A

n. Unfavorable comparison to some other person or some standard. Henry Murray suggested abasement...

n. The state of being unable to walk due to an absence or deficiency in motor coordination. There...

n. 1. A deviation from what is normal or expected. 2. A temporary deviation in behavior by an ind...

n. A capacity to accomplish a task at the present moment. This implies that any learning or devel...

n. Any test which measures a mental or physical competence to perform certain actions and is used...

n. The surgical removal of part of an organ. Ablation of portions of the brain was often used as ...

n. 1. A perceptual distortion that occurs when a large surface is suddenly illuminated such that ...

adj. Differing from the usual, expected, or mean. In psychology this term is used both in the sta...

n. The study of persons whose behavior causes significant distress to them or others; the behavio...

n. The early termination of a pregnancy by means of either a surgical procedure or biological pro...

n. A psychoanalytic term used to describe the release of anxiety and tension after completely rem...

n. In psychophysics absolute error refers to the difference between a consensual measurement and ...

n. The lowest level of a sensory stimulus to which a subject can give any indication of perceptio...

n. The human capacity to recognize and name any given pure tone without reference to another tone...

n. 1. A brief period while an electric impulse is traveling down the axon in which the neuron is ...

n. Another name for a ratio scale. An absolute scale has a meaningful zero point, unlike nominal,...

n. A cognitive error in which events are interpreted in total or absolute ways; thus failure at a...

n. The lowest level of a sensory stimulus to which a subject can give any indication of perceptio...

n. The difference between a value and zero regardless of whether the difference is above or below...

n. 1. The complete absence of a thing or a characteristic. 2. In the measurement of temperature a...

n. The capacity to use conceptual categories to classify objects or ideas by means of their parti...

n. The capacity to make meaning out of experience as opposed to the kind of intelligence that all...

n. Abuse refers to harmful and/or injurious treatment by one individual toward another. It is com...

n. An experimental method in psychophysics in which two stimuli (A and B) that are different are ...

n. Tests designed to measure knowledge acquisition after a specific course of study. Because the ...

n. Tests designed to measure an individual’s potential for learning. In contrast to academic achi...

n. Learning disorders are diagnosed when an individual’s achievement, as determined by the admini...

n. Academic underachievement results when a student is not academically performing to the best of...

n. Impairment in numerical abilities as a result of brain pathology. It is also known as acquired...

n. Knowledge accessibility is the ease with which a unit of previously acquired knowledge comes t...

n. A unit of knowledge cannot be activated, or brought to a person’s mind, unless it is present i...

n. The 11th of the 12 pairs of nerves which leave the skull independently of the spinal cord. The...

n. A term used by Jean Piaget to explain one way in which we confront new information. Accommodat...

n. Accountability is the implicit or explicit pressure to justify one’s beliefs and actions to ot...

n. Acculturation refers to the process of change in a person as a result of extended contact with...

n. Stress caused among migrants or other long-term sojourners by having to deal with a culture di...

n. A need or desire to make no or few errors in accomplishing a task. This is important to subjec...

n. A test in which the score is derived from the accuracy of answers rather than from the speed a...

n. (ACh) The first neurotransmitter to be scientifically identified. ACh is the primary neurotran...

n. (AChE) The enzyme present at neuromuscular synaptic junctions, in the parasympathetic system a...

n. A desire to achieve social status, recognition, and rewards through the accomplishment of diff...

n. An inferred drive to accomplish difficult tasks at a high standard of competence and overcomin...

n. An inferred drive to accomplish difficult tasks at a high standard of competence and overcomin...

n. Any test which measures a mental or physical competence to perform certain actions and is used...

n. A person or other organism that is able to see no color and is unable to distinguish either co...

adj. 1. Without color (hue) or saturation, containing only black, white, and shades of gray. 2. T...

n. 1. Eyes are able to see light at a lower level than they can see the color of light. The achro...

n. 1. Lack of both hue and saturation of color. 2. Total color blindness; in human beings it is a...

n. Inability to distinguish colors (color blindness). It is also known as monochromatism. Congeni...

adj. Of or about sound or pressure waves in air or other mediums.

n. Any confusion in perception or memory related to similarities in sound, as in hearing or remem...

n. 1. Any acoustic characteristic of speech that is used in understanding what has been said. As ...

n. Any device or mechanism that blocks or selectively deadens some sounds while allowing others t...

n. The tendency to react to one sound as one has previously learned to react to another, similar ...

n. Also known as the vestibulocochlear or auditory nerve is nerve VIII of the 12 cranial nerves. ...

n. An inferred memory that contains all sound information heard within the last second or so whic...

n. A tendency to go along with what one believes to be the opinion or desire of others. In testin...

n. In learning theory it is usually assumed that organisms are born with some drives to act. Driv...

n. As opposed to genetic dyslexia, acquired dyslexia is some major disturbance in reading capacit...

n. Usually a synonym for /earning, as in the acquisition of a behavior. Gaining or incorporating ...

n. A trial in a learning experiment in which stimuli are presented which are intended to lead the...

n. A chronic disease caused by excessive production of growth hormone in the pituitary gland lead...

n. Chronic pain or numbness in the hands and feet usually described as tingling or pins and needl...

n. In psychoanalysis acting on an impulse instead of reporting it during the course of treatmen...

n. 1. Any process of doing something usually involving complex motor behaviors intended to accomp...

n. A change in voltage potential across the surface membrane of the axon of a neuron caused by an...

n. Applied research in the form of use of research techniques in programs of social action in ord...

n. A theory of emotion in which physiological arousal is the key element which is given direction...

n. A form of psychoanalysis in which the therapist is more active in offering interpretations tha...

