly pull hair out of their scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, or other parts of their body. Also called hair-pulling disorder

Excoriation disorder

A disorder in which persons repeatedly pick at their skin, resulting in significant sores or wounds. Also called skin-picking disorder

Hysterical disorder

A disorder in which physical functioning is changed or lost, without an apparent physical cause

Schizoaffective disorder

A disorder in which symptoms of both schizophrenia and a mood disorder are prominent

Psychosis

A disorder involving profound disturbances in perception, rational thinking, or affect

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder

A disorder marked by a lack of interest in sex

Sexual dysfunction

A disorder marked by a persistent inability to function normally in some area of the human sexual response cycle

Neurocognitive disorder

A disorder marked by a significant decline in at least one area of cognitive functioning

Separation anxiety disorder

A disorder marked by excessive anxiety, even panic, whenever the individual is separated from home, a parent, or another attachment figure

Binge eating disorder

A disorder marked by frequent binges but no extreme compensatory behaviors

Bulimia nervosa

A disorder marked by frequent eating binges that are followed by forced vomiting or other extreme compensatory behaviors to avoid gaining weight. Also known as binge-purge syndrome

Cretinism

A disorder marked by intellectual deficiencies and physical abnormalities; caused by low levels of iodine in the mother's diet during pregnancy

Intellectual disability (ID)

A disorder marked by intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior that are well below average. Previously called mental retardation

Cyclothymic disorder

A disorder marked by neumerous periods of hypomanic symptoms and mild depressive symptoms

Generalized anxiety disorder

A disorder marked by persistent and excessive feelings of anxiety and worry about numerous events and activities

Enuresis

A disorder marked by repeated bedwetting or wetting of one's clothes

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

A disorder marked by repeated experiences of significant depression and related symptoms during the week before menstruation

Tarantism

A disorder occurring throughout Europe between 900 and 1800 A.D. in which people would suddenly start to jump around, dance, and go into convulsions. Also known as St. Vitus's dance

Narcolepsy

A disorder of REM sleep, involving sleep-onset REM periods and sudden daytime REM-sleep attacks usually accompanied by cataplexy

Iatrogenic illness

A disorder or symptom that occurs as a result of a medical or psychotherapeutic treatment

Social phobia

A disorder that involves an irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI)

A disorder that is being studied for possible inclusion in a future edition of the DSM-5, characterized by persons intentionally injuring themselves on five or more occasions over a 1-year period, without the intent of killing themselves

Depersonalization-derealization disorder

A dissociative disorder marked by the presence of persistent and recurrent episodes of depersonalization, derealization, or both

Brain region

A distinct area of the brain formed by a large group of neurons

Self-consciousness

A distinct level of consciousness in which the person's attention is drawn to the self as an object

Formal thought disorder

A disturbance in the production and organization of thought

Contralateral neglect

A disturbance of the patient's ability to respond to visual, auditory, and somatosensory stimuli on the side of the body opposite to a site of brain damage, usually the left side of the body following damage to the right parietal lobe

Reward center

A dopamine-rich pathway in the brain that produces feelings of pleasure when activated

Delirium tremens (DTs)

A dramatic withdrawal reaction experienced by some people with alcohol use disorder. It consists of confusion, clouded consciousness, and terrifying visual hallucinations

Manifest content

A dream's apparent topic or superficial meaning

Latent content

A dream's true underlying meaning

Volumetric thirst

A drop in extracellular fluid levels

Antabuse (disulfiram)

A drug that causes intense nausea, vomiting, increased heart rate, and dizziness when taken with alcohol. It is often taken by people who are trying to refrain from drinking alcohol

Tranquilizer

A drug that reduces anxiety

L-dopa

A drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, a disease in which dopamine is low

Sodium amobarbital (Amytal)

A drug used to put people into a near-sleep state during which some can better recall forgotten events

Sildenafil

A drug used to treat erectile disorder that helps increase blood flow to the penis during sexual activity. Marketed as Viagra

Erectile disorder

A dysfunction in which a man persistently fails to to attain or maintain an erection during sexual activity

Premature ejaculation

A dysfunction in which a man persistently reaches orgasm and ejaculates within one minute of beginning sexual activity with a partner and before he wishes to. Also called early or rapid ejaculation

Female orgasmic disorder

A dysfunction in which a woman persistently fails to reach orgasm, has very low intensity orgasms, or has very delayed orgasms

Clinical interview

A face-to-face encounter, in which clinicians ask questions of clients, weigh their responses and reactions, and learn about them and their psychological problems

Munchausen syndrome by proxy

A factitious disorder in which parents make up or produce physical illnesses in their children

Inattentional blindness

A failure to perceive objects that are not the focus of attention

Blocking

A failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even though you are trying to produce it

Hallucination

A false perceptual experience that has a compelling sense of being real despite the absence of external stimulation

Hypothesis

A falsifiable prediction made by a theory

Enmeshed family pattern

A family system in which family members are overinvolved with each other's affairs and overconcerned about each other's welfare

Heuristic

A fast and efficient strategy that may facilitate decision making but does not guarantee that a solution

Echoic memory

A fast-decaying store of auditory information

Iconic memory

A fast-decaying store of visual information

Anchoring bias

A faulty heuristic caused by basing (anchoring) an estimate on a completely unrelated quantity

False recognition

A feeling of familiarity about something that hasn't been encountered before

Inferiority complex

A feeling of inferiority that is largely unconscious, with its roots in childhood

Female sexual interest/arousal disorder

A female dysfunction marked by a persistent reduction or lack of interest in sex and low sexual activity, as well as, in some cases, limited excitement and few sexual sensations during sexual activity

Zygote

A fertilized egg that contains chromosomes from both a sperm and an egg

Behavioral medicine

A field that combines psychological and physical interventions to treat or prevent medical problems

Cannula

A fine, hollow tube that is implanted in the body for the purpose of introducing or extracting substances

Antigen

A foreign invader of the body, such as a bacterium or virus

Apperceptive agnosia

A form of agnosia associated with deficits in the operation of higher-level perceptual analyses. A patient with apperceptive agnosia may recognize an object when seen from a typical viewpoint. However, if the orientation is unsual, or the object is occluded by shadows, recognition deteriorates.

Associative agnosia

A form of agnosia in which the patient has difficulty linking perceptual representations with long-term knowledge of the percepts. For example, the patient may be able to identify that two pictures are of the same object, yet fail to demonstrate an understanding of what the object is used for or where it is likely to be found

Conduction aphasia

A form of aphasia that is considered a disconnection syndrome. Conduction aphasia may occur when the arcuate fasciculus, the pathway from Wernicke's area to Broca's area, is damaged, thereby disconnecting the posterior and anterior language areas

Token economy

A form of behavior therapy in which clients are given "tokens" for desired behaviors, which they can later trade for rewards

Classical conditioning

A form of behavioral learning in which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the power to elicit the same innate reflex produced by another stimulus

Observational learning

A form of cognitive learning in which new responses are acquired after watching others' behavior and the consequences of their behavior

Insight learning

A form of cognitive learning, originally described by the Gestalt psychologists, in which problem solving occurs by means of a sudden reorganization of perceptions

Asch effect

A form of conformity in which a group majority influences individual judgments

Psychological debriefing

A form of crisis intervention in which victims are helped to talk about their feelings and reactions to traumatic incidents. Also called critical incident stress debriefing

Unilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

A form of electroconvulsive therapy in which electrodes are attached to the head so that electrical currents pass through only one side of the brain

Relational psychoanalytic therapy

A form of psychodynamic therapy that considers therapists to be active participants in the formation of patients' feelings and reactions and therefore calls for therapists to disclose their own experiences and feelings in discussions with patients

Emotion

A four-part process that involves physiological arousal, subjective feelings, cognitive interpretation, and behavioral expression-all of which interact, rather than occurring in a linear sequence. Emotions help organisms deal with important events

Sunk-cost fallacy

A framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation

Dominant gene

A gene that is expressed in the offspring whenever it is present

Recessive gene

A gene that is expressed only when it is matched with a similar gene from another parent

g factor

A general ability, proposed by Spearman, as the main factor underlying all intelligent mental activity

Habituation

A general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in response

Therapy

A general term for any treatment process; in psychology and psychiatry, therapy refers to a variety of psychological and biomedical techniques aimed at dealing with mental disorders or coping with problems of living

Nomothetic understanding

A general understanding of the nature, causes, and treatments of abnormal psychological functioning in the form of laws or principles

Corpuscle

A globular mass of cells that are part of the somatosensory system

Absorption spectrum

A graph of the ability of a substance to absorb light of different wavelengths

Forgetting curve

A graph plotting the amount of retention and forgetting over time for a certain batch of material, such as a list of nonsense syllables. The typical forgetting curve is steep at first, becoming flatter as time goes on

Scatterplot

A graphical depiction of the relationship between two variables

Frequency distribution

A graphical representation of the measurements arranged by the number of times each measurement was made

Phenothiazines

A group of antihistamine drugs that became the first group of effective antipsychotic medications

Neurodevelopmental disorders

A group of disabilities---including ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, and intellectual disability---in the functioning of the brain that emerge at birth or during very early childhood and affect an individual's behavior, memory, concentration, and/or ability to learn

Obsessive-compulsive-related disorders

A group of disorders in which obsessive-like concerns drive people to repeatedly and excessively perform specific patterns of behavior that greatly disrupt their lives

Dissociative disorders

A group of disorders in which some parts of one's memory or identity seem to be dissociated, or separated, from other parts of one's memory or identity

Limbic system

A group of forebrain structures including the hypothalamus, the amygdala, and the hippocampus, which are involved in motivation, emotion, learning, and memory

Corticosteroids

A group of hormones, including cortisol, released by the adrenal glands at times of stress

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

A group of second-generation antidepressant drugs that increase serotonin activity specifically, without affecting other neurotransmitters

Codon

A group of three consecutive nucleotide bases on a DNA or messenger RNA strand; each codon specifies the particular amino acid that is to be added to an amino acid chain during protein synthesis

Social norms

A group's expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable for its members' attitudes and behaviors

Auditory hallucination

A hallucination in which a person hears sounds or voices that are not actually present

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)

A hallucinogenic drug derived from ergot alkaloids

Muscle contraction headache

A headache caused by the narrowing of muscles surrounding the skull. Also known as tension headache

Bottom-up processing

A hierarchical model of pattern recognition in which data are relayed from one level of mental processing to the next, always moving to higher levels of processing

Top-down processing

A hierarchical model of pattern recognition in which information at higher levels of mental processing can also influence lower, "earlier" levels in the processing hierarchy

Morphine

A highly addictive substance derived from opium that is particularly effective in relieving pain

Opium

A highly addictive substance made from the sap of the opium poppy seed

Cognitive dissonance

A highly motivating state in which people have conflicting cognitions, especially when their voluntary actions conflict with their attitudes

Gestalt psychology

A historical school of psychology that sought to understand how the brain works by studying perception and perceptual learning. Gestalt psychologists believed that percepts consist of meaningful wholes (in German, Gestalts)

Cortisol

A hormone released by the adrenal glands when a person is under stress

Melatonin

A hormone released by the pineal gland when a person's surroundings are dark

Oxytocin

A hormone that is important for mothers in bonding to newborns and may encourage affiliation during social stress

Milieu therapy

A humanistic approach to institutional treatment based on the premise that institutions can help patients recover by creating a climate that promotes self-respect, individual responsible behavior, and meaningful activity

Client-centered therapy

A humanistic approach to treatment developed by Carl Rogers, emphasizing an individual's tendency for healthy psychological growth through self-actualization

Theory

A hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon

Prevention

A key feature of community mental health programs that seek to prevent or minimize psychological disorders

Experiment

A kind of research in which the researcher controls all the conditions and directly manipulates the conditions, including the independent variable

Methadone

A laboratory-made opioid-like drug

Poverty of content

A lack of meaning in spite of high emotion that is found in the speech of some people with schizophrenia

Aphasia

A language deficit following brain damage or disease

Malpractice suit

A lawsuit charging a therapist with improper conduct or decision making in the course of treatment

Mentally disordered sex offender

A legal category that some states apply to certain people who are repeatedly found guilty of sex crimes

Guilty with diminished capacity

A legal defense argument that states that because of limitations posed by mental dysfunctioning, a defendant could not have intended to commit a particular crime and thus should be convicted of a lesser crime

Civil commitment

A legal process by which a person can be forced to undergo mental health treatment

Criminal commitment

A legal process by which people accused of a crime are instead judged mentally unstable and sent to a mental health facility for treatment

Insanity

A legal term, not a psychological or psychiatric one, referring to a person who is unable, because of a mental disorder or defect, to conform his or her behavior to the law

American Law Institute test

A legal test for insanity that holds people to be insane at the time of committing a crime if, because of a mental disorder, they did not know right from wrong or could not resist an uncontrollable impulse to act

Durham test

A legal test for insanity that holds people to be insane at the time they committed a crime if their act was the result of a mental disorder or defect

Irresistible impulse test

A legal test for insanity that holds people to be insane at the time they committed a crime if they were driven to do so by an uncontrollable "fit of passion"

Aspiration

A lesion technique in which tissue is drawn off by suction through the fine tip of a glass tube

Ulcer

A lesion that forms in the wall of the stomach or of the duodenum

Anesthesia

A lessening or loss of sensation of touch or pain

Profound intellectual disability

A level of intellectual disability (IQ below 20) at which people need a very structured environment with close supervision

Moderate intellectual disability

A level of intellectual disability (IQ between 35 and 49) at which people can learn to care for themselves and can benefit from vocational training

Mild intellectual disability

A level of intellectual disability (IQ between 50 and 75) at which people can benefit from education and can support themselves as adults

Control-question technique

A lie-detection interrogation method in which the polygrapher compares the physiological responses to target questions with responses to control questions

Agranulocytosis

A life-threatening drop in white blood cells. This condition is sometimes produced by the atypical antipsychotic drug clozapine

Hypothalamus

A limbic structure that serves as the brain's blood-testing laboratory, constantly monitoring the blood to determine the condition of the body. The hypothalamus is vital in the regulation of body temperature, hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior

Classification system

A list of disorders, along with descriptions of symptoms and guidelines for making appropriate diagnoses

Fear hierarchy

A list of objects or situations that frighten a person, starting with those that are slightly feared and ending with those that are feared greatly; used in systematic desensitization

