Glossary
saccule: part of the inner ear and vestibular system
salutatory conduction: the conduction of an impulse down a myelinated axon
sample: a smaller (but hopefully representative) collection of units from a population used to determine truths about that population
sampling distribution: the distribution of possible values of a given statistic that we could expect to get from a given population
sampling error: the deviation of a sample parameter or statistic from the ‘true’ value in the population
sampling variation: the fact that the value of any statistic estimated from a sample will depend somewhat on the sample taken. As such the statistic will vary slightly from sample to sample
sampling: the process of selecting entities for a sample
satellite cells: support cells in the peripheral nervous system
savant syndrome: an individual with a rare form of mental retardation, extraordinarily talented in one or a few limited areas of intellectual development
scaffolding: the support given to a learner by structuring the problem so that they can succeed
scatterplot: a graph showing the relationship between two variables, X and Y. Each point on the graph represents an individual's permutation of X and Y values (see Figure 38.11 for examples)
scene: a type of schema about the content and layout of places
schema: cognitive structure that represents knowledge about a stimulus or concept, including its attributes and the relations between those attributes, in an organised packet stored in long-term memory. Also Piaget’s term for an element of thought that concerns a topic
schemata: in the context of expertise, the form in which an expert’s knowledge is stored
schizophrenia: a severe psychopathology characterised by a collection of disparate symptoms comprising cognitive and emotional dysfunctions that include dysfunctions of perception, inferential thinking, language and communication, behavioural monitoring, affect, fluency, productivity of thought and speech, and attention
scientific racism: a political movement that attempts to find a scientific justification for racial differences and inequalities
scientific statements: statements that can be verified with reference to empirical evidence
script: a type of schema. A timetable of key events in common situations such as going to a lecture and travelling to work.
secondary appraisal: in transactional models of stress and coping, an appraisal of the coping resources an individual has available to deal with a problem
security of attachment: often used to refer to the different types of attachment relationship identified in the strange situation
selection paradigm of concept learning: an experimental procedure in concept learning in which the learner actively selects what s/he considers to be examples or non-examples of the concept with a view to learning the concept
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): the collective name for a group of antidepressant drugs that selectively affect the uptake of only one brain neurotransmitter – usually serotonin
self-actualisation: a concept in personality psychology referring to a person's constant striving to realise his or her potential and to develop inherent talents and capabilities self-categorisation process: the process by which categorisation of oneself as a group member produces social identity and intergroup behaviour self-concept: one’s concept or idea of oneself in the social world
self-efficacy: the set of beliefs that one can perform adequately in a particular situation
self-esteem: a generalised evaluative attitude toward the self that influences both moods and behaviour and that exerts a powerful effect on a range of personal and social behaviours
self-handicapping hurdles: the tendency to construct the conditions under which failure is inevitable but not one's fault
self-perception theory: Bem’s theory as an alternative to cognitive dissonance. States that a person infers their own attitudes by using attributional reasoning like an outside observer does
self-perception: an awareness of the characteristics that constitute one's self; self-knowledge
self-report questionnaires: the self-behaviours that are identified through a participant's own observations and reports
self-schema: any mental structure representing knowledge about oneself on a particular dimension or in a particular domain
self-serving biases: types of distortions in attribution to maintain self-concept and self-esteem. People attribute success to internal causes and failure to external cause semantic differential scale: a technique for measuring attitudes. People rate attitude objects on a series of bi-polar adjective scales
semantic encoding: the coding of information into memory based on the meaning of the material involved
semantic memory: the memory system posited to store information about meanings of words, concepts and facts about the world
semantic priming: the observation that the processing of a stimulus is enhanced if the participant has recently processed another, semantically related stimulus
semanticity: in the context of the design characteristics of language, the fact that words in a language have a meaning and stand for something
semicircular canals: part of the vestibular system
semi-partial correlation: a measure of the relationship between two variables while ‘controlling’ the effect of one or more additional variables has on one of the original variables
sensation seeking: the process in which the individual actively seeks out stimulation from the environment
sensation: the psychological effect of the quality of the stimulation: intensity, wavelength, duration
sensitivity (d’): the parameter in signal detection theory which reflects the participant’s sensitivity to the signal
sensorimotor: the first of Piaget’s stages, which involves thinking based on sensation and motor movement
sensory memory: a high-capacity memory which holds sensory information for very short periods of time. Includes iconic memory and echoic memory
sensory threshold: the level of stimulation required to produce a sensation
serial position effect: the observation that the probability of recall of an item in a list is related to the position of the item in the list. Initial and recent items are remembered best
serial processing: two or more sets of processes which occur serially (one after the other), as opposed to simultaneously (in parallel)
serial recall: a memory paradigm in which items have to be remembered in the order in which they were presented
sexual motivation: an inferred, internal state, influenced by several factors, which determines engagement in sexual activity
shadowing: a term used to denote the participant’s on-line repetition of one message in a dichotic listening task
