O Flashcards
Behavior in compliance with a direct command, often one issued by a person in a position of authority
- Examples include a child who cleans his or her room when told to do so by a parent and a soldier who follows the orders of a superior officer
- This has the potential to be highly destructive and ethically questionable, however, as demonstrated in the behavioral study of this
Obedience
The condition of having excess body fat resulting in overweight, typically defined in terms of weight height ratio
- Although genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors all contribute, overeating may also have psychological or physiological components as well
- The consequences of this are a matter for concern: it predisposes to heart disease, diabetes, and other serious medical conditions, and these individuals may develop emotional and psychological problems relating to body image
Obesity
The “other,” that is, any person or symbolic representation of a person that is not the self and toward whom behavior, cognitions, or affects are directed
- The term is sometimes used to refer to nonpersonal phenomena (eg; an interest might be considered to be an “object”) but the other person connotation is far more typical and central
Object
- In object relations theory, the ability of an infant to maintain an attachment which is relatively independent of gratification or frustration, based on a cognitive capacity to conceive of a mother who exists when she is out of sight and who has positive attributes when she is unsatisfying
- Thus an infant becomes attached to the mother herself rather than to her tension reducing ministrations; she comes to exist continuously for the infant and not only during instances of need satisfaction
- This investment by an infant in a specific libidinal object indicates that he or she no longer finds people to be interchangeable
Object Constancy
- Having actual existence in reality, based on observable phenomena
- Impartial or uninfluenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudices
Objective
A reflective state of self focused attention in which a person evaluates him or herself and attempts to attain correctness and consistency in beliefs and behaviors
- This involves the viewing of oneself as a separate object, acknowledging limitations and the existing disparity between the ideal self and the actual self
- This is often a necessary part of self regulation
Objective Self Awareness
A type of assessment instrument consisting of a set of factual items that have specific correct answers, such that no interpretation or personal judgement is required in scoring
- A “true or false” test is an example of this
Objective Test
A quality of a research study such that its hypotheses, choices of variables studied, measurements, techniques of control, and observations are as free from bias as possible
- Judgements and interpretations are based on external data rather than on personal factors, such as feelings, beliefs, and experiences
Objectivity
In psychoanalytic theory, the actual loss of a person who has served as a good object, which precedes introjection and is involved in separation anxiety
- In this perspective adult grief and mourning are related to this and separation anxiety in infancy and childhood, which often intensifies and complicates the grief reaction
Object Loss
Knowledge of the continued existence of objects even when they are not directly perceived
- In cognitive development, milestones that indicate the acquisition of this include reaching for and retrieving a covered object (about 8 months), retrieving an object at location B even though it was previously hidden several times at location A (the A not B task, about 12 months), and removing a series of covers to retrieve an object, even though the infant only witnessed the object being hidden under the outermost cover (invisible displacement, about 18 months)
Object Permeance
Play that involves the manipulation of items in the environment, such as banging toys together, throwing them around, or arranging them in specific configurations
- It is one of three traditionally identified basic types of play (the others being locomotor play and social play)
Object Play
Any psychoanalytically based theory that views the need to relate to objects as more central to personality organization and motivation than the vicissitudes of the instincts
- These theories developed from and in reaction to classic Freudian theories of psychodynamics
- Some theories view the personality as organized in terms of a complex world of internal object representations and their relationships with each other, for example, the approaches of Austrian born British psychoanalyst Melanie Klein (1882 - 1960) and British psychoanalyst W. Ronald D. Fairbairn (1889 - 1964)
Object Relations Theory
The careful, close examination of an object, process, or other phenomenon for the purpose of collecting data about it or drawing conclusions
Observation
The acquisition of information, skills, or behavior through watching the performance of others
Observational Learning
The scientific method in which observers are trained to watch and record behavior, events, or processes as precisely and completely as possible without personal bias or interpretation
Observational Method
A study in which the experimenter passively observes the behavior of the participants without any attempt at intervention or manipulation of the behaviors being observed