Timbre

A listener's experience of sound quality or resonance that derives from the sound wave's complexity (combination of pure tones)

Blind spot

A location in the visual field that produces no sensation on the retina because the corresponding area of the retina contains neither rods nor cones and therefore has no mechanism to sense light

DNA

A long, complex molecule that encodes genetic characteristics. DNA is an abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid

Generalized amnesia

A loss of memory for events that occurred over a limited period of time as well as for certain events that occurred prior to that period

Depression

A low, sad state marked by significant levels of sadness, lack of energy, low aelf-worth, guilt, or related symptoms

Minimal consciousness

A low-level kind of sensory awareness and responsiveness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behavior

Helper T-cell

A lymphocyte that identifies foreign invaders and then both multiplies and triggers the production of other kinds of immune cells

Augmentative communication system

A method for enhancing the communication skills of people with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual developmental disorder, or cerebral palsy by teaching them to point to pictures, symbols, letters, or words on a communication board or computer

Analog observation

A method for observing behavior in which people are observed in artificial settings such as clinicians' offices or laboratories

Case method

A method of gathering scientific knowledge by studying a single individual

Psychological profile

A method of suspect identification that seeks to predict an unknown criminal's psychological, emotional, and personality characteristics based on the individual's pattern of criminal behavior and on research into the psychological characteristics of people who have committed similar crimes

Basal forebrain

A midline area of the forebrain, which is located just in front of and above the hypothalamus and is the brain's main source of acetylcholine

Method of loci

A mnemonic technique that involves associating items on a list with a sequence of familiar physical locations

Guided participation

A modeling technique in which a client systematically observes and imitates the therapist while the therapist confronts feared items

Double depression

A moderately depressed mood that persists for at least 2 years and is punctuated by periods of major depression

Dopamine

A monoamine neurotransmitter involved in motivation, reward, and motor control over voluntary movement

Epinephrine

A monoamine neurotransmitter responsible for bursts of energy after an event that is exciting or threatening

Intrinsic motivation

A motivation to take actions that are themselves rewarding

Ataxia

A movement disorder associated with lesions or atrophy of the cerebellum. Ataxic movements are clumsy and erratic, even though muscle strength is normal

Empirically supported treatment

A movement in the clinical field that seeks to identify which therapies have received clear research support for each disorder, to develop corresponding treatment guidelines, and to spread such information to clinicians. Also known as evidence-based treatment

Cerebral dialysis

A mrhtod for recording changes in brain chemistry in behaving animals in which a fine tube with a short semipermeable section is implanted in the brain, and extracellular neurochemicals are continuously drawn off for analysis

Motor cortex

A narrow vertical strip of cortex in the frontal lobes, lying just in front of the central fissure; controls voluntary movement

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

A nationwide grassroots organization that provides support, education, advocacy, and research for people with severe mental disorders and their families

Ergot alkaloid

A naturally occurring compound from which LSD is derived

Semantic memory

A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

Disaster Response Network (DRN)

A network of thousands of volunteer mental health professionals who mobilize to provide free emergency psychological services at disaster sites throughout North America

Central pattern generator

A neural network limited to the spinal cord that produces patterned motor outputs without descending commands from the cerebral cortex or sensory feedback

Brainbow

A neuroanatomical technique that involves inserting various mutations of the green fluorescent protein gene into neural tissue so that different neurons fluoresce in different colors

Apraxia

A neurological syndrome characterized by loss of skilled or purposeful movement that cannot be attributed to weakness or an inability to innervate the muscles. Apraxia results from lesions of the cerebral cortex, usually in the left hemisphere

Agnosia

A neurological syndrome in which disturbances of perceptual recognition cannot be attributed to impairments in basic sensory processes. Agnosia can be restricted to a single modality, such as vision or audition

Alexia

A neurological syndrome in which the ability to read is disrupted. Alexia is frequently referred to as acquired alexia to indicate that it results from a neurological disturbance such as a stroke, usually including the occipitoparietal region of the left hemisphere. Developmental dyslexia, in contrast, refers to problems in reading that are apparent during childhood development. The phrases are commonly used to indicate that reading is abnormal, either from neurological disturbance or as part of development

Bipolar neuron

A neuron with two processes extending from its cell body

Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test

A neuropsychological test in which a subject is asked to copy a set of nine simple designs and later reproduce the signs from memory

Substance P

A neurotransmitter involved in pain perception

Neuromodulator

A neurotransmitter that helps modify or regulate the effect of other neurotransmitters

Norepinephrine

A neurotransmitter that influences mood and arousal. Its abnormal activity is linked to panic disorder and depression

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter that is involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, eating, and aggressive behavior. Its abnormal activity is linked to depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and eating disorders

Restructuring

A new way of thinking about a problem that aids its solution

Moral treatment

A nineteenth-century approach to treating people with mental dysfunction that emphasized moral guidance and humane and respectful treatment

Computed axial tomography (CT scan)

A noninvasive neuroimaging method that provides images of internal structures such as the brain. CT is an advanced version of the conventional X-ray. Whereas conventional X-rays compress three dimensional objects into two dimensions, CT allows for the reconstruction of three-dimensional space from compressed two-dimensional images through computer algorithms

Phrenology

A now defunct theory that specific mental abilities and characteristics, ranging from memory to the capacity for happiness, are localized in specific regions of the brain

Central nucleus of the amygdala

A nucleus of the amygdala that is thought to control defensive behavior

Arcuate nucleus

A nucleus of the hypothalamus that contains high concentrations of both leptin receptors and insulin receptors

Correlation coefficient

A number between -1 and +1 expressing the degree of relationship between two variables

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

A numerical score on an intelligence test, originally computed by dividing the person's mental age by chronological age and multiplying by 100

Colony-intruder paradigm

A paradigm for the study of aggressive and defensive behaviors in male rats; a small male intruder rat is placed in an established colony in order to study the aggressive responses of the colony's alpha male and the defensive responses of the intruder

Fetishistic disorder

A paraphilic disorder consisting of recurrent and intense sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors that involve the use of nonliving objects or nongenital parts, often to the exclusion of all other stimuli, accompanied by significant distress or impairment

Transvestic disorder

A paraphilic disorder consisting of repeated and intense sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors that involve dressing in clothes of the opposite sex, accompanied by clinically significant distress or impairment. Also known as transvestism or cross-dressing

Voyeuristic disorder

A paraphilic disorder in which a person has repeated and intense sexual desires to observe unsuspecting people in secret as they undress or to spy on couples having intercourse, and either acts on these urges with nonconsenting individuals or experiences clinically significant distress or impairment

Pedophilic disorder

A paraphilic disorder in which a person has repeated and intense sexual urges or fantasies about watching, touching, or engaging in sexual acts with children, and either acts on these urges or experiences clinically significanat distress or impairment

Sexual sadism disorder

A paraphilic disorder in which a person has repeated and intense sexual urges or fantasies that involve inflicting suffering on others, and either acts on these urges with nonconsenting individuals or experiences clinically significant distress or impairment

Frotteuristic disorder

A paraphilic disorder in which a person has repeated and intense sexual urges or fantasies that involve touching and rubbing against a nonconsenting person, and either acts on these urges with nonconsenting individuals or experiences clinically significant distress or impairment

Sexual masochism disorder

A paraphilic disorder in which a person has repeated and intense sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors that involve being humiliated, beaten, bound, or otherwise made to suffer, accompanied by clinically significant distress or impairment

Exhibitionistic disorder

A paraphilic disorder in which persons have repeated sexually arousing urges or fantasies about exposing their genitals to others, and either act on these urges with nonconsenting individuals or experience clinically significant distress or impairment

Nightmare disorder

A parasomnia characterized by chronic distressful, frightening dreams

Sleep terror disorder

A parasomnia in which a person awakens suddenly during the first third of sleep, screaming out in extreme fear and agitation

Sleepwalking disorder

A parasomnia in which people repeatedly leave their beds and walk around without being conscious of the episode or remembering it later

Axon hillock

A part of the cell body of a neuron where the membrane potentials are summated before being transmitted down the axon

Tectum

A part of the midbrain that orients an organism in the environment

Response set

A particular way of responding to questions or statements on a test, such as always selecting "true", regardless of the actual question

Nicotine patch

A patch attached to the skin like a Band-Aid, with nicotine content that is absorbed through the skin, that supposedly eases the withdrawal reaction brought on by quitting cigarette smoking

Aneurysm

A pathological balloon-like dilation that forms in the wall of a blood vessel at a point where the elasticity of the vessel wall is defective

Hypomanic pattern

A pattern in which a person displays symptoms of mania, but the symptoms are less severe and cause less impairment than those of a manic episode

School phobia

A pattern in which children fear going to school and often stay home for a long period of time. Also called school refusal

Binge drinking

A pattern of alcohol consumption in which a person consumes five or more drinks on a single occasion

Type B behavior pattern

A pattern of behavior characterized by noncompetitive, relaxed, easygoing, and accommodating behavior

Alcohol use disorder

A pattern of behavior in which a person repeatedly abuses or depends on alcohol. Also known as alcoholism

Sound wave

A pattern of changes in air pressure during a period of time; it produces the percept of sound

Anaclitic depression

A pattern of depressed behavior found among very young children that is caused by separation from one's mother

Substance use disorder

A pattern of maladaptive behaviors and reactions brought about by repeated use of a substance, sometimes inclusing tolerance for the substance and withdrawal reactions

Expressed emotion

A pattern of negative actions by a client's family members; the pattern includes critical comments, hostility directed toward the client by family members, and emotional overinvolvement

Dysthymia

A pattern of persistent depressive disorder that is chronic but less severe and less disabling than repeated episodes of major depression

Withdrawal

A pattern of uncomfortable or painful physical symptoms and cravings experienced by the user when the level of drug is decreased or the drug is eliminated

Orgasm

A peaking of sexual pleasure, consisting of rhytmic muscle contractions in the pelvic region, during which a man's semen is ejaculated and the outer third of a woman's vaginal wall contracts

Cholecystokinin (CCK)

A peptide that is relased by the gastrointestinal tract and is thought to function as a satiety signal

Illusory conjunction

A perceptual mistake where features from multiple objects are incorrectly combined

Color constancy

A perceptual phenomenon in which the subjective experience of an object's color remains constant despite changes in the lighting conditions

Perceptual constancy

A perceptual principle stating that even as aspects of sensory signals change, perception remains consistent

Critical period

A period during development in which a particular experience must occur for it to influence the course of subsequent development

Phobia

A persistent and unreasonable fear of a particular object, activity, or situation

Obsession

A persistent thought, idea, impulse, or image that is experienced repeatedly, feels intrusive, and causes anxiety

Savant

A person of low intelligence who has an extraordinary ability

Prodigy

A person of normal intelligence who has an extraordinary ability

Death initiator

A person who attempts suicide believing that the process of death is already under way and that they are simply quickening the process

Death ignorer

A person who attempts suicide without recognizing the finality of death

Death seeker

A person who clearly intends to end their life at the time of a suicide attempt

Eccentric

A person who deviates from conventional norms in odd, irregular, or even bizarre ways, but is not displaying a psychological disorder

Active listener

A person who gives the speaker feedback in such forms as nodding, paraphrasing, maintaining an expression that shows interest, and asking questions for clarification

Death darer

A person who is ambivalent about the wish to die even as they attempt suicide

Outpatient

A person who receives a diagnosis or treatment in a clinic, hospital, or therapist's office but is not hospitalized overnight

Locus of control

A person's tendency to perceive the control of rewards as internal to the self or external in the environment

Dependent personality disorder

A personality disorder characterized by a pattern of clinging, and obedience, fear of separation, and an ongoing need to be taken care of

Avoidant personality disorder

A personality disorder characterized by consistent discomfort and restraint in social situations, overwhelming feelings of inadequacy, and extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation

Schizotypal personality disorder

A personality disorder characterized by extreme discomfort in close relationships, odd forms of thinking and perceiving, and behavioral eccentricities

Borderline personality disorder

A personality disorder characterized by repeated instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and mood, and by impulsive behavior

Personality disorder-trait specified (PDTS)

A personality disorder currently undergoing study for possible inclusion in a future revision of DSM-5. Individuals would receive this diagnosis if they display significant impairment in functioning as a result of one or more very problematic traits

Schizoid personality disorder

A personality disorder in which a person persistently avoids social relationships and shows little emotional expression

Histrionic personality disorder

A personality disorder in which an individual displays a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking. Once called hysterical personality disorder

Antisocial personality disorder (APD)

A personality disorder marked by a lack of empathy and remorse

Paranoid personality disorder

A personality disorder marked by a pattern of extreme distrust and suspiciousness of others

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

A personality disorder marked by such an intense focus on orderliness, perfectionism, and control that the person loses felxibility, openness, and efficiency

Hopelessness

A pessimistic belief that one's present circumstances, problems, or mood will not change

Countertransference

A phenomenon in psychotherapy in which the therapists' own feelings, history, and values subtly influence the way they interpret a client's problems

Fixation

A phenomenon in which a person's pleasure-seeking drives become psychologically stuck, or arrested, at a particular psychosexual stage

Attentional blink

A phenomenon often observed during rapid serial presentation of visual stimuli, in which a second salient target that is presented between 140-150 ms after the first one goes undetected

Persuasion

A phenomenon that occurs when a person's attitudes or beliefs are influenced by a communication from another person

Informational influence

A phenomenon that occurs when a person's behavior provides information about what is good or right

Normative influence

A phenomenon that occurs when another person's behavior provides information about what is appropriate

Perceptual confirmation

A phenomenon that occurs when observers perceive what they expect to perceive

Chlorpromazine

A phenothiazine drug commonly used for treating schizophrenia. Marketed as Thorazine.

Eugenics

A philosophy and political movement that encouraged biologically superior people to interbreed and sought to discourage biologically inferior people from having offspring

Stream of consciousness

A phrase coined by William James to describe each person's continuous series of ever-changing thoughts

Blood-brain barrier (BBB)

A physical barrier formed by the end feet of astrocytes between the blood vessels in the brain and the tissue of the brain. The BBB limits which materials in the blood can gain acces to neurons in the nervous system

Symptom

A physical or psychological sign of a disorder

Psychiatrist

A physician who in addition to medical school has completed three to four years of residency training in the treatment of abnormal mental functioning

Residential treatment center

A place where people formerly addicted to drugs live, work, and socialize in a drug-free environment. Also called a therapeutic community

Reward

A pleasurable stimulus given to an organism that encourages specific behavior.

