S Flashcards
A rapid movement of the eyes that allows visual fixation to jump from one location to another in the visual field
- Once initiated, this cannot change course
Saccade
The smaller of the two vestibular sacs of the inner ear, the other being the utricle
- Like the utricle, it contains a sensory structure called a macula
- Movements of the head relative to gravity exert a momentum pressure on hair cells within the macula, which then fire impulses indicating a change in body position in space
Saccule
The derivation of pleasure through cruelty and inflicting pain, humiliation, and other forms of suffering on individuals
- The term generally denotes sexual type [Donatien Alphonse François, Comte (Marquis) de Sade (1740 - 1814), French soldier and writer]
Sadism
An emotional state of unhappiness, ranging in intensity from mild to extreme and usually aroused by the loss of something that is highly valued, for example, by the rupture or loss of a relationship
- Persistent type is one of the two defining symptoms of a major depressive episode, the other being anhedonia
Sadness
Sexual activity between consenting partners in which one partner enjoys inflicting pain and the other enjoys experiencing pain
Sadomasochism
A desire for freedom from illness or danger and for a secure, familiar, predictable environment
- These comprise the second level of Maslow’s Motivational Hierarchy, after basic physiological needs
Safety Need
Describing or relating to a plane that divides the body or an organ into left and right portions
- A midsagittal plane divides the body centrally into halves, whereas a parasagittal plane lies parallel but to one side of the center
Sagittal
Distinctive or prominent
- This type of stimulus in a multielement array will tend to be easily detected and identified
Salient
A type of conduction of nerve impulses that occurs in myelinated fibers, in which the impulses skip from one node of ranvier to the next
- This permits much faster conduction velocities compared with unmyelinated fibers
Saltation
A subset of a population of interest that is selected for study
- It is important to ensure that this is representative of the population as a whole
Sample
The process of selecting a limited number of subjects or cases for participation in experiments, surveys, or other research
- There are a number of different types (eg; simple random, stratified, opportunistic, quota), each having a different potential of obtaining a sample appropriately representative of the population under study
Sampling
Any flaws in sampling processes that makes the resulting sample unrepresentative of the population, hence possibly distorting research results
Sampling Bias
The predictable margin of error that occurs in studies employing sampling, as reflected in the variation in the estimate of a parameter from its true value in the population
Sampling Error
A complete listing of all of the elements in a population from which a sample is to be drawn
Sampling Frame
A sampling technique in which a selected unit is returned to the pool and may subsequently be redrawn in another sample
- In Sampling without Replacement the sampling unit is not returned to the pool
Sampling with Replacement
A punishment or other coercive measure, usually administered by a recognized authority, that is used to penalize and deter inappropriate or unauthorized actions
Sanction
- The full and complete satisfaction of a desire or need, such as hunger or thirst
- The temporary loss of effectiveness of a reinforcer due to its repeated presentation
Satiation
The purity of a color and the degree to which it departs from white
- Highly saturated colors are intense and brilliant, whereas colors of low saturation are diluted and dull
Saturation
A person with mental retardation or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder who demonstrates exceptional, usually isolated, cognitive abilities, such as rapid calculation, identifying the day of the week for any given date, or musical talent
- The term idiot savant initially was used to denote such a person but has been discarded because of its colloquial, pejorative connotation
Savant
A teaching style that supports and facilitates the student as he or she learns a new skill or concept, with the ultimate goal of the student becoming self reliant
- Derived from the theories of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896 - 1934), in practice it involves teaching material just beyond the level at which the student could learn alone
Scaffolding
One of the three canals that run the length of the cochlea in the inner ear
- Located between the scala vestibuli and scala tympani, it is filled with fluid (endolymph) and is delimited by Reissner’s membrane, the highly vascular stria vascularis, and the basilar membrane, which supports the organ of corti
Scala Media
One of the three canals within the cochlea in the inner ear
- It is located below the scala media, from which it is separated by the basilar membrane, and contains perilymph
- At its basal end is the round window
Scala Tympani
One of the three canals within the cochlea in the inner ear
- It is located above the scala media, from which it is separated by Reissner’s membrane, and contains perilymph
- At its basal end is the oval window
Scala Vestibuli
A system for arranging items in a progressive series, for example, according to their magnitude or value
- The characteristic of an item that allows it to fit into such a progression is called scalability
Scale
The process of constructing a scale to measure or assess some quantity or characteristic (eg; height, weight, happiness, empathy)
Scaling
Blaming: the process of directing one’s anger, frustration, and aggression onto other, usually less powerful, groups or individuals and targeting them as the source of one’s problems and misfortunes
Scapegoating
An analysis of prejudice that assumes that intergroup conflict is caused, in part, by the tendency of individuals to blame their negative experiences on other groups
Scapegoat Theory
A graphical representation of the relationship between two variables, in which the X axis represents one variable and the Y axis the other
- A dot or other symbol is placed at each point where the values of the variables intersect, and the overall pattern of symbols provides an indication of the correlation between the two variables
Scatterplot
The theory that experiencing emotional states is a function not only of physiological arousal but also cognitive interpretations of the physical state
- Also called two factor theory of emotion [Stanley Schachter (1922 - 1997) and Jerome E. Singer (1924 - ), U.S. psychologists]
Schachter Singer Theory
In conditioning, a rule that determines which instances of a response will be reinforced
- There are numerous types, among them fixed interval schedules, fixed ratio schedules, variable interval schedules, and variable ratio schedules
Schedule of Reinforcement
A post hoc statistical test that allows for the testing of all possible contrasts weighted comparisons of any number of means) while controlling the probability of a Type I Error for the set of contrasts at a prespecified level [Henry Scheffe (1907 - 1977), U.S. mathematician]
Scheffe Test
- A collection of basic knowledge about a concept or entity that serves as a guide to perception, interpretation, imagination, or problem solving
- For example, this of “dorm room” suggests that a bed and a desk are probably part of the scene, that a microwave oven might be, and that expensive Persian rugs probably will not be - An outlook or assumption that an individual has of the self, others, or the world that endures despite objective reality
- For example, “I am a damaged person” and “Anyone I trust will eventually hurt me” are negative ones that may result from negative experiences in early childhood
- A goal of treatment, particularly stressed in cognitive therapy, is to help the client to develop more realistic, present oriented ones to replace those developed during childhood or through traumatic experiences
Schema
A cognitive structure that contains an organized plan for an activity, thus representing generalized knowledge about an entity and serving to guide behavior
- For example, there is a simple sucking one of infancy, applied first to a nipple or teat and later to a thumb, soft toy, and so forth
- This term is often used as a synonym of schema
Scheme
An uninterrupted illness featuring at some time a major depressive episode, manic episode, or mixed episode concurrently with characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia (eg; delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonic behavior)
Schizoaffective Disorder
