B's in Glossary

Question 1

babbling stage

Answer 1

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

Question 2

barbiturates

Answer 2

drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement

Question 3

basal metabolic rate

Answer 3

the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure.

Question 4

basic research

Answer 4

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Question 5

basic trust

Answer 5

according to Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Question 6

behavior genetics

Answer 6

the study of relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Question 7

behavior therapy

Answer 7

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

Question 8

behaviorism

Answer 8

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.

Question 9

belief perseverance

Answer 9

clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

Question 10

binge-eating disorder

Answer 10

significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa

Question 11

binocular cues

Answer 11

depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes.

Question 12

biological perspective

Answer 12

concerned with the links between biology and behavior. includes psychologists working in neuroscience, behavior genetics, and evolutionary psychology.

Question 13

biomedical therapy

Answer 13

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s physiology

Question 14

biopsychosocial approach

Answer 14

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

Question 15

bipolar disorder

Answer 15

a mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.

Question 16

blind spot

Answer 16

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there.

Question 17

blindsight

Answer 17

a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it.

Question 18

bottom-up processing

Answer 18

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory info.

Question 19

brain stem

Answer 19

the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brain stem is responsible for automatic survival functions

Question 20

Broca’s area

Answer 20

controls language expression– an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Question 21

bulimia nervosa

Answer 21

an eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating with purging, fasting, or excessive exercise.

Question 22

bystander effect

Answer 22

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.