Area V1

A portion of the occipital lobe that contains the primary visual cortex

Area A1

A portion of the temporal lobe that contains the primary auditory cortex

Prejudice

A positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their group membership

Well-being

A positive state that includes striving for optimal health and life satisfaction

Methamphetamine

A powerful amphetamine drug that has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, posing major health and law enforcement problems

Crack

A powerful, ready-to-smoke, freebase cocaine

Amniocentesis

A prenatal procedure used to test the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus for the possibility of birth defects

Animistic thinking

A preoperational mode of thought in which inanimate objects are imagined to have life and mental processes

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

A principle stating that animals aggress only when their goals are thwarted

Directionality problem

A problem encountered in correlational studies; the researchers find a relationship between two variables, but they cannot determine which variable may have caused the changes in the other variable

Self-selection

A problem that occurs when anything about a person determines whether he or she will be included in the experimental or control group

Orgasmic reorientation

A procedure for treating certain paraphilias by teaching clients to respond to new, more appropriate sources of sexual stimulation

Systematic desensitization

A procedure in which a client relaxes all the muscles of his or her body while imagining being in increasingly frightening situations

Hypnotism

A procedure that places people in a trancelike mental state during which they become extremely suggestible

Random assignment

A procedure that uses a random event to assign people to the experimental or control group

Psychological autopsy

A procedure used to analyze information about a deceased person, for example, in order to determine whether the person's death was a suicide

Biological challenge test

A procedure used to produce panic in participants or clients by having them exercise vigorously or perform some other potentially panic-inducing task in the presence of a researcher or therapist

Extinction (in operant conditioning)

A process by which a response that has been learned is weakened by the absence or removal of reinforcement

Random presentation

A process by which chance alone determines the order in which the stimulus is presented

Interaction

A process by which forces work together or influence each other-as in the interaction between the forces of heredity and environment

Diffusion chain

A process by which individuals initially learn a behavior by observing another individual perform that behavior, and then serve as a model from which other individuals learn the behavior

Retrieval-induced forgetting

A process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs subsequent recall of related items

Physical dependence

A process by which the body adjusts to, and comes to need, a drug for its everyday functioning

Generalization

A process in which the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the original one used during acquisition

Survey

A quasi-experimental method in which questions are asked to subjects. When designing a survey, the researcher has to be careful that the questions are not skewed or biased toward a particular answer

Cerebral vascular incident

A rapid loss of brain function due to a compromise in the blood supply to the brain secondary to arterial occlusion or hemorrhage

Delirium

A rapidly developing, acute disturbance in attention and orientation that makes it very difficult to concentrate and think in a clear and organized manner

Body mass index (BMI)

A ratio of body weight to height, used to measure obesity

Positive psychology

A recent movement within psychology, focusing on desirable aspects of human functioning, as opposed to an emphasis on psychopathology

Atropine

A receptor blocker that exerts an antagonistic effects at muscarinic receptors

NMDA receptor

A receptor site on the hippocampus that influences the flow of information between neurons by controlling the initiation of long-term potentiation

Area MT

A region in the visual cortex containing cells that are highly responsive to motion. Area MT is part of the dorsal pathway, thought to play a role not only in motion perception but also in representing spatial information

Area V4

A region in the visual cortex containing cells that are thought to process color information

Orbitofrontal cortex

A region of the brain in which impulses involving excretion, sexuality, violence, and other primitive activities normally arise

Temporal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex responsible for hearing and language. Also plays a role in converting short-term memory to long-term memory

Frontal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex that has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgment

Parietal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex whose functions include processing information about touch

Correlation

A relationship between variables, in which changes in one variable are reflected in changes in the other variable-as in the correlation between a child's age and height

Second-generation antipsychotic drugs

A relatively new group of antipsychotic drugs whose biological action is different from that of the conventional antipsychotic drugs. Also known as atypical antipsychotic drugs

Atypical antipsychotic drugs

A relatively new group of antipsychotic drugs whose biological action is different from that of the conventional antipsychotic drugs. Also known as second generation antipsychotic drugs

Neuroscience

A relatively new interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding how the brain creates thoughts, feelings, motives, consciousness, memories, and other mental processes

Evolutionary psychology

A relatively new specialty in psychology that sees behavior and mental processes in terms of their genetic adaptations for survival and reproduction

Trait

A relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way

Codeine

A relatively weak psychoactive ingredient of opium

Resistance

A reluctance to cooperate with treatment for fear of confronting unpleasant unconscious material

Compulsion

A repetitive and rigid behavior or mental act that persons feel driven to perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety

Genetic linkage study

A research approach in which extended families with high rates of a disorder over several generations are observed in order to determine whether the disorder closely follows the distribution pattern of other family traits

Mixed design

A research design in which a correlational method is mixed with an experimental method. Also known as quasi-experiment

Family pedigree study

A research design in which investigators determine how many and which relatives of a person with a disorder have the same disorder

Cohort-sequential study

A research method in which a cross section of the population is chosen and then each cohort is followed for a short period of time

Single-subject experimental design

A research method in which a single participant is observed and measured both before and after the manipulation of an independent variable

Analogue experiment

A research method in which the experimenter produces abnormal-like behavior in laboratory participants and then conducts experiments on the participants

Observational techniques

A research method of careful and systematic assessment and coding of overt behavior

Descriptive studies

A research method that involves observing and noting the behavior of people or other animals to provide a systematic and objective analysis of the behavior

Halfway house

A residence for people with schizophrenia or other severe problems, often staffed by paraprofessionals. Also known as a group home or crisis house

Placebo effect

A response to a placebo, caused by subjects' belief that they are taking real drugs

Harm reduction approach

A response to high-risk behaviors that focuses on reducing the harm such behaviors have on people's lives

Recognition

A retrieval method in which one must identify present stimuli as having been previously presented

Recall

A retrieval method in which one must reproduce previously presented information

Representative sample

A sample obtained in such a way that it reflects the distribution of important variables in the larger population in which the researchers are interested-variables such as age, income level, ethnicity, and geographic distribution

Research

A scientific process that involves the systematic and careful collection of data

Achromatopsia

A selective disorder of color perception resulting from a lesion or lesions of the central nervous system, typically in the ventral pathway of the visual cortex. In achromatopsia, the deficit in color perception is disproportionately greater than that associated with form perception. Colors, if perceived at all, tend to be muted

Akinetopsia

A selective disorder or motion perception resulting from a lesion or lesions of the central nervous system. Patients with akinetopsia fail to perceive stimulus movement, created bu either a moving object or their own motion, in a smooth manner. In severe cases, the patient may only infer motion by noting that the position of objects in the environment has changed over time, as if the patient were constructing dynamics through a series of successive snapshots

Alcoholics Anonymous

A self-help organization that provides support and guidance for people with alcoholism

Suicide

A self-inflicted death in which the person acts intentionally, directly, and consciously

Transgender experience

A sense that one's actual gender identity is different from the gender category to which one was born physically or that it lies outside the usual male versus female categories

Self-report

A series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives accurately describe their own behavior or mental state

Battery

A series of tests, each of which measures a specific skill area

Serial murderers

A series of two or more killings carried out separately by the same individual(s) over a period of time---usually a month or more

Model

A set of assumptions and concepts that help scientists explain and interpret observations. Also called a paradigm

Internal working model of relationships

A set of beliefs about the self, primary caregiver, and the relationship between them

Mental status exam

A set of interview questions and observations designed to reveal the degree and nature of a client's psychological functioning

Somatic nervous system

A set of nerves that conveys information into and out of the central nervous system

Parasympathetic nervous system

A set of nerves that helps the body return to a normal resting state

Sympathetic nervous system

A set of nerves that prepares the body for action in threatening situations

Hardiness

A set of positive attitudes and reactions in response to stress

Morphological rules

A set of rules that indicate how morphemes can be combined to form words

Phonological rules

A set of rules that indicate how phonemes can be combined to produce speech sounds

Syntactical rules

A set of rules that indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences

Specific phobia

A severe and persistent fear of a specific object or situation (does not include agoraphobia and social anxiety disorder)

Social anxiety disorder

A severe and persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur

Disorganized speech

A severe disruption of verbal communication in which ideas shift rapidly and incoherently from one to another unrelated topic

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome

A severe, potentially fatal reaction to antipsychotic drugs, marked by muscle rigidity, fever, altered consciousness, and autonomic dysfunction

Adrenogenital syndrome

A sexual development disorder in which high levels of adrenal androgens, resulting from congenital adrenal hyperplasia, masculinize the bodies of genetic females

Genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder

A sexual dysfunction characterized by significant physical discomfort during intercourse

Mutual interdependence

A shared sense that individuals or groups need each other in order to achieve common goals

Corollary discharge

A signal to visual areas about upcoming eye movements, sent by motor-planning regions of the brain

Lithium carbonate

A simple chemical compound that is highly effective in dampening the extreme mood swings of bipolar disorder

Placebo therapy

A simulated treatment that the participant in an experiment believes to be genuine

Behavioral paradigm

A single set of procedures developed for the investigation of a particular behavioral phenomenon

ABAB design

A single-subject experimental design in which behavior is measured during a baseline period, after a treatment has been applied, after baseline conditions have been reintroduced, and after the treatment has been reintroduced. Also called a reversal design

Reversal design

A single-subject experimental design in which behavior is measured to provide a baseline (A), then again after the treatment has been applied (B), then again after the conditions during baseline have been reintroduced (A), and then once again after the treatment is reintroduced (B). Also known as ABAB design

Traumatic stressor

A situation that threatens one's physical safety, arousing feelings of fear, horror, or helplessness

Heritability coefficient

A statistic (commonly denoted as h²) that describes the proportion of the difference between people's scores that can be explained by differences in their genes

Ratio IQ

A statistic obtained by dividing a person's mental age by the person's physical age and then multiplying the quotient by 100

Deviation IQ

A statistic obtained by dividing a person's test score by the average test score of people in the same age group and then multiplying the quotient by 100

Standard deviation

A statistic that describes the average difference between the measurements in a frequency distribution and the mean of that distribution

Concordance

A statistical measure of the frequency with which family members (often both members of a pair of twins) have the same particular characteristic

Negative correlation

A statistical relationship in which the value of one variable increases while the other variable decreases

Positive correlation

A statistical relationship in which the values of two variables increase together or decrease together

Factor analysis

A statistical technique that explains a large number of correlations in terms of a small number of underlying factors

Methylphenidate

A stimulant drug, known better by the trade name Ritalin, commonly used to treat ADHD

Positive reinforcement

A stimulus presented after a response and increasing the probability of that response happening again

Door-in-the-face technique

A strategy that uses reciprocating concessions to influence behavior

Overlearning

A strategy whereby the learner continues to study and rehearse the material after it has been initially brought to mastery

Somatosensory cortex

A strip of the parietal lobe lying just behind the central fissure. The somatosensory cortex is involved with sensations of touch

Attachment

A strong emotional connection that persists over time and across circumstances

Hippocampus

A structure critical for creating new memories and integrating them into a network of knowledge so that they can be stored indefinitely in other parts of the cerebral cortex

Basilar membrane

A structure in the inner ear that undulates when vibrations from the ossicles reach the cochlear fluid. Hair receptor cells are embedded in this membrane

Empirical approach

A study conducted via careful observation and scientifically based research

Balanced placebo design

A study design in which behavior is observed following the presence or absence of an actual stimulus and also following the presence or absence of a placebo stimulus

Cross-sectional study

A study in which a representative cross section of the population is tested or surveyed at one specific time

Epidemiological study

A study that measures the incidence and prevalence of a disorder in a given population

Thalamus

A subcortical structure that relays and filters information from the senses (except smell) and transmits the information to the cerebral cortex

Episodic memory

A subdivision of declarative memory that stores memory for personal events, or "episodes"

Social psychology

A subfield of psychology that studies the causes and consequences of interpersonal behavior

Narcotic antagonist

A substance that attaches to opioid receptors in the brain and, in turn, blocks the effects of opioids

Chronobiotic

A substance that influences the timing of internal biological rhythms

Parasuicide

A suicide attempt that does not result in death

Sheltered workshop

A supervised workplace for people who are not yet ready for competitive jobs

Penile prosthesis

A surgical implant consisting of a semirigid rod that produces an artificial erection

Phalloplasty

A surgical procedure designed to create a functional penis

Adjustable gastric band procedure

A surgical procedure for treating extreme obesity in which an adjustable band is implanted around the stomach to reduce the flow of food

Sex-change surgery

A surgical procedure that changes a person's sex organs, features, and, in turn, sexual identity. Also known as sexual reassignment surgery

Catatonic stupor

A symptom associated with schizophrenia in which a person becomes almost totally unresponsive to the environment, remaining motionless and silent for long stretches of time

Echolalia

A symptom of autism spectrum disorder or schizophrenia in which a person responds to statements by repeating the other person's words

Blunted affect

A symptom of schizophrenia in which a person shows less emotion than most people

Flat affect

A symptom of schizophrenia in which the person shows almost no emotions at all

Avolition

A symptom of schizophrenia marked by apathy and an inability to start or complete a course of action

Genetic dysphasia

A syndrome characterized by an inability to learn the grammatical structure of language despite having otherwise normal intelligence

Amphetamine psychosis

A syndrome characterized by psychotic symptoms brought on by high doses of amphetamines. Similar to cocaine psychosis

Peer review system

A system by which clinicians paid by insurance companies may periodically review a patient's progress and recommend the continuation or termination of insurance benefits

Complex system

A system composed of many interconnected parts, such that when the parts self-organize into a single system, the resulting system exhibits one or more properties not obvious from the properties of the individual parts

Language

A system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and to convey meaning

Life change units (LCUs)

A system for measuring the stress associated with various life events

Managed care program

A system of health care coverage in which the insurance company largely controls the nature, scope, and cost of medical or psychological services

Psychodynamic therapy

A system of therapy whose goals are to help clients uncover past traumatic events and the inner conflicts that have resulted from them, settle those conflicts, and resume personal development

Treatment

A systematic procedure designed to help change abnormal behavior into more normal behavior. Also called therapy

Dichotic listening

A task in which people wearing headphones hear different messages presented to each ear

