key words

• define abuse

  the use of a substance in amounts that are harmful to the user
• define accommodation

  the process of changing a schema or developing a new one when faced with information that cannot be assimilated into a persons current schemas
• define acoustic encoding

  encoding information to memory based on its sound
• define active process

  a cognitive process that requires effort and attention, for example problem solving or rehearsal in working memory
• define adaptive

  a behaviour that evolves in order to increase the chances of reproductive success
• define addiction

  a condition that results when a person ingests a substance or engages in activity that over time becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities
• define Adorno

  German philosopher and sociologist who developed the theory of the authoritarian personality
• define affordances

  information from the environment that aids perception eg depth cues
• define agentic

  a state in which a person behaves as if an agent of another, assuming no responsibility for their actions or the consequences
• define (random) allocation

  a basic principle of experimental design which states that the choice of condition or order of conditions that a participants completes must be random to avoid bias
• define alternative hypothesis

  a scientific prediction of the effect the the independent variable will have on the dependent variable, with a rationale based on past research
• define ambiguity

  more than one possible interpretation; the basis of several illusions
• define Ames room

  a specifically constructed room that appears ordinary when viewed from the front but it''s actually distorted, causing an illusion of size
• define assimilation

  the process of fitting new information into an existing schema
• define attention

  the cognitive function of focusing of a stimulus; people have a limited amount of attention which must be divided among tasks
• define authoritarian

  the favouring of enforcing of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom
• define autonomic

  involuntary or automatic; referring to the autonomic nervous system
• define autonomous

  having the freedom to act independently
• define aversion therapy

  creates in the individual a strong aversion response to the source of addiction
• define axon

  part of a neuron; the nerve fibre which carries signals to other neurons
• define bar chart

  a graph displaying statistical results based on the height of two or more bars; commonly used to compare conditions of an experiment
• define Bartlett

  memory research Sir Frederick Bartlett was the first professor of psychology in the UK
• define bias

  ways in which data or judgments are distorted or skewed
• define binocular

  a visual cue to depth/ distance which depends on comparing the difference between what is sensed by the two eyes
• define bipolar

  a disorder where people alternate between periods of depression and mania
• define blame

  feeling responsible for a fault or a wrong; people who are close individuals with mental health problems will often believe that they are somehow at fault for their illness
• define bottom-up processing

  a type of perceptual processing based on information received via sensation, considered to be primary for the direct theory
• define brain stem

  part of the brain; responsible for autonomic functions such as breathing and heartbeat
• define bystander effect

  the tendency for an individual to feel less responsible in the presence of others because responsibility is distributed among all the people present
• define bystander intervention

  a psychological phenomenon in which someone is less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when others are present than when they are alone
• define capacity

  in cognitive psychology, the amount of information that can be held in a memory store at a time
• define case study

  an in-depth study of one individual or a small group
• define categories of behaviour

  types of behaviour that might be recorded during observational research, generally phrased broadly so that many possible actions could fall within a single category
• define cause-and-effect relationship

  relationship between two variables where a change in one variable directly causes a change in the other, ie there is causation
• define CBT

  cognitive behavioural therapy; a type of psychotherapy that attempts to correct faulty thought patterns
• define cell body

  part of a neuron; the central part of the cell containing the nucleus
• define centration

  the tendency of children in Piagets preoperational stage to focus on one element of a problem and ignore others
• define cerebellum

  part of the brain; responsible for precise physical movement and coordination
• define cerebral cortex

  part of the brain; responsible for cognition, including thinking, perception and most memory processes
• define closed posture

  a defensive posture involving the protection of vulnerable parts of the body