Denoting characteristics resembling schizophrenia but in a milder form: characterized by lack of affect, social passivity, and minimal introspection
Schizoid
A personality disorder characterized by long term emotional coldness, indifference to praise or criticism and to the feelings of others, and inability to form close friendships with others
- The eccentricities of speech, behavior, or thought that are characteristic of schizotypal personality disorder are absent in those with this
Schizoid Personality Disorder
A psychotic disorder characterized by disturbances in thinking (cognition), emotional responsiveness, and behavior
- Originally named Dementia Praecox, this includes positive symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech, and negative symptoms, such as lack of emotional responsiveness and extreme apathy
- These signs and symptoms are associated with marked social or occupational dysfunction
- There are five distinct subtypes: catatonic type, disorganized type, paranoid type, residual type, and undifferentiated type
Schizophrenia
A disorder whose essential features are identical to those of schizophrenia except that the total duration is between 1 and 6 months and social or occupational functioning need not be impaired
Schizophreniform Disorder
Denoting a factor or influence viewed as causing or contributing to the onset or development of schizophrenia
- For example, these parents are those whose harmful influences are presumed to cause schizophrenia in their offspring; this concept - the subject of much debate in the 1940s especially - is now considered an oversimplification
Schizophrenogenic
A personality disorder characterized by various oddities of thought, perception, speech, and behavior that are not severe enough to warrant a diagnosis of schizophrenia
- Symptoms may include perceptual distortions, magical thinking, social isolation, vague speech without incoherence, and inadequate rapport with others due to aloofness or lack of feeling
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
A test used in selecting candidates for college admission, formerly called the Scholastic Aptitude Test
- It tests ability to understand and analyze what is read and to recognize relationships between parts of a sentence; ability to solve problems involving arithmetic, algebra, and geometry; and ability to organize thoughts, develop and express ideas, use language, and adhere to grammatical rules
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
Persistent reluctance to go to school, which is often a symptom of an educational, social, or emotional problem
- This may be a feature of separation anxiety disorder or it may be triggered by a stressor (eg; nausea, dizziness, headache) and anxiety at the start of the day along with complaints that the child is too sick to go to school
School Refusal
A type of nonneuronal peripheral nervous system cell (glia) that forms the myelin sheath around axons [Theodor Schwann (1810 - 1882), German histologist]
Schwann Cell
A group of procedures, guidelines, assumptions, and attitudes required for the organized and systematic collection, interpretation, and verification of data and the discovery of reproducible evidence, enabling laws and principles to be stated or modified
Scientific Method
The tough, white outer coat of the eyeball, which is continuous with the cornea at the front and the sheath of the optic nerve at the back of the eyeball
Sclera
A quantitative value assigned to test results or other measurable responses
Score
An area of partial or complete loss of vision either in the central visual field (central) or in the periphery (paracentral)
Scotoma
- A procedure or program to detect early signs of a disease in an individual or population
- The process of determining, through a preliminary test, whether an individual is suitable for some purpose or task
- For example, the initial evaluation of a patient to determine his or her suitability for medical or psychological treatment generally, a specific treatment approach, or referral to a treatment facility would constitute a screening
Screening
A cognitive schematic structure - a mental road map - containing the basic actions (and their temporal and causal relations) that comprise a complex action
- For example, this for cooking pasta might be: open pan cupboard, choose pan, fill pan with water, put pan on stove, get out pasta, weigh correct amount of pasta, add pasta to boiling water, decide when cooked, remove from heat, strain, place in bowl
Script
A mood disorder in which there is a predictable occurrence of major depressive episodes during the fall or winter months
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Changes due to biological aging, but accelerated by disabilities resulting from disease or produced by extrinsic factors, such as stress, trauma, lifestyle, and environment
- This is often distinguished from primary aging, which is governed by inborn and age related processes, but the distinction is not a precise one
Secondary Aging
Health care services provided by medical specialists (eg; cardiologists, urologists, dermatologists), to whom, typically, patients are referred by the primary care provider
Secondary Care
In Piagetian theory, a repetitive action emerging at around 4 to 5 months, such as rattling the crib, that has yielded results in the past but that the infant does not modify to meet the requirements of a new situation
Secondary Circular Reaction
An acquired drive; that is, a drive that is developed through association with or generalization from a primary drive
- For example, in an avoidance conditioning experiment in which a rat must go from one compartment into another to escape from an electric shock, this is fear of the shock and the primary drive with which it is associated is avoidance of pain
Secondary Drive
In psychoanalytic theory, any advantage derived from a neurosis in addition to the primary gains of relief from anxiety or internal conflict
- Examples are extra attention, sympathy, avoidance of work, and domination of others
- Such gains are secondary in that they are derived from others’ reactions to the illness instead of causal factors
Secondary Gain
One of the larger, less intimate, more goal focused groups typical of more complex societies, such as work groups, clubs, congregations, associations, and so on
- These social groups influence members’ attitudes, beliefs, and actions, but as a supplement to the influence of small, more interpersonally intensive primary groups
Secondary Group
Intervention for individuals or groups that demonstrate early psychological or physical symptoms, difficulties, or conditions (ie; subclinical level problems), which is intended to prevent the development of more serious dysfunction or illness
Secondary Prevention
In psychoanalytic theory, conscious, rational mental activities under the control of the ego and the reality principle
- These thought processes, which include problem solving, judgement, and systematic thinking, enable individuals to meet both the external demands of the environment and the internal demands of their instincts in rational, effective ways
Secondary Process
- In operant conditioning, the process in which a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to influence the future probability of a particular response by virtue of being paired with another stimulus that naturally enhances such probability
- That is, the initially neutral stimulus or circumstance functions as effective reinforcement only after special experience or training
- For example, a person teaching a dog to understand the command “sit” might provide a treat and a simultaneous pepping noise from a clicker tool each time the dogsuccessfully performs the behavior
- Eventually, the clicker noise itself can be used alone to maintain the desired behavior, with no treat reward being necessary - The contingent occurrence of such a stimulus or circumstance after a response
Secondary Reinforcement
Any of the regions of the cerebral cortex that receive direct projections from the primary sensory area for any given sense modality
- An example is the secondary somatosensory area
Secondary Sensory Area
An area of the cerebral cortex, located in the parietal lobe on the upper bank of the lateral sulcus, that receives direct projections from the primary somatosensory area and other regions of the anterior parietal cortex and has outputs to other parts of the lateral parietal cortex and to motor and premotor areas
Secondary Somatosensory Area
The area of cerebral cortex, located in the orbitofrontal cortex, that is the second cortical relay for taste
- It identifies gustatory stimuli as either pleasant and rewarding or unpleasant and undesirable
- This information interacts with analyses from visual, touch, and olfactory cells to permit an integrated appreciation of flavor