shape constancy: the tendency to perceive an object as being of a fixed size in spite of actual changes in the shape of the projection on the retina caused by looking at the object from different angles
shaping: the systematic training and refinement of behaviour by reinforcing desired behaviours in order to reach a goal behaviour
short-term memory: a memory system which holds small amounts of information for a short time in the absence of rehearsal
siblings: brothers and sisters
signal detection theory: a mathematical model which specifies a participant’s response to a signal in terms of his/her sensory sensitivity to the signal and his/her threshold for deciding to respond
similarity principle: a Gestalt principle underpinning the law of pragnanz in which patterns which are similar in appearance are seen as belonging together
simple cells: cells in the visual cortex which respond to straight line segments in a particular area of the retina
situational causes: causes of behaviour to do with things external to the person being perceived such group pressure, social norms and context
size constancy: the tendency to perceive an object as being of a fixed size in spite of actual changes in the size of the image which result from distance from the observer
size-distance invariance hypothesis: the idea that for a given retinal size the perceived size is proportional to the perceived distance
skew: the degree to which a frequency distribution is symmetrical. See positive skew and negetaive skew
skilled processes in human error: processes which are highly practised and routinised and which form the basis of particular kinds of human error
sleep spindles: a burst of electrical activity during sleep
snowball sampling: a snowball sample is taken when a participant is used to introduce the researcher to further participants
social cognition: cognitive processes and structures that are influenced by social behaviour
social comparison: comparing one’s own opinions and behaviour with others so as to understand the socially approved way of thinking about things or behaving
social compensation: the process of increased effort on a group task so as to compensate for other members’ perceived lack of effort or ability on the task
social constructionism: an approach to psychology that emphasises the way in which humans construct reality through language and interactions with others
social desirability: this bias can occur when researchers use self-report methods, such as interviews and questionnaires. It is the tendency of respondents to provide socially desirable answers so that the respondent appears in a better light
social exchange theory: liking or disliking for people is based on the rewards they exchange with others in interaction. See also cost-reward ratio
social facilitation: the tendency of people to perform better on well-learned/easy tasks and more poorly on novel/difficult tasks when in the presence of others
social goals: what one wishes to accomplish in a social situation
social identity theory: social identity theory proposes that the membership of social groups and categories forms an important part of our self-concept. Therefore when an individual is interacting with another person, they will not act as a single individual but as a representative of a whole group or category of people
social identity: the part of self-concept that develops as a result of one’s group membership
social impact theory: describes how factors like group pressure, proximity and immediacy affect people’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours
social influence: the process in which the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of people are influence by the actual or imagined presence of others
social learning theory: Bandura’s idea that social behaviour is learned by observing and imitating the behaviours of others and also by receiving reinforcement for their own social behaviours. See also modelling
social loafing: the tendency for reduced effort by individuals working on a collective task for all members receive reward compared to individual performance
social norms: the expectation a group has for its members regarding acceptable and appropriate attitudes and behaviours
social psychology: the study of how people think about, influence and relate to one another
social self: the idea that the self is produced through interaction with two or more people
socially constructed: any institutionalised entity or artifact in a social system ‘invented’ or ‘constructed’ by participants in a particular culture or society that exists because people agree to behave as if it exists or follow certain conventional rules. One example of a social construct is social status
sodium-potassium pump: an energy-consuming mechanism, which pumps Na+ out, and K+ in to the cell to maintain the resting potential
soft determinism: soft determinism is an intermediate position between free will and determinism that suggests that the underlying causes of behaviour are inaccessible, and that we should therefore assume that people are able to exert control over behaviour
soma: also called cell body. Contains the nucleus and mitochondria
somatic nervous system (SNS): the part of the peripheral nervous system which interacts with the external environment
somatic theory of emotion: the view that that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes in our physiological arousal
somatogenic hypothesis: an approach to psychopathology that advocates that the explanation of psychopathology can be found in physical or biological impairments
somatosensation: perception of touch, temperature, pressure, pain
spatial frequency theory: a theory of visual perception that cells work on the number of light/dark cycles in a stimulus
spatial intelligence: involves the potential to recognise and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas
spatial summation: the integration of neural information coming in from different sites
Spearman’s ρ: Pearson’s correlation coefficient (see correlation) applied to ranked data. It can be used when the assumptions of Pearson’s correlation have not been met
specific language impairment: a specific learning disability that involves language
specific phobia: in psychopathology, an unreasonable fear of a particular situation or object speech perception: the processes by which we hear speech as a stream of coherent sounds
speed tests: tests that require you to give answers within a given time limit or in the shortest time span
spinoreticular pathway: a pathway of the anterior lateral system involved in pain perception, via the thalamus
spinotectal pathway: a pathway of the anterior lateral system involved in pain perception
