The Psychology Book (108 page)

GLOSSARY 341

Desensitize
A process of

Extinction
i)
The elimination of

General intelligence (“g”)
As

weakening a strong response to

something, especially a species.

defined by Charles Spearman, a

an event or thing by repeated

ii)
The weakening of a strength of

general factor of intelligence or

exposure to that stimulus.

response in conditioned learning,

ability determined through the

due to a lack of reinforcement.

correlation of scores on various

Depression
A mood disorder

mental tests; Spearman saw it as a

characterized by feelings of

False memory
A recovered

measurement of mental energy, but

hopelessness and low self worth,

memory or pseudomemory of an

others view it as an individual’s

accompanied by apathy and loss

event that did not take place. It is

abstract reasoning ability.

of pleasure. In extreme cases,

thought to arise through suggestion.

depression may impair normal

Gestalt psychology
A holistic

functioning and can lead to

Family therapy
A general term

psychological approach that

thoughts of suicide.

denoting therapies that treat a

emphasizes the role of the

whole family, rather than one

organized “whole,” as opposed

Determinism
The doctrine that

person, on the assumption that

to its parts, in mental processes

all events, acts, and choices are

problems lie in the interrelationships

such as perception.

determined by past events or

within the family system.

previously existing causes.

Humanistic psychology
A

Field theory
Kurt Lewin’s model

psychological approach that

Dichotic listening
Listening

of human behavior, which uses the

emphasizes the importance of

to two different messages that

concept of force fields to explain the

free will and
self-actualization
in

are presented simultaneously,

“life space” or field of social

determining good mental health.

one to each ear.

influences around an individual.

Hypnosis
The induction of a

Ego
A psychoanalytic term for

Fluid intelligence
The ability to

temporary, trancelike state of

one of three elements of the

deal with totally new problems. It

heightened suggestibility.

human persona (see also
id
,

is said to decrease with age.

superego
); the ego is the rational

Hypothesis
A prediction or

aspect of personality that is in

Free association
A technique

statement tested for verification or

touch with the outer world and its

used in psychotherapy, in which

refutation by experimentation.

requirements, and is responsible

the patient says the first thing

for controlling the instincts.

that comes to mind after any

Id
A psychoanalytic term for one of

given word.

three elements of the human persona

Empiricism
A philosophical

(see also
ego
,
superego
); the id is

and psychological approach that

Freudian slip
An act or word that

the source of psychic energy and is

assigns the attribution of all

is close but different to the one

allied with the instincts.

knowledge to experience.

consciously intended, and reflects

unconscious motives or anxieties.

Individual differences
All the

Encoding
The processing of

psychological characteristics that

sensory information into memory.

Functionalism
A psychological

are susceptible to variation

approach that is concerned with

between individuals, such as

Ethology
The scientific study

investigating the adaptive

personality or intelligence.

of animal behavior under

functions of the mind in relation

natural conditions.

to its environment.

Inferiority complex
A condition,

suggested by Adlerian (after founder

Extraversion
A personality type

Fundamental attribution error

Alfred Adler) psychoanalysis that

that focuses energy primarily

The tendency to explain other

is said to develop when a person is

toward the external world

people’s behavior by reference to

unable to deal with real or imagined

and other people (see also

personality traits rather than

feelings of inferiority and becomes

introversion
).

external situational factors.

either belligerent or withdrawn.

342 GLOSSARY

Imprinting
In ethology, an innate

Law of Effect
Proposed by

Oedipus complex
According

system of rapid learning that takes

Edward Thorndike, this is the

to psychoanalytic theory, a

place in animals immediately

principle that, where several

developmental state that arises

subsequent to birth; it commonly

responses to an event are possible,

around the age of five, during

involves developing an attachment

those that lead to reward tend to

which a boy experiences

to a specific individual or object.

become more strongly associated

unconscious desire for his

with the event, while those that

mother and the wish to replace

Innate
Inborn or present in an

lead to punishment become more

or destroy his father.

organism from birth; it may or may

weakly associated.

not be genetically inherited.

Operant conditioning
A form of

Materialism
The doctrine that

conditioning in which the outcome

Instincts
Natural drives or

views only the physical realm as real,

depends upon an animal operating

propensities. In psychoanalysis,

and sees mental phenomena as

upon its environment, such as

these are the dynamic forces that

explicable through physical terms.

pressing a lever to obtain food.

motivate personality and behavior.

Mental age
The age at which

Personality
A person’s stable and

Instrumental conditioning
A

children of average ability can

enduring mental and behavioral

form of conditioning in which the

perform particular tasks, as

traits and characteristics, which

animal is instrumental in the

indicated by levels of performances

incline him or her to behave in a

outcome of events; an example of

in standardized tests.

relatively consistent way over time.

this type of conditioning would be

an animal’s negotiation of a maze.

Mind-body problem
The problem

Phenomenology
An approach

of defining the interaction of mental

to knowledge based on immediate

Intelligence quotient (IQ)
An

and physical events, first raised by

experience as it occurs, without

index of intelligence that allows

René Descartes.

any attempt to categorize it

individuals to be allocated

through preconceptions,

comparative levels of intelligence.

Negative reinforcement
In

assumptions, or interpretations.

First suggested by William Stern,

instrumental or
operant

it is calculated by dividing an

conditioning
, the strengthening

Phobia
An anxiety disorder,

individual’s mental age by their

of a response through the removal

characterized by intense and

chronological age, and then

of a negative stimulus.

usually irrational fear.

multiplying by 100.

Neuron
A type of nerve cell

Positive reinforcement
A key

Introspection
The oldest

involved in transmitting messages

concept in behaviorism, this is

psychological method; it consists

(as nerve impulses) between

the process of increasing the

of self-observation: “looking

different parts of the brain.

probability of a response by

(spection) within (intro)” one’s

immediately following the

own mind to examine and report

Neuropsychology
A subdiscipline

required response with a

on one’s own inner state.

of psychology and neurology that is

reward or positive stimulus.

concerned with the structure and

Introversion
A personality type

function of the brain, and studies

Pragmatism
The doctrine that

that focuses energy primarily

the effects of brain disorders on

sees ideas as rules for action; the

toward its own internal

behavior and cognition.

idea’s validity is measured by its

thoughts and feelings (see also

practical consequences.

extraversion
).

Nonsense syllables
Syllables

of three letters that do not form

Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud’s

Just noticeable difference

recognized words. They were first

set of theories and therapeutic

The smallest difference that can be

used experimentally by Hermann

methods, which explore the

detected by an individual between

Ebbinghaus in a study of learning

unconscious processes that

two physical stimuli.

and memory.

influence human behavior.

GLOSSARY 343

Psychophysics
The scientific

Schizophrenia
A group of severe

Trait theory
The view that

study of the relations between

mental disorders (originally known

individual differences depend

mental and physical processes.

as dementia praecox) that cause

largely on underlying character

impairment in multiple areas of

attributes (traits) that remain

Psychosexual stages
In

functioning. It is characterized by

essentially consistent across

psychoanalytic theory, the

marked disturbance of thought, flat

time and context.

developmental stages of childhood,

or inappropriate emotions, and

centering on zones of the body

distorted visions of reality.

Transference
In psychoanalysis,

through which pleasure is derived.

the tendency for a patient to

Self-actualization
The full

transfer emotional reactions from

Psychotherapy
A collective term

development of one’s potentialities

past relationships (particularly

for all therapeutic treatments that

and realization of one’s potential.

parental) onto the therapist.

use psychological rather than

According to Abraham Maslow,

physical or physiological means.