Glossary
iconic memory: a high-capacity visual memory for holding large amounts of sensory information for very short periods of time
id: in psychoanalytic theory, the primitive, subconscious part of the mind that operates irrationally and acts on impulse to pursue pleasure
id, ego and superego: the id, ego and superego are the component parts of the personality in psychoanalytic theory. The id consists of instincts that demand satisfaction. The ego is a rational mechanism to decide between the demands of the id and the demands of the outside world. The superego is an internalised moral self that rewards and punishes adherence to restrictions on behaviour
identity conflict: the person has several commitments which prescribe conflicting behavioural imperatives in some situations, such that at least one commitment may have to be betrayed
identity deficit: the individual experiences a lack of guiding commitments but struggles to establish personal goals and values identity-reference group: where belonging to a group involves identification with the group and where membership acts as a reference point for a person to know who they are. See also social identity and reference group
idiographic test: investigators believe that personality must be studied in terms of its own organisation and not in comparison to other personalities. The idiographic approach also stresses the study of the whole personality
idiographic: developing knowledge on a case-by-case basis (contrast with nomothetic)
idiographic: relating to or involving the study of individuals
ill-defined problems: problems in which the relevant information may not be known and the demands of the problem (what has to be done) may also not be known
immediacy principle: the idea that parsing begins immediately – from the first word input
implicit association test: a measure of implicit attitudes
implicit attitudes: evaluative tendencies that influence judgements and behaviours but which the perceiver is not aware of implicit personality theory: general expectation about the characteristics and beliefs of a person based on knowledge about central traits
implicit processes: processes which reveal the existence of memories but which do so without intent or conscious recollection
implicit: Karmiloff-Smith uses this term to describe cognitive processes which are not available to consciousness and report impression formation: the psychology processes by which we form impressions of other people. See also primacy effects, recency effects, implicit personality, central traits, peripheral traits and halo effect
impression management: the use of various strategies by people to get others to form positive impressions of them
imprinting: in relation to social relationships, the innate process by which newborn animals become attached, usually to their mother
in vitro: the technique of performing a given experiment in a controlled environment outside of a living organism, e.g. the axon (see also in vivo)
in vivo: an experiment done in or on the living tissue of a whole, living organism as opposed to a single cell (see also in vitro)
incentives: external stimuli or rewards that motivate behaviour although they do not relate directly to biological needs
incidental learning: learning which occurs without intent and without conscious awareness that something is being learned
independence: generally speaking, entities are independent if they have no effect on each other
independent measures design: an experimental design in which different participants are allocated to different treatment conditions
independent t-test: a test of whether the difference between two means is different from zero, when the means come from different samples of people (usually tested under two different conditions)
independent variable: a variable the values of which are systematically determined by a researcher to address a specific hypothesis. A predictor variable
individualist identity: in a individualist society the interest of the single person prevails over the interest of the group
induced compliance experiment: a way to induce cognitive dissonance. The participant is persuaded to behave in a way inconsistent with their attitudes or beliefs
induction: the process of drawing general principles from specific instances. Psychologists use induction to develop theories on the basis of observations
inductive reasoning: the processes by which one comes to conclusions which are probabilistic rather than certain
infants: usually considered by psychologists to be children below about 24 months of age
inferior colliculus: the principal midbrain nucleus of the auditory pathway
information processing: an emphasis on the way that more effective use of information enables cognitive advances to take place informational social influence: an influence type to accept information from another source as true and reflecting reality
informed consent: the act of obtaining consent for research participation after full disclosure of the research (or at least disclosure of any details that might reasonably make someone unwilling to participate) ingroup: a group to which a person belongs or to which they think they belong
inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP): temporary hyperpolarisation of a neuron. They are graded, with larger ones decreasing the probability of producing an action potential (see also excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP))
initial state (of problem-solving): the initial stage in problem-solving according to Newell and Simon (1961), in which the unsolved problem is stated
insight: the processes, achieved suddenly, whereby a problem is reconfigured or restructured and thereby solved
insomnia: the inability to fall asleep and/or the inability to remain asleep for a reasonable amount of time
instincts: pre-programmed tendencies that are essential to a species' survival
interference: in reference to forgetting, the idea that memories can become confused with each other, resulting in an impaired ability to remember one without intrusion from another intergroup behaviour: the actions of one group of individuals towards another group of individuals
intermediate states: the states, according to Newell and Simon (1961), between the initial state and the final state. Each intermediate state is a path to the solution to the problem
internal consistency reliability: a measure of reliability; the degree to which a test yields similar scores across its different parts, such as on odd versus even items
internal locus of control: a concept initially used to describe a situation in which outcomes are believed to be determined by effort/skill
International List of Causes of Death (ICD): In 1939 the World Health Organization (WHO) created the first extensive system for classifying psychopathology and added psychological disorders to the International List of Causes of Death (ICD)
interneuron: a neuron that is neither sensory nor motor but connects the two
interoceptive stimuli: the internal physiological state of an organism that acts as a stimulus, e.g. a drug effect interpersonal distance zones: Hall’s analysis of the use and effects of non-verbal cues as a function of distance between communicators
interpersonal intelligence: ability to relate to and understand others
interposition: a cue to depth based on the fact that a near object hides parts of a more distant object because it is interposed between the viewer and the distant object
interpretation: a trained skill used by psychoanalytic therapists to help the client to identify important underlying conflicts and develop ways of dealing with these conflicts
interpretative repertoires: discrete set of metaphors and images drawn upon in talk to construct a particular object
interquartile range: the range of a set of observations when you ignore the upper quartile and lower quartile of the data
interstitial fluid: the fluid which is located between cells and surrounds them
intersubjectivity: an awareness of another’s intentions and consciousness
interval data: data measured on a scale along the whole of which intervals are equal
intracellular fluid: the body fluid on the inside of cells (see also extracellular fluid)
intracellular thirst: thirst generated by decreased water volume
intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS): a behavioural technique in which an animal performs a task in order to receive electrical stimulation from an electrode planted in the brain. Used to measure reinforcement in addiction
intrapersonal intelligence: having an understanding of yourself; knowing who you are, what you can do and what you want to do
intravascular fluid: blood plasma
intrinsic: of or relating to the essential nature of a thing; inherent
introversion: preoccupation with oneself and accompanying reduction of interest in the outside world
intuitive definitions: definitions of what people understand by the word intelligence obtained through intuition rather than from reasoning or observation
inverse agonist: an agent which binds to the same receptor binding-site as an agonist for that receptor but exerts the opposite pharmacological effect
ion channel: the site at which an ion can gain passage to either side of the cell membrane
ionotropic receptors: receptors in which ion channels are opened or closed in response to a chemical messenger
IQ: an index derived from standardised tests of intelligence; originally obtained by dividing an individual's mental age by chronological age and then multiplying by 100; now directly computed as an IQ test score