Secondary Taste Cortex
The area immediately surrounding the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobes, receiving signals from it secondarily for analysis and further discrimination of visual input in terms of motion, shape (particularly complex shapes), and position
Secondary Visual Cortex (V2)
An ion or molecule inside a cell whose concentration increases or decreases in response to stimulation of a cell receptor by a neurotransmitter, hormone, or drug
- This acts to relay and amplify the signal from the receptor (the “first messenger”) by triggering a range of cellular activities
Second Messenger
In Pavlovian conditioning, the establishment of a conditioned response as a result of pairing a neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus that gained its effectiveness by being paired with an unconditioned stimulus
Second Order Conditioning
A schedule of reinforcement in which the units counted are not single responses but completions of a particular reinforcement schedule
- For example, in a second order fixed ratio 5 of fixed interval 30 seconds schedule [FR 5 (FI 30 s)], reinforcement is delivered only after five successive FI 30-s schedules have been completed
- Often, a brief stimulus of some sort is presented on completion of each unit schedule
Second Order Schedule
The main trend or long term direction of a time series, as distinguished from temporary variations
Secular Trend
- In the strange situation, the positive parent child relationship, in which the child displays confidence when the parent is present, shows mild distress when the parent leaves, and quickly reestablishes contact when the parent returns
- An adult attachment style that combines a positive view of oneself as worthy of love, and a positive view that others are generally accepting and responsive
Secure Attachment
The observation that infants use a place of safety, represented by an attachment figure (eg; a parent), as a base from which to explore a novel environment
- The infant often returns or looks back to the parent before continuing a explore
Secure Base Phenomenon
A drug that has a calming effect, and therefore relieves anxiety, agitation, or behavioral excitement, by depressing the central nervous system
- The degree of sedation depends on the agent and the size of the dose: A drug that sedates in small doses may induce sleep in larger doses Lind may be used as a hypnotic; such drugs are commonly known as sedative hypnotics
Sedative
The separation or isolation of people (eg; ethnic groups) or other entities (eg; mental processes) so that there is a minimum of interaction between them
Segregation
A discrete episode of uncontrolled, excessive electrical discharge of neurons in the brain
- The resulting clinical symptoms vary based on the type and location of it
Seizure
In animal behavior, the differential survival of some individuals and their offspring compared with others, causing certain physical or behavioral traits to be favored in subsequent generations
- The general process is known as natural selection
Selection
A systematic and directional error in the choosing of participants or other units for research, such as selecting specially motivated participants
- This is associated with nonrandom sampling and with nonrandom assignment to conditions
Selection Bias
The observation that perceptual adaptation can occur in response to certain stimulus qualities while being unaffected by others
- For example, color adaptation can take place independently of motion adaptation
Selective Adaptation
Concentration on certain stimuli in the environment and not others, enabling important stimuli to be distinguished from peripheral or incidental ones
- This is typically measured by instructing participants to attend to some sources of information while ignoring others and then determining their effectiveness in doing this
Selective Attention
A rare disorder, most commonly but not exclusively found in young children, characterized by a persistent failure to speak in certain social situations (eg; at school) despite the ability to speak and to understand spoken language
- Currently, this is thought to be related to severe anxiety and social phobia, but the exact cause is unknown
Selective Mutism
A process used to adapt to biological and psychological deficits associated with aging
- The process involves emphasizing and enhancing those capacities affected only minimally by aging (optimization) and developing new means of maintaining functioning in those areas that are significantly affected (compensation)
Selective Optimization with Compensation
The totality of the individual, consisting of all characteristic attributes, conscious and unconscious, mental and physical
- Apart from its basic reference to personal identity, being, and experience, the term’s use in psychology is extremely wide ranging and lacks uniformity, including, for example, the following perspectives: the person as the target of self appraisal or as having the power and capability to produce an effect or exert influence; the person as he or she gradually develops by a process of individuation; the individual identified with a lifestyle; and the essence of the individual, consisting of a gradually developing body sense, identity, self estimate, and set of personal values, attitudes, and intentions
Self
A relatively objective sense or recognition of one’s abilities and achievements, together with acknowledgement and acceptance of one’s limitations
- This is often viewed as a major component of mental health
Self Acceptance
The complete realization of that of which one is capable, involving maximum development of abilities and full involvement in and appreciation for life, particularly as manifest in peak experiences
- The term is associated particularly with the humanistic psychology of U.S. psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970), who viewed the process of striving toward full potential as fundamental yet obtainable only after the basic needs of physical survival, safety, love and belongingness, and esteem are fulfilled
Self Actualization
Any behavior by which a person expresses a positive attitude toward his or her self, often by a positive assertion of his or her values, attributes, or group memberships
- Self Affirmation Theory assumes that the desire for this is basic and pervasive and that many different behaviors reflect this motive
- According to the theory, people are motivated to maintain views of themselves as well adapted, moral, and competent
- when some aspect of this self view is challenged, people experience psychological discomfort which they attempt to reduce by directly resolving the inconsistency or by affirming some other aspect of the self
Self Affirmation
Self focused attention or knowledge
- There has been a continuing controversy over whether nonhuman animals have this
- Evidence of this in animals most often is determined by whether an individual can use a mirror to groom an otherwise unseen spot on its own forehead
Self Awareness
Any hypothetical construct that attempts to describe how self focused attention occurs and what purpose it serves
- Distinctions are sometimes made between subjective self awareness, arising directly from the observation and experience of oneself as the source of perception and behavior, and objective self awareness, arising from comparison between the self and (a) the behaviors, attitudes, and traits of others or (b) some perceived standard for social correctness in any one of these areas
Self Awareness Theory
The degree to which different aspects of the self concept are disconnected from one another
- Low amounts entail considerable integration; high amounts result from compartmentalization, so that what affects one part of the self may not affect other parts
Self Complexity
One’s description and evaluation of oneself, including psychological and physical characteristics, qualities, and skills
- This contributes to the individual’s sense of identity over time and is dependent in part on unconscious schematization of the self
Self Concept
An emotion that celebrates or condemns the self and its actions, generated when the self is known to be the object of another person’s evaluation
- These include shame, pride, guilt, and embarrassment
- Recently, the term other conscious emotions has been suggested as a better name for these emotions, to emphasize the importance of the appraisal of other human beings in generating them
Self Conscious Emotion
- A personality trait associated with the tendency to reflect on or think about oneself
