Page 648 - Understanding Psychology

Glossary
echoic memory–fraternal twins
E
echoic memory the sensory register in which traces of sounds are held and may be retrieved within several sec- onds (p. 275)
eclectic approach an approach to therapy in which the psychotherapist combines techniques and ideas from many different schools of thought (p. 487)
educational psychologist a psychologist who is con- cerned with helping students learn (p. 26)
ego the part of the personality that is in touch with reality and strives to meet the demands of the id and the super- ego in socially acceptable ways (p. 380)
egocentric a young child’s inability to understand another person’s perspective (p. 73)
ego-support value the ability of a person to provide another person with sympathy, encouragement, and approval (p. 523)
eidetic memory the ability to remember with great accu- racy visual information on the basis of short-term expo- sure (p. 284)
elaborative rehearsal a memory device that creates a meaningful link between new information and material that is already known (p. 287)
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) a radical treatment for psychological disorders in which an electrical shock is sent through the brain (p. 509)
electroencephalograph(EEG) amachineusedtorecord the electrical activity of large portions of the brain (p. 165) emotion a state of feeling that involves a set of complex reactions to a stimulus involving subjective feelings,
physiological arousal, and observable behavior (p. 329) emotional intelligence the ability to perceive, imagine, and understand emotions and to use that information in
decision making (pp. 329, 351)
empathy the capacity for warmth and understanding (p. 489) encoding placing or storing information such as images,
events, or sounds in memory by making mental repre-
sentations so the nervous system can process it (p. 274) endocrine system a chemical communication system located throughout the body that uses hormones to send messages through the bloodstream to particular organs
of the body (p. 171)
endogamy the tendency to marry someone who is from
one’s own social group (p. 538)
environmental psychologist a psychologist who studies
the effects of the environment on people (p. 27) episodic memory a memory of a specific experienced
event in one’s life, including time of occurrence (p. 279) escape conditioning the training of an organism to
remove or terminate an unpleasant stimulus (p. 257) estrogen one of the major female sex hormones (p. 172) ethics methods of conduct or standards for proper and
responsible behavior (p. 40)
eustress positive stress, which results from motivating
strivings and challenges (p. 414)
experimental group the group of participants to which an independent variable is applied (p. 40)
experimental psychologist a psychologist who studies sensation, perception, learning, motivation, and emotion in carefully controlled laboratory conditions (p. 28)
extinction in classical conditioning, the gradual disappear- ance of a conditioned response because the reinforcement is withheld or because the conditioned stimulus is repeat- edly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (p. 245)
extrasensory perception (ESP) a group of psychic expe- riences that involves perceiving or sending information (images) outside normal sensory processes or channels; includes four general abilities: telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis (p. 230)
extravert an outgoing, active person who directs his or her energies and interests toward other people and things (p. 401)
extrinsic motivation engaging in certain activities or behaviors that either reduce biological needs or help a person obtain external incentives (p. 316)
F
factor analysis a complicated statistical technique used to identify the underlying reasons variables are correlated (p. 401)
family therapy a form of therapy aimed at understanding and improving relationships that have led one or more members in a close social unit to experience emotional suffering (p. 490)
fear the usual reaction when a stressor involves real or imagined danger (p. 422)
fight-or-flight response a state of increased physiological arousal that helps us cope with and survive threatening situations (p. 421)
fixed-interval schedule a pattern of reinforcement in which a specific amount of time must elapse before a response will elicit reinforcement (p. 254)
fixed-ratio schedule a pattern of reinforcement in which a specific number of correct responses is required before reinforcement can be obtained (p. 253)
flexibility the ability to overcome rigidity (p. 301) flooding therapy for a phobia in which the person is sud-
denly exposed to the object of the phobia (p. 504) foot-in-the-door technique a method of gaining compli- ance by getting a person to agree to a relatively minor
request first (pp. 557, 593)
forebrain the largest part of the brain that covers the
brain’s central core, consisting of left and right hemi- spheres, which are connected by a wide band of fibers, the corpus callosum (p. 161)
forensic psychology a branch of psychology that deals with diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, and testimony regarding the law and criminal behavior (p. 615)
fraternal twins twins who come from two different eggs fertilized by two different sperm (p. 176)
634 Glossary