Psychology-glossary

20 Psychology terms

Psychology is a vast subject that put or mind in word and concept for us to understand. Unfortunately, some words use in this discipline can be tricky to remember or the definition isn't always easy to grasp. So, to help other in this field of study, this glossary is made to put some words mostly used in the field accessible.

Adaptation

Modification to suit different or changing circumstances. In this sense, the term often refers to behavior that enables an individual to adjust to the environment effectively and function optimally in various domains, such as coping with daily stressors. It is also applied more widely, for example, in ergonomics, to denote a system that alters information presentation, interface design, or output according to the capabilities or characteristics of the user, system, or environmental state.

Addiction

A state of psychological and/or physical dependence on the use of drugs or other substances, such as alcohol, or on activities or behaviors. The term is often used as an equivalent term for substance use disorder or substance dependence and can be applied to non-substance-related behavioral addictions, such as sex, exercise, and gambling. A chemical substance with significant potential for producing dependence is called an addictive drug.

Bias

The tendency to generate a particular valence of evaluative responses preferentially when elaborating attitude-relevant information.

Burnout

Physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes toward oneself and others. It results from performing at a high level until stress and tension, especially from extreme and prolonged physical or mental exertion or an overburdening workload, take their toll.

Cognitive deficit

Performance on intellectual and other mentally based tasks (e.g., those involving memory), as measured by individually administered standardized assessments (verbal and nonverbal cognitive measures), that is substantially below that expected given the individual’s chronological age and formal educational experience.

Cognitive flexibility

The capacity for objective appraisal and appropriately flexible action. Cognitive flexibility also implies adaptability and fair-mindedness.

Dementia

A generalized, pervasive deterioration of memory and at least one other cognitive function, such as language and an executive function, due to a variety of causes. The loss of intellectual abilities is severe enough to interfere with an individual’s daily functioning and social and occupational activity.

Depression

A negative affective state, ranging from unhappiness and discontent to an extreme feeling of sadness, pessimism, and despondency, that interferes with daily life. Various physical, cognitive, and social changes also tend to co-occur, including altered eating or sleeping habits, lack of energy or motivation, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, and withdrawal from social activities. It is symptomatic of a number of mental health disorders.

Gaslighting

To manipulate another person into doubting their perceptions, experiences, or understanding of events. The term once referred to manipulation so extreme as to induce mental illness or to justify commitment of the gaslighted person to a psychiatric institution but is now used more generally.

Generation

The average time interval between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.

Genome

All of the genetic material contained in an organism or cell. The Human Genome Project mapped the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 genes in human DNA.

Hallucination

A false sensory perception that has a compelling sense of reality despite the absence of an external stimulus. It may affect any of the senses, but auditory hallucinations and visual hallucinations are most common.

Hormone

A substance secreted into the bloodstream by an endocrine gland or other tissue or organ to regulate processes in distant target organs and tissues. These secretions include those from the anterior and posterior pituitary gland; the corticosteroids and epinephrine, secreted by the adrenal glands; and the sex hormones released by the reproductive glands

Hypnosis

The procedure, or the state induced by that procedure, in which suggestion is used to evoke changes in sensation, perception, cognition, emotion, or control over motor behavior. Subjects appear to be receptive, to varying degrees, to suggestions to act, feel, and behave differently than in an ordinary waking state. The exact nature of hypnotic suggestibility, and its possible therapeutic uses, are still being studied and debated. As a specifically psychotherapeutic intervention, hypnosis is referred to as hypnotherapy.

Individualism

A social or cultural tradition, ideology, or personal outlook that emphasizes the individual and their rights, independence, and relationships with other individuals.

Intellectual quotient

A standard measure of an individual’s intelligence level based on psychological tests. In the early years of intelligence testing.

Mood

A disposition to respond emotionally in a particular way that may last for hours, days, or even weeks, perhaps at a low level and without the person knowing what prompted the state. Moods differ from emotions in lacking an object.

Panic

A sudden, uncontrollable fear reaction that may involve terror, confusion, and irrational behavior, precipitated by a perceived threat.

Paranoia

A former diagnosis for a relatively rare disorder, distinct from paranoid schizophrenia, in which the person reasons rightly from a wrong premise and develops a persistent, well-systematized, and logically constructed set of persecutory delusions, such as being conspired against, poisoned, or maligned.

Thalamus

A mass of gray matter, forming part of the diencephalon of the brain, whose two lobes form the walls of the third ventricle. It consists of a collection of sensory, motor, autonomic, and associational nuclei, serving as a relay for nerve impulses traveling between the spinal cord and brainstem and the cerebral cortex. Specific areas of the body surface and cerebral cortex are related to specific parts of the thalamus.