- Some researchers have distinguished between two varieties: (a) private, or the degree to which people think about private, internal aspects of themselves (eg; their own thoughts, motives, and feelings) that are not directly open to observation by others; and (b) public, or the degree to which people think about public, external aspects of themselves (eg; their physical appearance, mannerisms, and overt behavior) that can be observed by others - Extreme sensitivity about one’s own behavior, appearance, or other attributes and excessive concern about the impression one makes on others, which leads to embarrassment or awkwardness in the presence of others
Self Consciousness
The examination and evaluation of one’s behavior, with recognition of one’s weaknesses, errors, and shortcomings
- This can have both positive and negative effects; for example, a tendency toward harsh ones is thought by some to be a risk factor for depression
Self Criticism
The process or result of convincing oneself of the truth of something that is false or invalid, particularly the overestimation of one’s abilities and concurrent failure to recognize one’s own limitations
Self Deception
Actions by an individual that invite failure or misfortune and thus prevent him or her from attaining goals or fulfilling desires
- An example is a college student procrastinating about studying and subsequently getting a poor grade on an important exam
Self Defeating Behavior
The process or result of engaging in behaviors without interference or undue influence from other people or external demands
- This refers particularly to behaviors that improve one’s circumstances, including choice making, problem solving, self management, self instruction, and self advocacy
Self Determination
The act of revealing highly private information about one’s self to other people
- In psychotherapy, the revelation and expression by the client of personal, innermost feelings, fantasies, experiences, and aspirations is believed by many to be a requisite for therapeutic change and personal growth
Self Disclosure
An incongruence between different aspects of one’s self concept, particularly between one’s actual self and either the ideal self or the ought self
Self Discrepancy
An individual’s capacity to get effectively to bring about desired results, especially as perceived by the individual
Self Efficacy
Any strategic behavior designed to increase esteem, either self esteem or the esteem of others
- This can take the form of pursuing success or merely distorting events to make them seen to reflect better on the self
Self Enhancement
The desire to think well of oneself and to be well regarded by others
- This motive causes people to prefer favorable, flattering feedback rather than accurate but possibly unfavorable information
Self Enhancement Motive
The degree to which the qualities and characteristics contained in one’s self concept are perceived to be positive
- It reflects a person’s physical self image, view of his or her accomplishments and capabilities, and values and perceived success in living up to them, as well as the ways in which others view and respond to that person
- The more positive the cumulative perception of these qualities and characteristics, the higher one’s self esteem
- A high or reasonable degree of this is considered an important ingredient of mental health, whereas low self esteem and feelings of worthlessness are common depressive symptoms
Self Esteem
A conceptual analysis of group affiliations that assumes that an individual maintains and enhances self esteem by (a) associating with high achieving individuals who excel in areas with low relevance to his or her sense of self worth and (b) avoiding association with high achieving individuals who excel in areas that are personally important to him or her
Self Evaluation Maintenance Model
A belief or expectation that helps to bring about its own fulfillment, as, for example, when a person expects nervousness to impair his or her performance in a job interview or when a teacher’s preconceptions about a student’s ability influence the child’s achievement
Self Fulfilling Prophecy
A strategy of creating obstacles to one’s performance, so that future anticipated failure can be blamed on the obstacle rather than one’s own lack of ability
- If one succeeds despite the handicap, it brings extra credit or glory to the self
- The theory originally was proposed to explain alcohol and drug abuse among seemingly successful individuals
Self Handicapping
A group composed of individuals who meet on a regular basis to help one another cope with a common life problem
- Unlike therapy groups, these are not led by professionals, do not charge a fee for service, and do not place a limit on the number of members
- They provide many benefits that professionals cannot provide, including friendship, emotional support, experiential knowledge, identity, meaningful roles, and a sense of belonging
- Examples of these are Alcoholics Anonymous, Compassionate Friends, and Recovery, Inc
Self Help Group
The process of putting oneself into a trance or trancelike state, sometimes spontaneously but typically through autosuggestion
Self Hypnosis
The process of putting oneself into a trance or trancelike state, sometimes spontaneously but typically through autosuggestion
Self Hypnosis
One’s own view or concept of oneself
- This is a crucial aspect of an individual’s personality that can determine the success of relationships and a sense of general well being
- A negative one is often a cause of dysfunctions and of self abusive, self defeating, or destructive behavior
Self Image
A form of cognitive behavior therapy that aims to modify maladaptive beliefs and cognitions and develop new skills in an individual
- In therapy, the therapist identifies the client’s maladaptive thoughts (eg; “everybody hates me’) and models appropriate behavior while giving spoken constructive self instructions (or self statements)
- The client then copies the behavior while repeating these instructions aloud
Self Instructional Training
An individual’s control of his or her own behavior, particularly regarding the pursuit of a specific objective (eg; weight loss)
- This is usually considered a desirable aspect for the individual personally and within the social setting, but some forms of this may be detrimental to mental and physical health
- Psychotherapy and counseling often seek to provide methods of identifying the latter and modifying them into the former
Self Management
- A method used in behavioral management in which individuals keep a record of their behavior (eg; time spent, place of occurrence, form of the behavior, feelings during performance), especially in connection with efforts to change or regulate the self
- A personality trait reflecting an ability to modify one’s behavior in response to situational pressures, opportunities, and norms
- High self monitors are typically more in tune with the demands of the situation, whereas low self monitors tend to be more in tune with their internal feelings
Self Monitoring
A theory postulating that people often have only limited access to their altitudes, beliefs, traits, or psychological states
- In such cases, people must attempt to infer the nature of these internal cues in a manner similar to the inference processes they use when making judgements about other people (ie; by considering past behaviors)
Self Perception Theory
Any behaviors designed to convey a particular image of, or particular information about, the self to other people
- Some common strategies of this include exemplification (inducing others to regard one as a highly moral, virtuous person), self promotion (highlighting or exaggerating one’s competence and abilities), and supplication (depicting oneself as weak, needy, or dependent)
Self Presentation
Any strategic behavior that is designed to avoid losing esteem, either self esteem or the esteem of others
- This fosters a risk avoidant orientation and is often contrasted with self enhancement
Self Protection
The widespread tendency for individuals to have a superior or enhanced memory for stimuli that relate to the self or self concept
Self Reference Effect
The control of one’s own behavior through the use of self monitoring (keeping a record of behavior), self evaluation assessing the information obtained during self monitoring), and self reinforcement (rewarding oneself for appropriate behavior or for attaining a goal)
- These processes are stressed in behavior therapy
Self Regulation
The rewarding of oneself for appropriate behavior or the achievement of a desired goal
- The self reward may be, for example, buying a treat after studying for an exam
Self Reinforcement
A statement or series of answers to questions provided by an individual as to his or her state, feelings, beliefs, and so forth
