【AP心理学】考前冲刺：教材Glossary（G-N）

gate-control theory the theory that the spinal cord contains a neuro-

logical “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to

the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals trav-

eling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers

or by information coming from the brain. (p. 262)

 

gender in psychology, the socially influenced characteristics by

which people define men and women. (p. 161)

 

gender identity our sense of being male, female, or a combination of

the two. (p. 168)

 

gender role a set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for males

or for females. (p. 167)

 

gender typing the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine

role. (p. 168)

 

general adaptation syndrome (GAS) Selye’s concept of the body’s

adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm, resistance, ex-

haustion. (p. 491)

 

general intelligence (g) a general intelligence factor that, according

to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is

therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test. (p. 386)

 

generalization the tendency, once a response has been conditioned,

for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar re-

sponses. (p. 286)

 

generalized anxiety disorder an anxiety disorder in which a person

is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic ner-

vous system arousal. (p. 620)

 

genes the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chro-

mosomes; segments of DNA capable of synthesizing proteins.

(p. 134)

 

genome the complete instructions for making an organism, consist-

ing of all the genetic material in that organism’s chromosomes.

(p. 135)

 

gestalt an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our

tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful

wholes. (p. 247)

 

glial cells (glia) cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and

protect neurons; they may also play a role in learning, thinking,

and memory. (p. 54)

 

glucose the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides

the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low,

we feel hunger. (p. 426)

 

grammar in a language, a system of rules that enables us to commu-

nicate with and understand others. In a given language, semantics

is the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is

the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible

sentences. (p. 371)

 

GRIT Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction—a

strategy designed to decrease international tensions. (p. 567)

 

grit in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-

term goals. (p. 455)

 

grouping the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent

groups. (p. 248)

 

group polarization the enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclina-

tions through discussion within the group. (p. 534)

 

group therapy therapy conducted with groups rather than indi-

viduals, permitting therapeutic benefits from group interaction.

(p. 670)

 

groupthink the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for

harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal

of alternatives. (p. 535)

 

habituation decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As

infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their

interest wanes and they look away sooner. (p. 183)

 

hallucinations false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in

the absence of an external visual stimulus. (p. 102)

 

hallucinogens psychedelic (“mind-manifesting”) drugs, such as LSD,

that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of

sensory input. (p. 124)

 

health psychology a subfield of psychology that provides psychol-

ogy’s conribution to behavioral medicine. (p. 492)

 

heritability the proportion of variation among individuals that we

can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, de-

pending on the range of populations and environments stud-

ied. (pp. 140, 406)

 

heuristic a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make

judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also

more error-prone than algorithms. (p. 357)

 

hierarchy of needs Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at

the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before

higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become ac-

tive. (p. 422)

 

higher-order conditioning a procedure in which the conditioned

stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neu-

tral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimu-

lus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts

food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin

responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order condition-

ing.) (p. 285)

 

hindsight bias the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome,

that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-

along phenomenon.) (p. 20)

 

hippocampus a neural center located in the limbic system; helps pro-

cess explicit memories for storage. (pp. 71, 329)

 

homeostasis a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal

state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood

glucose, around a particular level. (p. 421)

 

hormones chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endo-

crine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tis-

sues. (p. 63)

 

hue the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of

light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth.

(p. 239)

 

human factors psychology an I/O psychology subfield that explores

how people and machines interact and how machines and physical

environments can be made safe and easy to use. (p. A-2)

 

humanistic psychology historically significant perspective that em-

phasized human growth potential. (p. 5)

 

humanistic theories view personality with a focus on the potential

for healthy personal growth. (p. 583)

 

hypnosis a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) sug-

gests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings,

thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur. (p. 265)

 

hypothalamus [hi-po-THAL-uh-muss] a neural structure lying below

(hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating,

drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via

the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward. (p. 71)

 

hypothesis a testable prediction, often implied by a theory. (p. 26)

 

iconic memory a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a

photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few

tenths of a second. (p. 323)

 

id a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud,

strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id oper-

ates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

(p. 573)

 

identical twins (monozygotic twins) develop from a single fertilized

egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organ-

isms. (p. 134)

 

identification the process by which, according to Freud, children

incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

(p. 575)

 

identity our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s

task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various

roles. (p. 209)

 

implicit memory retention of learned skills or classically conditioned

associations independent of conscious recollection. (Also called

nondeclarative memory.) (p. 321)

 

imprinting the process by which certain animals form strong attach-

ments during early life. (p. 196)

 

inattentional blindness failing to see visible objects when our atten-

tion is directed elsewhere. (p. 97)

 

incentive a positive or negative environmental stimulus that moti-

vates behavior. (p. 421)