Random sampling

A technique for choosing participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample

Freebase

A technique for ingesting cocaine in which the pure cocaine basic alkaloid is chemically separated from processed cocaine, vaporized by heat from a flame, and inhaled through a pipe

Relaxation therapy

A technique for reducing tension by consciously relaxing muscles of the body

Foot-in-the-door technique

A technique that involves a small request followed by larger request

Matched pairs

A technique whereby each participant is identical to one other participant in terms of a third variable

Distributed learning

A technique whereby the learner spaces learning sessions over time, rather than trying to learn the material all in one study period

Matched samples

A technique whereby the participants in two groups are identical in terms of a third variable

Romantic love

A temporary and highly emotional condition based on infatuation and sexual desire

Acute stress

A temporary pattern of stressor-activated arousal with a distinct onset and limited duration

Anxiety Sensitivity

A tendency to focus on one's bodily sensations, assess them illogically, and interpret them as harmful

Hysteria

A term once used to describe what are now known as conversion disorder, somatization disorder, and pain disorder associated with psychological factors

Affect

A term referring to emotion or mood

Interpreter

A term specific to the left hemisphere; refers to the left hemisphere's attempts to make sense of actions and ongoing events

Multiple intelligences

A term used to refer to Gardner's theory, which proposes that there are seven (or more) forms of intelligence

Intelligence test

A test designed to measure a person's intellectual ability

Personality inventory

A test designed to measure broad personality characteristics, consisting of statements about behaviors, beliefs, and feelings that people evaluate as either characteristic or uncharacteristic of them

Chimeric figures test

A test of visual completion in split-brain subjects that uses pictures composed of the left and right halves of two different faces

Conditioned place-prefernce paradigm

A test that assesses a laboratory animal's preference for environments in which it has previously experienced drug effects

Neurophysiological test

A test that detects brain impairment by measuring a person's cognitive, perceptual, and motor performances

Neurological test

A test that directly meausres brain structure or activity

Integrity test

A test that is designed to measure whether the test taker is generally honest or dishonest

Psychophysiological test

A test that measures physical responses (such as heart rate and muscle tension) as possible indicators of psychological problems

Behavioral model

A theoretical perspective that emphasizes behavior and the ways in which it is learned

Sociocultural model

A theoretical perspective that emphasizes the effects of society, culture, and social and family groups on individual behavior

Cognitive model

A theoretical perspective that emphasizes the process and content of thinking as causes of psychological problems

Expectancy-value theory

A theory in social psychology that people decide whether to pursue a relationship by weighing the potential value of the relationship against their expectation of success in establishing the relationship

Activation-synthesis theory

A theory of dreaming; this theory proposes that the brain tries to make sense of random brain activity that occurs during sleep by synthesizing the activity with stored memories

Elaboration likelihood model

A theory of how persuasive messages lead to attitude changes

Exemplar model

A way of thinking about concepts: All members of a category are examples (exemplars); together they form the concept and determine the category membership

Triangular theory of love

A theory that describes various kinds of love in terms of three components: passion (erotic attraction), intimacy (sharing feelings and confidences), and commitment (dedication to putting this relationship first in one's life)

Multidimensional risk perspective

A theory that identifies several kinds of risk factors that are thought to combine to help cause a disorder. The more factors present, the greater the risk of developing the disorder

Sexual strategies theory

A theory that maintains that women and men have evolved distinct mating strategies because they faced different adaptive problems over the course of human history. The strategies used by each sex maximize the probability of passing along their genes to future generations

Double-bind hypothesis

A theory that some parents repeatedly communicate pairs of messages that are mutually contradictory, helping to produce schizophrenia in their children

Family systems theory

A theory that views the family as a system of interacting parts whose interactions exhibit consistent patterns and unstated rules

Two-factor theory

A theory which asserts that emotions are inferences about the causes of physiological arousal

James-Lange theory

A theory which asserts that stimuli trigger activity in the autonomic nervous system, which in turn produces emotional experience in the brain

Individual therapy

A therapeutic approach in which a therapist sees a client alone for sessions that last from 15 minutes to 2 hours

Psychoanalysis

A therapeutic approach that focuses on bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders

Cognitive restructuring

A therapeutic approach that teaches clients to question the automatic beliefs, assumptions, and predictions that often lead to negative emotions and to replace negative thinking with more realistic and positive beliefs

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

A therapy approach developed by psychologist Marsha Linehan to treat people with borederline personality disorder and other psychological disorders, consisting of cognitive-behavioral techniques in combination with various emotion regulation, mindfulness, humanistic, and other techniques

Social skills training

A therapy approach that helps people learn or improve social skills and assertiveness through role playing and rehearsing of desired behaviors

Cognitive therapy

A therapy developed by Aaron Beck that helps people identify and change the maladaptive assumptions and ways of thinking that help cause their psychological disorder

Group therapy

A therapy format in which a group of people with similar problems meet together with a therapist to work on those problems

Family therapy

A therapy format in which the therapist meets with all members of a family and helps them to change in therapeutic ways

Couple therapy

A therapy format in which the therapist works with two people who share a long-term relationship

Role play

A therapy technique in which clients are instructed to act out roles assigned to them by the therapist

Existential therapy

A therapy that encourages clients to accept responsibility for their lives and to live with greater meaning and value

Stress inoculation training (SIT)

A therapy that helps people cope with stressful situations by developing positive ways to think about the situation

Phototherapy

A therapy that involves repeated exposure to bright light

Olfactory epithelium

A thin layer of tissue, within the nasal cavity, that contains the receptors for smell

Eardrum

A thin membrane that marks the beginning of the middle ear, sound waves cause it to vibrate

Subliminal perception

A thought or behavior that is influenced by stimuli that a person cannot consciously report perceiving

Five-factor theory

A trait perspective suggesting that personality is composed of five fundamental personality dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism

Conversion therapy

A treatment approach that attempts to change the sexual orientation of a person from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual. Also called reparative therapy

Crisis intervention

A treatment approach that tries to help people in a psychological crisis view that situation more accurately, make better decisions, act more constructively, and overcome the crisis.

Flooding

A treatment for phobias in which clients are exposed repeatedly and intensively to a feared object and made to see that it is actually harmless

Light therapy

A treatment for seasonal affective disorder in which patients are exposed to extra light for several hours. Also called phototherapy.

Sensate focus

A treatment for sexual disorders that instructs couples to take the focus away from orgasm or intercourse and instead spend time concentrating on the pleasure achieved by such acts as kissing, hugging, and mutual massage. Also known as nondemand pleasuring.

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT)

A treatment for unipolar depression that is based on the belief that clarifying and changing one's interpersonal problems will help lead to recovery

Hypnotic therapy

A treatment in which the patient undergoes hypnosis and is then guided to recall forgotten events or perform other therapeutic activities

Deep brain stimulation (DBS)

A treatment procedure for depression in which a pacemaker powers electrodes that have been implanted in Brodmann Area 25, thus stimulating that brain area

Vagus nerve stimulation

A treatment procedure for depression in which an implanted pulse generator sends regular electrical signals to a person's vagus nerve; the nerve, in turn, stimulates the brain

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

A treatment that involves placing a powerful pulsed magnet over a person's scalp, which alters neuronal activity in the brain. Used to treat depression

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

A treatment used primarily for depression and involving the application of electric current to the head, producing a generalized seizure. Sometimes called "shock treatment"

Supportive nursing care

A treatment, used to help those with anorexia nervosa in particular, in which trained nurses conduct a day-to-day hospital program

Source amnesia

A type of amnesia that occurs when a person shows memory for an event but cannot remember where he or she encountered the information

Binge-eating/purging-type anorexia nervosa

A type of anorexia nervosa in which people have eating binges but still lose excessive weight by forcing themselves to vomit after meals or by abusing laxatives or diuretics

Restricting-type anorexia nervosa

A type of anorexia nervosa in which people reduce their weight by severely restricting their food intake

Anomia

A type of aphasia in which the person has difficulty generating the words used to label things in the world

Bipolar I disorder

A type of bipolar disorder marked by full manic and major depressive episodes

Bipolar II disorder

A type of bipolar disorder marked by mild manic (hypomanic) and major depressive episodes

Problem-focused coping

A type of coping in which people take direct steps to confront or minimize a stressor

Emotion-focused coping

A type of coping in which people try to prevent having an emotional response to a stressor

Participant observation

A type of descriptive study in which the researcher is actively involved in the situation

Absence seizure

A type of generalized seizure whose primary behavioral symptom is a disruption of consciousness associated with a cessation of ongoing behavior, a vacant look, and sometimes fluttering eyelids

Asylum

A type of institution that first became popular in the sixteenth century to provide care for persons with mental disorders.

Mindfulness meditation

A type of meditation in which people are mindful (just notice) the various thoughts, emotions, sensations, and other private experiences that pass through their minds and bodies

Cryptomnesia

A type of misattribution that occurs when a person thinks he or she has come up with a new idea, yet has only retrieved a stored idea and failed to attribute the idea to its proper source

Schizophrenogenic mother

A type of mother---supposedly cold, domineering, and uninterested in the needs of her children---who was once thought to cause schizophrenia in her child

Continuous reinforcement

A type of reinforcement schedule by which all correct responses are reinforced

Correlational study

A type of research that is mainly statistical in nature. Correlational studies determine the relationship (or correlation) between two variables

Amacrine cells

A type of retinal neurons whose specialized function is lateral communication

Dyslexia

A type of specific learning disorder in which people show a marked impairment in the ability to recognize words and to comprehend what they read

Long-term memory

A type of storage that holds information for hours, days, weeks, or years

Short-term memory

A type of storage that holds nonsensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute

Sensory memory

A type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less

Longitudinal study

A type of study in which one group of subjects is followed and observed (or examined, surveyed etc.) for an extended period of time (years)

Behavior therapy

A type of therapy that assumes that disordered behavior is learned and that symptom relief is achieved through changing overt maladaptive behaviors into more constructive behaviors

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

A type of therapy that teaches clients to be mindful of (just notice and accept) their dysfunctional thoughts or worries

Meme

A unit of knowledge transmitted within a culture

Debriefing

A verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study

Guilty but mentally ill

A verdict stating that defendants are guilty of committing a crime but are also suffering from a mental illness that should be treated during their imprisonment

Not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)

A verdict stating that defendants are not guilty of committing a crime because they were insane at the time of the crime

Migraine headache

A very severe headache that occurs on one side of the head, often preceded by warning sensations and sometimes accompanied by dizziness, nausea, or vomiting

Brain graph

A visual model of the connections within some parts of the nervous system

Aura

A warning sensation that may precede a migraine headache

Defining attribute model

A way of thinking about concepts: A category s characterized by a list of features that determine if an object is a member of the category

Conditions of worth

According to client-centered theorists, the internal standards by which a person judges their lovability and acceptability, determined by the standards to which the person was held as a child

Illogical thinking

According to cognitive theories, illogical ways of thinking that may lead to self-defeating conclusions and psychological problems

Existential anxiety

According to existential theorists, a universal fear of the limits and responsibilities of one's existence

Ego defense mechanisms

According to psychoanalytic theory, strategies developed by the ego to control unacceptable id impulses and to avoid and reduce the anxiety they arouse

Transference

According to psychodynamic theorists, the redirection toward the psychotherapist of feelings associated with important figures in a patient's life, now or in the past

Self-statements

According to some cognitive theorists, statements about oneself, sometimes counterproductive, that come to mind during stressful situations

Type II schizophrenia

According to some theorists, a type of schizophrenia dominated by negative symptoms, such as flat affect, poverty of speech, and avolition

Color

Also called hue. Color is not a property of things in the external world. Rather, it is a psychological sensation created in the brain from information obtained by the eyes from the wavelengths of visible light

Cerebellum

Also known as "little cerebrum." A large, highly convoluted (infolded) structure located dorsal to the brainstem at the level of the pons. The cerebellum maintains (directly or indirectly) interconnectivity with widespread cortical, subcortical, brainstem, and spinal cord structures, and plays a role in various aspects of coordination ranging from locomotion to skilled, volitional movement. Especially important in the coordination of muscle movement timing, the planning of movements, and the learning of motor skills

Corticospinal tract (CST)

Also pyramidal tract. A bundle of axons that originate in the cortex and terminate monosynaptically on alpha motor neurons and spinal interneurons in the spinal cord. Many of these fibers originate in the primary motor cortex, although some come from secondary motor areas. The corticospinal tract is important for the control of voluntary movements

Korsakoff's syndrome

An alcohol-related disorder marked by extreme confusion, memory impairment, and other neurological symptoms

Hypnosis

An altered state of consciousness characterized by suggestibility and the feeling that one's actions are occurring involuntarily

Trephination

An ancient operation in which a stone instrument was used to cut away a circular section of the skull, perhaps to treat abnormal behavior

Disulfiram (Antabuse)

An antagonist drug used in treating alcohol abuse or dependence

Tricyclic

An antidepressant drug such as imipramine that has three rings in its molecular structure

Social cognitive approach

An approach that views personality in terms of how the person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them

Special education

An approach to educating children with intellectual disability in which they are grouped together and given a separate, specifically designed education

Behavioral neuroscience

An approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes

Social therapy

An approach to therapy in which the therapist makes practical advice and life adjustment a central focus of treatment for schizophrenia. Therapy also focuses on problem solving, decision making, development of social skills, and management of medications. Also known as personal therapy

Person-centered therapy

An approach to therapy that assumes all individuals have a tendency toward growth and that this growth can be facilitated by acceptance and genuine reactions by the therapist

Play therapy

An approach to treating childhood disorders that helps children express their conflicts and feelings indirectly by drawing, playing with toys, and making up stories

Stress-management program

An approach to treating generalized anxiety disorder and other anxiety disorders that teaches clients techniques for reducing and controlling stress

Methadone maintenance program

An approach to treating heroin-centered substance abuse in which clients are given legally and medically supervised doses of a substitute drug, methadone

Drug maintenance therapy

An approach to treating substance dependence in which clients are given legally and medically supervised doses of the drug on which they are dependent or a substitute drug

Hindbrain

An area of the brain that coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord

Fovea

An area of the retina where vision is the clearest and there are no rods at all

Private psychotherapy

An arrangement in which a person directly pays a therapist for counseling services

Validity

An attribute of a psychological test that actually measures what it is being used to measure; a property exhibited by a test that measures what it purports to measure

