332 ❯ GlossaryDissociative disorders—class of disorders in which
traumatic events or unpleasant memories cause a
massive repression of these into the unconscious
mind.
Dissociative fugue—sometimes called the “traveling
amnesiac” disorder, in which a person moves away
and assumes a new identity, with amnesia for the
previous identity.
Dissociative identity disorder—formerly known
as multiple personality disorder, a rarely seen dis-
sociative disorder in which two or more distinct
personalities exist within the same person.
Divergent thinking—thinking that produces many
alternatives or ideas; creativity.
Dizygotic or fraternal twins—twins who develop
from two different eggs fertilized by two different
sperms.
Dominant gene—the gene expressed when the genes
for a trait are different.
Dopamine—a neurotransmitter that stimulates the
hypothalamus to synthesize hormones and affects
alertness, attention, and movement. Lack of dopa-
mine is associated with Parkinson’s disease; too
much, with schizophrenia.
Double-bind—a theory that serious mental illness
can be expressed in an individual who has been
given mutually inconsistent messages, such as love
and hate, typically from a parent during childhood.
Double-blind procedure—research design in which
neither the experimenter nor the participants know
who is in the experimental group and who is in the
control group.
Down syndrome—usually with three copies of
chromosome-21 in their cells, individuals typically
have intellectual disability and have a round head,
a flat nasal bridge, a protruding tongue, small
round ears, a fold in the eyelid, and poor muscle
tone and coordination.
Drive reduction theory—theory of motivation that
focuses on internal states of tension such as hunger
that motivate us to pursue actions that reduce the
tension and bring us back to homeo stasis or inter-
nal balance.
Dual processing—processing information on con-
scious and unconscious levels at the same time.
Dualism—sees mind and body as two different
things that interact.
Echoic memory—auditory sensory memory.
Eclectic—use of techniques and ideas from a variety
of approaches to psychotherapy.
Ectomorph—Sheldon’s body type characterized by
thin, frail body, introversion, and high intelligence.
Educational psychologists—psychologists who focus
on how effective teaching and learning take place.EEG (electroencephalogram)—an amplified trac-
ing of brain activity produced when electrodes
positioned over the scalp transmit signals about
the brain’s electrical activity (“brain waves”) to an
electroencephalograph machine.
Effector—muscle cell that contracts or gland cell that
secretes.
Efferent neuron—also called motor neuron; nerve
cell in your PNS that transmits impulses from sen-
sory or interneurons to muscle cells that contract
or gland cells that secrete.
Ego—Freud’s personality structure that is the only
rational component; it serves as the mediator
between the id and superego and also as the
decision-maker for the personality.
Egocentrism—seeing the world from one’s own
perspective; the inability to see reality from the
perspective of another person; characteristic of the
preoperational child.
Elaboration likelihood model (ELM)—accounts
for how attitudes can be changed.
Elaborative rehearsal—movement of information
into long-term memory by making it meaningful.
Electroconvulsive treatment (ECT)—is used as
a last resort to treat severely depressed patients;
involves passing small amounts of electric current
through the brain to produce seizure activity and a
change in affect.
Embryo—the developmental prenatal stage (from
about 2 weeks through 2 months after fertilization)
when most organs begin to develop.
Emotional intelligence—the ability to perceive,
express, understand, and regulate emotions.
Emotions—feelings, highly subjective personal ten-
dencies to respond to internal and external variables;
includes physical arousal, expressive behaviors, and
conscious experience.
Encoding—the process of converting information
into some form that enables it to be stored in our
memory system.
Encoding specificity principle—retrieval depends
upon the match between the way information is
encoded and the way it’s retrieved.
Endocrine system—ductless glands that typically
secrete hormones directly into the blood which
help regulate body and behavioral processes.
Endomorph—Sheldon’s body type character-
ized by round, spherical body; love of comfort,
sociability.
Endorphins—neurotransmitters similar to the opiate
morphine that relieves pain, and may induce feel-
ings of pleasure.
Engineering psychologists—psychologists who do
research on how people function best with machines.BM.indd 332 27-05-2018 15:32:46