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Metabolism—the sum total of all chemical
processes that occur in our bodies which are nec-
essary to keep us alive.
Metacognition—thinking about how we think.
Method of loci—a mnemonic device which uses
visualization of familiar objects on a familiar path
to recall information in a list.
Misattribution error—distortion of information at
retrieval resulting from confusion about the
source of information, as when we put words in
someone else’s mouth.
Misinformation effect—the tendency for people to
incorporate misleading information into their
memories of a given event as evidenced in eyewit-
ness testimony.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(MMPI-2)—most widely used objective test of
personality, originally designed to distinguish
individuals with different psychological problems
from normal individuals; today used in attempt-
ing to identify personality characteristics of people
in many everyday settings.
Mnemonic devices—memory aids such as the
method of loci and peg word systems which help
to organize, encode, and more easily retrieve
information from long-term memory.
Mode—most frequently occurring score in a set of
research data (quick and dirty).
Modeling—process of watching and imitating a spe-
cific behavior; important in observational learning.
Monism—sees mind and body as different aspects
of the same thing.
Monozygotic twins—identical twins; genetically
identical siblings who share 100 percent of their
genes because they developed from a single fertil-
ized egg in utero.
Mood-congruent memory—tendency to recall
experiences that are consistent with one’s current
good or bad mood.
Mood disorder—affective disorders characterized
by significant shifts or disturbances in mood that
affect normal perception, thought, and behavior;
depression and bipolar disorders.
Moral development—growth in the ability to tell
right from wrong, control impulses, and act
ethically.
Morality Principle—in psychoanalytic theory, the
way the superego acts as the conscience and
assigns pride and guilt for behavior which does
and does not conform to its ethical guidelines.
Morphemes—the smallest unit of language that has
meaning.
Motivation—a general term for a group of phenom-
ena that affect the nature, strength, or persistence
of an individual’s behavior; goal-directed behavior.
Motive—a need or a want that causes us to act.
Multiple approach–avoidance—a conflict in which
the individual must choose between two or more
alternatives each of which has both positive and
negative characteristics.
Multiple intelligences—Howard Gardner’s theory
that intelligence is composed of many different
factors including at least eight intelligences: logical-
mathematical, verbal-linguistic, spatial, bodily-
kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal,
naturalistic.
Myelin sheath—a fatty covering of the axon made
by glial cells which speeds up conduction of the
action potential.
Narcissistic personality disorder—exaggerated sense
of self-importance ancd demands for attention.
Narcolepsy—is a condition in which an awake
person suddenly and uncontrollably falls asleep,
often directly into REM sleep.
Narcotics—analgesics (pain reducers) which work
by depressing the central nervous system and can
also depress the respiratory system; include the
opiates and synthetic opiates: codeine, heroin,
morphine, opium, Percodan, Darvon, Talwin,
Dilaudid, methadone and Demerol.
Nativist perspective—human brain has an innate
capacity for acquiring language (language acquisi-
tion device), possibly during a critical period of
time after birth; and that children are born with a
universal sense of grammar (Noam Chomsky).
Naturalistic observation—research method that
records behaviors of humans or other animals in
real-life situations without intervention.
Nature-nurture controversy—deals with the extent
to which heredity and the environment each
influence behavior.
Negative reinforcement—removal of an aversive con-
sequence that follows a voluntary behavior thereby
increasing the probability the behavior will be
repeated; two types include avoidance and escape.
Neocortex—the cerebral cortex.
Neonate—newborn baby from birth to one month
old.
Neural network—clusters of neurons that are inter-
connected to process information.Glossary ❮ 327