Aripiprazole

An atypical antipsychotic drug whose brand name is Abilify

Olanzapine

An atypical antipsychotic drug whose brand name is Zyprexa

Conditioned taste aversion

An avoidance response developed by animals to the taste of food whose consumption has been followed by illness

Anorexia nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by an excessive fear of becoming fat and thus a refusal to eat

Community mental health movement

An effort to deinstitutionalize mental patients and to provide therapy from outpatient clinics. Proponents of community mental health envisioned that recovering patients could live with their families, in foster homes, or in group homes

Rapprochement movement

An effort to identify a set of common strategies that run through the work of all effective therapists

Denial

An ego defense mechanism in which a person fails to acknowledge unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or actions

Undoing

An ego defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously cancels out an unacceptable desire or act by performing another act

Fantasy

An ego defense mechanism in which a person uses imaginary events to satisfy unacceptable impulses

Isolation

An ego defense mechanism in which people unconsciously isolate and disown undesirable and unwanted thoughts, experiencing them as foreign intrusions

Basic emotion

An emotion with unique characteristics, carved by evolution, and reflected through facial expressions

Basic anxiety

An emotion, proposed by Karen Horney that gives a sense of uncertainty and loneliness in a hostile world and can lead to maladjustment

Fight-or-flight response

An emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action

Belief

An enduring piece of knowledge an object or event

Personality disorder

An enduring, rigid pattern of inner experience and outward behavior that repeatedly impairs a person's sense of self, emotional experiences, goals, capacity for empathy, and/or capacity for intimacy

Priming

An enhanced ability to think of a stimulus, such as a word or object, as a result of recent exposure to the stimulus

Cytochrome oxidase

An enzyme present in particularly high concentrations in the mitochondria of dual-opponent color cells of the visual cortex

Alcohol dehydrogenase

An enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the stomach before it enters the blood

Acetylcholinesterase

An enzyme that divides the neurotransmitter acetylcholine into its two constituent parts, choline and acetate

Aromatase

An enzyme that promotes the conversion of testosterone to estradiol

Postpartum depression

An episode of depression experienced by some new mothers that begins within four weeks after giving birth

Hypomanic episode

An episode of mania in which the symptoms cause relatively little impairment

Postpartum psychosis

An episode of psychosis experienced by a small percentage of new mothers that begins within days or weeks after giving birth

Binge

An episode of uncontrollable eating during which a person ingests a very large quantity of food

Arbitrary inference

An error in logic in which a person draws negative conclusions on the basis of little or even contrary evidence

Eidetic imagery

An especially clear and persistent form of memory that is quite rare; sometimes wrongly called "photographic memory"

Appraisal

An evaluation of the emotion-relevant aspects of a stimulus

Groupthink

An excessive tendency to seek concurrence among group members

Companionate love

An experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a partner's well-being

Passionate love

An experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense sexual attraction

Quasi-experiment

An experiment in which investigators make use of control and experimental groups that already exist in the world at large. Also called a mixed design

Natural experiment

An experiment in which nature, rather than an experimenter, manipulates an independent variable

Blind design

An experiment in which participants do not know whether they are in the experimental or the control condition

Block design experiment

An experiment in which the recorded neural activity is integrated over a "block" of time during which the participant is either presented a stimulus or performs a task. The recorded activity pattern is then compared to other blocks that have been recorded while doing the same task or stimulus, a different task or stimulus, or nothing at all

Between-subjects design

An experimental design in which a different group of subjects is tested under each condition

Confederate

An experimenter's accomplice, who helps create a particular impression in a study while pretending to be just another subject

Gate-control theory

An explanation for pain control that proposes we have a neural "gate" that can, under some circumstances, block incoming pain signals

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

An exposure treatment in which clients move their eyes in a rhythmic manner from side to side while flooding their minds with images of objects and situations they ordinarily avoid

Medulla

An extension of the spinal cord into the skull that coordinates heart rate, circulation, and respiration

Munchausen syndrome

An extreme and long-term form of factitious disorder in which a person produces symptoms, gains admission to a hospital, and receives treatment

Angiography

An imaging method used to evaluate the circulatory systems in the brain

Intermittent explosive disorder

An impulse-control disorder in which people periodically fail to resist aggressive impulses and commit serious assaults on others or destroy property

Conduction deafness

An inability to hear resulting from damage to structures of the middle or inner ear

Nerve deafness

An inability to hear that is linked to a deficit in the body's ability to transmit impulses from the cochlea to the brain, usually involving the auditory nerve or higher auditory processing centers

Localized amnesia

An inability to recall any of the events that occurred over a limited period of time

Continuous amnesia

An inability to recall newly occurring events as well as certain past events

Selective amnesia

An inability to recall some of the events that occurred over a limited period of time

Astereognosia

An inability to recognize objects by touch that is not attributable to a simple sensory deficit or to general intellectual impairment

Predisposition

An inborn or acquired vulnerability for developing certain symptoms or disorders

Social facilitation

An increase in an individual's performance because of being in a group

Sensitization

An increase in behavioral response after exposure to a threatening stimulus

Subject

An individual chosen to participate in a study. Also called a participant

Cognitive appraisal theory

An individual makes a conscious decision as to how one should feel about an event after it has occurred

Personality

An individual's characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and acting

Social reality

An individual's subjective interpretation of other people and of relationships with them

Placebo

An inert substance or procedure that has been applied with the expectation that a healing response will be produced

Huntington's disease

An inherited disease characterized by progressive problems in cognition, emotion, and movement, which results in neurocognitive disorder

Electrooculograph (EOG)

An instrument that measures eye movements

Myelin sheath

An insulating layer of fatty material on the axons of neurons

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)

An intensive treatment for autism, based on operant conditioning

Psychotherapy

An interaction between a therapist and someone suffering from a psychological problem, with the goal of providing support or relief from the problem

Cognitive neuroscience

An interdisciplinary field emphasizing brain activity as information processing; involves cognitive psychology, neurology, biology, computer science, linguistics, and specialists from other fields who are interested in the connection between mental processes and the brain

Motive

An internal mechanism that selects and directs behavior. The term motive is often used in the narrower sense of a motivational process that is learned, rather than biologically based (as are drives)

Sociometer

An internal monitor of social acceptance or rejection

Cerebral ischemia

An interruption of the blood supply to an area of the brain; a common cause of medial-temporal lobe amnesia

Structured interview

An interview format in which the clinician asks prepared questions

Cirrhosis

An irreversible condition, often caused by excessive drinking, in which the liver becomes scarred and begins to change in anatomy and functioning

General paresis

An irreversible medical disorder whose symptoms include psychological abnormalities, such as delusions of grandeur; caused by syphilis

Operant

An observable, voluntary behavior that an organism emits to "operate" on, or have an effect on, the environment

Signal detection theory

An observation that the response to a stimulus depends both on a person's sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and on a person's response criterion

Contingency management

An operant conditioning approach to changing behavior by altering the consequences, especially rewards and punishments, of behavior

Intermittent reinforcement

An operant conditioning principle in which only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement

Fixed ratio schedule (FR)

An operant conditioning principle in which reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made

Fixed interval schedule (FI)

An operant conditioning principle in which reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made

Metabolism

An organism's chemical and physical breakdown of food and the process of converting it into energy. Also, an organism's biochemical transformation of various substances, as when the liver breaks down alcohol into acetylaldehyde

Genotype

An organism's genetic makeup

Phenotype

An organism's observable physical characteristics

Idiographic understanding

An understanding of the behavior of a particular individual

Bipolar disorder

An unstable emotional condition characterized by cycles of abnormal, persistent high mood (mania) and low mood (depression)

Chordates

Animals with dorsal nerve cords

Neutral stimulus

Any stimulus that produces no conditioned response prior to learning. When it is brought into a conditioning experiment, the researchers will call it a conditioned stimulus (CS). The assumption is that some conditioning occurs after even one pairing of the CS and UCS

Drug

Any substance, other than food, that affects the body or mind

Stereotype threat

Apprehension about confirming negative stereotypes related to one's group

Gender-sensitive therapies

Approaches geared to the pressures of being a woman in Western society. Also called feminist therapies

Culture-sensitive therapies

Approaches that are designed to address the unique issues that faced by members of minority groups

Allocentric reference frame

Category of reference frames that specify an object's location in relation to other objects, independent of one's own location

Secondary messengers

Chemical changes within a neuron just after the neuron receives a neurotransmitter message and just before it responds

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that relay neural messages across the synapse. Many neurotransmitters are also hormones

Botox

Botulinum toxin, which blocks release of acetylcholine at neuromuscular junctions and is used cosmetically to treat wrinkles

Selective social interaction

Choosing to restrict the number of one's social contacts to those who are the most gratifying

Autosomal chromosomes

Chromosomes that come in matched pairs in mammals, all of the chromosomes except the sex chromosomes are autosomal

Free-floating anxiety

Chronic and persistent feelings of anxiety that are not clearly attached to a specific, identifiable threat

Reflection of feeling

Carl Rogers's technique of paraphrasing the clients' words, attempting to capture the emotional tone expressed

Fully functioning person

Carl Rogers's term for a healthy, self-actualizing individual, who has a self-concept that is both positive and congruent with reality

Callosal relay model

Concept that information received by the hemisphere less adept at a given task is transferred to the opposite hemisphere; this callosal transfer degrades the information and leads to poorer performance than if the information were received by the hemisphere more suited to the task

Contextual fear conditioning

Conditioning in which a fear response is evoked by the context or environment in which an aversive stimulus had previously been presented

Second-order conditioning

Conditioning where the US is a stimulus that acquired its ability to produce learning from an earlier procedure in which it was used as a CS

Controls

Constraints that an experimenter places on the experiment to ensure that each subject has the exact same conditions

Chronic stress

Continuous stressful arousal persisting over time

Ejaculation

Contraction of the muscles at the base of the penis that cause sperm to be ejected

Visual hallucinations

Hallucinations in which a person may either experience vague visual perceptions, perhaps of colors or clouds, or have distinct visions of people, objects, or scenes that are not there

Unconscious motivation

Having a desire to engage in an activity but being consciously unaware of the desire. Freud's psychoanalytic theory emphasized placed great emphasis on unconscious motivation

Narcotics or opiates

Highly addictive drugs derived from opium that relieve pain

Practical reasoning

Figuring out what to do, or reasoning directed toward action. Sometimes called "street smarts"

Reframing

Finding a new or creative way to think about a stressor that reduces its threat

Problem solving

Finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

Fluid found between neurons and their bony encasements; similar in composition to blood plasma

Countercoup (contrecoup) injury

Focal damage to the brain in a location opposite to an external impact (e.g., impact on front of head, but countercoup injury in posterior region). Countercoup injuries occur because the external impact causes the brain to move within the skull

Altered states of consciousness

Forms of experience that depart from the normal subjective experience of the world and the mind

Alpha suppression

Decrease in the amount of alpha activity, used as an indicator of the degree of brain activation

Night terrors

Deep sleep episodes that seem to produce terror, although any terrifying mental experience (such as a dream) is usually forgotten upon awakening. Night terrors occur mainly in children

Amyloid plaques

Deposits consisting of aluminum silicate and amyloid peptides (a buildup or conglomeration of proteins), often including tau protein and apolipoprotein E; implicated in the genetic aspects of Alzheimer's disease and believed to cause vascular damage and neuronal cell loss

Inverted U function

Describes the relationship between arousal and performance. Both low and high levels of arousal produce lower performance than moderate levels of arousal

Covert desensitization

Desensitization that focuses on imagining confrontations with the frightening objects or situations while in a state of relaxation

In vivo desensitization

Desensitization that makes use of actual objects or situations, as opposed to imagined ones

Lateralization of emotion

Different influences of the two brain hemispheres on various emotions. The left hemisphere apparently influences positive emotions, and the right hemisphere influences negative emotions

Constructional apraxia

Disorder in which the spatial relations of items cannot be correctly manipulated; generally observed after right hemisphere lesion and often associated with spatial processing difficulties and hemineglect

Adjustment disorders

Disorders characterized by clinical symptoms such as depressed mood or anxiety in response to significant stressors

Communication disorders

Disorders characterized by marked impairment in language/and or speech

Phobic disorders

Disorders characterized by marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, or situations

Psychophysiological disorders

Disorders in which biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors interact to cause or worsen a physical illness. Also known as psychological factors affecting other medical conditions

Agonists

Drugs that enhance the actions of neurotransmitters

Antagonists

Drugs that inhibit the actions of neurotransmitters

Analgesics

Drugs that reduce pain

Sedative-hypnotic drugs

Drugs used in low doses to help calm people and in higher doses to help people sleep. Also called anxiolytic drugs

Negative symptoms

Emotional and social withdrawal; apathy; poverty of speech; and other indications of the absence or insufficiency of normal behavior, motivation, and emotion

Primary emotions

Emotions that are evolutionarily adaptive, shared across cultures, and associated with specific physical states; they include anger, fear, sadness, disgust, happiness, and possibly surprise and contempt

Illusions

Errors of perception, memory, or judgment in which subjective experience differs from objective reality

Biopsychosocial theories

Explanations that attribute the cause of abnormality to an interaction of genetic, biological, developmental, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social, and societal influences

Situational attributions

Explanations that refer to external events, such as the weather, luck, accidents, or other people's actions

Personal attributions

Explanations that refer to people's internal characteristics, such as abilities, traits, moods, or efforts

Long-term care

Extended personal and medical support provided to elderly and other persons who may be impaired. It may range from partial support in a supervised apartment to intensive care at a nursing home

Retrieval cue

External information that helps bring stored information to mind

Incentives

External objects or external goals, rather than internal drives, which motivate behavior

Tardive dyskinesia

Extrapyramidal effects that appear in some patients after they have taken convention antipsychotic drugs for an extended time

Etiology

Factors that affect the development of a disorder

Referred pain

Feeling of pain when sensory information from internal and external areas converges on the same nerve cells in the spinal cord

Tend-and-befriend response

Females' tendency to protect and care for their offspring and form social alliances rather than flee of fight in response to a threat

Oedipus complex

In Freudian theory, the pattern of desires emerging during the phallic stage in which boys become attracted to their mother as a sexual object and to see their father as a rival they would like to push aside

Hierarchy of needs

In Maslow's theory, the notion that needs occur in priority order, with biological needs as the most basic