- Such studies typically involve observation of cases under naturalistic conditions rather than the random assignment of cases to experimental conditions
Observational Study
Any expectations, beliefs, or personal preferences of a researcher that unintentionally influence his or her observations during an observational study
Observer Bias
A persistent thought, idea, image, or impulse that is experienced as intrusive and inappropriate and results in marked anxiety, distress, or discomfort
- Common types include repeated thoughts about contamination, a need to have things in a particular order or sequence, repeated doubts, aggressive or horrific impulses, and sexual imagery
- These can be distinguished from excessive worries about everyday occurrences in that they are not concerned with real life problems
- The response to this is often an effort to ignore or suppress the thought or impulse or to neutralize it by a compulsion
Obsession
An anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that prompt the performance of neutralizing rituals (compulsions)
- Typical obsessions involve themes of contamination, dirt, or illness (fearing that one Will contract or transmit a disease) and doubts about the performance of certain actions (eg; an excessive preoccupation that one has neglected to turn off a home appliance)
- Common compulsive behaviors include repetitive cleaning or washing, checking, ordering, repeating, and hoarding
- The obsessions and compulsions - which are recognized by the individual as excessive or unreasonable - are time consuming (more than one hour per day), cause significant distress, or interfere with the individual’s functioning
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A personality disorder characterized by an extreme need for perfection, an excessive orderliness, an inability to compromise, and an exaggerated sense of responsibility
Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder
Any method of obtaining measurements or observations in which the participants are aware that a measurement is being made
Obtrusive Measure
The maxim that, given a choice between two hypotheses, the one involving the fewer assumptions should be preferred [William of Occam (c. 1285 - 1347), English Franciscan monk and scholastic philosopher]
Occam’s Razor
The most posterior (rearward) subdivision of each cerebral hemisphere, roughly shaped like a pyramid and lying under the skull’s occipital bone
- It is associated with vision, containing the several visual areas that receive and process information regarding visual stimuli, being involved in the basic functions (eg; visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and perception of color, form, and motion) as well as the higher level ones (eg; figure ground segregation based on textural cues)
Occipital Lobe
Obstruction or closure, for example of an artery
Occlusion
A rehabilitative process that uses purposeful tasks and activities to improve health; prevent injury or disability; enhance quality of life; and develop, sustain, or restore the highest possible level of independence of individuals who have been injured or who have an illness, impairment, or other mental or physical disability or disorder
- This involves assessment of an individual’s ability to perform activities of daily living independently, the development and implementation of a customized treatment program, and recommendations for adaptive modifications in home and work environments as well as training in the use of appropriate assistive devices
Occupational Therapy (OT)
A vertical slab of striate cortex in which the neurons are preferentially responsive to stimulation through one of the two eyes
- It is important for binocular vision
- These columns for each eye alternate in a regular pattern, so that an electrode inserted tangentially to the cortical surface encounters neurons that are responsive to stimulation through first the ipsilateral eye, then the contralateral eye, then back to the ipsilateral eye
Ocular Dominance Column
The third cranial nerve, which innervates most of the muscles associated with movement and accommodation of the eye and constriction of the pupil
Oculomotor Nerve
In psychoanalytic theory, the erotic feelings of the son toward the mother, accompanied by rivalry and hostility toward the father, during the phallic stage of development
- The corresponding relationship between the daughter and father is referred to as the female Oedipus complex
- Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) saw this as the basis for neurosis when it is not adequately resolved by the boy’s fear of castration and gradual identification with the father
- The female Oedipus complex is posited to be resolved by the threat of losing the mother’s love and by finding fulfillment in the feminine role
- Contemporary psychoanalytic thought has decentralized the importance of this and has largely modified the classical theory by emphasizing the earlier, primal relationship between child and mother
Oedipus Complex
Denoting or relating to the clinical use of a drug for a purpose that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Off Label
The depolarization of a neuron in the visual system that occurs in response to light decrement
- Neurons with these in the center of their receptive fields are often called off cells
Off Response
