Glossary
c-fibres: fibres which send slow pain messages
capacity model of attention: a model of attention which posits that attentional capacity is limited but which is allocated according to task demands
case study: an in-depth study of either one entity (an individual, organisation or whatever) or a small number of entities
catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations: a risk factor for panic disorder consisting of a cognitive bias towards accepting the more threatening interpretation of ambiguous bodily sensations
categorical self: an understanding of the self in terms of categories and descriptions
categorical variable: see discrete variable
causal attribution: the inference process by which perceivers attribute an event to one or more potential causes
causal schemata: conceptions based on experience about how particular causes for an event interact to produce particular effects
central executive: a component of working memory which is responsible for planning and the allocation of processing resources
central nervous system (CNS): the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord
central processing route: characterised by a person’s careful consideration and engagement with arguments in a persuasive communication
central resource theory: the idea that there is a central bank of processing resources which is used to handle all kinds of task demands
central tendency: a generic term describing the centre of a frequency distribution of observations as measured by the mean, mode and median
central traits: From Asch’s configural model of impression formation, that certain traits have a major impact on the final impression formed about another personcerebellum: part of the extrapyramidal system. This region of the brain plays an important role in the integration of sensory perception and motor control
cerebrospinal fluid: the clear bodily fluid that occupies the subarachnoid space and the ventricular system around and inside the brain
cerveau isole: surgery involving the isolation of the forebrain
chartjunk: superfluous material which distracts from the data being displayed on a graph
child-directed speech (CDS): simplified speech which is spoken to young children
childhood amnesia: the period until about three years old for which children seem to have no memories
chi-squaretest: a test based on the chi-square distribution, which is a probability distribution of the sum of squares of several normally-distributed variables. The exact shape of the distribution is determined by the degrees of freedom of the test statistic for which the distribution is being used. The chi-square test tends to be used to test hypotheses about categorical data, for example whether there is a significant association between the frequencies of responses across two
categorical variables
chromosomes: structures that contain the strands of DNA (genes). In humans there usually are 23 pairs of chromosomes, one from the mother and one from the father
cingulate cortex: the cingulate cortex is a part of the brain situated in the medial aspect of the cortex. Part of the limbic system
classical conditioning: a form of associative learning where a neutral stimulus (an original stimulus that does not evoke a particular response) becomes associated with a stimulus that is able to produce a reflex through repeated exposure to another stimulus that has already evoked that response (see
conditioned stimulus)
client-centred therapy: a type of holistic therapy developed by Carl Rogers that emphasises the need to consider the ‘whole’ person, and not just those ‘bits’ of the person that manifest psychopathology
clinical psychology: the professional branch of psychology responsible for understanding and treating psychopathology
closure principle: a Gestalt principle underpinning the law of pragnanz in which gaps in a stimulus are closed or completed to produce a good, whole figure
cluster sampling: a cluster sample takes a naturally occurring group (for example, children in a class or all general practitioners in Brighton)
cochlea: the auditory portion of the inner ear
codons: a sequence of three nucleotide bases that make an amino acid
coefficient of determination: this is the correlation coefficient squared. In general terms it is the
correlation between the values predicted by a regression model and the observed values and represents the amount of variance in the outcome variable, accounted for by the one or more predictors in the model
cognitive appraisal: with respect to emotions, the process through which physiological arousal is interpreted with respect to circumstances in the particular setting in which it is being experienced; also, the recognition and evaluation of a stressor to assess the demand, the size of the threat, the resources available for dealing with it, and appropriate coping strategies
cognitive dissonance theory: Festinger’s theory of cognitive consistency. Proposes that people are motivated to avoid the unpleasant feeling or tension associated with dissonant attitudes, usually by changing or rejecting one of the attitudes
cognitive miser: people use the least demanding and least complex cognitions in producing a sought-after behaviour
cognitive stage of skill acquisition: the initial stage of skill acquisition in which the nature of the problem is identified, the operations required to solve it are learnt or taught, appropriate strategies are applied and the problem solved. At this stage, knowledge is declarative and dependent on conscious application of that knowledge
cognitive x value theory: in relation to motivation, that goal-directed behaviour is motivated by two cognitive judgements: firstly, the strength of an individual’s expectation that engagement in a particular behaviour will lead to goal obtainment (expectation value); secondly, the value that the individual places on the goal (incentive value)
cognitive-behavioural: a therapeutic approach that combines the cognitive emphasis on the role of thoughts and attitudes influencing motivations and response with the behavioural emphasis on changing performance through modification of reinforcement contingencies.
