Andreanne's Psychology Class Glossary

20 Psychology terms

I've been studying Social Sciences for one year now. It's a general program that contains several courses including Psychology. It's been two times I'm doing this course, because I'm having difficulty. So, this glossary will be for people like me who have difficulty understanding this course and it's content and wants to learn and remember well. I put the 20 most relevant terms with their definitions and I found them on the internet or in my Psychology book.

acquired

Education and the environment.

behaviorism

Study of observable behavior.

biopsychological

Behaviors, feelings and thoughts are associated with biological activities.

case study

Method which consists in describing in detail a person.

cognitive perspective

Study of mental processes.

conditioning

Form of learning characterized by the environment and behaviors of an organism.

empirical

Qualifies data that is obtained by observation, experimentation or measurement.

endorphin

Chemicals found in the nervous system that plays a role in the regulation of pain, pleasure, and memory.

enhancement

Addition or deletion of a stimulus as a consequence.

functionalism

Psychological doctrine that studies the functions and consequences of behavior and consciousness.

humanism

Study of the unique characteristics of the human being.

innate

Genetic predispositions.

internalization

Unconscious process where the person integrates into his personality what he observes in important people in his environment.

intrapsychic

Inside the mind.

placebo

Neutral substance or treatment simulation.

preconscious

Term that qualifies what we are not thinking about, but could easily remember.

psychoanalysis

Theory that focus on unconscious patterns and conflicts.

psychodynamics

Unconscious dynamics of the individual.

shaping

Reinforce a behavior by getting closer to the desired behavior.

structuralism

Determines the components of consciousness with our thought and emotions.