The somewhat flattered S - shaped curve typically obtained by graphing a cumulative frequency distribution
Ogive
The sense of smell
- Molecules of airborne volatile substances called odorants are absorbed into nasal mucus and carried to the olfactory epithelium (located in the nasal passages), where they stimulate olfactory receptors
- The olfactory receptors carry impulses in axonal bundles through tiny holes in the cribriform plate, the bony layer separating the base of the skull from the nasal cavity
- On the top surface of the cribiform plate rests the olfactory bulb, which receives the impulses and sends them on to a region of the brain called the periamygdaloid cortex
Olfaction
A bulblike ending on the olfactory nerve in the anterior region of each cerebral hemisphere
- This first synapse in the olfactory system picks up excitation from the nose, specifically from the cilia in the olfactory epithelium
Olfactory Bulb
A three layered area of cerebral cortex at the base of the temporal lobe that is attached to the olfactory bulb and devoted to the sense of smell
- This receives and interprets information from olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity and is involved in the identification of odors
Olfactory Cortex
An area of olfactory receptors in the lining of the upper part of the nose
- The epithelium is separated from the olfactory bulb by a sievelike layer in the skull called the cribiform plate, through which the receptor cells synapse with cells in the olfactory bulb
Olfactory Epithelium
A false perception of odors, which are usually unpleasant or repulsive, such as poison gas or decaying flesh
Olfactory Hallucination
The first cranial nerve, which carries sensory fibers concerned with the sense of smell
- It originates in the olfactory lobe and is distributed to olfactory receptors in the nasal mucous membrane
Olfactory Nerve
A spindle shaped receptor cell in the olfactory epithelium of the nasal cavity that is sensitive to airborne volatile substances (odorants)
- The receptors themselves collectively form the olfactory nerve, which synapses with cells in the olfactory bulb
Olfactory Receptor
The primary structures and processes involved in an organism’s detection of and responses to airborne volatile substances
- The olfactory system includes several million olfactory receptors in the olfactory epithelium of the nasal cavity, the process of olfactory transduction, the olfactory bulb and olfactory nerve, and the olfactory cortex and associated brain areas and their functions
Olfactory System
A type of nonneural central nervous system cell (glia) that forms myelin sheaths around axons
Oligodendrocyte
A measure of the strength of association based on the proportion of variance of one measure predictable from variance in other measures
Omega Squared
A statistical test of an experimental hypothesis in which the expected direction of an effect or relationship is specified
One Tailed Test
The mastery of a skill or an increment of learning on the first practice session or performance
One Trial Learning
A statistical test of the probability that the means of three or more samples have been drawn from the same population; that is, an analysis of variance with a single independent variable
One Way Analysis of Variance
The developmental period, between approximately 10 and 18 months, when children use one word at a time when speaking
- For example, depending on the context and how the word is spoken, milk may mean that is milk, I want more milk, or I spired the milk
One Word Stage
The depolarization of a neuron in the visual system that occurs in response to light increment
- Neurons with on responses in the center of their receptive fields are often called on cells
On Response
The biological origin and development of an individual organism from fertilization of the egg cell until death
Ontogeny
The process by which germ cells divide and differentiate to produce female gametes (ova)
- In females, primary oocytes are formed in the ovary during embryonic development and enter into the first division of meiosis but then remain suspended at this stage of cell division until puberty
- Thereafter, roughly once a month until menopause, one primary oocyte resumes meiosis to produce two unequally sized daughter cells: the larger one is the secondary oocyte, while the smaller is a polar body
- Following ovulation, the secondary oocyte undergoes the second meiotic division to produce an ovum and another polar body
- These two polar bodies are normally nonfunctional and degenerate
Oogenesis
A technique for measuring (quantifying) behaviors and physiological reactions (eg; those indicative of anxiety) in rats and other small animals
- The animal is placed in a space divided into squares so that the researcher may observe the number of squares the animal traverses in a specified time period
Open Field Test
A class of responses that produces a common effect on the environment
- This is defined by its effect rather than by the particular type of behavior producing that effect
- For example, all forms of behavior that result in a lever being moved 4 mm downward constitute an operant
Operant
Behavior that produces a particular effect on the environment and whose likelihood of recurrence is influenced by consequences
- This is nearly synonymous with voluntary behavior
Operant Behavior
The process in which behavioral change (ie; learning) occurs as a function of the consequences of behavior