Need for achievement (n Ach)

In Murray and McClelland's theory, a mental state that produces a psychological motive to excel or to reach some goal

Egocentrism

In Piaget's theory, the self-centered inability to realize that there are other viewpoints besides one's own

Sensation seekers

In Zuckerman's theory, individuals who have a biological need for higher stimulation levels than do other people

Dependent variable

In an experiment, the variable that is affected by the manipulation of the independent variable

Unconscious

In classic Freudian theory, the psychic domain of which the individual is not aware but that houses memories, desires, and feelings that would be threatening if brought to consciousness. Many modern cognitive psychologists view the unconscious in less sinister terms, merely as a collection of mental processing information or working at odds with consciousness

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

In classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit the conditioned response. Customarily, in a conditioning experiment, the neutral stimulus is called a conditioned stimulus when it is first paired with an

Conditioned response (CR)

In classical conditioning, a response elicited by a previously neutral stimulus that has become associated with the unconditioned stimulus

Unconditioned response (UR)

In classical conditioning, the response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without prior learning

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

In classical conditioning, the stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response

Need

In drive theory, a need is a biological imbalance (such as dehydration) that threatens survival, if the need is left unmet. Biological needs are believed to produce drives

Adaptations

In evolutionary theory, the physical characteristics, skills, or abilities that increase the chances of reproduction or survival and are therefore likely to be passed along to future generations

Embryo

In humans, the name for the developing organism during the first eight weeks after conception

Neonatal period

In humans, the neonatal (newborn) period extends through the first month after birth

Synergistic effect

In pharmacology, an increase of effects that occurs when more than one substance is acting on the body at the same time

Secondary gain

In psychodynamic theory, the gain people achieve when their somatic symptoms elicit kindness from others or provide an excuse for avoiding unpleasant activities

Primary gain

In psychodynamic theory, the gain people achieve when their somatic symptoms keep their internal conflicts out of awareness

Assessment

In psychology, examination of a person's mental state to diagnose possible psychological disorders

Anhedonia

Inability to find any pleasure in life; a characteristic of depression

Akinesia

Inability to initiate spontaneous movement

Preconscious memories

Information that is not currently in consciousness but can be recalled to consciousness voluntarily or after something calls attention to them

Aptitudes

Innate potentialities (as contrasted with abilities acquired by learning)

Malingering

Intentionally faking an illness to achieve some external gains, such as financial compensation or military deferment

Collective unconscious

Jung's addition to the unconscious, involving a reservoir for instinctive "memories", including the archetypes, which exist in all people

Terminal buttons

Knoblike structures that branch out from an axon

Cingulate gyri

Large gyri located on the medial surfaces of the frontal lobes, just superior to the corpus callosum

Astrocytes

Large, star-shaped glial cells that play a role in the passage of chemicals from the blood into CNS neurons and perform several other functions that are not yet well understood

Betz cells

Largely pyramidal neurons of the primary motor cortex that synapse directly on motor neurons in the lower regions of the spinal cord

Sexually violent predator laws

Laws passed by the federal government and many states that call for certain sex offenders who have been convicted of sex crimes and have served their sentence in prison to be removed from prison before their release and committed involuntarily to a mental hospital for treatment if a court judges them likely to engage in further acts of sexual violence due to a mental or personality abnormality

Neo-Freudians

Literally "new Freudians"; refers to theorists who broke with Freud but whose theories retain a psychodynamic aspect, especially a focus on motivation as the source of energy for the personality

Crossed aphasia

Loss of speech ability resulting from a right hemisphere lesion in a right-hander

Agraphia

Loss of the ability to write, as a consequence of brain damage

Reconsolidation

Memories can become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled, requiring them to become consolidated again

Thinking

The mental manipulation of representations of information

Caloric stimulation

Neglect-reducing technique in which water at least 7 degrees celsius colder than body temperature is introduced into the ear canal, thereby inducing motion in the semicircular canals of the vestibular system and drawing attention to the neglected field or side of the body

Afferent nerves

Nerves that carry sensory signals to the central nervous system; sensory nerves

Brain circuits

Networks of brain structures that work together, triggering each other into action with the help of neurotransmitters

Mild neurocognitive disorder

Neurocognitive disorder in which the decline in cognitive functioning is modest and does not interfere with the ability to be independent

Neuroimaging techniques

Neurological tests that provide images of brain structure or activity, such as CT scans, PET scans, and MRIs. Also called brain scans

Mirror neurons

Neurons that are activated when one observes another individual engage in an action and when one performs the action that was observed

Motor neurons

Neurons that carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

Interneurons

Neurons that connect sensory neurons, motor neurons, or other interneurons

Sensory neurons

Neurons that receive information from the external world and convey this information to the brain via the spinal cord

Endorphins

Neurotransmitters involved in natural pain reduction and reward

Giftedness

Often conceived as representing the upper 2% of the IQ range, commencing about 30 points above average (at about 130 IQ points)

Mental retardation

Often conceived of as representing the lower 2% of the IQ range, commencing about 30 points below average (below about 70 points). More sophisticated definitions also take into account an individual's level of social functioning and other abilities

Brain-gut peptides

One of the five classes of neuropeptide transmitters, consists of those first discovered in the gut

Heroin

One of the most addictive substances derived from opium

Asperger's disorder

One of the patterns found in autism spectrum disorder, in which a person displays profound social impairment yet maintains a relatively high level of cognitive functioning and language skills

Encoding

One of the three basic tasks of memory, involving the modification of information to fit the preferred format for the memory system

Cerebral hemisphere

One of two physically separated halves of the cortex

Sexual orientation

One's erotic attraction toward members of the same sex (a homosexual orientation), the opposite sex (heterosexual orientation), or both sexes (a bisexual orientation)

Opioid

Opium or any of the drugs derived from opium, including morphine, heroin, and codeine

Binocular rivalry

Oscillation of conscious perception that occurs when different stimuli are presented simultaneously to the left eye and right eye

Receptors

Parts of the cell membrane that receive the neurotransmitter and initiate or prevent a new electric signal

Attitudes

People's evaluations of objects, events, or ideas

Attributions

People's explanations for why events or actions occur

Panic attacks

Periodic, short bouts of panic that occur suddenly, reach a peak within minutes, and gradually pass

Rods

Photoreceptors that become active under low-light conditions for night vision

Arousal

Physiological activation (such as increased brain activity) or increased autonomic responses (such as increased heart rate, sweating, or muscle tension)

Circadian rhythms

Physiological patterns that repeat approximately every 24 hours, such as the sleep-wakefulness cycle

Conditioned compensatory responses

Physiological responses opposite to the effects of a drug that are thought to be elicited by stimuli that are regularly associated with experiencing the drug effects

Significant difference

Psychologists accept a difference between the groups as "real", or significant, when the probability that it might be due to an atypical sample drawn by chance is less than 5 in 100 (indicated by the notation p ˂.05)

Experimental psychologists

Psychologists who do research on basic psychological processes-as contrasted with applied psychologists; also called research psychologists

Applied psychologists

Psychologists who use the knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems

Teachers of psychology

Psychologists whose primary job is teaching, typically in high schools, colleges, and universities

Lobotomy

Psychosurgery in which a surgeon cuts the connections between the brain's frontal lobes and the lower centers of the brain

Insight therapies

Psychotherapies in which the therapist helps patients/clients understand (and gain insight into) their problems

Talk therapies

Psychotherapies that focus on communicating and verbalizing emotions and motives to understand their problems

Brief psychotic disorder

Psychotic symptoms that appear very suddenly after a very stressful event or a period of emotional turmoil and last anywhere from a few hours to a month

Conditioned reinforcers or secondary reinforcers

Stimuli, such as money or tokens, that acquire their reinforcing power by a learned association with primary reinforcers

Delusions

Strange false beliefs firmly held despite evidence to the contrary

Cannabis

Substance produced from the varieties of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. It causes a mixture of hallucinogenic, depressant, and stimulant effects

Psychedelic drugs

Substances such as LSD that cause profounf perceptual changes. Also called hallucinogenic drugs

Stimulants

Substances that excite the central nervous system, heightening arousal and activity levels

Depressants

Substances that slow the activity of the central nervous system and in sufficient dosages cause a reduction of tension and inhibitions

Anomic suicide

Suicide committed by individuals whose social environment fails to provide stability, thus leaving them without a sense of belonging

Egoistic suicide

Suicide committed by people over whom society has little or no control, people who are not concerned with the norms or rules of society

Cingulotomy

Surgical creation of bilateral lesions in the anterior cingulate

Psychosurgery

Surgical destruction of specific brain areas

Adrenalectomy

Surgical removal of the adrenal glands

Commissurotomy

Surgical severing of the cerebral commissures

Neuroticism

Susceptibility to neurotic problems

Cogwheel rigidity

Symptoms of Parkinson's disease that causes limbs to move in specific, rigid steps, rather than moving smoothly; occurs because of increased muscle tone in the extensor and flexor muscles

Positive symptoms

Symptoms of schizophrenia that are marked by excesses in functioning, such as delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech or behavior

Parkinsonian symptoms

Symptoms similar to those found in Parkinson's disease. Patients with schizophrenia who take conventional antipsychotic medications may display one or more of these symptoms

Detoxification

Systematic and medically supervised withdrawal from a drug

Observer bias

Systematic errors in observation that occur because of an observer's expectations

Critical thinking

Systematically evaluating information to reach reasonable conclusions

Chaotic systems

Systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions. Although their future behavior is determined by their initial conditions, approximate determinations of these initial conditions cannot be used to approximate the future condition

Mnemonics

Techniques for improving memory, especially by making connections between new material and information already in long-term memory

Subjective tests

Tests in which individuals are given an ambiguous figure or an open-ended situation and asked to describe what they see or finish a story

Objective tests

Tests that can be scored easily by machine, such as multiple-choice tests and selective response tests

Pituitary gland

The "master gland" of the body's hormone-producing system, which releases hormones that direct the functions of many other glands in the body

Cephalocaudal rule

The "top-to-bottom" rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet

Libido

The Freudian concept of psychic energy that drives individuals to experience sensual pleasure

Analysis of transference

The Freudian technique of analyzing and interpreting the patient's relationship with the therapist, based on the assumption that this relationship mirrors unresolved conflicts in the patient's past

Closure

The Gestalt principle that identifies the tendency to fill in gaps in figures and to see incomplete figures as complete

Law of continuity

The Gestalt principle that we prefer perceptions of connected and continuous figures to disjointed and disconnected ones

Law of proximity

The Gestalt principle that we tend to group similar objects together in our perceptions

Law of common fate

The Gestalt principle that we tend to group similar objects together that share a common motion or destination

Laws of perceptual grouping

The Gestalt principles of similarity, proximity, continuity, and common fate. These "laws" suggest how our brains prefer to group stimulus elements together to form a percept (Gestalt)

Introversion

The Jungian dimension that focuses on inner experiences-one's own thoughts and feelings-making the introvert less outgoing and sociable than the extravert; a personality descriptor indicating the quiet and reserved nature of some individuals

Extraversion

The Jungian personality dimension involving turning one's attention outward, toward others; a personality descriptor indicating the "outgoing" nature of some individuals

Social influence

The ability to control another person's behavior

Covert attention

The ability to direct attention without overt alterations or changes in sensory receptors---for example, attending to a conversation without turning the eyes and head toward the speakers

Intelligence

The ability to direct one's thinking, adapt to one's circumstances, and learn from one's experiences

Mental representation

The ability to form internal images of objects and events

Affective flexibility

The ability to process the relevance of various emotional stimuli depending on one's current goals and motivation

Fluid intelligence

The ability to see abstract relationships and draw logical inferences

Memory

The ability to store and retrieve information over time

Emotional intelligence

The ability to understand and control emotional responses

Action Potential

The active or regenerative electrical signal that is required for synaptic communication. Action potentials are propagated along the axon and result in the reslease of neurotransmitter from the terminal buttons

Cerebral specialization

The adaptation of the activity in a particular brain region to subserve a given cognitive function or behavior

Androstenedione

The adrenal androgen that triggers the growth of pubic and axillary hair in human females

Social support

The aid gained through interacting with others

Aggregation

The alignment of cells within different areas of the embryo during development to form various structures

Reaction time

The amount of time taken to respond to a specific stimulus

Structuralism

The analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind

Archetypes

The ancient memory images in the collective unconscious. Archetypes appear and reappear in art, literature, and folktales around the world

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

The anterior pituitary hormone that triggers the release of gonadal and adrenal hormones from the adrenal cortices

Positive punishment

The application of an aversive stimulus after a response

Statistical analysis

The application of principles of probability to the findings of a study in order to learn how likely it is that the findings have occurred by chance

Fundamental attribution error (FAE)

The assumption that another person's behavior, especially clumsy, inappropriate, or otherwise undesirable behavior, is the result of a flaw in the personality, rather than in the situation; the tendency to emphasize internal causes and ignore external pressures. The FAE is more common in individualistic cultures than in collective cultures

Secure attachment

The attachment style for a majority of infants; the infant is confident enough to play in an unfamiliar environment as long as the caregiver is present and is readily comforted by the caregiver during times of distress

Insecure attachment

The attachment style for a minority of infants; the infant may exhibit insecure attachment through various behaviors, such as avoiding contact with the caregiver, or by alternating between approach and avoidance behaviors

Mental control

The attempt to change conscious states of mind

Mental age

The average age at which normal individuals achieve a particular score

Corpus callosum

The band of nerve cells that connects the two cerebral hemispheres

Demonology

The belief that abnormal behavior results from supernatural causes such as evil spirits

Self-efficacy

The belief that one can master and perform needed behaviors whenever necessary

Delusions of control

The belief that one's impulses, feelings, thoughts, or actions are being controlled by other people

Aggregate field theory

The belief that the whole brain participates in behavior

Delusions of reference

The beliefs that attach special and personal meaning to the actions of others or to various events and objects

Delusions of grandeur

The beliefs that one is a great inventor, historical figure, or other specially empowered person

Delusions of persecution

The beliefs that one is being plotted or discriminated against, spied on, slandered, threatened, attacked, or deliberately victimized

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

The biological system responsible for the stress response

Puberty

The bodily changes associated with sexual maturity

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

The body system that regulates heart rate, breathing, and glandular secretions and may become activated during emotional arousal, initiating a "fight-or-flight" behavioral response to a stimulus. It has two subdivisions, the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches

