W Flashcards
A presurgical and diagnostic technique for determining hemispheric functions, typically memory and language, by injecting a small dose of a barbiturate into an internal carotid artery
- While each hemisphere is separately anesthetized, various cognitive tasks are administered; impairments on these tasks suggest that these functions are represented in the anesthetized hemisphere [Juhn Atsushi Wada (1924 - ), Japanese born Canadian neurosurgeon]
Wada Test
A group of research participants that will receive the same intervention given to the experimental groups but at a later time, thus functioning as a control group in the interim
Waiting List Control Group
A reasoning task involving four cards, each with a letter on one side and a number on the other, and a rule that is supposed to govern their correlation (eg; if the letter is a vowel, then the number should be even)
- One side of each card is shown (eg; the cards might show E D 3 8), and the solver is asked which cards must be turned over to determine if the rule has been followed
- Also called four card problem [developed in 1966 by Peter Cathcart Wason (1924 - 2003), British psychologist]
Wason Selection Task
The distance between successive peaks in a wave motion of a given frequency, such as a sound wave or a wave of electromagnetic radiation
- This is equal to the speed of propagation of the wave motion divided by its frequency
Wavelength
Increased hostility or a heightened inclination to aggression produced by the mere sight of a weapon
- If provoked, individuals who have previously been exposed to the sight of a weapon will behave more aggressively than those who have not
- Subsequent research has shown that this aggressive behavior is primed by the sight of weapons and that any other object associated with aggression can have the same effect
Weapons Effect
A theory of biological aging suggesting that aging results from an accumulation of damage to cells, tissues, and organs in the body caused by toxins in our diet and by environmental agents
- This leads to the weakening and eventual death of the cells, tissues, and organs
Wear and Tear Theory of Aging
A mathematical model of the difference threshold, stating that the magnitude needed to detect physical change in a stimulus is proportional to the absolute magnitude of that stimulus
- Thus the more intense the stimulus, the greater the change that must be made in it to be noticed
- This can be expressed as ^I/I = k, where ^I is the difference threshold, I is the original stimulus magnitude, and k is a constant called weber’s fraction [proposed in 1834 by Ernst Weber (1795 - 1878), German physiologist and psychophysicist]
Weber’s Law
An intelligence test originally published in 1955
- A modification and replacement of the Wechsler Bellevue Intelligence Scale, this currently includes seven verbal subtests (information, comprehension, arithmetic, similarities, digit span, vocabulary, letter number sequencing) and seven performance subtests (digit symbol, picture completion, block design, picture arrangement, object assembly, matrix reasoning, symbol search)
- The most recent version his the WAIS III, published in 1997 [David Wechsler (1896 - 1981), Romanian born U.S. psychologist]
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
A children’s intelligence test developed initially in 1949
- It currently includes 10 core subtests (similarities, vocabulary, comprehension, block design, picture concepts, matrix reasoning, digit span, letter number sequencing, coding, symbol search) and 5 supplemental subtests (word reasoning, information, picture completion, arithmetic, cancellation) that measure verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, processing speed, and working memory capabilities
- The most recent version of the test is the WISC-IV, published in 2003 [David Wechsler]
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
An intelligence test for young children that currently includes seven verbal subtests (information, vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, word reasoning, similarities, comprehension, picture naming) and seven performance subtests (picture completion, picture concepts, block design, object assembly, matrix reasoning, symbol search, coding)
- This was originally published in 1967; the most recent version is the WPPSI-III, published in 2002 [David Wechsler]
Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI)
A coefficient or multiplier used in an equation or statistical investigation and applied to a particular variable to reflect the contribution to the data
- The process of doing this is called weighting
Weight
A state of happiness, contentment, low levels of distress, overall good physical and mental health and outlook, or good quality
Wellbeing
A dynamic state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing
- Some researchers and clinicians have viewed this as the result of four key factors over which an individual has some control: biology (ie; body condition and fitness), environment, lifestyle, and health care management
- The wellness concept is the notion that individual health care and health care programs should actively involve the promotion of good mental and physical health rather than merely being concerned with the prevention and treatment of illnness and disease
Wellness
A loss of the ability to comprehend sounds or speech auditory amnesia), and in particular to understand or repeat spoken language and to name objects or qualities (anomia)
- The condition is a result of brain damage and may be associated with other disorders of communication, including alexia, acalculia, or agraphia [Karl Wernicke (1848 - 1904), German neurologist]
Wernicke’s Aphasia
A region in the posterior temporal gyrus of the left hemisphere of the cerebrum in the brain, containing nerve tissue associated with the interpretation of sounds [Karl Wernicke, who reported, in 1874, a lack of comprehension of speech in patients who had suffered a brain lesion in that area]
Wernicke’s Area