n. Engaging in physical activity so as to avoid punishment. A dog may jump over a barrier to avoi...

n. In learning experiments, putting an animal in a situation in which it must act in order to avo...

n. The words a person actually uses in normal speech or writing as opposed to the words a person ...

n. A drum usually made of thin bars or wire which is suspended horizontally so that an animal may...

n. In attribution theory, this is a pair of biases in which the observer tends to attribute the a...

n. The predictable difference in attribution of motivation for behavior by actors and observers. ...

n. In psychoanalysis, anxiety and maladaptive behavior that arise from pressures in the real worl...

n. The person as he or she actually is rather than as he or she believes himself/herself to be. I...

n. The capacity to distinguish fine details and small differences. This term is usually used with...

n. The capacity to hear very weak sounds and to make fine distinctions and notice small differenc...

n. A grating of black bars on a white background such that both the width of the bars and the wid...

n. The capacity to distinguish fine details and small differences in one of the five senses. For ...

n. The capacity to distinguish fine details and notice small differences in light patterns. For e...

n. An ancient Chinese technique of inserting very thin metal needles into the body at precise poi...

n. Pain which appears relatively quickly and does not last a very long time. Acute pain is oppose...

n. A brief period of one of the sorts of psychotic behaviors usually associated with schizophreni...

n. Acute stress disorder (ASD) was first included as an anxiety disorder in the fourth edition of...

n. Anxiety and inappropriate physical arousal which appear shortly after an event which is stress...

n. Adaptation is an individual or group’s ability to process new or modified information and the ...

n. A theoretical level of adaptation of a single dimension of a sensory system against which new ...

n. A theory of sensory contexts developed by Harry Helson in which background stimulation provide...

n. Alteration of a sensory or learning system to a particular stimulus so that the stimulus produ...

n. A three-stage description of reaction to continuing stress in which there is an immediate alar...

n. A testing process in which each item, after an initial set of items, is selected on the basis ...

► See ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

n. A dependence on a drug or other substance, especially one in which the person feels pleasure o...

n. A color composed of a mixture of primary colors to produce a noticeably different mixed color ...

n. A mental event in which a person mentally adds an action to what has actually occurred. For ex...

n. A statistical or other mathematical model in which multiple variables are used to predict anot...

n. 1. In computer software an address mode is the manner in which the structure or architecture o...

n. One of four bases which compose all deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), wh...

n. The front or anterior portion of the pituitary gland.

n. (ATP) A nucleotide synthesized in the mitochondria of all living cells which functions to stor...

n. An enzyme which begins the conversion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) into cyclic adenosine mo...

n. Anything which provokes a response in a sensory organ. The correct kind of stimulus of an appr...

n. Difficulty or inability to perform rapid rhythmic alternate movements such as tapping or drumm...

adj. Of or relating to fat or fatty tissue in the body. Adipose tissue makes up structures in mam...

n. The absence of thirst or refraining from drinking. Chronic adipsia is sometimes produced by le...

n. 1. Any list of adjectives with whose accuracy in describing a user agrees or disagrees, which ...

n. Adaptation to function better in a particular environment. Changing thought or actions to inte...

n. An unusually strong reaction to a specific external source of stress that impairs functioning ...

n. An experimental method used in psychophysics to determine perceptual thresholds, in which a su...

adj. Of or relating to Alfred Adler (18701937) or the psychological system or therapeutic methods...

n. The psychological system developed by Alfred Adler (1870-1937), in which it is assumed that hu...

n. The psychotherapy techniques developed by Alfred Alder (1870-1937), in which a person is urged...

n. The period of transition from childhood to adulthood and all the physical, mental, social, and...

n. The set of physical, mental, social, and cultural changes that mark the period of transition f...

n. The process of forming a relatively stable sense of self including commitment to social and se...

n. A method used in trying to distinguish between the effects of genetics and environment in whic...

n. The external portion of the adrenal gland produces mineralocorticosteroids, androgens, and glu...

n. Located atop (ad) the kidney (renal), the adrenal gland is composed of the adrenal cortex and ...

n. A hormone (C9H13NO3) and neurotransmitter created in the adrenal glands which acts primarily a...

n. The internal portion of the adrenal gland, which secretes the catecholamine hormones epinephri...

n. Also known as catecholaminergic neurons in neural transmission. The transmitters in these neur...

n. A hormone produced in the anterior portion of the pituitary gland. ACTH stimulates neurons in ...

n. A structured interview designed for use with adults and particularly with parents to assess th...

n. 1. The field of study within psychology addressing changes in human functioning across the dec...

n. The period in which physical and mental growth slows and nears its peak. This point is quite v...

n. 1. In psychometrics, intelligence from the point at which growth in intelligence becomes very ...

n. Reward delivered independently of any response by the subject. This can lead to superstitious ...

n. The swallowing of air. In humans it is a nervous habit which can result in belching and stomac...

n. A device for measuring sensitivity to pressure. It can measure sensitivity by total pressure n...

► See ETIOLOGY

n. A transient neurophysiological response to a stimulus that excites a coordinated system of b...

n. Facial expressions, gestures, postures, or other bodily movements that demonstrate an emotiona...

n. A theory of the relationship between emotional states and cognition or judgment in which it is...

n. The idea that persons are comfortable when their attitudes are consistent with the information...

n. Any of several mental disorders whose primary characteristic is extreme or pathologically unch...

n. A prediction of how one will feel should a particular course of events occur. As an example, o...

n. 1. The level of arousal or experience of an emotion. One of the three major dimensions of emot...

n. A hypothesis that basic emotional responses can occur with minimal stimulation and outside con...

n. The presentation of emotion laden stimuli in an attempt to affect or control subsequent reacti...

adj. Leading to the center, as some nerve fibers send impulses toward the central nervous system ...

n. 1. A sense of joining or social connection. 2. A need to seek and enjoy close and cooperative ...

n. A need to seek and enjoy close and cooperative relationships with others and to adhere to and ...

n. An environmental resource allowing or stimulating an organism to interact with the environment...

n. Any effect that lasts longer than the cause and particularly in a sensory system. Thus the aft...

n. A visual perception after the actual stimulus is gone which is usually in attenuated or altere...

n. The perception of motion following fixating the eyes on moving objects such that motion in the...

