Page 655 - Understanding Psychology

retrieval the process of obtaining information that has been stored in memory (p. 274)
retroactive interference the hampering of recall of learned material by the recall of other material learned more recently (p. 286)
rods visual receptor cells in the retina that are sensitive to light but not color, allowing us to see in dim light but to see only black, white, and shades of gray (p. 215)
role behavior expected of an individual because of his or her membership in a particular group (pp. 550, 587) role taking an important aspect of children’s play that
involves assuming adult roles, thus enabling the child to
experience different points of view firsthand (p. 84) rooting reflex an infant’s response in turning toward the source of touching that occurs anywhere around his or
her mouth (p. 62)
rule a statement of relation between concepts (p. 297)
S
sample the small group of subjects, out of the total number available of a target population, that a researcher studies (p. 36)
SAT Scholastic Assessment Test; a standardized test (p. 611) scatterplot a graph of scores that demonstrates the direc- tion of the relationship between two variables (p. 53) schema an idea or mental framework a person uses to orga-
nize and interpret information and make sense of the
world (pp. 71, 284, 529)
schizophrenia a group of severe psychotic disorders char-
acterized by confused and disconnected thoughts, emo-
tions, behavior, and perceptions (p. 466)
scientific method a general approach to gathering infor-
mation and answering questions so that errors and biases
are minimized (p. 12)
seasonal affective disorder (SAD) a pattern of depres-
sive symptoms that cycle with the seasons, typically
beginning in fall or winter (p. 472)
secondary group a larger group of people with whom you
might have impersonal relationships (p. 549) secondary reinforcer a stimulus such as money that becomes rewarding through its link with a primary rein-
forcer (p. 252)
secondary traits transient or less consistent traits found
in individuals, such as food and music preferences
(p. 400)
self one’s experience or image of oneself, developed
through interaction with others (p. 395) self-actualization the humanist term for realizing one’s
unique potential (pp. 392, 449)
self-actualization needs the pursuit of knowledge and
beauty or whatever else is required for the realization of
one’s unique potential (p. 326)
self-concept how we see or describe ourselves; our total
perception of ourselves (p. 580)
Glossary retrieval–sleeper effect
self-efficacy a person’s view of his or her ability to succeed (p. 390)
self-fulfilling prophecy a belief, prediction, or expectation that operates to bring about its own fulfillment (pp. 42, 586) self-help group a type of therapy in which a group of individuals share a common problem and meet to dis- cuss it without the active involvement of professional
therapists (p. 490)
self-justification the need to rationalize one’s attitude and
behavior (p. 586)
self-serving bias the tendency to view one’s successes as
stemming from internal factors and one’s failures as
stemming from external factors (p. 531)
semantic codes ways in which a person tries to remember
something by making sense of it, such as associating a
letter with a word (p. 274)
semantic memory a type of declarative memory consist-
ing of factual knowledge of language, including its rules,
words, and meanings (p. 279)
semantics the study of meaning in language (p. 305) senile dementia a collective term to describe decreases in
mental abilities experienced by some people after the age
of 65 (p. 142)
sensation the stimulation of sensory receptors and the
transmission of sensory information to the brain (p. 208) sensory memory very brief memory storage immediately
following initial stimulation of a receptor (p. 274) separation anxiety distress that is sometimes experienced by infants when they are separated from their primary
caregivers (p. 76)
set-point the weight around which your day-to-day weight
tends to fluctuate (p. 321)
shaping technique of operant conditioning in which the
desired behavior is “molded” by first rewarding any act similar to that behavior and then requiring ever-closer approximations to the desired behavior before giving the reward (p. 255)
short-term dynamic psychotherapy a shortened version of psychoanalysis in which the therapist uses a direct and more active approach in identifying and resolving prob- lems (p. 496)
short-term memory memory that is limited in capacity to about seven items for a short period of time (p. 276) signal-detection theory the study of people’s tendencies
to make correct judgments, misses, and false alarms in
detecting the presence of stimuli (p. 212)
single-blind experiment an experiment in which the par-
ticipants are unaware of which participants received the
treatment (p. 43)
sleep apnea a sleep disorder in which a person stops
breathing for intervals of 10 seconds or longer, wakes up
briefly, resumes breathing, and returns to sleep (p. 187) sleeper effect the delayed impact on attitude change of a
persuasive communication (p. 594)
Glossary 641