Central nervous system

The brain and the spinal cord

Behavioral approach system (BAS)

The brain system involved in the pursuit of incentives or rewards

Behavioral inhibition system (BIS)

The brain system that is sensitive to punishment and therefore inhibits behavior that might lead to danger or pain

Auditory nerve

The branch of cranial nerve VIII that carries auditory signals from the hair cells in the basilar membrane

Conformity

The tendency for people to adopt behaviors, attitudes, and opinions of other members of a group

Forensic psychology

The branch of psychology concerned with interactions between psychological practice and research and the judicial system. Also related to the field of forensic psychiatry

Cognitive psychology

The branch of psychology that studies how the mind internally represents the external world and performs the mental computations required for all aspects of thinking. Cognitive psychologists study the vast set of mental operations associated with such things as perception, attention, memory, language, and problem solving

Optic nerve

The bundle of neurons that carries visual information from the retina to the brain

Memory bias

The changing of memories over time so that they become consistent with current beliefs or attitudes

Internal validity

The characteristic of an experiment that establishes the causal relationship between variables

Gender roles

The characteristics associated with males and females because of cultural influences or learning

Ethyl alcohol

The chemical compound in all alcoholic beverages that is rapidly absorbed into the blood and immediately begins to affect the person's functioning

Aromatization

The chemical process by which testosterone is converted to estradiol

Anxiety disorder

The class of mental disorder in which anxiety is the predominant feature

Androgens

The class of steroid hormones that includes testosterone

Rational choice theory

The classical view that we make decisions by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome, and then multiplying the two

International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

The classification system for medical and mental disorders that is used by the World Health Organization

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

The classification system for mental disorders developed by the American Psychiatric Association

Comorbidity

The co-occurrence of two or more disorders in a single individual

Temporal code

The cochlea registers low frequencies via the firing rate of action potentials entering the auditory nerve

Declarative memory

The cognitive information retrieved from explicit memory; knowledge that can be declared

Iris

The colored muscular circle on the surface of the eye; it changes shape to let in more or less light

Social context

The combination of (a) people, (b) the activities and interactions among people, (c) the setting in which the behavior occurs, and (d) the expectations and social norms governing behavior in that setting

Anosognosia

The common failure of neuropsychological patients to recognize their own symptoms

Self-consistency bias

The commonly held idea that we are more consistent in our attitudes, opinions, and beliefs than we actually are

Population

The complete collection of participants who might possibly be measured

Premack principle

The concept, developed by David Premack, that a more-preferred activity can be used to reinforce a less-preferred activity

Medical model

The conceptualization of psychological disorders as diseases that, like physical diseases, have biological causes, defined symptoms, and possible cures

Thought suppression

The conscious avoidance of a thought

Ego

The conscious, rational part of the personality charged with keeping peace between the superego and id

Reinforcement

The consequences of a behavior that determine whether it will be more likely that the behavior will occur again

Acoustic encoding

The conversion of information, especially semantic information, to sound patterns in working memory

Adrenal medulla

The core of each adrenal gland, which releases epinephrine and norepinephrine in response to stressors

Cingulate cortex

The cortes of the cingulate gyri, which are located on the medial surfaces of the frontal lobes, just superior to the corpus callosum

Occipital lobes

The cortical regions at the back of the brain, housing the visual cortex

Cannon-Bard theory

The counterproposal that an emotional feeling and an internal physiological response occur at the same time: one is not the cause of the other. Both were believed to be the result of cognitive appraisal of the situation

Central sulcus

The deep fold or fissure between the frontal and parietal cortex that separates the primary motor cortex from the primary somatosensory cortex

Anterograde degeneration

The degeneration of the distal segment of a cut axon

External validity

The degree to which the findings of an experiment can be generalized outside the laboratory

Concurrent validity

The degree to which the measures gathered from one assessment tool agree with the meausres gathered from other assessment techniques

Androgenic insensitivity syndrome

The developmental disorder of genetic males in which a mutation to the androgen receptor gene renders the androgen receptor defective and causes the development of a female body

Resting potential

The difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron's cell membrane

Self-fulfilling prophecy

The tendency for people to cause what they expect to see

Before-and-after design

The experimental design used to demonstrate contingent drug tolerance; the experimental group receives the drug before each of a series of behavioral tests and the control group receives the drug after each test

Levels-of-processing theory

The explanation for the fact that information that is more thoroughly connected to meaningful items in long-term memory (more "deeply" processed) will be remembered better

Stimulus generalization

The extension of a learned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus

Accuracy

The extent to which an experimental measure is free from error

Self-esteem

The extent to which an individual likes, values, and accepts the self

Ciliary muscles

The eye muscles that control the shape of the lenses

Nonverbal behavior

The facial expressions, gestures, mannerisms, and movements by which one communicates with others

Third-variable problem

The fact that a causal relationship between two variables cannot be inferred from the naturally occurring correlation between them because of the ever-present possibility of third-variable correlation

Coolidge effect

The fact that a copulating male who becomes incapable of continuing to copulate with one sex partner can often recommence copulating with a new sex partner

Fast mapping

The fact that children can map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure

Intermittent-reinforcement effect

The fact that operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent-reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement

Third-variable correlation

The fact that two variables are correlated only because each is causally related to a third variable

Bystander intervention effect

The failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need

Posthypnotic amnesia

The failure to retrieve memories following hypnotic suggestions to forget

Performance anxiety

The fear of performing inadequately and a related tension experienced during sex

Fusion

The final merging of two or more subpersonalities in multiple personality disorder

Genital stage

The final psychosexual stage, a time for the coming together of the mature adult personality with a capacity to love, work, and relate to others in a mutually satisfying and reciprocal manner

Oral stage

The first psychosexual stage, in which experience centers on the pleasures and frustrations associated with the mouth, sucking, and being fed

Brain wave

The fluctuations of electrical potential that are produced by neurons in the brain

Cohesiveness

The force that pulls group members together and keeps them as a unit

Myelination

The formation of a fatty sheath around the axons of neurons

Cerebral ventricles

The four CSF-filled internal chambers of the brain: the two lateral ventricles, the third ventricle, and the fourth ventricle

Sexual response cycle

The four-stage sequence of arousal, plateau, orgasm, and resolution occurring in both men and women

Resolution phase

The fourth phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by relaxation and a decline in arousal follwoing orgasm

Latency stage

The fourth psychosexual stage, in which the primary focus is on the further development of intellectual, creative, interpersonal, and athletic skills

Prefrontal cortex

The frontmost portion of the frontal lobes, especially prominent in humans; important for attention, working memory, decision making, appropriate social behavior, and personality

Columnar organization

The functional organization of the neocortex in vertical columns; the cells in each column form a mini-circuit that performs a single function

Problem of other minds

The fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others

Synaptic cleft

The gap between the axon of a "sending" neuron and the dendrites of a "receiving" neuron; it contains extracellular fluid

Rosenthal effect

The general finding that the results of any experiement often conform to the expectations of the experimenter

Trait anxiety

The general level of anxiety that a person brings to the various events in their life

Procedural memory

The gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice or "knowing how" to do things

Acquisition

The gradual formation of an association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli

Evolution

The gradual process of biological change that occurs in a species as it adapts to its environment

Partial reinforcement extinction effect

The greater persistence of behavior under partial reinforcement than under continuous reinforcement

Depressive disorders

The group of disorders marked by unipolar depression

Control group

The group of people who are not treated in the particular way that the experimental group is treated in an experiment

In-group

The group with which an individual identifies

Collateral sprouting

The growth of axon branches from mature neurons, usually to postsynaptic sites abandoned by adjacent axons that have degenerated

Helplessness theory

The idea that individuals who are prone to depression are automatically attribute negative experiences to causes that are internal (i.e., their own fault), stable (i.e., unlikely to change), and global (i.e., widespread)

Transfer-appropriate processing

The idea that memory is likely to transfer from one situation to another when the encoding context of the situations match

Buffering hypothesis

The idea that other people can provide direct emotional support in helping individuals cope with stressful events

Preparedness theory

The idea that people are instinctively predisposed toward certain fears

Cognitive reserve

The idea that people with greater mental capacity can sustain more damage to the brain before exhibiting symptoms

Dopamine hypothesis

The idea that schizophrenia involves an excess of dopamine activity

Computer metaphor

The idea that the brain is an information-processing organ that operates in some ways, like a computer

Place code

The idea that the cochlea encodes different frequencies at different locations along the basilar membrane

Antibody-mediated immunity

The immune reaction by which B cells destroy invading microorganisms

Cell-mediated immunity

The immune reaction by which T-cells destroy invading microorganisms

TOT phenomenon

The inability to recall a word, while knowing that it is in memory. People often describe this frustrating experience as having the word "on the tip of the tongue"

Visual-form agnosia

The inability to recognize objects by sight

Infantile amnesia

The inability to remember events from early childhood

Retrograde amnesia

The inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of injury or operation

Anosmia

The inability to smell

Ageusia

The inability to taste

Irreversibility

The inability, in the preoperational child, to think through a series of events or mental operations and then mentally reverse the steps

Basic irrational assumptions

The inaccurate and inappropriate beliefs held by people with various psychological problems, according to Albert Ellis

Discrimination

The inappropriate and unjustified treatment of people as a result of prejudice

Absentmindedness

The inattentive or shallow encoding of events

Appetizer effect

The increase in hunger that is produced by the consumption of small amounts of palatable food

Implicit memory

The influence of past experiences on later behavior, even without an effort to remember them or an awareness of the recollection

Rap group

The initial term for group therapy sessions among veterans, in which members meet to talk about and explore problems in an atmosphere of mutual support

Contrast enhancement

The intensification of the perception of edges

Persistence

The intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget

Mind/body problem

The issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body

Synapse

The junction or region between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another

Weber's law

The just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity

Object permanence

The knowledge that objects exist independently of one's own actions or awareness

Cerebral cortex

The layered sheet of neurons that overlies the forebrain. The cerebral cortex consists of neuronal subdivisions (areas) interconnected with other cortical areas, subcortical structures, and the cerebellum and spinal cortex.

Marijuana

The leaves and buds of the hemp plant

Right to refuse treatment

The legal right of patients to refuse certain forms of treatment

Right to treatment

The legal right of patients, particularly those who are involuntarily committed, to receive adequate treatment

Nature-nurture issue

The long-standing discussion over the relative importance of nature (heredity) and nurture (environment) in their influence on behavior and mental processes

Fechner's Law

The magnitude of a stimulus can be estimated by the formula S=k log R, where S=sensation, R=stimulus, and k=a constant that differs for each sensory modality (sight, touch, temperature, etc.)

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)

The main active ingredient of cannabis

Gonads

The main endocrine glands involved in sexual behavior: in males, the testes; in females, the ovaries

Deep structure

The meaning of a sentence

Percept

The meaningful product of perception-often an image that has been associated with concepts, memories of events, emotions, and motives

Arachnoid membrane

The meninx that is located between the dura mater and the pia mater and has the appearance of a gauze like spiderweb

Access consciousness

The mental experiences of which we are aware and have the ability to report on without the capacity to report on how the content was built up by all the neurons, neurotransmitters, and so forth, in the nervous system

Alpha motor neurons

The neurons that terminate on muscle fibers, causing contractions that produce movements. Alpha motor neurons originate in the spinal cord and exit through the ventral root of the cord

Acetylcholine (ACh)

The neurotransmitter responsible for motor control at the junction between nerves and muscles; also involved in mental processes such as learning, memory, sleeping, and dreaming

DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition)

The newest addition of the DSM, published in 2013

Child abuse

The nonaccidental use of excessive physical or psychological force by an adult on a child, often aimed at hurting or destroying the child

Hedonic principle

The notion that all people are motivated to experience pleasure and avoid pain

Similarity principle

The notion that people are attracted to those who are most similar to themselves

Principle of proximity

The notion that people at work will make more friends among those who are nearby-with whom they have the most contact

Instinct theory

The now-outmoded view that certain behaviors are completely determined by innate factors. The instinct theory was flawed because it overlooked the effects of learning and because it employed instincts merely as labels, rather than as explanations for behavior

Frequency

The number of cycles completed by a wave in a given amount of time, usually a second

Incidence

The number of new cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time

Chronological age (CA)

The number of years since an individual's birth

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)

The occurrence of two or more distinct identities in the same individual

Broca's aphasia

The oldest and perhaps best-studied form of aphasia, characterized by speech difficulties in the absence of severe comprehension problems. However, Broca's aphasics may also suffer from problems in fully comprehending grammatically complex sentences.

Placenta

The organ interface between the embryo or fetus and the mother. The placenta separates the bloodstreams, but it allows the exchange of nutrients and waste products

Taste buds

The organ of taste transduction

Perception

The organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation

Adrenal cortex

The outer layer of the adrenal glands, which relases glucocorticoids in response to stressors, as well as steroid hormones in small amounts

Soma

The part of a cell (such as a neuron) containing the nucleus, which includes the chromosomes. Also called the cell body

Figure

The part of a pattern that commands attention. The figure stands out against the ground

Ground

The part of a pattern that does not command attention; the background

Id

The part of the mind containing the drives present at birth; it is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

The part of the nervous system that connects the central nervous system to the body's organs and muscles

Cell body

The part of the neuron that coordinates information-processing tasks and keeps the cell alive. Contains the nucleus and other cellular apparatus responsible for manufacturing the proteins and enzymes that sustain cell functioning

Anterior pituitary

The part of the pituitary that releases tropic hormones

Sample

The partial collection of people drawn from a population

Trichromatic color representation

The pattern of responding across the three types of cones that provides a unique code for each color

Social distance

The perceived difference of similarity between oneself and another person

Apparent Motion

The perception of movement as a result of alternating signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations

Synesthesia

The perceptual experience of one sense that is evoked by another sense

Prodromal phase

The period during which the symptoms of schizophrenia are not yet prominent, but the person has begun to deteriorate from previous levels of functioning

Adolescence

The period of development that begins with the onset of sexual maturity (about 11 to 14 years of age) and lasts until adulthood (about 18 to 21 years of age)

Fetal stage

The period of prenatal development that lasts from the ninth week until birth

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

The period of the sleep cycle during which the eyes move quickly back and forth, indicating that the person is dreaming

Premorbid

The period prior to the onset of a disorder

Perseveration

The persistent repetition of words and statements

Proband

The person who is the focus of a genetic study

Continuity view

The perspective that development is gradual and continuous-as opposed to the discontinuous (stage) view

Discontinuity view

The perspective that development proceeds in an uneven (discontinuous) fashion-as opposed to the continuity view

Desire phase

The phase of the sexual response cycle consisting of an urge to have sex, sexual fantasies, and sexual attraction

Orgasm phase

The phase of the sexual response cycle during which a person's sexual pleasure peaks and sexual tension is released as muscles in the pelvic region contract rhythmically

Excitement phase

The phase of the sexual response cycle marked by changes in the pelvic region, general physical arousal, and increases in heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure, and rate of breathing

Cartesian dualism

The philosophical position of Rene Descartes, who argued that the universe is composed of two elements; physical matter and the human mind

Philosophical empiricism

The philosophical view that all knowledge is acquired through experience

Nativism

The philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn

Stress

The physical and psychological response to external or internal stressors

Engram

The physical changes in the brain associated with a memory. It is also known as the memory trace.