► See NEGATIVE AFTERIMAGE

► See POSITIVE AFTERIMAGE

n. Any sensory perception that persists after the stimulus for the sensation has gone. Afterimage...

n. The most common of numerous ways to define age. Chronological age is measured in units of time...

n. A measure of one's development expressed in terms of age norms. Common units of developmental ...

n. A raw score that corresponds to the chronological age of the norm group who obtained a similar...

n. Level of intellectual development as measured through a range of cognitive tasks and through c...

n. Agents are actors who shape their environments, affect their surroundings, and simply do thing...

n. Age scales group measurement items according to the age at which the average test taker can co...

n. In psychometrics a score on a test of skill or ability with reference to the average age at wh...

n. Disturbance in taste recognition. When there is only a partial disturbance in taste recognitio...

n. 1. A collection of several individual parts into a whole. 2. The process of collecting parts i...

n. A general term for behavior with the intention of harming another or controlling another for o...

n. Behavior with the intention of harming another or controlling another for one’s own needs and ...

n. Behavior with the intention of harming another or controlling another for one's own needs and ...

n. Behavior with the intention of harming another or controlling another for one's own needs and ...

n. In naturalistic studies of animal behavior, hostile and/or threatening actions taken toward an...

n. A trait or characteristics of acting with the intention of harming another or controlling anot...

n. The relationship between performance on tests of ability and chronological age through adultho...

n. Behavior changes associated with aging in the absence of disease are commonly linked to princi...

n. A prolonged period of sadness, gloominess, pessimistic beliefs, belief in one’s helplessness a...

n. A state characterized by anxiety manifest in pacing, fidgeting, wringing one’s hands, or perfo...

n. Inability to recognize and understand external information in the absence of decreased sensory...

n. (Greek agon = contest). In neuropharmacology, a drug which facilitates synaptic transmission a...

n. An irrational and generalized fear of being in open places or of leaving one’s home, being in ...

n. Oral expressive impairment characterized by short, structurally simple utterances lacking morp...

n. Impairment in the ability to write usually due to neurological damage and usually to recognize...

n. Agreeableness is one of the dimensions of the five factor model. It contrasts individuals who ...

n. Insomnia or disturbance in normal sleep. Agrypnia includes difficulty in falling asleep, diffi...

n. The subjective experience in the moment of achieving an insight. It has been described as a fl...

n. A state of being in which pleasure and interest are lacking. It often occurs in depression and...

n. Cognitive impairment attributable to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV directly invades ...

n. A soundproof cabinet with a large window, air conditioning, and a moving sheet to remove waste...

n. Inability to initiate voluntary movements. Akinetic mutism is a condition in which the person ...

n. Type of apraxia characterized by the inability to move spontaneously. - AA ►See also APRAXIA

n. The first stage in the general adaptation to stress syndrome during which a person experiences...

n. The degree to which a surface reflects light, determined by the ratio of light falling on the ...

n. The use of alcohol in a manner that produces significant negative consequences for an individu...

n. Usually known as Korsakoff's psychosis or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, it is a disproportionat...

n. Physical addiction to alcohol such that larger doses are needed to attain the same effects and...

n. A person who has used alcohol excessively to the point of having a well-formed syndrome of pat...

n. Dementia produced by excessive alcohol use. A chronic state of deliria marked by physical trem...

n. Psychotic state produced by alcohol intoxication. This is usually a symptom of nervous system ...

n. The state of being drunk or having had one’s normal control mechanisms noticeably affected by ...

n. The syndrome of predictable symptoms deriving from abuse of alcohol. These include addiction, ...

n. Short-term abuse of alcohol, as in binge drinking or situational drunkenness that significantl...

n. Long-term abuse of alcohol that significantly interferes with an individual's capacity to func...

n. The set of disorders related to alcohol abuse defined by the DSM-IV-TR. These include alcoho...

n. The life threatening syndrome of physical and mental symptoms experienced by a person addicted...

n. A delirium marked by physical trembling, hallucinations, perceptual distortions, wildly fluctu...

n. A family of enzymes that catalyze the oxygenation of aldehydes. Alcohol aldehyde dehydrogenase...

n. A mineralocorticoid produced in the adrenal gland and very active in the regulation of choline...

n. Pure alexia is a form of acquired word blindness in which writing and spelling can be unaffect...

n. The terms alexia and dyslexia both denote the presence of a reading disorder that impairs prod...

n. A disruption in both emotional and cognitive processes such that the person has trouble recogn...

n. A procedure for solving a problem, usually computational, consisting of a series of steps whic...

n. A theory of learning in which the mental processes involved in problem solving are broken down...

n. 1. A state of being or the experience of being separated from. In existential psychology it is...