- Examples are teaching a dog to do tricks and rewarding behavioral change in a misbehaving child
- The term is essentially equivalent to instrumental conditioning
Operant Conditioning
An apparatus used to study behavior
- Generally, it provides a relatively small and austere environment that blocks out extraneous stimuli
- Included in the environment are devices that can present stimuli (eg; reinforcers) and measure responses
- For example, the apparatus for a rat might consist of a 25 cm3 space containing a food tray and a small lever that the rat may press to release food from the feeder
- The apparatus, initially developed in the 1930s by U.S. psychologist B.F. Skinner (1904 - 1990), later became known colloquially as the Skinner box
Operant Conditioning Chamber
A single instance from an operant class
- For example, if lever pressing has been conditioned, each single lever press is this
Operant Response
In Piagetian theory, a type of cognitive scheme that requires symbols, derives from action, exists in an organized system in which it is integrated with all other operations, and follows a set of logical rules, most importantly that of reversibility
Operation
A definition of something in terms of the operations (procedures, actions, or processes) by which it could be observed and measured
- For example, the operational definition of anxiety could be in terms of a test score, behavioral withdrawal, or activation of the sympathetic nervous system
Operational Definition
The position that the meaning of a scientific concept depends upon the procedures used to establish it, so that each concept can be defined by a single observable and measurable operation
- This approach is mainly associated with radical behaviorism
Operationalism
Any of a variety of natural and semisynthetic compounds derived from opium
- They include the alkaloids morphine and codeine and their derivatives (eg; heroin [diacetylmorphine])
- These, together with synthetic compounds having the pharmacological properties of these, are known as opioids
Opiate
Any of a group of compounds that include the naturally occurring opiates (eg; morphine, codeine) and their semisynthetic derivatives (eg; heroin) as well as both synthetic and endogenous compounds with morphinelike effects
- The effects of these include analgesia, drowsiness, euphoria or other mood changes, slow and shallow breathing, and reduced gastrointestinal motility
- These are used clinically as pain relievers, anaesthetics, cough suppressants, and antidiarrheal drugs, and many are subject to abuse and dependence
Opioid
A receptor that binds opioids (including endogenous opioids) and mediates their effects via G proteins
- These are widely distributed in the brain, spinal cord, and periphery
- They are categorized as mu receptors (largely responsible for the analgesic and euphoric effects associated with opioid use), kappa receptors, delta receptors, or N/OFQ receptors
Opioid Receptor
The dried resin of the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy, papaver sonniferum
- These contain more than 20 alkaloids, the principal one being morphine, which accounts for most of its pharmacological (including addictive) properties
- Natural and synthetic derivatives induce analgesia and euphoria and produce a deep, dreamless sleep
Opium
Any one of a class of theories describing color vision on the basis of the activity of mechanisms that respond to red-green, blue-yellow, or black-white
- The Hering Theory of Color Vision, the most highly developed opponent process theory, contrasted with the Young-Helmholtz Theory of Color Vision, which relied on receptors sensitive to specific regions of the spectrum
- In the 1950s it was suggested that both theories were correct, the Young-Hemholtz model describing a first stage of processing in the visual system, while the outputs of that system were fed into an opponent process
- This combined theory is known as the Dual Process Theory of Color Vision
Opponent Process Theory of Color Vision
The selection of participants or other sampling units for an experiment or survey simply because they are readily available
Opportunistic Sampling
A behavior disorder of childhood characterized by recurrent disobedient, negativistic, or hostile behavior toward authority figures that is more pronounced than usually seen in children of similar age and lasts for at least six months
- It is manifest as temper tantrums, active defiance of rules, dawdling, arguementativeness, stubbornness, or being easily annoyed
- The defiant behaviors typically do not involve aggression, destruction, theft, or deceit, which distinguishes this disorder from conduct disorder
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
The total field of apparent velocities of visual stimuli that impinge upon a physical or theoretical visual system when objects move relative to the visual system or the visual system moves relative to the objects
Optical Flow Pattern
Inability to direct the hand to an object under visual guidance, typically caused by damage to the cortex of the parietal lobe
- It is a feature of Balint’s Syndrome
Optic Ataxia
The location at the base of the brain at which the optic nerves from the two eyes meet
- In humans, the nerve fibers from the nasal half of each retina cross, so that each hemisphere of the brain receives input from both eyes
- This partial crossing is called a partial decussation
