Page 652 - Understanding Psychology

Glossary morpheme–passionate love
morpheme the smallest unit of meaning in a given lan- guage, such as a prefix or suffix (p. 305)
motion parallax the apparent movement of stationary objects relative to one another that occurs when the observer changes position (p. 228)
motivation various physiological and psychological factors that activate behavior and energize and direct that behavior toward a goal (p. 314)
motive to avoid success a theory that suggests that some people are (or were) raised with the idea that being successful in all but a few careers is odd and unlikely (p. 325)
Munchausen s syndrome a disorder in which an individ- ual develops great sensitivity to emotional pain and will use any method possible to avoid feeling it (p. 464)
myelin sheath a tubelike white fatty substance that insu- lates the axons and enables rapid transmission of neural impulses (p. 157)
N
narcolepsy a condition characterized by suddenly falling asleep or feeling very sleepy during the day (p. 188) naturalistic observation a research method in which the
psychologist observes the subject in a natural setting and without manipulation or control on the part of the observer (p. 37)
need a biological or psychological requirement for the well-being of an organism (pp. 314, 536)
negative correlation a relationship between two variables in which one variable increases as the other variable decreases (p. 39)
negative reinforcement increasing the strength of a given response by removing or preventing a painful stimulus when the response occurs (p. 256)
neurons the long, thin cells that constitute the structural and functional unit of nerve tissue along which messages travel to and from the brain (p. 157)
neurotransmitters the chemicals released by neurons, which determine the rate at which other neurons fire (p. 158)
neutral stimulus a stimulus that does not initially elicit any part of the unconditioned response (p. 242)
nightmares unpleasant dreams that contain frightening and anxiety-producing images (p. 188)
night terrors sleep disruptions that occur during Stage IV of sleep, involving screaming, panic, or confusion that is seldom remembered (p. 188)
nondirective therapy the free flow of images and ideas, occurring with no particular goal (p. 496)
nonverbal communication conveying messages using space, body language, and facial expression (p. 531)
normal curve a graph of frequency distribution shaped like a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve; a graph of normal dis- tribution (p. 51)
norms standards of comparison for test results developed by giving the test to large, well-defined groups of people (p. 346); shared standards of behavior accepted by and expected from group members (p. 547)
O
obedience a change in attitude or behavior brought about by social pressure to comply with people perceived to be authorities (p. 558)
objective test a limited- or forced-choice test (in which a person must select one of several answers) designed to study personality characteristics (p. 364)
object permanence a child’s realization that an object exists even when he or she cannot see, hear, or touch it (p. 72)
observational learning learning by observing and imitat- ing the behavior of others (pp. 262, 389)
obsession a recurring thought or image that seems to be beyond control (p. 458)
obsessive-compulsive disorder an anxiety disorder con- sisting of obsessions and compulsions (p. 458)
olfactory nerve the nerve that transmits information about odors from the nose to the brain (p. 220)
operant conditioning a form of learning in which a cer- tain action is reinforced or punished, resulting in corre- sponding increases or decreases in the likelihood that similar actions will occur again (p. 250)
optic nerve the nerve that carries impulses from the retina to the brain (p. 215)
optimist a person whose thoughts lead him or her to believe and expect that good things will happen (p. 433) oral stage Freud’s first stage of psychosexual develop- ment, in which infants associate erotic pleasure with the
mouth (p. 82)
out-group everyone who is not a member of the in-group
(p. 549)
ovaries the female sex glands (p. 172) overgeneralization a common error during language
acquisition in which children apply a grammatical rule to
cases where it should not be used (p. 68) overjustification effect when people are given more
638 Glossary
extrinsic motivation than necessary to perform a task, their intrinsic motivation declines (p. 317)
P
panic a feeling of sudden, helpless terror (p. 457)
panic disorder an extreme anxiety that manifests itself in
the form of panic attacks (p. 457)
parapsychology the study of behavior types that seem to
deviate from normal behavior and are sometimes left unexplained; literally means “alongside psychology” (p. 609)
passionate love a condition that is associated with contin- uously thinking about a loved one and accompanied by warm sexual feelings and powerful emotional reactions (p. 535)