M Flashcards
a mood disorder in which a person, for no apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks of depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities.
major depressive disorder
a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state.
manic episode
according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent content).
manifest content
-biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
maturation
the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores.
mean
the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it.
median
the concept that diseases have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured. When applied to psychological disorders, the medical model assumes that these “mental” illnesses can be diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms and cured through therapy, which may include treatment in a psychiatric hospital.
medical model
the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing.
medulla
self replicating ideas, fashions, and innovations passed from person to person
memes
the first menstrual period
menarche
the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines
menopause
a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as welt as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.
metal age
a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score below 70 and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound.
mental retardation
a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem.
mental set
the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them.
mere exposure effect
a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies
meta analysis
the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.
middle ear
the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.
MMPI
incorporating misleading information into ones memory of an event
misinformation effect
memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
mnemonics
the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior
modeling
the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
mode
the subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes
molecular genetics
he presumption that mind and body are different aspects of the same thing
monism
distance cues, such as linear perspective and overlap, available to either eye alone.
monocular cues
psychological disorders~ characterized by emotional extremes See major depressive disorder; manic episode, and bipolar disorder
mood disorders
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.
mood-congruent memory
in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word
morpheme
a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
motivation
an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.
motor cortex
the neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands.
motor neurons
a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain.
MRI
random errors in gene replication that lead to a change in the sequence of nucleotides; the source of all genetic diversity.
mutations
a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next.
myelin sheath
