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 tracing
of brain activity produced when electrodes posi-
tioned over the scalp transmit signals about the
brain’s electrical activity (“brain waves”) to an elec-
troencephalograph 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 per-
spective; the inability to see reality from the per-
spective 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 vari-
ables; 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 characterized
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.
Engrams—memory traces of information encoded in
your brain that you acquire during life.
Episodic memories—personal experiences that
become consolidated into your long-term memory.
Equipotentiality—discredited theory that any be -
havior can be taught to any organism.
Equivalent-form reliability—when two different
versions of a test on the same material are given
and the scores are highly correlated.
Escape behavior—behavior that terminates an ongo-
ing event; negative reinforcement.
ESP (extrasensory perception)—controversial claim
that perception can occur apart from sensory
input.
Ethical guidelines—suggested rules for acting
responsibly and morally when conducting research
or in clinical practice.
Ethnocentrism—belief that your culture or social
group is superior to others.
Ethologists—scientists who study animal behavior
and how it has evolved in different species.
Eustress—physiological and emotional arousal that
may be productive and motivating.
Evoked potentials—EEGs resulting from a response
to a specific stimulus presented to the subject.
Evolutionary approach—psychological perspective
concerned with how natural selection favored
behaviors that contributed to survival and spread
of our ancestors’ genes.
Evolutionary psychologists—psychoanalysts who
take a Darwinian approach to the study of human
behavior.
Excitatory neurotransmitter—chemical secreted at
terminal button that causes the neuron on the
other side of the synapse to generate an action
potential (to fire).
Exhaustion stage—third stage of Selye’s general
adaptation theory when our resistance to illness
decreases and we are susceptible to many stress-
related disorders.Glossary Ü 321