Optic Chiasm
The area of the retina at which the axons of the retinal ganglion cells gather before leaving the retina to form the optic nerve
- Because this region contains no photoreceptors, it creates a blind spot in the visual field
Optic Disk
The second cranial nerve, which carries the axons of retinal ganglion cells and extends from the retina to the optic chiasm
Optic Nerve
Nerve fibers that project from the lateral geniculate nucleus to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe and to the pretectum, a structure in the midbrain important for the reflexive contraction of the pupils in the presence of light
Optic Radiations
The study of the physics of light, including its relations to the mechanisms of vision
Optics
The bundle of optic nerve fibers after the partial decussation of the optic nerves at the optic chiasm
- The major targets of this are the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus and the superior colliculus in the midbrain
Optic Tract
A theory of foraging behavior arguing that natural selection has created optimal strategies for food selection (based on nutritional value and costs of locating, capturing, and processing food) and for deciding when to depart a particular patch to seek resources elsewhere
Optimal Foraging Theory
Hopefulness: the attitude that good things will happen and that people’s wishes or gins will ultimately be fulfilled
- These are people who anticipate positive outcomes, whether serendipitously or through perseverance and effort, and who are confident of attaining desired goals
- Most individuals lie somewhere on the spectrum between the two polar opposites of pure optimism and pure pessimism but tend to demonstrate sometimes strong, relatively stable or situational tendencies in one direction or the other
Optimism
The involuntary compensatory eye movements that allow the eyes to maintain fixation on a visual target as it moves by an observer
- This is driven by signals from neurons in the retina
Optokinetic Reflex
In psychoanalytic theory, the first stage of psychosexual development, occupying the first year of life, in which the libido is concentrated on the mouth, which is the principal erotic zone
- The stage is divided into the early oral sucking phase, during which gratification is achieved by sucking the nipple during feeding, and the later oral biting phase, when gratification is also achieved by biting
- fixation during this is posited to cause an oral personality
Oral Stage
The cerebral cortex of the ventral part of each frontal lobe, having strong connections to the hypothalamus
- Lesions of this can result in loss of inhibitions, forgetfulness, and apathy broken by bouts of euphoria
Orbitofrontal Cortex
The surgical removal of a testis
- This may be performed when a testis is injured or diseased, as when the male reproductive system has been affected by cancer
Orchidectomy
In within subjects designs, the effect of the order in which treatments are administered, that is, the effect of being the first administered treatment (rather than the second, third, and so forth)
- This is often confused with the sequence effect
Order Effect
Numerical values that represent rankings along a continuum of lowest and highest, as in a judge’s assignment of a 1 to denote that a particular athlete’s performance was fair and a 2 to denote that a subsequent athlete’s performance was better
- This may be counted (ie; how many athletes obtained a 1, how many a 2, ect) and arranged in descending or ascending sequence but may not be manipulated; it is meaningless to add, subtract, divide, or multiply any rank by any other because the actual differential in performance between adjacent values is unspecified and may vary
- In other words, one does not know how much better a 2 is than a 1, and the difference between a 1 and a 2 may not be the same as the difference between a 2 and a 3
Ordinal Data
A sequence of numbers that do not indicate magnitude or a true zero point but rather reflect a rank ordering of the attribute being measured
- For example, this scale for the performance of a specific group of people on a particular test might use the number 1 to indicate the person who obtained the highest score, the number 2 to indicate the person who obtained the next highest score, and so on
- It is important to note, however, that this does not provide any information about the degree of difference between adjacent ranks (eg; it is not clear what the actual point difference is between the rank 1 and 2 scores)
Ordinal Scale
The vertical coordinate in a graph or data plot; that is, the y axis
Ordinate
Any of a group of proteins, expressed in the lateral hypothalamus, that trigger feeding and have also been implicated in narcolepsy
Orexin
Denoting a condition or disorder that results from structural alterations of an organ or tissue
- In psychology and psychiatry, the term is equivalent to somatic or physical, as contrasted with functional or psychogenic
Organic
An individual living entity, such as an animal, plant, or bacterium, that is capable of reproduction, growth, and maintenance
Organism
Structure
- This basic meaning is applied to numerous areas of psychology with varying degrees of specificity
- For example, in memory research this refers to the structure discovered in or imposed upon a set of items in order to guide memory performance, whereas in gestalt psychology the term denotes an integrated perception composed of various components that appear together as a single whole (eg; a face)
