Hi! My name is Charlie, and I am a Social Science student. It is my second year in the program. My goal is to study psychology at University. My glossary is useful for all psychologist because we have to know how to communicate well with our patients. With these 40 words, you will be able to solve the problem that is the language barrier. For each word, you can find the term in Engligh, pronunciation, definition, translation, an example and, if necessary, an image. I took all the words on a list of terms related to my field of study, that is psychology, and I found the information on the internet. I created this glossary for people like me who want to study psychology. I hope this glossary will help you if you get a blank about the meaning of a word or maybe because you don't know how to pronounce it.
abreaction
noun
It refers to the process of releasing repressed emotions by reliving a past experience, often accompanied by an emotional outburst.
Example: In psychoanalysis, abreaction was encouraged to help patients release pent-up trauma.
en: abréaction
absolute threshold
noun
The minimum level of a stimulus—such as light, sound, or touch—that an organism can detect, or the weakest stimulus that can be perceived 50% of the time.
Example: The absolute threshold for vision is the smallest amount of light a person can detect in a dark room
en: seuil absolu
anal personality
noun
Characterized by excessive orderliness, meticulousness, stubbornness, and a need for control.
Example: My friend has an anal personality and always wants everything organized perfectly.
en: personnalite anale
attachment theory
noun
The emotional bond (attachment) formed between a child and their primary caregiver during infancy significantly impacts their development and future social and romantic relationships.
Example: In psychology class, we learned about attachment theory and how it affects friendships.
en: théorie de l'attachement
behavior
noun
The observable actions and reactions of an individual or organism in response to internal or external stimuli, which can include thoughts, feelings, and environmental factors.
Example: Student questioning, a behavior that provides information on how students adapt and function within the classroom, is an important part of the student learning repertoire.
en: comportement
behavioral approach
noun
A psychological and scientific perspective that focuses on observable, measurable behavior, asserting that all behavior is learned through interaction with the environment via conditioning.
Example: The therapist used a behavioral approach to help the child stop biting his nails.
en: approche comportementale
borderline personality disorder
noun
Borderline personality disorder is a mental health condition that affects the way people feel about themselves and others, making it hard to function in everyday life. It includes a pattern of unstable, intense relationships, as well as impulsiveness and an unhealthy way of seeing themselves.
Example: She was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, which can make emotions feel very intense and unpredictable.
en: trouble de la personnalité limite
butterfly effect
noun
How small, seemingly insignificant choices, behaviors, or events can create a complex ripple of larger and often unpredictable consequences in one's own life or in their relationships with others.
Example: Missing that turn on my way home was such a butterfly effect moment—I ended up meeting an old friend by chance.
en: effet papillon
catharsis
noun
The release and purification of strong or repressed emotions, leading to a sense of relief and restoration.
Example: Listening to her favorite music after a tough day gave her a sense of catharsis.
en: catharsis
cerebral dominance
noun
The functional preeminence of one cerebral hemisphere—usually the left—over the other in controlling specific tasks such as language, speech, and movement, including handedness.
Example: In the test, they tried to determine my cerebral dominancy to see if I was more left- or right-brained.
cognition
noun
The mental processes of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses, encompassing how we perceive, process, store, retrieve, and use information.
Example: Playing chess helps improve cognition and problem-solving skills.
en: cognition
cognitive dissonance
noun
Discomfort a person feels when holding two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes, or when their beliefs contradict their actions.
Example: She felt cognitive dissonance when she knew smoking was unhealthy but continued to do it anyway.
en: dissonance cognitive
conditioning
noun
Type of associative learning where behaviors become more or less likely to occur due to associations with environmental events or stimuli.
Example: The dog learned to sit on command through conditioning with treats.
en: conditionnement
coping mechanism
noun
A conscious or nonconscious strategy—a behavior, thought, or emotional adjustment—that people use to manage stress and discomfort arising from difficult situations, whether they are negative events or even positive life changes.
Example: Listening to music is her favorite coping mechanism when she feels stressed.
en: mécanisme d'adaptation
défense mechanism
noun
An unconscious psychological strategy used to protect the mind from anxiety, stressful thoughts, or feelings, and to cope with emotional distress.
Example: He used humor as a defense mechanism to hide his embarrassment.
en: mécanisme de défense
dementia
noun
A decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life, characterized by memory loss, difficulty with thinking, problem-solving, and language, along with potential changes in mood and behavior.
Example: Her grandfather was diagnosed with dementia, which made remembering daily tasks difficult.
en: démence
ego
noun
The part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity.
Example: According to Freud, the ego mediates between the demands of the id and the rules of the superego.
en: moi
emotional intelligence
noun
The ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and to recognize and influence the emotions of others.
Example: Her strong emotional intelligence helps her understand and respond to her coworkers’ feelings.
en: intelligence émotionnelle
Flashbulb memory
noun
A vivid, detailed, and seemingly indelible memory of the circumstances in which one first learned about a significant, surprising, and emotionally arousing event.
Example: She has a flashbulb memory of where she was when she first heard the news about the earthquake.
en: mémoire flash
flooding
noun
Known as exposure therapy, the goal is to diminish or extinguish the fear response by demonstrating to the individual that their feared outcome doesn't occur, leading to extinction of the anxiety.