Amplitude

The physical strength of a wave. This is usually measured from peak (top) to valley (bottom) on a graph of the wave

Mainstreaming

The placement of children with intellectual disability in regular school classes. Also known as inclusion

High

The pleasant feeling of relaxation and euphoria that follows the rush from certain recreational drugs

Bregma

The point on the surface of the skull where two of the major sutures intersect, commonly used as a reference point in stereotaxic surgery of rodents

Cerebrum

The portion of the brain that sits on the brainstem; in general, it plays a role in complex adaptive processes (e.g., learning, perception, and motivation)

Meditation

The practice of intentional contemplation

Exorcism

The practice, common in early societies, of treating abnormality by coaxing evil spirits to leave the person's body

Matching hypothesis

The prediction that most people will find friends and mates that are perceived to be about their same level of attractiveness

Mortality-salience hypothesis

The prediction that people who are reminded of their own mortality will work to reinforce their cultural worldviews

Corticosterone

The predominant glucocorticoid in humans

Coexistence

The presence of more than one neurotransmitter in the same neuron

Sex offender statute

The presumption by some state legislatures that people who are repeatedly found guilty of certain sex crimes have a mental disorder and should be categorized as "mentally disordered sex offenders." Such laws have been changed or abolished by many states over the past two decades

Glutamate

The primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system

Estrogen

The primary female sex hormone

Cochlea

The primary organ of hearing; a coiled tube in the inner ear, where sound waves are transduced into neural messages

Testosterone

The principal male sex hormone

Parens patriae

The principle by which the state can make decisions to promote the individual's best interests and protect them from self-harm or neglect

Law of effect

The principle that behaviors that are followed by a "satisfying state of affairs" tend to be repeated and those that produce an "unpleasant state of affairs" are less likely to be repeated

Confidentiality

The principle that certain professionals will not divulge the information they obtain from a client

Normalization

The principle that institutions and community residences should provide people with intellectual disability types of living conditions and opportunities that are similar to those enjoyed by the rest of society

Duty to protect

The principle that therapists must break confidentiality in order to protect a person who may be the intended victim of a client

Health maintenance

The principle that young adults should act to promote their physical and mental health to best prepare for the aging process. Also called wellness.

All-or-none principle

The principle whereby a neuron fires with the same potency each time, although frequency can vary; a neuron either fires or not-it cannot partially fire

Heuristic persuasion

The process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to habit or emotion

Systematic persuasion

The process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to reason

Kin selection

The process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate with their relatives

Consolidation

The process by which memory representations become stronger over time. Consolidation is believed to include changes in the brain system participating in the storage of information

Stereotyping

The process by which people draw inferences about others based on their knowledge of the categories to which others belong

Consciousness

The process by which the brain creates a model of internal and external experience

Accommodation

The process by which the eye maintains a clear image on the retina

Maturation

The process by which the genetic program manifests itself over time

In-group favoritism

The tendency for people to evaluate favorably and privilege members of the in-group more than members of the out-group

Anal stage

The second psychosexual stage, which is dominated by the pleasures and frustrations associated with the anus, retention and expulsion of feces and urine, and toilet training

Kinesthetic sense

The sense of body position and movement of body parts relative to each other

Olfaction

The sense of smell

Gustation

The sense of taste-from the same root word as "gusto"-also called the gustatory sense

Somatoform disorders

The set of psychological disorders in which the person displays physical symptoms not fully explained by a general medical condition

Cocontraction

The simultaneous contraction of antagonistic muscles

Central canal

The small CSF-filled channel that runs the length of the spinal cord

Pupil

The small opening in the eye; it lets in light waves

Difference threshold

The smallest amount by which a stimulus can be changed and the difference be detected half the time

Morphemes

The smallest meaningful units of language

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than random noise

Adulthood

The stage of development that begins around 18 to 21 years of age and ends at death

Formal operational stage

The stage of development that begins around age 11 and lasts through adulthood, in which children can solve nonphysical problems

Childhood

The stage of development that begins at about 18 to 24 months and lasts until adolescence

Peoperational stage

The stage of development that begins at about 2 years and ends at about 6 years, in which children have a preliminary understanding of the physical world

Infancy

The stage of development that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months

Human sexual response cycle

The stages of physiological arousal during sexual activity

Comparative approach

The study of biological processes by comparing different species---usually from the evolutionary perspective

Physiology

The study of biological processes, especially in the human body

Developmental psychology

The study of changes, over the life span, in physiology, cognition, emotion, and social behavior

Psychopharmacology

The study of drug effects on psychological states and symptoms

Cultural psychology

The study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members

Social psychology

The study of the causes and consequences of sociality

Functionalism

The study of the purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment

Clinical psychology

The study, assessment, treatment, and prevention of abnormal behavior

Health psychology

The subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illnesses and the maintenance of health

Introspection

The subjective observation of one's own experiences

Primary personality

The subpersonality that appears more often than others in individuals with dissociative identity disorder

Dissociative fugue

The sudden loss of memory for one's personal history, accompanied by an abrupt departure from home and the assumption of a new identity

Dissociative amnesia

The sudden loss of memory for significant personal information

Cheese effect

The surges in blood pressure that occur when individuals taking MAO inhibitors consume tyramine-rich foods, such as cheese

Protection and advocacy system

The system by which lawyers and advocates who work for patients may investigate the patients' treatment and protect their rights

Multiaxial system

The system used in the DSM-IV-TR; it calls for assessment along five axes that describe important mental health factors

Autoradiography

The technique of photographically developing brain slices that have been exposed to a radioactively labeled substance such as 2-DG so that regions of high uptake are visible

Emergency commitment

The temporary commitment to a mental hospital of a patient who is behaving in a bizarre or violent way

Cryogenic blockade

The temporary elimination of neural activity in an area of the brain by cooling the area with a cryophobe

Reliability

The tendency for a measure to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing

Homeostasis

The tendency for a system to take action to keep itself in a certain state

Diffusion of responsibility

The tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way

State-dependent retrieval

The tendency for information to be better recalled when the person is in the same state during encoding and retrieval

Drug tolerance

The tendency for larger doses of a drug to be required over time to achieve the same effect

Mere exposure effect

The tendency for liking to increase with the frequency of exposure

Component theory

The theory that the relative amount of activity produced in three different classes of cones by light determines its perceived color (also called trichromatic theory)

Concrete operational stage

The third of Piaget's stages, when a child understands conservation but still is incapable of abstract thought

Phallic stage

The third psychosexual stage, during which experience is dominated by the pleasure, conflict, and frustration associated with the phallic-genital region as well as powerful incestuous feelings of love, hate, jealousy, and conflict

Cognitive triad

The three forms of negative thinking that the theorist Aaron Beck theorizes lead people to feel depressed. The triad consists of a negative view of one's experiences, oneself, and the future

Catecholamines

The three monoamine neurotransmitters that are synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine: dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine

Refractory period

The time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated

Visible spectrum

The tiny part of the electromagnetic spectrum to which our eyes are sensitive. The visible spectrum of other creatures may be slightly different from our own

Prozac

The trade name for fluoxetine, a second-generation antidepressant

Valium

The trade name of diazepam, an antianxiety drug

Big Five

The traits, of the five-factor model: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion

Alleles

The two genes that control the same trait

Subpersonalities

The two or more distinct personalities found in individuals suffering with dissociative identity disorder. Also known as alternate personalities

Chemical senses

The two senses that depend on environmental molecules for stimulation: taste and smell

Conservation

The understanding that the physical properties of an object or substance do not change when appearances change but nothing is added or taken away

Confabulation

The unintended false recollection of episodic memories

Norm of reciprocity

The unwritten rule that people should benefit those who have benefited them

Biofeedback

The use of an external monitoring device to obtain information about a bodily function and possibly gain control over that function

Torture

The use of brutal, degrading, and disorienting strategies to reduce victims to a state of utter helplessness

Emotion regulation

The use of cognitive and behavioral strategies to influence one's emotional experience

Cybertherapy

The use of computer technology, such as Skype or avatars, to provide therapy

Cyberbullying

The use of e-mail, texting, chat rooms, cell phones, or other digital devices to harass, threaten, or intimidate people

Cosmetic neurology

The use of neural intervention to improve cognition in healthy people

Behavior modification

The use of operant-conditioning techniques to eliminate unwanted behaviors and replace them with desirable ones

Drug therapy

The use of psychotropic drugs to reduce the symptoms of psychological disorders

Converging operations

The use of several research approaches to solve a single problem

Polysubstance abuse

The use of two or more substances at the same time

Terrorism

The use of violent, unpredictable acts by a small group against a larger group for political, economic, or religious goals

Range

The value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the value of the smallest measurement

Mode

The value of the most frequently observed measurement

Median

The value that is "in the middle"-i.e., greater than or equal to half the measurements

Independent variable

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment

Situation anxiety

The various levels of anxiety produced in a person by different situations. Also called state anxiety

Somatogenic perspective

The view that abnormal psychological functioning has physical causes

Dynamic systems theory

The view that development is a self-organizing process, where new forms of behavior emerge through consistent interactions between a biological being and his or her cultural and environmental contexts

Multicultural perspective

The view that each culture within a larger society has a particular set of values and beliefs, as well as special external pressures, that help account for the behavior and functioning of its members. Also called culturally diverse persepctive

Situationism

The view that environmental conditions influence people's behavior as much or more than their personal dispositions do

Nativist theory

The view that language development is best explained as an innate, biological capacity

Learning-based inference

The view that perception is primarily shaped by learning (or experience), rather than by innate factors

Psychogenic perspective

The view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning are psychological

Central executive

Theoretical construct in working memory; performs the mental work of (1) controlling slave subsystems that mediate the storage process and (2) forming strategies for using the information the subsystems contain

Schemas

Theories about or models of the way the world works

Adaptation theories of sleep

Theories of sleep based on the premise that sleep evolved to protect organisms from predation and accidents and to conserve their energy, rather than to fulfill some particular physiological need

Interactionists

Theorists who believe that behavior is determined jointly by situations and underlying dispositions

Approach-withdrawal model

Theory based on basic and rudimentary actions that organisms take in responding adaptively to the environment. Proposes that the left frontal region houses a system involved in approach behaviors and associated with (mostly positive) emotions that accompany approach behaviors; the right frontal region is posited to house a system involved in withdrawal behaviors and associated with (mostly negative) emotions that accompany withdrawal behaviors

Crowding hypothesis

Theory regarding the phenomenon of later-emerging deficits following brain damage early in life; posits that the intact brain takes on too many functions (by picking up the load of the damaged areas) to allow normal or optimal development of all functions

Activating-orienting model

Theory suggesting that an attentional set or bias can contribute to perceptual assymetries. This model hypothesizes that engaging in a particular type of process causes greater activation in the hemisphere best suited to the task. The increased activity is thought to result in an attentional bias to the side of space contralateral to the more active hemisphere; thus, perceptual information on that side of space is more salient, allowing it to become processed better

Psychological therapies

Therapies based on psychological principles (rather than the biomedical approach); often called psychotherapy

Neo-Freudian psychodynamic therapies

Therapies for mental disorder that were developed by psychodynamic theorists who embraced some of Freud's ideas but disagreed with others

Cognitive-behavioral therapies

Therapy approaches that seek to help clients change both counterproductive behaviors and dysfunctional ways of thinking

Compensatory rehabilitation

Therapy for brain-damaged patients that aims to provide alternative strategies to achieve a particular goal

Stage of exhaustion

Third stage of the GAS, during which the body depletes its resources to cope with a stressor

Demand characteristics

Those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think they should

Shared environment

Those environmental factors that are experienced by all relevant members of a household

Nonshared environment

Those environmental factors that are not experienced by all relevant members of a household

Cognitive behavior

Thoughts and beliefs, many of which remain private

Chromosome

Tightly coiled threadlike structure along which the genes are organized, like beads on a necklace. Chromosomes consist primarily of DNA

Sensitive periods

Time periods when specific skills develop most easily

Conditioned drug tolerance

Tolerance effects that are maximally expressed only when a drug is administered in the situation in which it has previously been administered

Cross-tolerance

Tolerance that a person develops for a substance as a result of regularly using another substance similar to it.

Humanistic therapies

Treatment techniques based on the assumption that people have a tendency for positive growth and self-actualization, which may be blocked by an unhealthy environment that can include negative self-evaluation and criticism of others

Identical twins aka monozygotic twins

Twins who develop from the splitting of a single egg that was fertilized by a single sperm

Fraternal twins aka dizygotic twins

Twins who develop from two different eggs that were fertilized by two different sperm

Neurofibrillary tangles

Twisted protein fibers that form within brain cells as people age. People with Alzheimer's disease have an excessive number of such tangles

Cingulate motor areas

Two small areas of secondary motor cortex located on the medial surfaces of the frontal lobes

Extrapyramidal effects

Unwanted movements, such as severe shaking, bizarre looking grimaces, twisting of the body, and extreme restlessness, sometimes produced by conventional antipsychotic drugs

Dichotomous thinking

Viewing problems and solutions in rigid "either/or" terms

Rational coping

facing a stressor and working to overcome it

Incest

sexual relations between close relatives

Prenatal period

the development period before birth

Biological model

the theoretical perspective that points to biological processes as the key to human behavior