spinothalamic pathway: a pathway of the anterior lateral system involved in pain perception, via the thalamus
split-half reliability: a measure of the reliability of a questionnaire or test based on the correlation between performance on one randomly-selected half of the questionnaire/test and the other half
spontaneous processing: that type of cognitive processing that a person is not aware of and does not have control over
spontaneous recovery: the reemergence of a conditioned response after the conditioning stimulus has been extinguished
spontaneous remission: describes the fact that some people with symptoms of psychopathology recover spontaneously from these symptoms without any structured treatment
spontaneous usage: a design characteristic of language: the free use of language to express thoughts and feelings which comes from within the person and is not just in response to someone else
spoonerisms: a speech error in which sounds are exchanged
spreading activation model of semantic memory: a network model of memory in which the stimulation of a node produces a pattern of activation in semantically related nodes with the degree of activation decreasing with semantic distance from the activated node
stages of development: in psychoanalytic theory, these represent the four stages of development (the oral stage, the anal stage, the Oedipal or Electra stage and the Latency stage) which a child must successfully negotiate to become a psychologically healthy individual
standard deviation: average variability of scores around their mean that is not in the original units of measurement. It is the square root of the variance
standard error of the mean: this is the standard deviation of a set of sample means
standardisation: a set of uniform procedures for treating each participant in a test, interview or experiment or for recording data
state-dependent memory: a variant of context-dependent memory in which the person’s mental state plays the role of context. That is, information acquired in a given state, such as drunkenness, is best recalled when in the same mental state
statistically significant: a test statistic is said to be statistically significant if the probability of it occurring is very small (usually less than 0.05). Statistical significance does not necessarily equate to real life importance
stereotypes: widely shared and simplified set of beliefs about a social group and its members
steroid hormones: hormones which gain entry to the inside of a cell and, once inside, the steroid acts as a receptor and binds to the DNA
storm and stress: often used to refer to adolescence as an especially difficult period in the life span
stranding error: a speech error in which components of a word are left stranded while the main word is exchanged
strange situation: a laboratory-based procedure developed by Ainsworth and Bell (1969) to assess an infant’s security of attachment
stress: stress can be defined in a number of ways, including (1) as external or environmental forces that create a stressful reaction (e.g. difficulties at work), (2) as something experienced by the individual (e.g. feelings of tension or pressure) and (3) as a physiological reaction that affects the autonomic nervous system (ANS), causing changes in arousal, hormone secretion and general physiological alertness
striatum: a subcortical part of the telencephalon. It is the major input station of the basal ganglia system and is divided into the caudate nucleus and the putamen
structure dependence: in the context of the design characteristics of language, the fact that words in a language combine to convey meaning in ways that are governed by rules
subarachnoid space: the interval between the arachnoid mater and pia mater
subfornical organ: a region of the fornix involved in thirst
subgoals: milestones on the road to solving a problem which are the product of a means-end analysis
subjective validation effect: sometimes called the ‘personal validation effect’ because it refers to a process by which people accept some claim or phenomenon as valid based solely upon a few personal experiences and/or subjective perception
substantia nigra: part of the basal ganglia
sufficiency principle: a factor in the heuristic systematic processing model. States that people desire sufficient confidence in their attitudinal judgements. When their actual confidence is lower than their desired confidence (or sufficiency threshold) they will process information in order to close the gap
sulci: the visible troughs in the cortex
sum of squared errors: a measure of the total variability in the data. For each score, the deviation from the mean is calculated, and then squared. The sum of squared errors is the sum of these squared deviations
sums of squares: see sum of squared errors
sunk cost effect: the observation, related to loss aversion, that a person will continue to invest time, money and effort in something even when it is clear that they are wasting their investment
superego: in psychoanalytic theory, a third psychic structure caused by extensive interaction with the world that enables the individual to internalise principles related to social norms and values
superior colliculi: part of the midbrain involved in visual perception
superior olivary nuclei: brainstem nuclei involved in auditory perception superordinate goals: goals that are desired by a number of groups but can only be achieved by the groups cooperating with each other
supplementary motor area (SMA): part of the sensorimotor cortex Sympathetic nervous system Part of the autonomic nervous system the SNS is an activating system (involved in fight/flight responses)
Sympathetic nervous system part of the autonomic nervous system the SNS is an activation system (involved in fight/flight responses)
symptoms: in psychopathology, the manifestation of behavioural or psychological problems that are an indication of a diagnosable psychological disorder
synapse: junction at which cells communicate with each other
synaptogenesis: the formation of synapses
syntactic planning: the second major process of formulation in speech production, in which the grammatical structure of the sentence is planned
systematic desensitisation: a form of behaviour therapy that uses graduated exposure to the individual’s anxiety provoking stimuli or situations
systematic sampling: a systematic sample is a sample constructed by taking every nth individual from a list of names
systematic variation: variation due to some genuine effect (e.g. the effect of an experimenter doing something to all of the participants in one sample but not in other samples)
systems approach to human error: the idea that human error is substantially the product of the systems and procedures in which the person is operating