Free association—a psychoanalytic procedure in
which the client is encouraged to to say whatever is
on his or her mind without censoring possibly
embarrassing or socially unacceptable thoughts or
ideas.
Frequency—the number of complete wavelengths
that pass a point in a given amount of time. The
wavelength is inversely proportional to the fre-
quency. Frequency or wavelength determines the
hue of a light wave and the pitch of a sound.
Frequency distribution—an orderly arrangement of
scores indicating the frequency of each score or
group of scores.
Frequency theory—the rate of neural impulses trav-
eling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency
of a tone, which enables one to sense its pitch.
How low-pitched sounds are heard.
Frontal lobes—front region of the cerebral cortex
that interprets and controls emotional behaviors,
makes decisions, carries out plans; contains motor
cortex (just in front of somatosensory cortex) that
initiates movements and integrates activities of
skeletal muscles; produces speech (Broca’s area).
Fully functioning—Rogers’s term for a greater
acceptance of who we are and who we want to be,
and taking individual responsibility for our behav-
ior; similar to Maslow’s self-actualization.
Functional fixedness—inability to recognize novel
uses for a familiar object because we’re fixated on
its common use; a hindrance to problem solving.
Functional MRI (fMRI)—shows brain activity at
higher resolution than the PET scan when changes
in oxygen concentration near active neurons alter
magnetic qualities.
Functionalism—early psychological perspective con-
cerned with how an organism uses its perceptual
abilities to adapt to its environment
Fundamental attribution error—the tendency to
overestimate the significance of dispositional fac-
tors and underestimate the significance of situa-
tional factors in explaining other people’s behavior.
g—According to Spearman, a factor of intelligence
that is common to all intellectual tasks; generalized
intelligence which fuels special abilities.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA)—a neurotrans-
mitter that inhibits firing of postsynaptic neurons.
Huntington’s disease and seizures are associated
with malfunctioning GABA systems.
Ganglion cells—third layer of neurons in the retina
whose axons converge to form the optic nerve.
Gate-control theory—idea that pain is experienced
only if pain messages can pass through a gate in the
spinal cord on their route to the brain. This gate is
opened by small nerve fibers that carry pain signals
and is closed by neural activity of larger nerve fibers
that conduct most other sensory signals, or by
information coming from the brain.
Gender—is the social definition of being male or
female.
Gender consistency—understanding that one’s sex
won’t change even if one acts like the opposite sex.
Gender identity—person’s sense of being male or
female.
Gender role stereotypes—broad categories that
reflect our impressions and beliefs about males and
females.
Gender roles—sets of expectations that prescribe
how males and females should act, think, and feel.
Gender schema theory—mental set of what society
considers appropriate behavior for each of the
sexes; assumes that gender becomes a cognitive
“lens” through which children experience and
acquire their gender identity.
Gender stability—understanding that sex identity is
stable over time.
Gene—each DNA segment of a chromosome that
determines a trait.
General adaptation syndrome (GAS)—Selye’s
three-stage process (alarm, resistance, and exhaus-
tion) that describes our biological reaction to sus-
tained and unrelenting stress.
Generalization—in classical conditioning, CRs
elicited by stimuli that resemble the CS used in
training. In operant conditioning, the occurrence
of responding when a stimulus similar (but not
identical) to the discriminative stimulus is present.
Generalized anxiety disorder—an anxiety disorder
characterized by persistent, pervasive feelings of
doom for at least six months not associated with a
particular object or situation.
Generalized reinforcers—secondary reinforcers that
are associated with a wide variety of other rein-
forcers, like money, which is almost guaranteed to
be motivating.
Genital stage—the final of Freud’s psychosexual
stages, during which the adolescent develops adult
sexual desires; pleasure from intercourse and inti-
macy with opposite sex and/or same sex.
Genotype—the genetic make-up of an individual for
a trait.Glossary Ü 323