► See COEFFICIENT OF ALIENATION

n. An expert who testifies in court as to the mental competence of a party in a legal case. An ol...

n. The series of organs from mouth to anus which form a tube through which food passes in the pro...

n. One of two or more possible forms of a gene which exist in a particular location on a chromoso...

n. A personality pattern that is commonly found in collectivistic cultures. The pattern is found ...

n. 1. In neurophysiology, the theory that the axon of any neuron propagates its impulse at full s...

n. Poverty of speech; an inability to generate spontaneous speech or varied or elaborate response...

n. The suppression of the alpha rhythm in an electroencephalogram (EEG) produced by a shift of at...

n. In animal behavior a designation for the individual male who is deemed at the top of a dominan...

n. In psychometrics, an index of internal consistency among items in a scale. Mathematically, the...

n. A high-amplitude electroencephalogram (EEG) wave of brain electric activity of 8-12 hertz whic...

n. A high-amplitude electroencephalogram (EEG) wave of brain electric activity of 8-12 hertz whic...

n. An antianxiety drug, triazolobenzodiazepine (C17H13C1N4), sometimes marketed under the brand n...

n. Any change in consciousness out of the normal range. The term is usually used in conjunction w...

n. 1. An alternate or identity for the self markedly different from one’s usual sense of self, as...

n. In psychometrics, a method of ensuring the consistency of measurement of a scale by comparing ...

n. 1. Multiple personality disorder in which a person has two or more selves, each of which may b...

n. In statistics, the hypothesis that there is no difference between the means of different group...

n. Any treatment for illness, injury, or malaise which is not sanctioned by Western medicine and ...

adj. Of or relating to those species of birds that are blind, without feathers, and completely de...

n. 1. Putting others’ interests before one’s own sometimes to the point of sacrificing one's own ...

n. In sociobiology, the sharing of resources or efforts with another in the expectation that the ...

n. Taking action which results in one’s own death for the benefit of others, as when a soldier ta...

adj. Of or relating to the alveolus, or hard ridge of the gums, containing the sockets for the ...

n. A form of senile dementia characterized by progressive brain deterioration and the formation o...

n. A family of recessive genetic diseases in which brain function is impaired by a gradual buildu...

n. The capacity to acknowledge or tolerate holding contradictory beliefs or uncertainty about per...

n. Any of a class of images which have two or more possible interpretations and in the interpreta...

adj. 1. Having no sexual differentiation or having a mixture of the traits and characteristics be...

n. The experiencing of two strong but conflicting emotions or desires at the same time (for examp...

n. A style of attachment in which children are uncertain in their response to their mother, going...

n. The absence of menstruation usually due to a pathological condition or pregnancy.

n. (ACT) A test of academic learning used to predict academic performance widely used by college ...

n. A professional organization of psychiatrists in the United States which is responsible for pro...

n. (APA) A professional organization of persons holding doctoral degrees in psychology which prom...

n. A branch of the American Psychological Association which has created an endowment to promote r...

n. (APS) The original name for the Association for Psychological Science, an organization of pers...

n. American Sign Language (ASL) is a sign language with 100,000-500,000 primary users predominant...

n. A room with a peephole at one end and constructed with trapezoidal rather than square features...

n. Any of a large group of chemicals formed by replacing a hydrogen atom in ammonia with one or m...

n. A large group of chemical compounds containing both an amino group, NH2, and a carboxyl group,...

n. Amitriptyline nitrate is one of the most commonly prescribed of the tricyclic antidepressants,...

n. Ammon's horn (also known as cornu ammonis) represents one division of the hippocampal formatio...

n. Memory disorder. Different types of amnesia are distinguished. A major distinction in amnesia ...

► See POST-TRAUMATIC AMNESIA

► See RETROGRADE AMNESIA

► See SOURCE AMNESIA

n. A prenatal diagnostic tool, the amniocentesis allows for screening of genetic abnormalities. T...

n. An acute, violent frenzy usually preceded by a period of hostile brooding and paranoid ideatio...

n. An inability to recognize objects by touch associated with damage to the caudal portion of the...

n. A family of drugs including Benzedrine, Dexedrine, and Methedrine which act as nervous system ...

n. Short-term effects include sensations of alertness, well-being, sexual desire, euphoria, inabi...

n. An acute paranoid psychosis brought on by prolonged use of amphetamines, which normally disapp...

n. Making larger in general. As examples, amplification of sound is making it louder while amplif...

n. 1. Generally the size, amount, extent, or magnitude; it is frequently used in describing waves...

n. Either of a pair of almond shaped neural centers located on the inside of each temporal lobe b...

n. A deposit of any one of several types of nonfunctional fibrous protein in an organ. Beta- amyl...

n. The form of metabolism in which proteins are built up and energy is stored. It is the opposite...

n. In psychoanalysis, the choice of a significant other who resembles one’s mother or other caret...

n. 1. A word or phrase whose letters can be rearranged into another word as in slot and lots. 2. ...

n. In psychoanalysis, a personality formed around the early or later part of the anal stage and r...

n. Sexual excitement and pleasure connected with stimulation of the anus. In psychoanalysis it is...

n. The first half of the anal stage, in which the child is focused on the pleasure of expelling f...

n. Relief from pain usually by painkilling drugs but sometimes through hypnosis, acupuncture, or ...

n. A method of reasoning in which a decision about one thing or event is deduced by the similarit...

n. A measure of ability or achievement in which two terms are given and the subject has to infer ...

n. The second half of the anal stage, in which the child is focused on the pleasure of controllin...

n. Another name for the anal stage, which emphasizes the basically aggressive nature of anal cont...

n. In psychoanalysis, the second stage of development, in which the focus of pleasure shifts from...

n. In psychoanalysis the three traits characteristic of anal retentive personalities: orderliness...

n. Any of a number of processes of information processing in which both bottom-up (data-driven) a...

n. (ANCOVA) An analysis of the variance between groups defined by independent variables in which ...

