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| The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center. Covers the cerebrum. |
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| Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. "Worker bees" to the "queen" neuron "bees." |
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| Portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking, muscle movements, and making plans and judgements. |
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| Portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; recieves sensory input for touch and body position. |
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| Portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields. |
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| Portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each recieving information primarily from the opposite ear. |
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| A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish. |
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| An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind. |
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| The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2). |
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| historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's potential for personal growth. |
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| The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language). |
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| The science of behavior and mental processes. |
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| The longstanding controversy over the relative contributes 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. |
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| The principle that, among a range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations. |
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| The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon. |
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| An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis. |
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| Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base. |
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| Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems. |
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| A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being. |
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| A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders. |
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| A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy. |
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| The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.) |
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| Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions. |
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| The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next. |
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| An explanation using an integrated set of principles hat organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events. |
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| A testable prediction, often implied by a theory. |
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| A statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. For example, 'human intelligence' may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures. |
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| Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances. |
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| An observation technique in which one person is studied in-depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. |
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| A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group. |
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| All the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn. (Note: Except for national studies, this does not refer to a country's whole population.) |
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| A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion. |
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| Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. |
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| A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. |
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| A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1). |
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| A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation). |
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| The perception of a relationship where none exists. |
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| A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors. |
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| Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups. |
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| An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies. |
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| [Pluh-SEE-bo; Latin for "I shall please] Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes it is an active agent. |
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| In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable. |
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| In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment. |
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| The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. |
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| The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. |
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| The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution. |
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| The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores. |
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| The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are below it and half the scores are above it. |
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| The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. |
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| A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score. |
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| normal curve (normal distribution) |
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| A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (68% fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes. |
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| A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. |
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| A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. (Some biological psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists.) |
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| A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system. |
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| Neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord. |
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| Neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands. |
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| Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs. |
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| The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body. |
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| The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands. |
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| [MY-uh-lin] a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next. |
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| A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. |
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| The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse. |
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| The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft. |
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| Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse. |
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| A neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron. |
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| [en-DOR-fins; "morphing within"] Natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure. |
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| The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems. |
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| central nervous system (CNS) |
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Definition
| The brain and spinal cord. |
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| peripheral nervous system (PNS) |
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Definition
| The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body. |
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| Bundled axons that form neural "cables" connecting the CNS with muscles, glands, and sense organs. |
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| The division of the PNS that controls the body's skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system. |
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| autonomic [aw-tuh-NAHM-ik] nervous system |
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| The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. |
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| sympathetic nervous system |
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| The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations. |
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| parasympathetic nervous system |
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| The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. |
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| A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response. |
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| endocrine [EN-duh-krin] system |
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| The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. |
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| Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues. |
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| adrenal [ah-DREEN-el] glands |
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| A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secret hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress. |
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| The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. |
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| Tissue deconstruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue. |
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| electroencephalogram (EEG) |
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Definition
| An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. |
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| position emission tomography (PET) scan |
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Definition
| A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. |
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| magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) |
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Definition
| A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. MRI scans show brain anatomy. |
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| functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) |
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Definition
| A technique for revealing bloodflow, and therefore brain activity by comparing successive MRI scan. fMRI scans show brain function. |
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Definition
| The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; responsible for automatic survival functions. |
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| The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing. |
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| A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal. |
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| The brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla. |
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| Neural system including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus, located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives. |
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| Two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion. |
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| hypothalamus [hi-po-THAL-uh-muss] |
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| 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. |
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| Area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. |
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| Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking. |
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| The brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience. |
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Definition
| The formation of new neurons. |
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| corpus callosum [KOR-pus kah-LOW-sum] |
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Definition
| The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them. |
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| A condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them. |
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| Our awareness of ourselves and our environment. |
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| The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including language, perception, thinking, and memory.) |
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| The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on seperate conscious and unconscious tracks. |
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| The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. |
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| Failing to see visible objects when our vision is directed elsewhere. |
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| Failing to notice changes in the environment. |
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| circadian [ser-KAY-dee-an] rhythm |
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| The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle. |
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| rapid eye movement (REM) sleep |
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Definition
| A recurring sleep stage during which visual dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active. |
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| The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state. |
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| Periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation. |
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| False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus. |
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| The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. |
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| Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. |
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| A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times. |
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| A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated memory awakenings. |
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| A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during Stage 4 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered. |
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| A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind. Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and for the dreamer's delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it. |
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| According to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden content). |
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| According to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest content). |
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| The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakenings during REM sleep). |
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