- These methods rely on the honesty and self awareness of the participant and are used especially to measure behaviors or traits that cannot easily be directly observed
Self Report
A cognitive framework comprising organized information and beliefs about the self that guides a person’s perception of the world, influencing what information draws the individual’s attention as well as how that information is evaluated and retained
Self Schema
The tendency to interpret events in a way that assigns credit to the self for any success but denies the self’s responsibility for any failure, which is blamed on external factors
- This is regarded as a form of self deception designed to maintain high self esteem
Self Serving Bias
The attainment of knowledge about and insight into one’s characteristics, including attitudes, motives, behavioral tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses
- The achievement of this is one of the major goals of certain forms of psychotherapy
Self Understanding
An individual’s evaluation of himself or herself as a valuable, capable human being deserving of respect and consideration
- Positive feelings of this tend to be associated with a high degree of self acceptance and self esteem
Self Worth
A selective, progressive impairment in semantic memory, leading to difficulties in naming, comprehension of words and their appropriate use in conversation, and appreciation and use of objects
- The syndrome results from focal degeneration of specific regions of the temporal lobes
Semantic Dementia
A technique used to explore the connotative meaning that certain words or concepts have for the individuals being questioned
- Participants are asked to rate the word or concept on a seven point scale with reference to pairs of opposites, such as good bad, beautiful ugly, hot cold, big small, and so on
- Responses are then averaged or summed to arrive at a final index of attitudes
- This procedure is one of the most widely used methods of assessing altitudes
Semantic Differential
Cognitive encoding of new information that focuses on the meaningful aspects of the material as opposed to its perceptual characteristics
- This will usually involve some form of elaboration
Semantic Encoding
The property of language that allows it to represent events, ideas, actions, and objects symbolically, thereby endowing it with the capacity to communicate meaning
Semanticity
Memory for general knowledge or meanings, of the kind that allows people to name and categorize the things they see
- According to some theories, this is a form of declarative memory, that is, information that can be consciously recalled and related
Semantic Memory
A data structure used to capture conceptual relationships
- Created by the artificial intelligence research community, this system has been used in an attempt to model human information storage (particularly the means by which words are connected to meanings and associations in long term memory), with latencies in retrieval times supposedly reflecting the length of the path of the network searched for the required response
Semantic Network
An effect in which the processing of a stimulus is found to be more efficient after the earlier processing of a meaningfully related stimulus, as opposed to an unrelated or perceptually related stimulus
- For example, responses to the word nurse would be faster following doctor than following purse
Semantic Priming
- The study of meaning in language, as opposed to the study of formal relationships (grammar) or sound systems (phonology)
- Aspects of language that have to do with meaning, as distinguished from syntactics
Semantics
A set of three looped tubular channels in the inner ear that detect movements of the head and provide the sense of dynamic equilibrium that is essential for maintaining balance
- They form part of the vestibular apparatus
- The channels are filled with fluid (endolymph) and are oriented roughly at right angles to each other
- Hence they can monitor movements in each of three different planes
- Each canal has an enlarged portion, the ampulla, inside which is a sensory structure called a crista
- This consists of hair cells whose processes are embedded in a gelatinous cap (the cupula)
- When the head moves in a certain plane, endolymph flows through the corresponding canal, displacing the cupola and causing the hairs to bend
- This triggers the hair cells to fire nerve impulses, thus sending messages to the brain about the direction and rate of movement
Semicircular Canals
The study of verbal and nonverbal signs and of the ways in which they communicate meaning within particular sign systems
- Unlike semantics, which restricts itself to the meanings expressed in language, this is concerned with human symbolic activity generally and premised on the view that signs can only generate meanings within a pattern of relationships to other signs
Semiotics
The biological process of growing old, or the period during which this process occurs
Senescence
Associated with advanced age, particularly referring to dementia or any other cognitive or behavioral deterioration relating to old age
Senile
A clump of beta amyloid protein surrounded by degenerated dendrites that is particularly associated with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
- Increased concentration of these in the cerebral cortex of the brain is correlated with the severity of dementia
Senile Plaque
An approach to problems of sexual dysfunction in which people are trained to focus attention on their own natural, biological sensual cues and gradually achieve the freedom to enjoy sensory stimuli
- The procedures involve prescribed body massage exercises designed to give and receive pleasure, first not involving breasts and genitals, and then moving to these areas
- This eliminates performance anxiety about arousal and allows the clients to relax and enjoy the sensual experience of body caressing without the need to achieve erection or orgasm
Sensate Focus
An irreducible unit of experience produced by stimulation of a sensory receptor and the resultant activation of a specific brain center, producing basic awareness of a sound, odor, color, shape, or taste or of temperature, pressure, pain, muscular tension, position of the body, or change in the internal organs associated with such processes as hunger, thirst, nausea, and sexual excitement
Sensation
The tendency to search out and engage in thrilling activities as a method of increasing stimulation and arousal
- Limited to human populations, it typically takes the form of engaging in highly stimulating activities accompanied by a perception of danger, such as skydiving or race car driving
Sensation Seeking
Any of the media through which one gathers information about the external environment or about the state of one’s body in relation to this
- They include the five primary ones - vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell - as well as the ones of pressure, pain, temperature, kinethesis, and equilibrium
- Each of these has its own receptors, responds to characteristic stimuli, and has its own pathways to a specific part of the brain
Sense
A stage in development when an organism can most advantageously acquire necessary skills or characteristics
- For example, in humans the 1st year of life is considered significant for the development of a secure attachment bond
- It is important to note, however, that lack of appropriate growth dependent experiences during this does not permanently and irreversibly impact development, as it would during a critical period, but rather makes the acquisition process outside the period more difficult
Sensitive Period
- The capacity to detect and discriminate
- More specifically, the ability of a cell, tissue, or organism to respond to changes in its external or internal environment: a fundamental property of all living organisms - The probability that a test gives a positive diagnosis given that the individual actually has the condition for which he or she is being tested
Sensitivity
A group process employed in human relations training that is focused on the development of self awareness, productive interpersonal relations, and sensitivity to the feelings, attitudes, and needs of others
- The primary method used in this is free, unstructured discussion with a leader functioning as an observer and facilitator, although other techniques, such as role play, may be used
Sensitivity Training
The increased effectiveness of an eliciting stimulus as a function of its repeated presentation
- Water torture, in which water is dripped incessantly onto a person’s forehead, is a good example
Sensitization
In Piagetian theory, the first major stage of cognitive development, extending from birth through the first 2 years of life