n. (ANOVA) A calculation of the ratios of within- to between-group differences in a dependent var...

n. In psychology one who does any sort of psychoanalysis.

n. A term coined by Carl Jung to differentiate his approach to psychology from that of Sigmund Fr...

n. The anankastic personality disorder is a synonym for the obsessive-compulsive personality diso...

n. The use of a pronoun to refer to something previously mentioned in the same text. As an exampl...

n. Heightened sensitivity to a substance resulting from previous exposure to the substance. Sympt...

n. The state of having both male and female characteristics to a much higher degree than is stati...

n. A scale which measures the relative degree of sexual or sex role differentiation. Androgyny ca...

n. Reports by individuals on a topic without systematic observation or experimental control and s...

n. The failure of the brain to develop, which, in humans, is usually due to a genetic defect or f...

n. Absence of sensation, usually as the result of anesthetic drugs, trauma, or a neural disorder....

n. The absence of sensation in the hand and lower wrist in an area such as would be covered by a ...

n. Colloquial or street name for phencyclidine (phencyclihexylpipiridine [PCP]), a drug which cau...

n. One of the six basic emotions, in which a situation is perceived as strongly negative and some...

n. Chest pain accompanied by a choking sensation. Angina pectoris is angina caused by insufficien...

n. German word for anxiety used in existential psychology to denote anxiety due to the uncertaint...

n. A visible bulge on the posterior parietal lobe close to the occipital and temporal lobes (pari...

n. Diminished ability to experience pleasure. Anhedonia is one of two essential symptoms of a maj...

n. The inherent image of woman in the collective unconscious, which is a part of the makeup of al...

n. Any form of threatening action or attack by one nonhuman on another. Subcategories of aggressi...

n. 1. Communication between animals. 2. A branch of ethology, sociobiology, and animal cognition ...

n. 1. The capacity of nonhuman organisms to modify their behavior to adapt better to their enviro...

n. The use of animals to investigate aspects of human function that are difficult to study in hum...

n. The study of the mental functioning of nonhuman animals.

n. 1. A usually derogatory term for a large number of belief systems in which things such as tree...

n. The inherent image of man or maleness in the collective unconscious, which is a part of the ma...

n. A negatively charged ion which is usually part of a molecule separated from its positively cha...

n. The fictitious name assigned to Bertha Pappenheim, a patient of Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer...

n. A strong emotional reaction on or around the anniversary of an emotionally charged event such ...

n. A partial form of color blindness caused by a defect in the cones of the retina in which only ...

n. A sentence that is grammatically correct but has no semantic meaning. The most famous is "Colo...

n. A form of color blindness in which all three types of color-sensitive cones are present but on...

► See ANOMIE

n. Suicide that results from a sense of alienation from the social world and feelings of hopeless...

n. A term coined by the French sociologist Emile Durkheim to describe a state of alienation from ...

n. The first criterion for anorexia nervosa is the refusal to maintain body weight at or above a ...

n. An inability to reach orgasm despite appropriate sexual stimulation.

n. A deficiency in the sense of smell. It may be total or for some limited sets of odors. Anosmia...

► see AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

n. Trade name for disulfram, a drug which blocks the action of enzymes that catalyze the oxygenat...

n. 1. One who acts in opposition. 2. A chemical that reduces or eliminates the action of another ...

n. 1. In general, anything that happens before some given event. 2. In linguistics, the noun or n...

adj. Toward the front of the head or body, as the frontal lobe lies anterior to the parietal lobe.

n. A large tract of neural fibers which links the foremost parts of the two temporal lobes of the...

adj. Moving forward in space or time. 

n. Defect in acquiring new memories. It can be interpreted as a failure in transferring informati...

n. Degeneration after an injury that extends from the point of injury in the direction in which a...

n. 1. A point of view in which humans are given an unquestioned central role in considering other...

adj. Resembling a human being or the human species as in the phrase “anthropoid apes.” n. A m...

n. Thought which uses comparisons to humans as a starting point or assumes other species are simi...

n. 1. The understanding of the mental processes or behavior of nonhuman animals in terms of human...

n. Any of several types of drugs which have the effect of lowering anxiety level. Minor tranquili...

n. A protein modified by beta lymphocytes in reaction to the presence of an antigen which renders...

n. 1. A procedure in verbal learning experiments in which one item in a list serves as a cue to r...

n. The tendency to rebel against group pressure. In conformity studies a small percentage of subj...

n. A drug or chemical such as Dilantin which has the effect of reducing or eliminating epileptic ...

n. Any of several classes of drugs such as the benzodiazepines or the selective serotonin reuptak...

n. (ADH) Also known as vasopressin, antidiuretic hormone helps regulate the retention of water in...

n. Drugs or chemicals such as Dilantin which have the effect of reducing or eliminating epileptic...

n. Any object or substance which causes an immune response in the body, which usually has the eff...

n. Drug or other chemical that counteracts the effects of histamine at any of the three types of ...

n. (AMH) A hormone produced in the testes during gestation that prevents the Mullerian ducts from...

n. Any of numerous drugs used to treat schizophrenia, delusional disorder, mania, deliria, and ot...

n. Acts which are in marked contrast to those expected of a member of a society and which show di...

n. An enduring pattern of behavior and action which shows disregard for social norms and for the ...

n. 1. A fearful mood that has a vague or no specific focus and is accompanied by bodily arousal. ...

n. Any one of several mental disorders in which anxiety is the central feature, including panic d...

n. Any one of several mental disorders during childhood in which anxiety is the central feature, ...

n. A vague and general sense of uneasiness not linked to any specific situation or object.

n. Any of several types of drugs which have the effect of lowering anxiety level. Minor tranquili...

n. Lack of normal responsiveness and interest in one’s self, surroundings, and others.

n. An evaluation method for the health of newborn infants including skin color, heart rate, respi...

n. An inability or lack of desire to eat or swallow. This can be due to damage to the glossophary...

n. Aphasia is an acquired impairment to the language processing skills (production and comprehens...

n. Expressive impairment secondary to brain damage, typically in the left inferior frontal gyrus ...