Organization
A distinctive pattern of thought and behavior shared by members of the same business or service entity and reflected in their language, values, attitudes, beliefs, and customs
- This type of culture is in many ways analogous to the personality of an individual
Organizational Culture
A long term effect of hormonal action typically occurring in fetal development or the early postnatal period that leads to permanent changes in behavior and neural functioning
- The presence of testosterone in young male rats leads to long term male typical behavior, and female rats can be masculinized by neonatal exposure to testosterone
Organizational Effect
A specialized structure that sits on the basilar membrane within the cochlea in the inner ear
- It contains the hair cells (the sensory receptors for hearing), their nerve endings, and supporting cells (Deiters cells) [Alfonso Corti (1822 - 1876), Italian anatomist]
Organ of Corti
The climax of the sexual response cycle, when the peak of pleasure is achieved, marked by the release of tension and rhythmic contractions of the perineal muscles, anal sphincter, and pelvic reproductive organs
- In men, this is also accompanied by the emission of semen (ejaculation); in women, it is accompanied by contractions of the wall of the outer third of the vagina
Orgasm
- Awareness of the self and of the external environment, that is, the ability to identify one’s self and to know the time, the place, and other aspects of one’s surroundings and activities
- The act of directing the body or of moving toward an external stimulus, such as light, gravity, or some other aspect of the environment
- Relative position or alignment
- For example, in vision orientation refers to the degree of tilt of the long axis of a visual stimulus (eg; a vertical bar is oriented at 0 degrees; a horizontal bar is oriented at 90 degrees)
- Many neurons in the visual system respond most vigorously to a stimulus of a certain orientation: they are said to be orientation selective
Orientation
A vertical slab of striate cortex in which all the neurons are maximally responsive to stimuli of the same orientation
- Adjacent columns have slightly different orientation preferences, so that electrode penetration tangential to the cortical surface that passes through many columns would encounter neurons with orientation preferences that shift smoothly around a reference axis
Orientation Column
A behavioral response to an altered, novel, or sudden stimulus, for example, turning one’s head toward an unexpected noise
- Various physiological components of the orienting response have subsequently been identified as well, including dilation of pupils and blood vessels and changes in heart rate and electrical resistance of the skin
Orienting Response
Thirst resulting from a loss of intracellular fluids and a relative increase in osmotic pressure
Osmometric Thirst
A hypothetical receptor in the hypothalamus that responds to changes in the concentrations of various substances in the body’s extracellular fluid and to cellular dehydration
- It also regulates the secretion of vasopressin and contributes to thirst
Osmoreceptor
The passive movement of solvent molecules through a differentially permeable membrane (eg; a cell membrane) separating two solutions of different concentrations
- The solvent tends to flow from the weaker solution to the stronger solution
Osmosis
The pressure required to prevent the passage of water (or other solvent) through a semipermeable membrane (eg; a cell membrane) from an area of low concentration of solute to an area of higher concentration
Osmotic Pressure
Any small bones, but particularly the auditory type: the chain of three tiny bones in the middle ear that transmit sound vibrations from the tympanic membrane (eardrum) to the oval window of the inner ear
- They are the malleus (or hammer), which is attached to the tympanic membrane; the incus (or anvil); and the stapes (or stirrup), whose footplate nearly fills the oval window
- These allow efficient transmission of sound from air to the fluid filled cochlea
Ossicles
A disorder in which the bones become brittle and break easily, due to loss of calcified bone as a result of disease or aging
Osteoporosis
Any of numerous tiny calcium particles embedded in the gelatinous matrix of the vestibular sacs of the inner ear
Otolith
In analyses of self concept, a mental representation of a set of attributes that one is obligated to possess according to social norms or one’s personal responsibilities
Ought Self
A systematic investigation of the effectiveness of a single type or technique of psychotherapy, or of the comparative effectiveness of different types or techniques, when applied to one or more disorders
Outcome Research
The layer of cell bodies of the rods and cones in the retina
Outer Nuclear Layer
The synaptic layer in the retina in which contacts are made between photoreceptors, retinal bipolar cells, and retinal horizontal cells
Outer Plexiform Layer
Any group to which one does not belong or with which one does not identify, but particularly a group that is judged to be different from, and inferior to, one’s own group (the ingroup)
Outgroup
The tendency to assume that the members of other groups are very similar to each other, particularly in contrast to the assumed diversity of the membership of one’s own groups