cognitivism: a theoretical approach to psychology that views behaviour as the result of information processing in the brain. It uses the metaphor that the mind is like a computer
cohort model: the idea that the initial sound of a spoken word activates a cohort of possible words in the listener and that this cohort is gradually reduced in size by successive sounds in the word. Cohorts are also reduced by contextual information
cohort: a group of individuals who are born at around the same historical time. Individuals from different cohorts are likely to have had different life experiences: for example, people who were born in the 1930s and the 1950s
collectivist identity: in a collectivist society, the interest of the group prevails over the interest of the individual
colour constancy: the tendency to perceive a surface as having a constant colour in spite of actual changes in the colour of the reflected light over the surface or over time
commisures: the small connective tissue between the hemispheres
communication: the transmission of information
co-morbidity: the diagnosis in a single individual of more than one psychological disorder
competitive drugs: drugs which compete for the same site on a receptor as the neurotransmitter
complex cells: cells in the cortex which respond to line segments in a particular orientation located anywhere in the receptive fields of the simple cells that feed into the complex cells
compliance: public and temporary change in behaviour and attitudes after being influenced by group pressure and persuasive requests. The effect is superficialcompulsive checking: a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in which the individual experiences uncontrollable urges to persistently check things to ensure that the individual will not be responsible for any potentially harmful event occurring
compulsive washing: a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in which the individual indulges in prolonged washing or cleaning rituals that serve to reduce the fear of dirt, contamination or illness
concept learning: learning which instances are members of a given category and which are not
conceptualisation: the initial stage in speech production in which the idea or ideas that are going to be communicated are formed
concordance studies: studies designed to show that the probability with which a family member or relative will develop a psychopathology is dependent on how closely they are related – or more specifically, how much genetic material the two share in common
concurrent validity: extent to which a test yields the same results as other measures of the same phenomenon
conditioned emotional response (CER): a technique used to train animals to elicit a fear response to a stimulus via classical conditioning
conditioned place preference (CPP): a method of assessing drug-seeking behaviour in an animal
conditioned response (CR): Pavlovian conditioning term. After a number of pairings of an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus (CS), eventually the organism begins to produce a conditioned response to the CS (see also
conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response)
conditioned stimulus (CS): Pavlovian conditioning term. A neutral stimulus that after conditioning produces a conditioned response (see also
conditioned response, unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response)
confidence interval: boundaries that are estimated so that in a certain percentage of samples (usually 95%) the population mean will fall within these boundaries
configuration approach: Kelley’s account of causal attribution for situations where there is incomplete data to base consensus, distinctiveness and consensus information. See
causal schemata
confirmation bias (in hypothesis testing): the tendency to seek only information which confirms the hypothesis being tested
conformity: private and enduring change in behaviour and attitudes after being influenced by group pressure or persuasive requests. The effect is deep-rootedconfounding variable: a variable (that may or may not have been measured) other than the predictor variables in which we’re interested that potentially affects an outcome variable
conscious, preconscious and unconscious: the conscious, preconscious and unconscious are the component parts of the mind in psychoanalytic theory. The conscious contains thoughts and experiences. The preconscious contains memories available to the conscious. The unconscious contains biological drives and desires formed during childhood
consensus: the extent to which other persons’ responses to a particular event or stimulus are the same. From Kelley’s covariation model
conservation: a term used by Piaget to describe understanding that mass or volume remains the same despite being changed in some way, e.g. the shape of a clay ball being changed
conservative focusing strategy: in the context of concept learning, a strategy which tests hypotheses as to the nature of a concept by changing one characteristic at a time in a systematic way
consistency theories: those theories that propose that people are motivated to maintain an equilibrium between attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. See also balance theory and
cognitive dissonance theory
consistency: the extent to which a person behaves in the same way in response to the same event or stimulus
conspecifics: members of the same species
constituents: grammatically defined components of a sentence
construct validity: the extent to which scores or ratings or an assessment instrument relate to other performance of subjects according to some theory or hypothesis. The theoretical basis of a model of behaviour (see also predictive validity and face validity)
constructive perception: the idea that the percept is constructed from a combination of visual input, expectations, context and knowledge of the world
constructive process: with reference to remembering, constructing a memory rather than simply retrieving a memory trace
constructivist: this term is used in slightly different ways in developmental psychology. One use of the term is linked to Piagetian perspectives where emphasis is given to the way children build up their understanding of the world through their interaction with the world. A similar use is employed in relation to language development, where it is used to describe the way children are able to construct a grammar of a language through gradually building it up piece by piece
contact hypothesis: states that bringing members of conflicting groups together will improve intergroup relations and reduce prejudice and discriminationcontent validity: evidence that the content of a test corresponds to the content of the construct it was designed to cover
content words: words such as the names of things or actions which carry the meaning of what is being said
context specific: behaviours associated within one setting (i.e. you can only swim whilst in water!)
