心理学名词解释.docx

心理学名词解释.docx

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心理学名词解释

A

ABDesign

Asinglesubjectresearchdesignthatcontainsonebaseline（A）andonetreatment（B）.

ABABDesign

Asinglesubjectresearchdesignthatcontainsabaseline（A1）,treatment（B1）,asecondbaseline（B2）andasecondtreatmentphase（B2）

Alpha（lowercase）

Theabbreviationforprobabilityoferrorinstatisticalresults.SeeTypeIError.（a）

AlternativeHypothesis

Thehypothesisthatstatesthereisadifferencebetweentwoormoresetsofdata.

AbsoluteZero

Characteristicofascaleofmeasurementthatcontainsapointwherethescalehasnovalue.

Accommodation

Thecreationofnewcognitiveschemaswhenobjects,experiences,orotherinformationdoesnotfitwithexistingschemas.

ActionPotential

Thefiringonaneuron.Occurswhenthechargeinsidetheneuronbecomesmorepositivethanthechargeoutside.

Acetycholine

Aneurotransmitterassociatedwithvoluntarymovement,sleepandwakefulness.

Aggressive

Aninterpersonalstylewhereonlytheimmediateneedsoftheselfareconsideredratherthantheneedsofothers.（Asopposedtopassiveorassertive）

Agoraphobia

Ananxietydisordercharacterizedbyanintensefearofleavingone'shome.

AllorNoneLaw

Eitheraneuroncompletelyfiresoritdoesnotfireatall.

Alpha（lowercase）

Theabbreviationforprobabilityoferrorinstatisticalresults.SeeTypeIError.（a）

AlternativeHypothesis

Thehypothesisthatstatesthereisadifferencebetweentwoormoresetsofdata.

Altruism

Behaviorthatisunselfishandmayevenbedetrimentalbutwhichbenefitsothers.

Amnesia

Lossofmemory.Usuallyonlyapartiallosssuchasforaperiodoftimeorbiographicalinformation.

Amygdala

Apartofthebrain'slimbicsystemthatattachesemotionalsignificancetoinformationandmediatesbothdefensiveandaggressivebehavior.

AnalExpulsivePersonality

StemmingfromtheAnalstage,achildwhobecomesfixatedduetoovercontroltransfershisorherunresolvedanal（orcontrol）issuesintocharacteristicssuchascruelty,pushiness,messiness,ordisorganization.

AnalRetentivePersonality

StemmingfromtheAnalstage,achildwhobecomesfixatedduetoundercontroltransfershisorherunresolvedanal（orcontrol）issuesintocharacteristicssuchascompulsivity,stinginess,cleanliness,organization,andobstinance.

AnalStage

Freud'ssecondstageofpsychosexualdevelopmentwheretheprimarysexualfocusisontheeliminationorholdingontofeces.Thestageisoftenthoughtofasrepresentingachild'sabilitytocontrolhisorherownworld.

Analysis

SeePsychoanalysis.

AnalysisofVariance

Aninferentialstatisticalprocedureusedtotestwhetherornotthemeansoftwoormoresetsofdataareequaltoeachother.

ANOVA

AnalysisofVariance.

Anxiety

Thephysiologicalandpsychologicalreactiontoanexpecteddanger,whetherrealorimagined.

Aphasia

Theimpairmentoftheabilitytocommunicateeitherthroughoralorwrittendiscourseasaresultofbraindamage.

Approach-ApproachConflict

Theconflictpresentedwhentwooppositebutequallyappealingchoicesareavailablebutcannotbothbeobtained.

Approach-AvoidanceConflict

Theconflictpresentedwhenthebestpositivechoicewillresultinanegativeoutcomeaswellaspositive.

ArousalTheory

Thetheorystatingthatwearemotivatedbyourinnatedesiretomaintainanoptimallevelofarousal.

Assertive

Styleofinterpersonalinteractionwhereboththeneedsoftheselfandothersareconsidered.（Asopposedtopassiveoraggressive）

Assimilation

Incorporatingobjects,experiences,orinformationintoexistingschemas.

Associations

Thephenomenoninlearningthatstateswearebetterabletorememberinformationifitispairedwithsomethingwearefamiliarwithorotherwisestandsout.

Attachment

Thestrongbondachildformswithhisorherprimarycaregiver.

Attribution

Anideaorbeliefabouttheetiologyofacertainbehavior.

AttributionTheory

Thetheorythatarguespeoplelookforexplanationofbehavior,associatingeitherdispositional（internal）attributesorsituational（external）attributes.

Authoritarian[parents]

Parentingstylefocusedonexcessiverules,rigidbeliefsystems,andtheexpectationofunquestionedobedience.

Authoritative[parents]

Parentingstylefocusedonsettingreasonablerulesandexpectationswhileencouragingcommunicationandindependence.

AutonomicNervousSystem

Partoftheperipheralnervoussystemthatregulatestheinvoluntaryactionsofthebody（e.g.,breathing,heartrate,bloodpressure,pupildilation）.AlsoregulatestheFightorFlightPhenomenon.

AvailabilityHeuristic

Aruleofthumbstatingthatinformationmorereadilyavailableinourmemoryismoreimportantthaninformationnotaseasilyaccessible.

AversionTherapy

Atypeofbehavioraltreatmentwhereanaversivestimuliispairedwithanegativebehaviorinhopesthatthebehaviorwillchangeinthefuturetoavoidtheaversivestimuli.