► See WERNICKE'S APHASIA

n. Generally mythical agent which stimulates sexual desire; no genuine aphrodisiac has been found...

n. A morphine derivative that has been used as an expectorant and an agent to induce vomiting.

n. An old-fashioned word for an acute loss of consciousness and paralysis due to brain hemorrhage...

adj. Latin phrase literally meaning “from later” used to mean after the fact. Often used to descr...

n. An illusion of motion, especially when two visual stimuli are displayed in rapid alternation c...

n. An illusion of motion, especially when two visual stimuli are displayed in rapid alternation c...

n. Any behavior such as cowering which prevents or terminates aggressive behavior of an organism ...

n. 1. A final clear phase of perception which includes recognition, identification, and comprehen...

n. A subtype of visual agnosia. During the 19th century Lissauer proposed a distinction between a...

n. The body of existing knowledge which can be modified or increased through the process of apper...

n. Physiological desire which may be directed toward different targets through learning. Most usu...

n. A category of disorders, the central aspect of which is abnormal desire for food. A symptom of...

n. A general term for behavior that is assumed to have the satisfaction of a physiological desire...

n. The beginning phase in sexual behavior in which the organism seeks a partner and engages in co...

n. The application of the theories and findings of psychology to practical problems in everyday l...

n. Utilization of the scientific method to solve practical problems or questions through the appl...

n. A cognitive evaluation of a situation or event relative to the needs of the organism. In cogni...

n. The maximal number of units that can be perceived in a single sensory moment. It is usually me...

n. When there is more than one mutually exclusive course of action open to an organism all of whi...

n. The strength of the tendency to move toward a desired goal, which varies with distance to the ...

n. Apraxia is the loss of the ability to produce purposeful, skilled movements as the result of b...

adj. Latin phrase literally meaning “from before” used to mean before the fact. Used to describe ...

n. Potential capacity to perform an action, skill, or art which may or may not have been previous...

n. Any test of ability which is intended to predict future acquisition of performance, skill, or ...

n. An interaction between treatment and aptitude such that persons with one set or level of abili...

n. A passageway between the third and fourth ventricles of the brain filled with cerebrospinal fl...

n. The liquid which fills the eyeball and the space between the iris and the cornea in the eye.

n. the amount of land on which food can be grown that will allow for consumption and survival. A ...

n. The middle of the three membrane layers which surround the brain and spinal cord, which resemb...

n. 1. The development of branching connections to other neurons in the dendrite of a neuron. 2. T...

n. The image, pattern, or theme associated with an archetype in analytical psychology.

n. 1. The structural components of the collective unconscious which are inherited and have develo...

n. Neural pathway connecting the posterior part of the temporoparietal junction (Wernicke’s area)...

n. 1. An arch-shaped area in the hypothalamus containing the cell bodies of neurons that produce ...

n. A brain area at the top and back of the fourth ventricle with a high density of blood vessels ...

n. The sum of a set of numbers divided by the number of numbers added. The most common meaning of...

n. Two screening devices developed by psychologists for the U.S. Army to classify the large numbe...

n. A general term for bodily preparation to act usually involving the reticular activating system...

n. Hardening of the arteries, usually resulting from fatty plaques on the inside of the arterial ...

n. Articulation in phonetics refers to the way the articulators of the vocal apparatus are config...

n. The articulatory loop (also phonological loop) handles acoustic information in working memory....

n. The articulatory store, an articulatory rehearsal system, is a subcomponent of the articulator...

n. 1. An erroneous finding that may be due to random error, faulty instrumentation, faulty experi...

n. A manufactured object of a particular culture which is used to infer cultural values and techn...

n. A false finding in research due to problems in instrumentation or research design.

n. A false finding in research due to random variation in data. Most statistical procedures make ...

n. (AI) A subdiscipline in cognitive psychology, computer science, psycholinguistics, and philoso...

n. Any language that has been intentionally created, usually for a specific purpose, as contraste...

n. A form of psychotherapy in which clients engage in artistic activities such as painting, model...

n. (ARAS) The nerve pathway from the reticular formation in the brainstem which connects with the...

n. 1. A set of experiments investigating conformity conducted under the direction of Solomon E. A...

1. n. Avoidance of participation or failure to participate in social interactions for any reason....

n. The anion of aspartic acid (C4H7N〇4) is a nonessential amino acid which can act as an excitory...

n. Aspartic acid (C4H7NO4) is a nonessential amino acid which can act as an excitory neurotransmi...

n. A pervasive developmental disorder in which the child has mild to moderate deficits in social ...

n. A program or method of counseling which intends to aid persons to express their desires and fe...

n. An organization in which persons are observed and tested with the intention of predicting thei...

n. In acculturation psychology, the term assimilation refers to the pattern of cultural change wh...

n. A theory of attitude change and resistance to change in which it is assumed people have prefor...

n. Assimilation refers to the tendency to interpret a new experience in a manner that is consiste...

n. A person who uses inductive reasoning to elaborate abstract concepts to encompass new experien...

n. The parts of the cerebral cortex that are not devoted to either sensory or motor function and ...

n. The theory that associations are formed primarily by contiguity in space and time. Also called...

