All psychology definitions

Acetylcholine

The most common neurotransmitter. Acetylcholine receptor sites are found in the hippocampus. It appears that acetylcholine plays a key role in memory consolidation from STM to LTM.

Adrenaline

Also called epinephrine, adrenaline is secreted by the adrenal glands and stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, and prepares the body for fight or flight.

Agonist

a chemical or a drug that binds to receptors in the brain and causes a reaction. Agonists can occur naturally in the body as neurotransmitters (endogenous agonists) or come from exterior sources like drugs and toxins (exogenous agonists).

Amygdala

Part of the limbic system, this part of the brain is believed to play a key role in emotion and memory. In addition, there is evidence that it plays a role in aggression, sexual orientation, trust, and alcoholism.

Antagonist

A chemical or drug that binds to receptors in the brain and prevents a neurotransmitter from having an effect on behavior. For example, scopolamine is an antagonist for acetylcholine.

Cortisol

a stress hormone that is secreted by the adrenal cortex. Responsible for the breakdown of glucose in the fight-or-flight response. Appears to be linked to hippocampal cell loss and memory dysfunction.

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate emotional responses. Dopamine deficiency results in Parkinson's Disease and people with a lower number of dopamine receptor sites may be more prone to addiction.

Excitatory function

When a neurotransmitter increases the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential.  This depends on the receptor site.  Many neurotransmitters are excitatory when they act on some receptor sites, and inhibitory when they act on others. For example, serotonin is an excitatory neurotransmitter that regulates sleep and wakefulness and is found in neurons in the pons and upper brain stem -  but it is inhibitory in mood and emotion.

Family studies

Researchers trace a phenotype over several generations in a family tree to determine the likelihood that a behavior is inherited

Fight or flight response

physiological reaction that occurs in response to perceived harm or threat to survival. It is triggered by the sympathetic nervous system activation that innervates the adrenal medulla, producing a hormonal cascade that results in the secretion of glucocorticoids. The animal is then reading for fighting or fleeing.

Hippocampus

Part of the limbic system, this part of the brain appears to play a key role in the consolidation of memory from short-term to long-term, as well as play a role in spatial navigation. There are several acetylcholine receptor sites in the hippocampus. Hippocampal cell loss plays a role in dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease.

Hormone

A chemical released by a gland directly into the bloodstream which has an effect on behavior.

Inhibitory function

When a neurotransmitter decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential.  This depends on the receptor site.  Many neurotransmitters are inhibitory when they act on some receptor sites, and excitatory when they act on others. For example, serotonin is an inhibitory neurotransmitter when it is involved in emotion and mood, but excitatory in sleep and wakefulness.

Neural pruning

Usually referred to as synaptic pruning refers to the process by which extra neurons and synaptic connections are eliminated in order to increase the efficiency of neuronal transmissions.

Neuroplasticity

the brain’s ability to alter its own structure following changes within the body or in the external environment.

Neurotransmitter

a chemical messenger that carries signals between neurons. Neurotransmitters are released from the terminal buttons at the end of an axon after the action potential has sent an electrical charge down the neuron. The neurotransmitter then crosses the synaptic gap to reach the receptor site on another neuron.

Sexual selection

natural selection arising through preference by one sex for certain characteristics in individuals of the other sex

Anchoring bias

an individual relies too heavily on an initial piece of information offered (known as the "anchor") when making decisions.

Central Executive

The part of Baddeley & Hitch's Working Memory Model responsible for the control and regulation of cognitive processes. It binds information from a number of sources into a coherent "episode", coordinates the sub-systems, shifts between tasks, and handles selective attention and inhibition.

Cognitive bias

a systematic error in thinking that impacts one's choices and judgments.

Cognitive load

The amount of information that working memory can hold at one time

Cognitive misers

the tendency of people to think and solve problems in simpler and less effortful ways rather than in more sophisticated and more effortful ways, regardless of intelligence.

Encoding

the initial learning of information by placing information into memory storage.

Episodic buffer

The component of Baddeley & Hitch's Working Memory Model dedicated to linking information across domains to form integrated units of visual, spatial, and verbal information with time sequencing (or chronological ordering), such as the memory of a story or a movie scene.

Framing effect

When people react to a particular choice in different ways depending on how it is presented.

Heuristic

a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently.

Peak-end Rule

people judge an experience largely based on how they felt at its peak (i.e., its most intense point) and at its end, rather than based on the total sum or average of every moment of the experience.

Phonological loop

The component of Baddeley & Hitch's Working Memory Model responsible for processing auditory information.

Primacy effect/recency effect

two components of the Serial Positioning Effect. The primacy effect results in a participant recalling information presented earlier in a list of information better than information presented later on. It is believed that covert rehearsal has already moved this information to LTM. The recency effect results in a participant recalling information presented at the end of a list of information better than information presented in the middle of a list. It is believed that this is because the information is still in STM and has not been displaced.

Retrieval

the ability to access information from memory when you need it.

Schema

mental representations that are used to organize our knowledge, assist recall, guide our behavior, predict likely happenings, and help us to make sense of current experiences. Schemas are cognitive structures that are derived from prior experience and knowledge. They simplify reality, setting up expectations about what is probable in relation to particular social and textual contexts.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The component of Baddeley & Hitch's Working Memory Model which holds information about what we see. It is used in the temporary storage and manipulation of spatial and visual information, such as remembering shapes and colors, or the location or speed of objects in space. It is also involved in tasks that involve planning of spatial movements, like planning one's way through a building.

Working memory

Another term for Short-Term Memory, this is the system that actively holds multiple pieces of transitory information in the mind, where they can be manipulated. Baddeley & Hitch called it working memory because they wanted to differentiate their concept from the "Memory Store Model" which made it appear that STM was simply a temporary, passive store for information.

Confederate

An actor who participates in a psychological experiment pretending to be a subject but in actuality working for the researcher

Covert observation

a type of participant observation in which the identity of the researcher, the nature of the research project, and the fact that participants are being observed are concealed from those who are being studied.

Longitudinal study

research over a period of time using observations, interviews, or psychometric testing. 

Acculturation

The process by which someone comes into contact with another culture and begins to adopt the norms and behaviors of that culture.

Acculturative stress

a reduction in the mental health and well-being of ethnic minorities that occurs during the process of adaptation to a new culture.  It is often referred to as "culture shock."

Assimilation

when an individual abandons their original culture and adopts the cultural behaviors and values of a new culture.

Confirmation bias

when people tend to seek out or remember information that supports their currently held beliefs or expectations - and ignore information that contradicts these beliefs.

Cultural norm

a set of rules based on socially or culturally shared beliefs of how an individual ought to behave to be accepted within that group.

Cultural dimension

the trends of behavior in a given culture that reflect the values of that culture.

Enculturation

the process of adopting or internalizing the schemas of your culture.

Illusory correlation

people see a relationship between two variables even when there is none.

In-group bias

favoring members of one's in-group over out-group members.

Salience

when one is highly aware of one of their membership in a social group.

Stereotype

social perception of an individual in terms of group membership or physical attributes.

Stereotype threat

when worry about conforming to a negative stereotype leads to underperformance on a test or other task by a member of the stereotyped group

Vicarious reinforcement

our tendency to repeat or imitate behaviors for which others are being rewarded.