Avoidance-AvoidanceConflict

Theconflictwherebothpossiblechoiceshaveanequalnegativeoutcome.

Axon

Thetail-likepartoftheneuronthroughwhichinformationexitsthecell.

B

BehaviorModification

Theapplicationofbehavioraltheorytochangeaspecificbehavior.

BehaviorTherapy

Theapplicationofbehavioraltheory（e.g.conditioning,reinforcement）inthetreatmentofmentalillness.

Behaviorism

Theschoolofpsychologyfoundedonthepremisethatbehaviorismeasurableandcanbechangedthroughtheapplicationofvariousbehavioralprinciples.

Bell-ShapedCurve

Alsoreferredtoasanormaldistributionornormalcurve,abell-shapedcurveisaperfectmesokurticcurvewherethemean,median,andmodeareequal.

Beta（uppercase）

AbbreviationforPowerinstatisticalresults.SeeTypeIIError.（b）

BinocularCues

Visualcues（convergenceandretinaldisparity）thatrequirebotheyestoperceivedistance（asopposedtomonocularcues）

Bisexuality

Beingattractedtoorarousedbymembersofbothgenders.SeeSexualOrientation.

BlindStudy

Asawaytoavoidtheplaceboeffectinresearch,thistypeofstudyisdesignedwithoutthesubject'sknowledgeoftheanticipatedresultsandsometimeseventhenatureofthestudy.Thesubjectsaresaidtobe'blind'totheexpectedresults.

Broca’sAphasia

AnaphasiaassociatedwithdamagetotheBroca'sareaofthebrain,demonstratedbytheimpairmentinproducingunderstandablespeech.

Burnout

Changesinthoughts,emotions,andbehaviorasaresultofextendedjobstressandunrewardedrepetitionofduties.Burnoutisseenasextremedissatisfaction,pessimism,loweredjobsatisfaction,andadesiretoquit.

C

CanonicalCorrelation

AcorrelationaltechniqueusedwhentherearetwoormoreXandtwoormoreY.（Example:

Thecorrelationbetween（ageandsex）and（incomeandlifesatisfaction）

CastrationAnxiety

AccordingtoFreud'sStagesofPsychosexualDevelopment,thefearaboyinthephallicstageexperiencesduetoafearthathisfatherwillrenderhimpowerlessifhisfatherfindsoutabouthisattractiontowardhismother.

Catharsis

Theemotionalreleaseassociatedwiththeexpressionofunconsciousconflicts.

CEEBScore

Astandardscorethatsetsthemeantofive-hundredandstandarddeviationtoone-hundred.UsedontheScholasticAptitudeTest（SAT）

CellBody

Themainpartofaneuronwheretheinformationisprocessed.

CentralNervousSystem

Thebrainandthespinalcord.

CentralTendency

Astatisticalmeasurementattemptingtodepicttheaveragescoreinadistribution（seemean,median,and/ormode）

Centration

Ayoungchild'stendencytofocusonlyonhisorherownperspectiveofaspecificobjectandafailuretounderstandthatothersmayseethingsdifferently.

Cerebellum

Partofthebrainassociatedwithbalance,smoothmovement,andposture.

CerebralHemispheres

Thetwohalvesofthebrain（rightandleft）

ChemicalImbalance

Agenerictermfortheideathatchemicalinthebrainareeithertooscarceortooabundantresultinginorcontributingtoamentaldisordersuchasschizophreniaorbipolardisorder.Othersbelievethatthedisorderprecedestheimbalance,suggestingthatachangeinmood,forexample,changesourchemicalsratherthanthechemicalchangingourmood.

Chunk

Aunitofinformationusedinmemory

Chunking

Combiningsmallerunitsofmeasurementorchunksintolargerchunks.（e.g.,asevenchunkphonenumbersuchas5-5-5-1-2-1-2becomesafivechunknumbersuchas5-5-5-12-12）

ClassicalConditioning

Thebehavioraltechniqueofpairinganaturallyoccurringstimulusandresponsechainwithadifferentstimulusinordertoproducearesponsewhichisnotnaturallyoccurring.

ClientCenteredTherapy

AhumanistictherapybasedonCarlRoger'sbeliefsthatanindividualhasanunlimitedcapacityforpsychologicalgrowthandwillcontinuetogrowunlessbarriersareplacedintheway.

CoefficientofDetermination

Thestatisticornumberdeterminedbysquaringthecorrelationcoefficient.Representstheamountofvarianceaccountedforbythatcorrelation.

CoercivePower

Powerderivedthroughtheabilitytopunish.

Cognition

Theprocessofreceiving,processing,storing,andusinginformation.

CognitiveBehavioralTherapy

Treatmentinvolvingthecombinationofbehaviorism（basedonthetheoriesoflearning）andcognitivetherapy（basedonthetheorythatourcognitionsorthoughtscontrolalargeportionofourbehaviors）.

CognitiveDissonance

herealizationofcontradictionsinone'sownattitudesandbehaviors.

CognitivePsychology

Thesub-fieldofpsychologyassociatedwithinformationprocessingandtheroleitplaysinemotion,behavior,andphysiology.

CognitiveTherapy

Thetreatmentapproachbasedonthetheorythatourcognitionsorthoughtscontrolalargepartofourbehaviorsandemotions.Therefore,