n. Cortical areas that are neither primary motor nor primary sensory areas but are thought to be ...

n. An activity in which a person says whatever comes to mind without hesitation or censorship. Th...

n. Any of numerous theories which suppose that simple mental associations are the building blocks...

n. Another name for the word association test first developed by Carl Jung.

n. Any of a large number of visual illusions in which one part of the image is misperceived becau...

n. The interference of either learning or recalling an association due to another association whi...

n. Three principles which determine whether an association will be made or not, including the law...

n. A type of learning in which links are formed between two elements. These elements have been co...

n. Memory triggered by a cue. This is the basis for all forms of behaviorism and many approaches ...

n. A network of processes or nodes and their links commonly used in information processing approa...

n. 1. In behaviorism, the likelihood that a particular stimulus will be followed by a particular ...

n. Mating in which the partner is chosen on the basis that a particular trait is either the same ...

n. Any of a large number of belief systems in which the alignment of planets and constellations r...

n. A syndrome of panicky outbursts in which the individual experiences a sense of heat or pressur...

n. Impairment in the ability to coordinate voluntary movements. Ataxia is usually the consequence...

n. The most common form of arteriosclerosis, which involves fat deposits along the inner walls of...

n. A neuromuscular condition due to problems with cerebral blood flow or cerebral lesions in basa...

n. In the Kretschmer body typology, a body characterized by muscular, broadshouldered physique; i...

n. 1. The tendency of a person to behave or perceive in one situation as he/she does in another i...

n. Wasting away or degeneration of a body part through disease, malnutrition, or lack of use. 2. ...

n. Atropine (C17H23NO3) is a muscarin antagonist derived from the belladonna plant and used to pr...

n. 1. In attachment theory, behavior infants use to gain control over proximity to a caregiver in...

n. A disorder of social interaction in infancy and early childhood in which the child displays di...

n. The particular pattern of interaction with a caregiver developed by an infant or the carryover...

n. A theory which supposes that infants between about 1 year and 3 years of age have an instinct ...

n. Focusing the apparently limited capacities of consciousness on a particular set of stimuli mor...

n. A failure or decrement in ability to identify a target immediately after another target in a r...

n. The reflexive allocation of a limited processing resource to an external stimulus, without the...

n. A psychological disorder in which a child is noted to fail to pay normal levels of attention t...

n. A psychological disorder in which a child is noted to fail to pay normal levels of attention a...

n. 1. The length of time an individual can focus attention on one thing or topic. 2. The amount o...

n. 1. The weakening of or interference with a signal so it is more difficult to detect. 2. In sta...

n. Attitudes are evaluations of objects occurring in ongoing thoughts about the objects or stored...

n. Attitude-behavior consistency is the degree to which an attitude toward an object predictsbeha...

n. An attitude is a general and relatively lasting evaluation an individual holds regarding anoth...

n. Any procedure which assigns quantitative values to the degree of individuals' relatively endur...

n. An attitude object is any distinct object that is evaluated. It may be a concrete target, a pe...

n. A measurement instrument which assigns quantitative values to the degree of individuals’ relat...

n. 1. A feeling of being drawn to another person or thing, usually with a positive feeling toward...

n. The state of or degree to which one possesses the qualities that lead others to want to approa...

n. A character, quality, or aspect of any phenomenon whether person, thing, event, or idea.

n. The ascription or proscription of a characteristic, quality, feature, reason, or emotion to so...

n. The tendency to create causal explanations with predictable flaws in them. The most common is ...

► See FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

n. Attributional style relates to individual differences in the way one makes attributions or est...

n. Any error in assigning causes to behavior or events and especially the tendency to believe one...

n. The human tendency to create causal explanations for events in which two or more objects move ...

n. A theory of emotion in which a person observes his or her own physiological arousal and create...

n. Attribution theory is a major area of research in social psychology that has several variation...

n. A lessening of quantity or amount, especially the lessening of the number of subjects in a stu...

► See type a personality

adj. Different from normal in some important way.

n. Newer drugs used to treat schizophrenia, delusional disorder, mania, deliria, and other extrem...

n. A pervasive developmental disorder characterized by deficits in play, social interaction, and ...

n. The range from about 20 Hz to about 20,000 Hz. However, the range of human speech, 250 Hz to 4...

n. Adaptation in speech or visual presentations so as to communicate with an audience with partic...

n. A lessening of pain during loud sounds or a distraction from pain such as by music.

n. A seizure induced by prolonged exposure to loud noises, especially in rodents and rabbits.

n. A graphic record of a listener’s threshold to pure tones plotted by the frequency of the tones...

n. A device for measuring sensitivity to sound across a large range of sound frequencies and inte...

n. The science and technology of measurement of hearing acuity.

n. The sense of hearing.

adj. Related to sound and hearing.

n. The ability to detect and discriminate among sounds of different qualities.

n. Inability to recognize and understand auditory information in the absence of decreased auditor...

n. Inability to understand spoken language, with sparing written language understanding and langu...

n. There are two auditory canals: external and internal. The external auditory canal (or external...

n. Cortical area involved in the reception and processing of auditory information. Auditory infor...

n. The capacity to perceive differences in sound based on tone, intensity, harmonics, and other q...

n. Hearing something (e.g., voices, noises) that does not exist in the form of an external stimul...

n. Any perception in the sense of hearing which is not in accord with the physical stimuli. As in...

n. The process of locating the source of sounds and their movements from acoustic cues.

n. A reduction in the ability to detect or discriminate characteristics of one sound by the prese...

n. The auditory canal.

n. Little bones of the middle ear, which are the three smallest bones in the human body. The ossi...

n. Process of recognizing, interpreting, and providing meaning to auditory information. Disturban...

n. Hair cells in the inner ear are of two different types: inner hair cells, which are the audito...

n. The range of normal hearing, which runs from about 20 Hz to about 20,000 Hz. However, the rang...

n. In attribution theory, the idea that if a person acts in a particular way in the face of risks...

n. 1. A subjective sensation of discomfort that frequently precedes migraine headaches and epilep...

adj. Related to sound perception. 

n. A concordance of tone generated by the physical limitations of the auditory system.