Outgroup Homogeneity Bias
An extreme observation or measurement, that is, one that significantly differs from all others obtained
- These can have a high degree of influence on summary statistics and estimates of parametric values and their precision and may distort research findings if they are the result of error
Outlier
A dissociative experience in which the individual imagines that his or her mind, soul, or spirit has left the body and is acting or perceiving independently
- Such experiences are sometimes reported by those who have recovered from the point of death; they have also been reported by those using hallucinogens or under hypnosis
- Certain occult or spiritualistic practices may also attempt to induce such experiences
Out of Body Experience
A person who obtains diagnosis, treatment, or other service at a hospital, clinic, physician’s office, or other health care facility without overnight admission
Outpatient
A membrane covered opening in the bony wall of the cochlea in the ear
- Vibration of the stapes is transmitted to this and into the cochlear fluids
Oval Window
The surgical removal of an ovary
- This procedure may be performed when the ovaries are diseased or injured or in some circumstances, such as when a woman is at very high risk for ovarian cancer, as a preventative measure
Ovariectomy
The female reproductive organ, which produces ova (egg cells) and sex hormones (estrogens and progesterone)
- In humans the two ovaries are almond shaped organs, normally located in the lower abdomen on either side of the upper end of the uterus, to which they are linked by the fallopian tubes
Ovary
Disproportionate and persistent anxiety or worry occurring in childhood or adoresence across a variety of different situations and objects
- In some current diagnostic classifications, notably the DSM-IV-TR, this has been subsumed under generalized anxiety disorder
Overanxious Disorder
An unsupported belief or unrealistically positive expectation that a desired outcome will occur
- In a sports setting, for example, this might involve overestimating one’s ability to perform or underestimating the ability of a competitor to perform
Overconfidence
In psychoanalytic theory, the concept that several unconscious factors may combine to produce one symptom, dream, disorder, or aspect of behavior
- Because drives and defenses operate simultaneously and derive from different layers of the personality, a dream may express more than one meaning, and a single symptom may serve more than one purpose or fulfill more than one unconscious wish
Overdetermination
The tendency of very young children to extend the use of a word beyond the scope of its specific meaning, for example, by referring to all animals as “doggie”
Overextension
The process of extending something beyond the circumstances to which it actually applies
- It is a common linguistic tendency of young children, who generalize standard grammatical rules to apply to irregular words, for example, pluralizing foot to foots
Overgeneralization
A paradoxical effect in which rewarding (or offering to reward) a person for his or her performance can lead to lower, rather than higher, effort and attainment
- It occurs when introduction of the reward weakens the strong intrinsic motivation that was the key to the person’s original high performance
Overjustification Effect
Practice that is continued beyond the point at which the individual knows or performs well
- The benefits of this may be seen in increased persistence of the learning over time
Overlearning
A psychological condition in which situations and experiences are so cognitively, perceptually, and emotionally stimulating that they tax or even exceed the individual’s capacity to process incoming information
Overload
The process of sheltering a child to such an extent that he or she fails to become independent and may experience later adjustment and other difficulties, including development of a dependent personality disorder
Overprotection
A transient error in linguistic development in which the child attempts to make language more grammatically regular than it actually is, for example, by saying breaked instead of broken
Overregularization
- Denoting anything that is directly observable, open to view, or publicly known
- Not hidden
Overt
The condition of having more body fat than is considered normal or healthy for an individual of a particular age, body type, or build
- Individuals may lie anywhere on a spectrum from mildly to seriously
- One of the most frequently used standards for assessing the degree of body fat is the body mass index
Overweight
The production of a mature secondary oocyte and its release from a small pouchlike cavity (graafin follicle) at the surface of the ovary
- Rupture of the follicle causes the oocyte to be discharged into a fallopian tube
- In humans, the oocyte measures into an ovum in the strict sense only if it is penetrated by a sperm during its passage along the fallopian tube
Ovulation
An egg cell: a single female gamete that develops from a secondary oocyte following its release from the ovary at ovulation
Ovum
A hormone produced in the hypothalamus and secreted by the posterior lobe (neurohypophysis) of the pituitary gland in response to direct neural stimulation
- It stimulates smooth muscle, particularly in the mammary glands during lactation and in the wall of the uterus during labor
Oxytocin
