Hello friends, I was going to keep posting these terms that I obtained mostly off of popular online sources, but I think what in someways at this point might be just as good for someone who wants to brush up on terminology like myself is to just buy the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology; which I already did so I had my ah ha moment and I even bet ah ha is already in that book; but I do hope you enjoy these definitions I got through already on my blog and I have to say the Penguin book is great, really comprehensive.

Psychology Study Notes: Review of Various Terminology:

"Accommodation-Changes in the thickness of the lens of the eye that focus images of near or distant objects on the retina. Also, the process by which existing schemata are modified or changed by new experiences".

"Activational Effect-The effect of a hormone on a physiological system that has already developed. If the effect involves the brain, it can influence behavior. An example is facilitation of sexual arousal and performance".

"Actor Observer Effect-The tendency to attribute one's own behavior to situational factors but others’ behavior to dispositional factors".

"Agrammatism-A language disturbance; difficulty in the production and comprehension of grammatical features, such as proper use of function words, word endings, and word order. Often seen in cases of Broca's aphasia".

"Algorithm-A procedure that consists of a series of steps that will solve a specific type of problem".

"Alleles-Alternative forms of the same gene".

"Anatomical Coding-A means of representing information by the nervous system; different features are coded by the activity of different neurons".

"Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome-An inherited condition caused by a lack of functioning androgen receptors. Because androgens cannot exert their effects, a person with XY sex chromosomes develops as a female, with female external genitalia".

"Androgens-The primary class of sex hormones in males. The most important androgen is testosterone".

"Animism-The belief that all animals and all moving objects possess spirits providing their motive force".

"Antigen-The unique proteins found on the surface of bacteria; these proteins are what enable the immune system to recognize the bacteria as foreign substances".

"Appeasement Gesture-A stereotyped gesture made by a submissive animal in response to a threat gesture by a dominant animal; tends to inhibit an attack".

"Archetypes-Universal thought forms and patterns that Jung believed resided in the collective unconscious".

"Artificial Selection-A procedure in which animals are deliberately mated to produce offspring that possess particularly desirable characteristics".

"Assimilation-The process by which new information about the world is modified to fit existing schemata".

"Basic level-The level of categorization that can be retrieved from memory most quickly and used most efficiently".

"Basilar membrane-A membrane in the cochlea that, when set into motion, stimulates hair cells that produce the neural effects of auditory stimulation".

"Between-subjects design-A research design in which different groups of participants are randomly assigned to experimental conditions or to control conditions".

"Biofeedback-A self-regulatory technique by which an individual acquires voluntary control over nonconscious biological processes".

"Biomedical therapies-Treatments for psychological disorders that alter brain functioning with chemical or physical interventions such as drug therapy, surgery, or electroconvulsive therapy".

"Blocking-A phenomenon in which an organism does not learn a new stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus, because the new stimulus is presented simultaneously with a stimulus that is already effective as a signal".

"Bottom-up processing-Perceptual analyses based on the sensory data available in the environment; results of analyses are passed upward toward more abstract representations".

"Brain stem-The brain structure that regulates the body's basic life processes".

"Broca's area-The region of the brain that translates thoughts into speech or sign."

"Cannon–Bard theory of emotion A theory stating that an “emotional stimulus produces two co-occurring reactions—arousal “and experience of emotion—that do not cause each other".

"Centration-A thought pattern common during the beginning of the preoperational stage of cognitive development; characterized by the child's inability to take more than one perceptual factor into account at the same time".

"Cerebral cortex-The outer surface of the cerebrum".

"Cerebral hemispheres-The two halves of the cerebrum, connected by the corpus callosum".

"Cerebrum-The region of the brain that regulates higher cognitive and emotional functions".

"Chronological age-The number of months or years since an individual's birth".

"Chunking-The process of taking single items of information and recoding them on the basis of similarity or some other organizing principle."

"Circadian rhythm-A consistent pattern of cyclical body activities, usually lasting 24 to 25 hours and determined by an internal biological clock".

"Dark adaptation-The gradual improvement of the eyes' sensitivity after a shift in illumination from light to near darkness".

"Declarative memory-Memory for information such as facts and events".