 

independent variable in an experiment, the factor that is manipu-

lated; the variable whose effect is being studied. (p. 37)

 

individualism giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and

defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than

group identifications. (p. 157)

 

industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology the application of psy-

chological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in

workplaces. (p. A-2)

 

informational social influence influence resulting from one’s will-

ingness to accept others’ opinions about reality. (p. 527)

 

informed consent giving potential participants enough information

about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to par-

ticipate. (p. 41)

 

ingroup “us”—people with whom we share a common identity. (p. 542)

 

ingroup bias the tendency to favor our own group. (p. 542)

 

inner ear the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semi-

circular canals, and vestibular sacs. (p. 257)

 

insight a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with

strategy-based solutions. (p. 357)

 

insight therapies a variety of therapies that aim to improve psycho-

logical functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underly-

ing motives and defenses. (p. 661)

 

insomnia recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. (p. 110)

 

instinct a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a

species and is unlearned. (p. 420)

 

intellectual disability a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by

an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the

demands of life. (Formerly referred to as mental retardation.) (p. 403)

 

intelligence the mental potential to learn from experience, solve

problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. (p. 386)

 

intelligence quotient (IQ) defined originally as the ratio of mental

age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ × ma/

ca × 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average perfor-

mance for a given age is assigned a score of 100. (p. 394)

 

intelligence test a method for assessing an individual’s mental apti-

tudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical

scores. (p. 392)

 

intensity the amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which

influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness. Intensity is

determined by the wave’s amplitude (height). (p. 239)

 

interaction the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor

(such as environment) depends on another factor (such as hered-

ity). (p. 142)

 

internal locus of control the perception that we control our own

fate. (p. 503)

 

interneurons neurons within the brain and spinal cord; communicate

internally and process information between the sensory inputs and

motor outputs. (p. 60)

 

interpretation in psychoanalysis, the analyst’s noting supposed

dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and

events in order to promote insight. (p. 659)

 

intimacy in Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relation-

ships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood. (p. 210)

 

intrinsic motivation a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its

own sake. (p. 305)

 

intuition an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as

contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning. (pp. 20, 359)

 

iris a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye

around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening. (p. 240)

 

James-Lange theory the theory that our experience of emotion is

our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing

stimuli. (p. 460)

 

just-world phenomenon the tendency for people to believe the world

is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve

what they get. (p. 541)

 

kinesthesia [kin-ehs-THEE-zhuh] the system for sensing the posi-

tion and movement of individual body parts. (p. 269)

 

language our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we com-

bine them to communicate meaning. (p. 370)

 

latent content according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a

dream (as distinct from its manifest content). (p. 113)

 

latent learning learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is

an incentive to demonstrate it. (p. 305)

 

law of effect Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favor-

able consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed

by unfavorable consequences become less likely. (p. 290)

 

learned helplessness the hopelessness and passive resignation an

animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive

events. (p. 501)

 

learning the process of acquiring through experience new informa-

tion or behaviors. (p. 280)

 

lens the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to

help focus images on the retina. (p. 240)

 

lesion [LEE-zhuhn] tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally

or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue. (p. 66)

 

levels of analysis the differing complementary views, from biological

to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenom-

enon. (p. 9)

 

limbic system neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala,

and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associ-

ated with emotions and drives. (p. 71)

 

linguistic determinism Whorf’s hypothesis that language deter-

mines the way we think. (p. 379)

 

lobotomy a psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrol-

lably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves

connecting the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of

the inner brain. (p. 687)

 

longitudinal study research in which the same people are restudied

and retested over a long period. (p. 218)

 

long-term memory the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse

of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experi-

ences. (p. 320)

 

long-term potentiation (LTP) an increase in a cell’s firing potential

after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learn-

ing and memory. (p. 332)

 

LSD a powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid (lysergic acid

diethylamide). (p. 124)

 

major depressive disorder a disorder in which a person experiences,

in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, two or more

weeks with five or more symptoms, at least one of which must be

either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure. (p. 629)

 

mania a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously

poor judgment is common. (p. 629)

 

manifest content according to Freud, the remembered story line of a

dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden, content). (p. 113)

 

maturation biological growth processes that enable orderly changes

in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience. (p. 184)

 

mean the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the

scores and then dividing by the number of scores. (p. 43)

 

median the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it

and half are below it. (p. 43)

 

medical model the concept that diseases, in this case psychological

disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and,

in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital. (p. 612)

 

medulla [muh-DUL-uh] the base of the brainstem; controls heart-

beat and breathing. (p. 69)

 

memory the persistence of learning over time through the encoding,

storage, and retrieval of information. (p. 318)

 

memory consolidation the neural storage of a long-term memory.

