63 of the Psychology glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
In Piaget’s theory, the process of changing an existing schema, or creating a new one, when new information does not fit what is already known.
The cultural and psychological change that follows continuous first-hand contact between two or more cultural groups, such as when immigrants settle in a new society.
A difference between family members, usually parents and children, in how far and how fast they acculturate, which can lead to conflict over values, language and behaviour.
Stress caused by the demands of acculturation, such as language difficulties, discrimination, loss of social support and conflict between cultural values, which can lead to anxiety and depression.
A neurotransmitter that makes muscles contract and, in the brain, supports attention, learning and the encoding of new memories in the hippocampus.
The tendency of some participants to agree with statements in a questionnaire or interview regardless of their content; also called yea-saying.
A brief electrical impulse that travels along the axon when the charge inside a neuron reaches a threshold; it is all-or-none, so the neuron either fires fully or not at all.
A pattern of compulsive use of a substance or engagement in an activity that continues despite harmful consequences, marked by craving, loss of control and often tolerance and withdrawal.
A research design that compares adopted people with their biological relatives, who share their genes, and their adoptive relatives, who share their environment, to separate genetic from environmental influences.
An endocrine gland on top of each kidney that releases adrenaline and noradrenaline (from its centre) and cortisol (from its outer layer) in response to stress.
A hormone released by the adrenal glands in response to a threat, which raises heart rate, blood pressure and energy supply as part of the fight-or-flight response.
A short introduction given before new material, such as a title, overview or analogy, that activates relevant prior knowledge so the new material can be linked to existing schemas.
Potentially traumatic events or conditions in the first 18 years of life, such as abuse, neglect or household dysfunction, that are associated with poorer health and well-being later in life.
Using psychological knowledge and research to argue publicly for changes in policy or practice that would benefit people or groups, especially those who are marginalised.
Behaviour intended to harm another person who wishes to avoid that harm, whether physically, verbally or through damage to relationships.
A substance that increases the effect of a neurotransmitter, by binding to and activating its receptors or by increasing the amount available in the synaptic gap.
A general statement of what a study sets out to investigate, usually naming the behaviour, the variables or the population of interest, without predicting the result.
One of the different versions of a gene; a person inherits one allele of each gene from each parent.
A form of gender bias that exaggerates or invents differences between men and women and presents them as fixed.
A prediction that there will be an effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable, or a relationship between variables; it may be directional (stating which way) or non-directional.
A small almond-shaped structure inside each temporal lobe that detects threat and triggers fear, and helps to form emotional memories.
A style of thinking in which attention focuses on a central object separated from its context, objects are categorised by rules and attributes, and events are explained by the object’s properties.
The tendency for a numerical estimate or decision to be drawn towards an initial value that a person has considered, even an irrelevant one, so the final judgement stays too close to it.
Evidence based on personal stories or isolated observations rather than systematic data collection, which makes it vivid but unrepresentative and open to bias.
A reduced ability to feel pleasure or interest in activities a person used to enjoy; one of the two core symptoms of major depressive disorder.
A non-human species, or a condition produced in it, that is used to stand in for a human behaviour or disorder so that its causes and treatments can be studied under controlled conditions.
Research that uses non-human animals as participants, either to understand their own behaviour or, more often, to draw conclusions about human behaviour and biology.
The principle that participants’ identities are not recorded or revealed, so that data cannot be linked to a particular person.
A substance that reduces the effect of a neurotransmitter, usually by binding to its receptors without activating them, which blocks the neurotransmitter.
A loss of the ability to form new long-term memories after brain damage, while memories from before the damage remain largely available.
The tendency to describe animals' behaviour in terms of human thoughts, feelings or motives, such as calling a floating rat 'despairing'.
A drug used to treat depression that alters neurotransmission, mainly by increasing the activity of serotonin, noradrenaline or both at the synapse.
A group of mental health disorders characterised by excessive, persistent fear or worry that is out of proportion to real danger and leads to avoidance, such as panic disorder and phobias.
A theory proposing that effective communication between people from different cultures depends on keeping anxiety and uncertainty about each other within a middle range, mainly by communicating mindfully.
A loss or impairment of the ability to produce or understand language, caused by brain damage, usually to the left hemisphere.
A Paper 1 Section B question worth 6 marks that presents an unseen scenario from one of the four contexts and asks the student to apply an approach term to it.
A theoretical framework for explaining behaviour, based on assumptions about what causes behaviour and how to study it, such as the biological, cognitive or sociocultural approach; also called a perspective.
An error in brain imaging data that comes from something other than the brain process being studied, such as head movement, breathing or the scanner itself.
A research technique in which participants repeat an irrelevant sound, such as “the, the, the”, to block subvocal rehearsal in the phonological loop.
Computer systems that perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as recognising speech, translating, making recommendations or generating text and images.
One of the broad skills a course assesses: knowledge and understanding (AO1), application and analysis (AO2), or synthesis and evaluation (AO3). Each command term belongs to one of them.
An acculturation strategy in which a person gives up their heritage culture and takes on the culture of the host society.
In Piaget’s theory, the process of fitting new information into an existing schema without changing the schema.
A close, enduring emotional bond between an infant and a caregiver, shown by seeking closeness to that person, especially when distressed, and using them as a source of comfort and security.
A characteristic pattern of attachment behaviour and expectations in close relationships, such as secure, avoidant, resistant or disorganised, in infancy or adulthood.
Bowlby’s theory that infants have an innate, evolved tendency to form an emotional bond with a caregiver, which keeps them close to protection and provides a template for later relationships.
A cognitive process that selects some information from the environment or from memory for further processing while other information is ignored.
The theory that natural environments allow the capacity for effortful, directed attention to recover, because they hold attention without requiring effort.
A tendency to attend selectively to certain kinds of information, such as negative or threatening stimuli, so that they are noticed sooner or held in attention longer.
Treisman’s model of attention in which unattended input is weakened rather than blocked, so that important or expected words, such as one’s own name, can still reach awareness.
A relatively lasting evaluation of a person, object, group or idea, made up of feelings, beliefs and tendencies to behave in a particular way towards it.
The strengthening of opposing attitudes when people who disagree are exposed to the same mixed or inconclusive evidence, so that their views move further apart.
The process of explaining the causes of one's own or another person's behaviour, for example by referring to personality or intentions (internal) or to the situation (external).
A person’s habitual way of explaining the causes of events; a depressive attributional style explains bad events as internal, stable and global.
The loss of participants from a study over time, especially in longitudinal research; it biases results when those who leave differ systematically from those who stay.
A detailed record of every step and decision in a qualitative study, from data collection to analysis, that allows another researcher to check how the findings were reached.
A lifelong neurodevelopmental condition characterised by differences in social communication and interaction and by restricted or repetitive behaviours and interests, varying widely between individuals.
Memory for events and facts from a person’s own life, combining episodic memories with semantic knowledge about the self.
A visual illusion in which a stationary point of light in a completely dark room appears to move, used to study how group norms form in ambiguous situations.
The part of the nervous system that controls involuntary body functions; its sympathetic branch prepares the body for action and its parasympathetic branch returns it to a resting state.
A mental shortcut in which the frequency or probability of an event is judged by how easily examples of it come to mind.
A behavioural treatment in which an unwanted behaviour or stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unpleasant stimulus, such as a nausea-producing drug, so that it comes to be avoided.
The long fibre of a neuron that carries the action potential away from the cell body towards the axon terminals.