- This is characterized by the development of sensory and motor processes and by the infant’s first knowledge of the world acquired by interacting with the environment
Sensorimotor Stage
Relating to the senses, to sensation, or to a part or all of the neural apparatus and its supporting structures that are involved in any of these
Sensory
The reduction of sensory stimulation to a minimum in the absence of normal contact with the environment
- This may be experimentally induced (eg; via the use of a sensory deprivation chamber) for research purposes or it may occur in a real life situation (eg; in deep sea diving)
- Although short periods of this can be beneficial, extended periods has detrimental effects, causing (among other things) hallucinations, delusions, hypersuggestibility, or panic
Sensory Deprivation
The integration of sensory processes in performing a task, as in maintaining balance using sensory input from both vision and proprioception
Sensory Interaction
Brief storage of information from each of the senses in a relatively unprocessed form beyond the duration of a stimulus, for recoding into another memory (such as short tem memory) or for comprehension
- For instance, this for visual stimuli, called iconic memory, holds a visual image for less than a second, whereas that for auditory stimuli, called echoic memory, retains sounds for a little longer
Sensory Memory
A neuron that receives information from the environment, via specialized receptor cells, und transmit this - in the form of nerve impulses - through synapses with other neurons to the central nervous system
Sensory Neuron
A state in which the senses are overwhelmed with stimuli, to the point that the person is unable to process or respond to all of them
Sensory Overload
The total structure involved in sensation, including the sense organs and their receptors, efferent sensory neurons, and sensory areas in the cerebral cortex at which these tracts terminate
- There are separate systems for each of the senses
1. Auditory System
2. Gustatory System
3. Olfactory System
4. Somatosensory System
5. Visual System
6. Vestibular System
Sensory System
A language ability test in which the participant must complete an unfinished sentence by filling in the specific missing word or phrase
- However, the test is used more often to evaluate personality, in which case the participant is presented with an introductory phrase to which he or she may respond in any way
- An example might be “Today I an in a ____ mood”
Sentence Completion Test
An anxiety disorder occurring in childhood or adoresence that is characterized by developmentally inappropriate, persistent, and excessive anxiety about separation from the home or from major attachment figures
- Other features may include worry about harm coming to attachment figures, school refusal, fear of being alone, nightmares, and repeated complaints of physical symptoms (eg; headaches, stomachaches) associated with anticipated separation
Separation Anxiety Disorder
The developmental phase in which the infant gradually differentiates himself or herself from the mother, develops awareness of his or her separate identity, and attains relatively autonomous status
Separation Individuation
A residual effect of an illness or injury, or of an unhealthy or unstable mental condition, often (but not necessarily) in the form of persistent or permanent impairment
- For example, flashbacks may be this of traumatic stress
Sequela
In within subjects designs, the effect of the treatments being administered in a particular sequence (eg; the sequence ABC versus ACB, versus BCA, and so forth)
- This is often confused with the order effect
Sequence Effect
A class of statistical procedures in which a decision as to whether to continue collecting data is made as the experiment progresses
- This approach is contrasted with studies in which the sample size is determined in advance and data are not analyzed until the entire sample is collected
Sequential Analysis
Any quasi experimental research in which participants of different ages are compared repeatedly over time to elucidate or untangle causes of developmental change
- These thus combine aspects of cross sectional designs, longitudinal designs, and potentially time lag designs into a single study so as to maximize the benefits of each approach while minimizing the weaknesses
- A cross sequential design provides an example of this type of research scheme
Sequential Design
The learning of a sequence of items or responses in the precise order of their presentation
- For example, actors must learn their lines in a sequence
Serial Learning
A graphic representation of the number of items that can be remembered as a function of the order in which they were presented
- Items at the beginning and end of the list are usually remembered best, thus producing a U shaped memory curve
Serial Position Curve
The effect of an item’s position in a list of items to be learned on how well it is remembered
- The classic type shows best recall of the first items from a list (primacy effect) and good recall of the list items (recency effect), while the middle items are less well recalled
Serial Position Effect
Information processing in which only one sequence of processing operations is carried on at a time
- Those who hold that the human information processing system operates in this way argue that the mind’s apparent ability to carry on different cognitive functions simultaneously is explained by rapid shifts between different information sources
Serial Processing
A memory research technique in which one person reads a set of information before reproducing it for another person, who then reproduces it for a third person, who does the same for a fourth, and so on
- This is widely regarded as a model for the social communication of retained information, and as such is an important experimental tool in the analysis of rumor and gossip transmission, stereotype formation, and similar phenomenon
Serial Reproduction
The process of arranging a collection of items into a specific order (series) on the basis of a particular dimension (eg; size)
- According to Piagetian theory, this ability is necessary for understanding the concepts of number, time, and measurement and is acquired by children during the concrete operational stage
Seriation
Responding to, releasing, or otherwise involving serotonin
- For example, this type of neuron is one that employs serotonin as a neurotransmitter
Serotonergic
A common monoamine neurotransmitter in the brain and other parts of the central nervous system, also found in the gastrointestinal tract, in smooth muscles of the cardiovascular and bronchial systems, and in blood platelets
- It is synthesized from the dietary amino acid L-tryptophan, and in the pineal gland it is converted to melatonin
- This has roles in numerous bioregulatory processes, including mood, appetite, pain, and sleep, and is implicated in many psychopathological conditions
Serotonin
A temporary readiness to respond in a certain way to a specific situation or stimulus
- For example, a sprinter gets set to run when the starting gun fires (a motor set); a parent is set to hear his or her baby cry from the next room (a perceptual set); a poker player is set to use a tactic that has been successful in other games (a mental set)
Set
As applied to physiological and behavioral systems, the preferred level of functioning of an organism or of a system within an organism
- When this is exceeded (ie; when physiological responses become higher than this), compensatory events take place to reduce functioning; when this is not reached, compensatory processes take place to help the organism or system reach it
Set Point
- The traits that distinguish between males and females
- This refers especially to physical and biological traits, whereas gender refers especially to social or cultural traits, although the distinction between the two terms is not regularly observed - The physiological and psychological processes related to procreation and erotic pleasure
Sex
Any of the traits associated with sex identity
- Primary ones (eg; testes in males, ovaries in females) are directly involved in reproduction of the species
- Secondary ones are features not directly concerned with reproduction, such as voice quality, facial hair, and breast size
Sex Characteristic
A chromosome that determines the sex of an individual
- Humans and other mammals have two: the X chromosome, which carries genes for certain sexual traits and occurs in both females and males; and the smaller Y chromosome, which is normally found only in males
- Disease genes that are carried only on this (usually the X chromosome) are responsible for sex linked inherited conditions
Sex Chromosome