(p. 330)

 

menarche [meh-NAR-key] the first menstrual period. (p. 166)

 

menopause the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers

to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to re-

produce declines. (p. 214)

 

mental age a measure of intelligence test performance devised by

Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a

given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as an

average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8. (p. 393)

 

mental set a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way,

often a way that has been successful in the past. (p. 358)

 

mere exposure effect the phenomenon that repeated exposure to

novel stimuli increases liking of them. (p. 551)

 

meta-analysis a procedure for statistically combining the results of

many different research studies. (p. 675)

 

methamphetamine a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the

central nervous system, with speeded-up body functions and as-

sociated energy and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce

baseline dopamine levels. (p. 123)

 

middle ear the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea contain-

ing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concen-

trate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.

(p. 257)

 

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) the most

widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Origi-

nally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its

most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screen-

ing purposes. (p. 589)

 

mirror-image perceptions mutual views often held by conflicting

people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and

views the other side as evil and aggressive. (p. 563)

 

mirror neurons frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire

when performing certain actions or when observing another doing

so. The brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation

and empathy. (p. 307)

 

misinformation effect when misleading information has corrupted

one’s memory of an event. (p. 344)

 

mnemonics [nih-MON-iks] memory aids, especially those tech-

niques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices. (p. 325)

 

mode the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution. (p. 43)

 

modeling the process of observing and imitating a specific behav-

ior. (p. 306)

 

molecular behavior genetics the study of how the structure and

function of genes interact with our environment to influence be-

havior. (p. 142)

 

molecular genetics the subfield of biology that studies the molecular

structure and function of genes. (p. 142)

 

monocular cues depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspec-

tive, available to either eye alone. (p. 250)

 

mood-congruent memory the tendency to recall experiences that are

consistent with one’s current good or bad mood. (p. 336)

 

morpheme in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may

be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix). (p. 370)

 

motivation a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

(p. 420)

 

motor cortex an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls vol-

untary movements. (p. 75)

 

motor (efferent) neurons neurons that carry outgoing informa-

tion from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.

(p. 60)

 

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) a technique that uses magnetic

fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of

soft tissue. MRI scans show brain anatomy. (p. 67)

 

mutation a random error in gene replication that leads to a change.

(p. 145)

 

myelin [MY-uh-lin] sheath a fatty tissue layer segmentally encas-

ing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmis-

sion speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next.

(p. 53)

 

narcissism excessive self-love and self-absorption. (pp. 453, 604)

 

narcolepsy a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep at-

tacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at in-

opportune times. (p. 110)

 

naturalistic observation a descriptive technique of observing and re-

cording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying

to manipulate and control the situation. (p. 28)

 

natural selection the principle that, among the range of inherited

trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival

will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations. (pp. 6, 144)

 

nature–nurture issue the longstanding controversy over the relative

contributions that genes and experience make to the development

of psychological traits and behaviors. Today’s science sees traits and

behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture. (p. 6)

 

near-death experience an altered state of consciousness reported

after a close brush with death (such as through cardiac arrest);

often similar to drug-induced hallucinations. (p. 124)

 

negative reinforcement increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing

negative stimuli. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when

removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: Nega-

tive reinforcement is not punishment.) (p. 292)

 

nerves bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central

nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs. (p. 60)

 

nervous system the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication

network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and cen-

tral nervous systems. (p. 60)

 

neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) acquired (not lifelong) disorders

marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer’s disease,

brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. In older adults neuro-

cognitive disorders were formerly called dementia. (p. 218)

 

neurogenesis the formation of new neurons. (p. 82)

 

neuron a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous sys-

tem. (p. 53)

 

neurotransmitters chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps

between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neu-

rotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites

on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron

will generate a neural impulse. (p. 56)

 

neutral stimulus (NS) in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits

no response before conditioning. (p. 283)

 

nicotine a stimulating and highly addictive psychoactive drug in to-

bacco. (p. 121)

 

night terrors a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an

appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors

occur during NREM-3 sleep, within two or three hours of falling

asleep, and are seldom remembered. (p. 111)

 

nociceptors sensory receptors that enable the perception of pain in

response to potentially harmful stimuli. (p. 262)

 

norm an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. Norms

prescribe “proper” behavior. (p. 156)

 

normal curve (normal distribution) a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve

that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores

fall near the mean (about 68 percent fall within one standard devia-

tion of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes. (pp. 45, 396)

 

normative social influence influence resulting from a person’s desire

to gain approval or avoid disapproval. (p. 527)