context-dependent memory: the observation that memories are best recalled, or even recalled at all, in the context in which they were acquired
contiguity: the temporal relationship between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus. The closer they are together, the stronger the learning
contingency: the probability of a unconditioned stimulus following a conditioned stimulus
continuity principle: a Gestalt principle underpinning the law of pragnanz in which line edges or surfaces which are seen to be continuous are perceived as belonging to the same object
continuity: the idea that there is a relation between earlier and later characteristics
continuous variables: any variable made up of categories or groups of objects/entities
control condition: a group in an experimental design in which the proposed cause of an effect is absent
controlled processes: processes which require attentional capacity, are largely under conscious control and which can be interrupted
convergence: in visual perception, when the rods and cones synapse onto the bipolar cells. A number of rods converge onto one bipolar cell, whereas only a few cones converge onto a bipolar cell
conversion effect: when minority social influence brings about an internal and private change in the attitudes or behaviour of the majorityco-occurrence hypothesis: states that people may use both systematic and heuristic processes when a persuasive message is ambiguous
coping: activities designed to appraise stressors and to deal with their effects
corpus callosum: the longitudinal fissure that connects the left and right hemispheres
correlation: Pearson’s correlation coefficient is a standardised measure of the relationship between two variables
correlational research: see cross-sectional research
correspondence bias: the tendency to infer a person’s dispositional attributes from his or her behaviour when other possible causes for the behaviour are also present. See also the fundamental attribution error
correspondence hypothesis (also principles of compatibility): a close association between attitude and behaviour measures will be shown if both measures are equivalent in their degree of specification about action, time, context and response
correspondence inference theory: Jones and Davis’ approach to how we make internal or dispositional attributions
cortex: the outer part of the brain. The most recent part of the brain in evolutionary terms
corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH): a hormone which activates the autonomic and endocrine systems
cortisol: a stress hormone released by the adrenal gland
cost-reward ratio: from social exchange theory, the idea that people calculate the costs of being reinforced by another person and that this determines liking and attractioncounterbalancing: in an experiment, counterbalancing is a technique used to ensure that order effects such as practice and boredom do not affect performance systematically. As many participants experience the conditions in one order as experience them in the opposite order: e.g. with two conditions, half the participants perform the conditions in the order AB, and half in the order BA
counterconditioning: a behaviour therapy technique based on extinction, but where the therapist attempts to attach a response to the anxiety-provoking events and situations that is inconsistent with anxiety
counterfactual reasoning: the ability to reason about relationships that do not exist or are not described
covariation model: Kelley’s theory of causal attribution. People select the cause of a behaviour or event to the factor that covaries most with the behaviour
covariation principle: states that given time and motivation people make attributions on the bases of perceiving the covariation of an effect and its hypothetical causes
covert attention: attention which can be shifted internally and which doesn’t require changes in orientation or eye movements
creative intelligence: the ability to generate ideas or products that are both novel and appropriate to the circumstances
creativity: in the context of the design characteristics of language, the characteristic referring to the ability to produce and understand an infinite number of novel utterances
criterion validity: evidence that test scores predict, or correspond with, concurrent external criteria that are conceptually related to the measured construct
criterion-referenced test: an assessment that allows its users to make score interpretations of a student's performance in relation to a specified performance standard or criteria, rather than in comparison to the performances of other test-takers
Cronbach’s alpha: a measure of the reliability of a scale. A value of 0.7-0.8 is regarded as an acceptable value for scale reliability for social science data although values below 0.7 can, realistically, be expected
cross-cultural psychology: an approach to psychology that treats culture as a variable to be investigated. It emphasises the search for differences and similarities across cultures
cross-modal integration: being able to integrate or respond to information involving two different dimensions (e.g. a sound and its location)
cross-sectional design: an experimental design widely used in developmental research. Separate groups of participants are used to represent different levels of an independent variable which would ideally be represented by a single group at different times. For example, in studying age-differences, a cross-sectional design would involve using different groups of participants to represent different ages, rather than measuring the behaviour of a single group at different ages
cross-sectional research: in psychological terms it is research in which naturally occurring behaviour/cognitions/physiological responses are measured or observed without trying to influence those responses by manipulating other variables (see correlational research)
cross-sectional studies: these investigations collect information from several age points, with different individuals at each age point
crystallised intelligence: the facet of intelligence involving the knowledge a person has already acquired and the ability to access that knowledge; measured by vocabulary, arithmetic and general information tests
cultural transmission: in the context of the design characteristics of language, the characteristic referring to the transmission of language between members of the species, usually from parents to offspring