The differences in physical features between males and females
- These include differences in brain structures as well as differences in primary and secondary sex characteristics
- The term is also used to denote what are more properly called gender differences, the differences between males and females in the way they behave and think
Sex Differences
Any of the hormones that stimulate various reproductive functions
- Primary sources of these are the male and female gonads (ie; testis and ovary), which are stimulated to produce these by the pituitary hormones follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone
- The principal male ones (androgens) include testosterone; female ones include the estrogens and progesterone
Sex Hormone
Discriminatory and prejudicial beliefs and practices directed against one of the two sexes, usually women
- This is associated with acceptance of sex role stereotypes and can occur at multiple levels: individual, organizational, institutional, and cultural
- It may be overt, involving the open endorsement of sexist beliefs or attitudes; covert, involving the tendency to hide sexist beliefs or attitudes and reveal them only when it is believed that one will not suffer publicly for them; or subtle, involving unequal treatment that may not be noticed because it is part of everyday behavior or perceived to be of low importance
Sexism
Describing a gene that is located on one of the sex chromosomes, usually the X chromosome (X linked), or a trait determined by such a gene
- These diseases, such as hemophilia, generally affect only males, because the defective gene is usually a recessive allele
- In females, who have two X chromosomes, it would be masked by the normal, dominant allele on the other X chromosome
- In males, with just a single X chromosome, any of these defective alleles are expressed
Sex Linked
The behavior and altitudinal patterns characteristically associated with being male or female as defined in a given society
- These thus reflect the interaction between biological heritage and the pressures of socialization, and individuals differ greatly in the extent to which they manifest typical behavior of this
Sex Role
Violation or exploitation by sexual means
- Although the term typically is used with reference to any sexual contact between adults and children, this can also occur in other relationships of trust
Sexual Abuse
Negative emotional reactions (eg; anxiety, fear, or disgust) to sexual activity, leading to active avoidance of it and causing distress in the individual or his or her partner
Sexual Aversion Disorder
The existence within a species of males and females that differ distinctly from each other in form
Sexual Dimorphism
Any impairment of sexual function or behavior
- These include sexual dysfunction and paraphilias
Sexual Disorder
A category of sexual disorders characterized by problems in one or more phases of the sexual response cycle
- These include hypoactive sexual desire disorder, sexual aversion disorder, female sexual arousal disorder, male erectile disorder, premature ejaculation, male orgasmic disorder, female orgasmic disorder, dyspareunia, and vaginismus
Sexual Dysfunction
Conduct of a sexual nature that is unwelcome or considered offensive, particularly in the workplace
- According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), there are two forms of this: quid pro quo, compliance with sexual demands in return for positive employment consequences, and behavior that makes for a hostile work environment
Sexual Harassment
The individual’s internal identification with heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual preference, that is, with his or her sexual orientation
Sexual Identity
In psychoanalytic theory, the instinct comprising all the erotic drives and sublimations of such drives
- It includes not only genital sex, but also anal and oral manifestations and the channeling of erotic energy into artistic, scientific, and other pursuits
- In his later formulations, Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) saw this as part of a wider life instinct that also included the self preservative impulses of hunger, thirst, and elimination
Sexual Instinct
- All aspects of sexual behavior, including gender identity, orientation, attitudes, and activity as well as interest in and the capacity to derive pleasure from such behavior
- In psychoanalytic theory, see infantile sexuality
Sexuality
A nucleus (mass of cell bodies) of the central nervous system that differs in size between males and females
- In humans, for example, a nucleus in the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus that synthesizes gonadotropin releasing hormone tends to be larger and more active in males then in females because gonadotropin release is continuous (it is cyclical in females)
Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus
An infection transmitted by sexual activity
- Numerous ones have been identified, including those caused by viruses (eg; hepatitis B, herpes, and HIV) and those caused by bacteria (eg; chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis)
Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD)
A paraphilia in which sexual interest and arousal is repeatedly or exclusively achieved through being humiliated, bound, beaten, or otherwise made to suffer physical harm or threat to life
Sexual Masochism
One’s enduring sexual attraction to male partners, female partners, or both
- This may be heterosexual, same sex (gay or lesbian), or bisexual
Sexual Orientation
A four stage cycle of sexual response that is exhibited by both men and women, differing only in aspects determined by male or female anatomy
- The stages include the arousal (or excitement) phase; the plateau phase, marked by penile erection in men and vaginal lubrication in women; the orgasmic phase, marked by ejaculation in men and orgasm in women; and the resolution phase
Sexual Response Cycle
A paraphilia in which sexual excitement is achieved by intentional infliction of physical or psychological suffering on another person
- When practiced with nenconsenting partners, the severity of the acts often increases over time
Sexual Sadism
A theoretical mechanism for the evolution of anatomical and behavioral differences between males and females, based on the selection of mates
Sexual Selection
In cognitive testing, a task in which a participant repeats aloud a message word for word at the same time that the message is being presented, often with other stimuli being presented in the background
- It is mainly used in studies of attention
Shadowing
The neurological consequences of a form of child abuse in which a small child or infant is repeatedly shaken
- The shaking causes diffuse, widespread damage to the brain; in severe cases it may cause death
Shaken Baby Syndrome
Significant reduction in appropriate emotional responses to situations and events
Shallow Affect
Cognitive processing of a stimulus that focus on its superficial, perceptual characteristics rather than its meaning
- It is considered that processing at this shallow level produces weaker, shorter lasting memories than deep processing
Shallow Processing
A highly unpleasant self conscious emotion arising from the sense of there being something dishonorable, ridiculous, immodest, or indecorous in one’s conduct or circumstances
- It is typically characterized by withdrawal from social intercourse but may also motivate defensive, retaliative anger
- Psychological research consistently reports a relationship between proneness to this and a whole host of psychological symptoms, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, subclinical sociopathy, and low self esteem
Shame
Sudden aggressive behavior and motor activity occurring disproportionally in response to a weak or relatively innocuous stimulus
- This initially was observed by researchers in the 1920s: following surgical decortication, cats responded to the touch of a hand by growling, spitting, lashing the tail, arching the back, protracting the claws, erecting the hairs, jerking the limbs, rapidly moving the head from side to side, and attempting to bite
- It subsequently has been demonstrated to occur with direct electrical stimulation of the limbic system as well
- Additionally, this has been seen in some pathological human conditions involving similar damage to the cerebral cortex that removes its inhibitory influence over the activities of the hypothalamus and other deeper, more primitive structures
Sham Rage
In experiments using surgical interventions, surgery that functions as a control because it mimics the features of the experimental surgery but does not result in the alteration or removal of any bodily structures, that is, it does not have the systemic effects of the experimental procedure