Example: The therapist used flooding to help him confront his fear of heights by exposing him to tall buildings all at once.
en: flooding ou implosion
habituation
noun
The basic learning process where an organism's response to a repeated, non-threatening stimulus weakens over time.
Example: After moving next to the train tracks, she hardly noticed the sound of the trains anymore.
en: accoutumance
halo effect
noun
A cognitive bias where a positive impression of a person, product, or brand in one area influences one's opinion in another, unrelated area, leading to generalized positive perceptions.
Example: The teacher’s halo effect made her assume that the well-dressed student was also highly intelligent.
en: effet de halo
hierarchy of needs
noun
A psychological theory by Abraham Maslow that describes human motivations as a five-level pyramid, where lower-level, basic needs must be substantially satisfied before higher-level, more psychological needs become primary motivators.
Example: After achieving financial stability and building strong relationships, he started focusing on expressing his creativity through art.
en: hiérarchie des besoins
humanist
noun
Emphasize that individuals are innately good, unique, and driven by a desire for personal growth, fulfillment, and meaning. This holistic approach focuses on the whole person's conscious thoughts, feelings, experiences, and self-perceptions, rather than reductionist views of behavior from psychoanalysis or behaviorism.
Example: As a humanist teacher, she focused on helping students develop self-confidence and reach their full potential.
en: humaniste
id
noun
The part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest.
Example: According to Freud, the id drives our most basic impulses and desires.
en: ça
mental illness
noun
Health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses can be associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.
Example: Understanding and treating mental illness requires compassionate care.
en: maladie mentale
mindfulness
noun
A mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
Example: Mindfulness and meditation have become popular coping mechanisms against overloads.
en: pleine conscience
munchausen syndrome
noun
Is a serious mental health condition where a person consciously fabricates or exaggerates physical or psychological symptoms of illness in themselves. The motivation is internal, such as a deep-seated need for attention, sympathy, or care, rather than for external gains like money or medication.
Example: In court, it was argued that Gypsy was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
en: syndrome de münchhausen
neurosis
noun
A mental health condition of which anxiety is the primary characteristic, without major disorganization of thinking and behaviour.
Example: In the past, doctors often used the term neurosis to describe anxiety and stress-related disorders.
en: névrose
pathology
noun
Refers to the scientific study of mental disorders and mental illness, encompassing their causes, symptoms, development, and treatment.
Example: The lab is studying the pathology of the disease to understand how it develops.
en: pathologie
placebo
noun
An inert substance or a sham treatment designed to look like a real medical or psychological intervention. The placebo effect is the phenomenon where a person experiences real, beneficial physiological or psychological changes after receiving this fake treatment, purely due to their belief and expectation that the treatment will work.
Example: The doctor gave half the patients the real drug and the others a placebo to compare the results.
en: placebo
primal therapy
noun
A trauma-focused psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov in the 1960s, based on the theory that neurosis and other psychological issues stem from the "Pain" of unresolved childhood trauma and unmet needs.
Example: In the 1970s, some people turned to primal therapy to release deep emotional pain through screaming and expressing childhood feelings.
en: thérapie primaire
profiling
noun
The process of assessing individuals' personality and behavioral characteristics from limited information, most commonly in criminal investigations to narrow down suspects by analyzing crime scene evidence, victimology, and the offender's behavior.
Example: The detective used profiling to narrow down the list of possible suspects.
en: profilage
psychoanalysis
noun
A system of psychological theory and therapy that aims to treat mental conditions by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind and bringing repressed fears and conflicts into the conscious mind by techniques such as dream interpretation and free association.
Example: Through psychoanalysis, the patient explored childhood memories to better understand current struggles.
en: psychanalyse
psychosis
noun
It is not a mental illness itself, but a collection of symptoms that involve a loss of contact with reality, making it difficult for an individual to distinguish between what is real and what is not.
Example: After several sleepless nights, he began showing signs of psychosis, such as hallucinations and confusion.
en: psychose
psychosomatic
noun
Physical symptoms or illnesses that are caused or significantly influenced by mental and emotional factors, such as stress, anxiety, or depression.
Example: Her doctor explained that her headaches were psychosomatic, caused by stress rather than a physical illness.
en: psychosomatique
pygmalion effect
noun
A psychological phenomenon in which high expectations lead to improved performance in a given area.
Example: The teacher’s high expectations led the students to perform better, showing the Pygmalion effect in action.
en: effet pygmalion
self-actualization
noun
The psychological drive to realize one's full potential as a person and become everything one is capable of being, driven by personal growth and internal fulfillment rather than external rewards.
Example: After years of working on her skills and passions, she finally felt a sense of self-actualization.
en: réalisation de soi
subconscious
noun
Mental processes and information of which a person is not currently aware but that can be readily recalled to awareness, influencing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Example: Even though he didn’t realize it, his subconscious influenced many of his daily decisions.
en: subconscient
superego
noun
The component of personality that represents internalized moral standards and ideals, acting as a person's conscience and driving them to behave ethically.
Example: Her superego made her feel guilty for lying, even though no one else knew about it.
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