1. adj. Of or relating to a system of centralized political or social power that limits individua...

n. A personality pattern characterized by preoccupation with power, control, and status and desir...

n. 1. A personality pattern characterized by preoccupation with power, control, and status and de...

n. Parents who have a parenting style of imposing unquestioning obedience on a child, avoiding di...

n. In an ordinary dictionary - not a fine one like this - you will see that authoritarian has two...

n. Parents who have a collaborative approach to guiding their child which simultaneously encourag...

n. A pervasive developmental disorder of early childhood characterized by impaired social learnin...

n.，adj. Characterized by impaired social learning and communication, restricted interests, dimini...

n. A vivid form of episodic memory about one's personal past experiences often characterized by a...

n. The process of making something indigenous to an individual or culture. In psychology the proc...

n. Psychology from the point of view of the internal processes of an individual or a culture, as ...

n. The tendency of repeated measures of the same thing over time to correlate. As an example, the...

n. Leadership that is self-centered, arrogant, overcontrolling, and not permitting of dissent.

adj. Of or relating to sexual stimulation of one's own body, or masturbation.

n. 1. Any form of sexual self-stimulation, whether masturbation, fantasy, or stimulation of body ...

n. Relaxation training in which the individual learns to relax through imagining and focusing on ...

n. Any self-induced trance or trancelike state in which the individual is very suggestible, inclu...

n. This is a well-documented perceptual phenomenon. In a darkened room, or under other circumstan...

n. In psychoanalysis, the fear of an infant upon experiencing its helplessness to care for its ow...

n. The characteristic of requiring no conscious attention or effort in performing some act or task.

n. Any mental process that occurs involuntarily and without conscious awareness or intervention.

n. Mental processing that occurs without consciousness or effort such as recognizing one's face i...

n. 1. In cognitive therapy, habitual thoughts that occur so rapidly that they are barely consciou...

n. Writing that occurs without conscious effort or attention, as sometimes happens in a hypnotic ...

adj. Of or relating to the autonomic nervous system.

n. A disorder characterized by persistent or frequently recurring episodes of inappropriate actio...

n. (ANS) Literally, the system of self-knowledge. ANS is a division of the body’s neural systems ...

adj. Free of outside control; independent and self-determined. Excessive focus on self-determinat...

n. Small task groups within a larger organization that have the capacity to set their own agenda ...

n. Freedom from outside control; having independence and self determination.

n. The tendency for ideas or habits to become independent of their origin. As an example, if one ...

n. The possible outcomes of Erik Erikson's second, muscular-anal, stage of epigenetic development...

n. A postmortem examination of the possible causes of a person's death and especially if suicide ...

n. A chemical messenger in the presynaptic membrane of a synapse that reacts to neurotransmitters...

n. A method of establishing an operant response to a signal by automatically reinforcing the resp...

n. Any of the 22 pairs of chromosomes that are not sex chromosomes.

n. A stereotype about a group one belongs to which one includes in one's self-concept.

n. Inability to name, recognize, or point on command to parts of the body. Patients have signific...

n. An inferred mental strategy of judging the relative frequency of an event by the ease with whi...

n. The arithmetic mean of a set of deviations that is the sum of a set of deviations divided by t...

n. A method of measuring sensory threshold for differences in which a sensory signal is adjusted ...

n. The average amplitude of a number of evoked potentials from the same stimulus over time used i...

n. A method of cluster analysis in which the distance between clusters is defined as the average ...

n. A method of cluster analysis which uses the least average distance within clusters as a criter...

n. Any mathematical model which uses the average of past observations to predict future observati...

n. A turning away, repugnance, or dislike for something.

n. A form of classical conditioning used as behavior therapy in which an unpleasant stimulus is p...

n. A form of classical conditioning used as behavior therapy in which an unpleasant stimulus is p...

adj. Tending to repel, disgust, or dissuade.

n. Reactions to aversive stimuli, which are usually discussed as escape learning, avoidance learn...

n. A general term which describes the process of learning to react to noxious stimuli. Escape lea...

n. A general term for situations in which aversive conditioning is the basis for observed behavior.

n. Any stimulus which is repellent, disgusting, painful, or otherwise noxious to the organism and...

n. The difficulty in deciding on a course of action in a situation in which the two possible choi...

n. An operant conditioning technique involving the removal of a noxious stimulus (negative reinfo...

n. A graph of the variation of the strength of an aversive stimulus to motivate avoidance or esca...

n. A pattern of attachment by an infant to a caregiver in which the infant does not feel comforte...

n. A pervasive and persistent pattern of individual adjustment in which the individual avoids soc...

n. The avoidant personality disorder is one of the 10 personality disorders described on Axis-II ...

n. The inability or lack of desire to engage in goal-directed or motivated activities. Avolition ...

n. Learning which takes place without the subject's conscious awareness of the matters which have...

n. An assertion which is taken as self-evidently true and which is not capable of being proved or...

n. The tubular part of a nerve cell which normally carries impulses away from the cell body.

n. The process of moving molecules along an axon back to the cell body or out from the cell body ...

n. The roughly conical bump on a nerve cell body from which the axon extends. Nerve impulses begi...