Sham Surgery
A type of perceptual constancy in which an object is perceived as having the same shape when viewed at different angles
- For example, a plate is still perceived as circular despite changes in its appearance when viewed from above, below, the side, and so forth
Shape Constancy
The production of new forms of operant behavior by reinforcement of successive approximations to the behavior
Shaping
In behavioral genetics analyses, those aspects of an environment that individuals living together (eg; biologically related individuals in a family household) share and that therefore cause them to become more similar to each other than would be expected on the basis of genetic influences alone
- Examples of these factors include parental child rearing style, divorce, or family income and related variables
Shared Environment
A rare disorder in which the essential feature is an identical or similar delusion that develops in an individual who is involved with another individual who already has a psychotic disorder with prominent delusions
- This can involve many people (eg; an entire family), but is most commonly seen in relationships of only two, in which case it is known as folie à deux
Shared Psychotic Disorder
A work oriented rehabilitation facility for individuals with disabilities that provides a controlled, noncompetitive, supportive working environment and individually designed work settings, using work experience and related services to assist individuals with disabilities to achieve specific vocational goals
Sheltered Workshop
A temporary information storage system, enabling one to retain, reproduce, recognize, or recall a limited amount of material after a period of about 10-30s
- This is often theorized to be separate from long term memory, and the two are the components of the dual store model of memory
Short Term Memory (STM)
Competition among two or more children in a family for the attention, approval, or affection of one or both parents or for other recognition or rewards, for example, in sports or school grades
Sibling Rivalry
The behavior expected of a person who is physically ill, mentally ill, or injured
- Such expectations can be the individual’s own or those of the family, the community, or society in general
- They influence both how the person behaves and how others will react to him or her
- For instance, people with this are expected to cooperate with caregivers and to want to get well but are also provided with an exemption from normal obligations
Sick Role
Any reaction secondary to the intended therapeutic effect that may occur following administration of a drug or other treatment
- Often these are undesirable but tolerable (eg; headache or fatigue), although more serious ones (eg; liver failure, seizures) may also occur
Side Effect
- An objective, observable indication of a disorder or disease
- In linguistics and semiotics, anything that conveys meaning; this may be either verbal (eg; a spoken or written word) or nonverbal (eg; a hairstyle)
- The term is now mainly associated with approaches deriving from the theory of Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 - 1913), who emphasized the arbitrary nature of linguistic ones (ie; the lack of any necessary relationship between the material signifier and the idea signified)
- The application of this idea to nonlinguistic sign systems provided the basic method of structuralism in the social sciences
Sign
A body of concepts and techniques from communication theory, electrical engineering, and decision theory that were applied to auditory and visual psychophysics in the late 1950s and are now widely used in many areas of psychology
- This has provided a valuable theoretical framework for describing perceptual and other aspects of cognition and for quantitatively relating psychophysical phenomena to findings from sensory physiology
- A key notion of this is that human performance in many tasks is limited by variability in the internal representation of stimuli due to internal or external noise
Signal Detection Theory (SDT)
The ratio of signal power (intensity) to noise power, usually expressed in decibels
- When the signal is speech, it is called the speech to noise ratio
Signal to Noise Ratio
The degree or extent to which something is meaningful or of consequence
- In mathematics and related fields, the term denotes statistical significance
Significance
In null hypothesis significance testing, the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is in fact true (ie; of making a Type I error)
- It is set at some criterion, usually .01 or .05, and the actual value for a particular test is denoted p
- Thus when the p value is less than the criterion, the null hypothesis is rejected
Significance Level
A set of procedures that are used to differentiate between two models
- In the most common form of this, one model (the null hypothesis) specifies a condition in which the treatment being studied has no effect and the other model (the alternative hypothesis) specifies that the treatment has some effect
Significance Testing
The situation in which a significance testing procedure indicates that the two models being compared are legitimately different and do not reflect chance variation
Significant Difference
Any individual who has a profound influence on a person, particularly his or her self image and socialization
- Although the term most often denotes a spouse or other person with whom one has a committed sexual relationship, it is also used to refer to parents, peers, and others
Significant Other
Any system of communication in which signs formed by hand configuration and movement are used instead of spoken language
- The term refers particularly to the system used by people who are deaf or have severe hearing loss, which has its own syntax and methods of conveying nuances of feeling and emotion and is now accepted by most linguists as exhibiting the full set of defining characteristics of human oral aural language
Sign Language
A nonparametric test of a hypothesis concerning the median of a distribution
- It is commonly used to test the hypothesis that the median difference in matched pairs is zero
Sign Test
One of the gestalt principles of organization
- It states that people tend to organize objects with similar qualities into a perceptual group and interpret them as a whole
Similarity
A neuron in the striate cortex that has a receptive field consisting of an elongated center region and two elongated flanking regions
- The response of this to stimulation in the center of the receptive field is the opposite of its response to stimulation in the flanking zones
- This means that this responds best to an edge or a bar of a particular width and with a particular direction and location in the visual field
Simple Cell
In an experimental design involving multiple independent variables, the consistent total effect on a dependent variable of a particular level (quantity, magnitude, or category) of one independent variable at a particular level of another independent variable
Simple Effect
The most basic form of random sampling, in which the participants are selected individually by the use of a table of random digits or a random number generator
Simple Random Sampling
The total time that elapses between the presentation of a stimulus and the occurrence of a response in a task that requires a participant to make an elementary response (eg; pressing a key) whenever a stimulus (such as a light or tone) is presented
- The individual makes just a single response whenever the only possible stimulus is presented
Simple Reaction Time
- An experimental method used to investigate the behavior and psychological processes and functioning of individuals in social and other environments, often those to which investigators cannot easily gain access, by reproducing those environments in a realistic way
- The artificial creation of experiment like data through the use of a mathematical or computer model of behavior or data
- Resemblance or imitation, particularly the mimicking of symptoms of one disorder by another or the faking of an illness
Simulation
A Pavlovian conditioning technique in which the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time
Simultaneous Conditioning
An experimental design involving only a single participant or other sampling unit
- The individual serves as his or her own control, and typically a number of observations are obtained at different times over the course of treatment
Single Case Design
The ascription of one’s own or another’s behavior, an event, or an outcome to causes outside the person concerned, such as luck, pressure from other people, or external circumstances
Situational Attribution
