GloSSARy G-8stereotype threat A burden of doubt a person feels about his or her
performance, due to negative stereotypes about his or her group’s
abilities.
stimulants Drugs that speed up activity in the central nervous system.
stimulus discrimination The tendency to respond differently to two or
more similar stimuli. In classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus
that resembles the conditioned stimulus fails to evoke the conditioned
response. In operant conditioning, it occurs when an organism learns to
make a response in the presence of one stimulus but not in the presence
of other, similar stimuli that differ from it on some dimension.
stimulus generalization After conditioning, the tendency to respond to
a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning. In
classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus that resembles the con-
ditioned stimulus elicits the conditioned response. In operant condition-
ing, it occurs when a response that has been reinforced (or punished) in
the presence of one stimulus occurs (or is suppressed) in the presence
of other, similar stimuli.
subconscious processes Mental processes occurring outside of con-
scious awareness but accessible to consciousness when necessary.
successive approximations In the operant-conditioning procedure of
shaping, behaviors that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or
closeness to the desired response.
superego In psychoanalysis, the part of personality that represents con-
science, morality, and social standards.
suprachiasmatic [soo-pruh-kie-az-MAT-ick] nucleus (SCN) An area in
the hypothalamus containing a biological clock that governs circadian
rhythms.
surveys Questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about
their experiences, attitudes, or opinions.
sympathetic nervous system The subdivision of the autonomic ner-
vous system that mobilizes bodily resources and increases the output of
energy during emotion and stress.
synapse The site where transmission of a nerve impulse from one nerve
cell to another occurs; it includes the axon terminal, the synaptic cleft,
and receptor sites in the membrane of the receiving cell.
synesthesia A condition in which stimulation of one sense also evokes
another.
systematic desensitization In behavior therapy, a step-by-step process
of desensitizing a client to a feared object or experience; it is based on
the classical-conditioning procedure of counterconditioning.
tacit knowledge Strategies for success that are not explicitly taught but
that instead must be inferred.
taste buds Nests of taste-receptor cells.
telegraphic speech A child’s first word combinations, which omit (as a
telegram did) unnecessary words.
temperaments Physiological dispositions to respond to the environment
in certain ways; they are present in infancy and are assumed to be
innate.
temporal lobes Lobes at the sides of the brain’s cerebral cortex; they
contain areas involved in hearing, memory, perception, emotion, and (in
the left lobe, typically) language comprehension.
thalamus A brain structure that relays sensory messages to the cerebral
cortex.
theory An organized system of assumptions and principles that purports
to explain a specified set of phenomena and their interrelationships.
theory of mind A system of beliefs about the way one’s own mind and
the minds of others work, and how individuals are affected by their
beliefs and feelings.
timbre The distinguishing quality of a sound; the dimension of auditory
experience related to the complexity of the pressure wave.
tolerance Increased resistance to a drug’s effects accompanying con-
tinued use.sexual scripts Sets of implicit rules that specify proper sexual behavior
for a person in a given situation, varying with the person’s gender, age,
religion, social status, and peer group.
shaping An operant-conditioning procedure in which successive approxi-
mations of a desired response are reinforced.
short-term memory (STM) In the three-box model of memory, a
limited-capacity memory system involved in the retention of information
for brief periods; it is also used to hold information retrieved from long-
term memory for temporary use.
signal-detection theory A psychophysical theory that divides the detec-
tion of a sensory signal into a sensory process and a decision process.
significance tests Statistical tests that assess how likely it is that a
study’s results occurred merely by chance.
single-blind study An experiment in which subjects do not know whether
they are in an experimental or a control group.
skills training In behavior therapy, an effort to teach the client skills
that he or she may lack, as well as new constructive behaviors to replace
self-defeating ones.
sleep apnea A disorder in which breathing briefly stops during sleep,
causing the person to choke and gasp and momentarily awaken.
social cognition An area in social psychology concerned with social
influences on thought, memory, perception, and beliefs.
social identity The part of a person’s self-concept that is based on his or
her identification with a nation, religious or political group, occupation,
or other social affiliation.
social-cognitive learning theories Theories that emphasize how behavior is
learned and maintained through observation and imitation of others, posi-
tive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plans, expectations,
and beliefs.
social-cognitive learning theory of personality A view that holds that
traits result from a person’s learning history and his or her expectations,
beliefs, perceptions of events, and other cognitions.
socialization The process by which children learn the behaviors, atti-
tudes, and expectations required of them by their society or culture.
sociocultural perspective A psychological approach that emphasizes
social and cultural influences on behavior.
somatic nervous system The subdivision of the peripheral nervous sys-
tem that connects to sensory receptors and to skeletal muscles; some-
times called the skeletal nervous system.
source misattribution The inability to distinguish an actual memory of
an event from information you learned about the event elsewhere.
spinal cord A collection of neurons and supportive tissue running from
the base of the brain down the center of the back, protected by a column
of bones (the spinal column).
spontaneous recovery The reappearance of a learned response after its
apparent extinction.
standard deviation A commonly used measure of variability that indi-
cates the average difference between scores in a distribution and their
mean; more precisely, the square root of the average squared deviation
from the mean.
standardize In test construction, to develop uniform procedures for
giving and scoring a test.
state-dependent memory The tendency to remember something when
the rememberer is in the same physical or mental state as during the
original learning or experience.
statistically significant A term used to refer to a result that is extremely
unlikely to have occurred by chance.
stem cells Immature cells that renew themselves and have the potential
to develop into mature cells.
stereotype A summary impression of a group, in which a person believes
that all members of the group share a common trait or traits (positive,
negative, or neutral).