A Student's Dictionary of Psychology

David A. Statt

• Publisher: Psychology Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000144420
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

A Student's Concise Dictionary of Psychology contains over 1900 definitions from ablation to zygote. There are references to words, phrases and eminent psychological figures and David A. Statt has taken into account the most recent developments in psychology to present the definitions in a clear, instructive and concise manner.
This book will be an invaluable source of information for students of psychology and its easily accessible style will make it an indispensable reference tool for those in related professions such as health and social work.

A

ablation A surgical procedure in which BRAIN tissue is systematically destroyed and often removed.

abnormal or atypical psychology The study of individuals who differ from the NORM, such as those with mental disorders. The term “abnormal” is often used as a way of labelling people whose behaviour is unusual. See LABELLING THEORY.

abnormality Behaviour that is considered to deviate from the NORM (statistical or social), or ideal mental health. It is dysfunctional because it is harmful or causes distress to the individual or others and so is considered to be a failure to function adequately. Abnormality is characterised by the fact that it is an undesirable state that causes severe impairment in the personal and social functioning of the individual, and often causes the person great anguish depending on how much insight they have into their illness.

abreaction The relief of tension that patients experience in PSYCHOANALYSIS when they relive a conflict or trauma that they had repressed. See also CATHARSIS.

absolute morality This is based on the notion that the ends cannot justify the means; some acts are basically immoral regardless of the consequences they produce.

absolute threshold The point at which a stimulus can just be picked up by the sense organs.

absolutism (in moral development) According to PIAGET, a concern with rules about the world, as reflected in a child’s play, begins around the age of 5. At this stage, children have a blind faith in the rules and the ideas of right and wrong given them by their parents. Each child regards his or her parents as the ultimate arbiters of these rules which they perceive as being quite absolute, subject to no arguments, compromises, or changes of any kind.

accommodation (1) In PIAGET’s theory, the process of changing existing schemas or creating new schemas because new information cannot be ASSIMILATED. (2) The process of adjusting the shape of the lens of the eye to ensure that images are focused on the retina.

acculturation The process by which people learn the assumptions, beliefs, and behaviour patterns of a CULTURE, either as children growing up in a certain time and place or as adults moving from one culture to another.

acculturation strategy The approach adopted by members of ethnic groups, involving decisions about preserving their own cultural identity and about contact with other cultural groups.

achieved status A term for describing a position that someone has achieved in society by his or her own efforts. Contrasted with ASCRIBED STATUS.

achievement, need for See NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT.

acoustic coding Encoding words in terms of their sound using information stored in LONG-TERM MEMORY.

acquired characteristic Originally used in GENETICS to describe a change that occurs in the physical structure of an organism as a result of its own activities or its interaction with the environment, i.e., a characteristic (like a bodybuilder’s biceps) that is not INNATE. There has long been an argument as to whether acquired characteristics can be genetically transferred to offspring (see LAMARCKIANISM). Nowadays this argument is generally considered a loser, although interest in it may still revive. In PSYCHOLOGY, skills acquired by learning (like reading and writing) are sometimes referred to as acquired characteristics.

acquired drive Sometimes used of MOTIVATION, the arousal or satisfaction of which has been learned.

acquired status See ACHIEVED STATUS.

acting out In PSYCHOANALYSIS, a term for the behaviour of a patient who has to act on a powerful and deep-rooted impulse, and is unable to reflect on it and talk about it instead.

action slips Actions that occur, but were not intended. Often described as absent-minded behaviour, such as putting teabags into the kettle instead of the teapot.

active sleep A term used to refer to REM SLEEP.

actor–observer effect The tendency for actors to attribute their actions to situational factors, whereas observers attribute them to internal/external dispositional factors. See FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR.

actualising tendency Sometimes employed by humanistic psychologists in referring to the basic MOTIVATION of people to support and develop the self. See SELF-ACTUALISATION.

acuity Literally, sharpness. Used in relation to the senses, e.g., visual acuity.

adaptation Originally a biological term used to describe physical or behavioural changes that increased an organism’s chances of survival. Used in PSYCHOLOGY to describe responses to changes in the environment, e.g., DARK–LIGHT ADAPTATION, or where the changed expectations of their society demand some kind of social adaptation in people’s behaviour. See also ADJUSTMENT.

adaptation level The concept that an organism will perceive and interpret a particular stimulus within the context or frame of reference in which it was previously learned.

adaptation time The time taken for a sense organ to adapt to a stimulus, as measured by the time elapsed between the start of a steady stimulus and the cessation of any further response to it.

adaptive The extent to which a behaviour increases the reproductive potential of an individual and survival of its GENES.

addiction Physiological and psychological dependence on a drug in order to function. It implies both a physiological and psychological adaptation to an altered normality.

adjustment Similar to ADAPTATION, especially in a social context, but usually implies a greater purposiveness and awareness on the part of the individual faced with environmental demands.

Adler, Alfred (1870–1937) An early disciple of FREUD who founded his own movement in 1911, the first of Freud’s major followers to break away. Adler disagreed with Freud’s emphasis on the importance of sexuality to the human condition, preferring to stress the drive for power and the need to compensate for deficiencies experienced by people in certain areas of their personality—the source of the famous INFERIORITY COMPLEX.

adolescence Usually defined as the period of human development between the onset of puberty at around 12 years and the attainment of physical adult maturity at around ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Acknowledgements Page
• A Student’s Dictionary of Psychology