346 ❯ GlossarySemantic networks—model of long-term memory
with more irregular and distorted systems than
strict hierarchies, with multiple links from one
concept to others.
Semantics—a set of rules we use to derive meaning
from morphemes, words, and sentences.
Sensation—the process by which we detect physical
energy from our environment and encode it as
neural signals.
Sensorimotor stage—Piaget’s first stage (0–2 years)
during which the infant experiences the world
through senses and action patterns; progresses
from reflexes to object permanence and symbolic
thinking.
Sensory adaptation—a temporary decrease in sensi-
tivity to a stimulus that occurs when stimulation is
unchanging.
Sensory memory—primitive, brief type of memory
that holds incoming information just long enough
for further processing.
Sensory receptor—cell typically in sense organs that
initiates action potentials which then travel along
sensory/afferent neurons to the CNS.
Separation anxiety—a set of fearful responses, such
as crying, arousal, and clinging to the caregiver,
that infants exhibit when the caregiver attempts to
leave the infant.
Serial position effect—the tendency to remember and
recall information that comes at the beginning (pri-
macy effect) and at the end of a list of words (recency
effect) more easily than those in the middle.
Serotonin—a neurotransmitter associated with
arousal, sleep, appetite, moods, and emotions.
Lack of serotonin is associated with depression.
Set point—a preset natural body weight, determined
by the number of fat cells in our body.
Sex-linked traits—recessive genes located on the X
chromosome with no corresponding gene on the Y
chromosome result in expression of recessive trait
more frequently in males.
Sexual orientation—the direction of an individual’s
sexual interest.
Sexual response cycle—Masters and Johnson’s four
stages of bodily response during sex: excitement,
plateau, orgasm, and resolution.
Shadow—according to Jung represents our baser instinc-
tual urges we attempt to keep hidden from others.
Shallow processing—encoding into memory super-
ficial sensory information without making it rel-
evant which seldom results in enduring memory.
Shaping—positively reinforcing closer and closer
approximations of a desired behavior through
operant conditioning.
Short-term memory—also called working memory,
which can hold about seven unrelated items for
about 20 to 30 seconds without rehearsal.Simultaneous conditioning—in classical condition-
ing the CS and UCS are paired together at the
same time; weaker conditioning technique than
the ideal delayed conditioning.
Signal detection theory—maintains that minimum
threshold varies with fatigue, attention, expecta-
tions, motivation, and emotional distress, as well
as from one person to another.
Single-blind procedure—research design in which
participants don’t know whether they are in the
experimental or control group.
Situational attributions—inferences that a person’s
behavior is caused by some temporary condition or
situation the person is in.
Sleep—a complex combination of states of conscious-
ness each with its own level of consciousness, aware-
ness, responsiveness, and physiological arousal.
Sleepwalking—most frequently a childhood sleep
disruption that occurs during stage 4 sleep
characterized by trips out of bed or carrying on of
complex activities.
Social clock—idea that society has certain age expec-
tations for when someone should marry and have
kids and people feel compelled to meet these
expectations or face a crisis.
Social cognition—refers to the way people gather,
use, and interpret information about the social
aspects of the world around them.
Social facilitation—improved performance of well-
learned tasks in front of others.
Social group—two or more people sharing common
goals and interests interact and influence behavior
of the other(s).
Social impairment—worsened performance of a
newly learned or difficult task when performed in
front of an audience.
Social interactivist perspective—babies are biologi-
cally equipped for learning language which may be
activated or constrained by experience.
Social learning theory—Bandura’s idea that we can
learn behavior from others by first observing it and
then imitating it.
Social loafing—the tendency of individuals to put
less effort into group projects than when they are
individually accountable.
Social motives—learned needs that energize behav-
ior; acquired as part of growing up in a particular
society or culture.
Social psychologists—psychologists who focus on
how a person’s mental life and behavior are shaped
by interactions with other people.
Social psychology—the study of how groups influ-
ence the attitudes and behavior of the individual.
Social referencing—observing the behavior of
others in social situations to obtain information
or guidance.BM.indd 346 27-05-2018 15:32:48