"Deductive reasoning-A form of thinking in which one draws a conclusion that is intended to follow logically from two or more statements or premises".

"Demand characteristics-Cues in an experimental setting that influence the participants' perception of what is expected of them and that systematically influence their behavior within that setting".

"Determinism-The doctrine that all events—physical, behavioral, and mental—are determined by specific causal factors that are potentially knowable".

"Diathesis stress hypothesis-A hypothesis about the cause of certain disorders, such as schizophrenia, that suggests that genetic factors predispose an individual to a certain disorder, but that environmental stress factors must impinge in order for the potential risk to manifest itself".

"Dichotic listening-An experimental technique in which a different auditory stimulus is simultaneously presented to each ear".

"Diffusion of responsibility-In emergency situations, the larger the number of bystanders, the less responsibility any one bystander feels to help".

"Discriminative stimuli-Stimuli that act as predictors of reinforcement, signaling when particular behaviors will result in positive reinforcement."

"Distal stimulus-In the processes of perception, the physical object in the world, as contrasted with the proximal stimulus, the optical image on the retina".

"Divergent thinking-An aspect of creativity characterized by an ability to produce unusual but appropriate responses to problems".

"Double blind control-An experimental technique in which biased expectations of experimenters are eliminated by keeping both participants and experimental assistants unaware of which participants have received which treatment".

"Echoic memory-Sensory memory that allows auditory information to be stored for brief durations".

"Ego-The aspect of personality involved in self-preservation activities and in directing instinctual drives and urges into appropriate channels".

"Elaboration likelihood model-A theory of persuasion that defines how likely it is that people will focus their cognitive processes to elaborate upon a message and therefore follow the central and peripheral routes to persuasion".

"Elaborative rehearsal-A technique for improving memory by enriching the encoding of information".

"Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)-The use of electroconvulsive shock as an effective treatment for severe depression".

Electroencephalogram (EEG) A recording of the electrical activity of the brain.

"Encoding-The process by which a mental representation is formed in memory".

"Encoding specificity-The principle that subsequent retrieval of information is enhanced if cues received at the time of recall are consistent with those present at the time of encoding".

"Endocrine system-The network of glands that manufacture and secrete hormones into the bloodstream".

"Engram-The physical memory trace for information in the brain".

"Episodic memories-Long-term memories for autobiographical events and the contexts in which they occurred".

"Equity theory -cognitive theory of work motivation that proposes that workers are motivated to maintain fair and equitable relationships with other relevant persons; also, a model that postulates that equitable relationships are those in which the participants' outcomes are proportional to their inputs".

"Estrogen-The female sex hormone, produced by the ovaries, that is responsible for the release of eggs from the ovaries as well as for the development and maintenance of female reproductive structures and secondary sex characteristics".

"Etiology-The causes of, or factors related to, the development of a disorder".

"Excitatory inputs-Information entering a neuron that signals it to fire".

"Extinction-In conditioning, the weakening of a conditioned association in the absence of a reinforcer or unconditioned stimulus".

"Figure Object-like regions of the visual field that are distinguished from background".

"Five-factor model-A comprehensive descriptive personality system that maps out the relationships among common traits, theoretical concepts, and personality scales; informally called the Big Five".

"Fixed-interval schedule-A schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a fixed period of time".

"Fixed-ratio schedule-A schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a fixed number of responses".

"Flooding-A therapy for phobias in which clients are exposed, with their permission, to the stimuli most frightening to them".

"Fluid intelligence-The aspect of intelligence that involves the ability to see complex relationships and solve problems".

"Foundational theories-Frameworks for initial understanding formulated by children to explain their experiences of the world".

"Fovea-Area of the retina that contains densely packed cones and forms the point of sharpest vision".

"Frame-A particular description of a choice; the perspective from which a choice is described or framed affects how a decision is made and which option is ultimately exercised".

"Frontal lobe-Region of the brain located above the lateral fissure and in front of the central sulcus; involved in motor control and cognitive activities".

"Functional fixedness-An inability to perceive a new use for an object previously associated with some other purpose; adversely affects problem solving and creativity".

"Functional MRI (fMRI)-A brain imaging technique that combines benefits of both MRI and PET scans by detecting magnetic changes in the flow of blood to cells in the brain".