relate to a prototype; in social psychology the pre-
judgement of people in the same way.
Repression—most frequently used Freudian defense
mechanism, characterized by unconscious forget-
ting; pushing threatening thoughts, feelings, and
memories into the unconscious mind.
Resistance—blocking of anxiety-provoking feelings
and experiences in the process of psychoanalysis.
Resistance stage—second stage of Selye’s general
adaptation syndrome characterized by the use of
“fight or flight” mechanisms to control, cope with,
or flee from the stressful situation.
Resistant attachment—mixed reactions of infants to
their mothers in the Strange Situation. They may
approach their mothers upon their return but, at
the same time, continue to cry or even push their
mothers away.
Reticular formation (a.k.a. reticular activating
system)—a network of neurons extending from
the brainstem/hindbrain into the midbrain; essen-
tial to the regulation of sleep, wakefulness, arousal,
and attention.
Retina—light-sensitive surface in the back of the eye
containing rods and cones that transduce light
energy. Has layers of bipolar cells and ganglion cells
that transmit visual information to the brain.
Retrieval—the process of getting information out of
memory storage.
Retrieval cue—a stimulus that provides a trigger to
get an item out of stored memory.
Retroactive inference—recently learned information
disrupts our ability to remember older
information.
Retrograde amnesia—involves memory loss for a
segment of the past, usually around the time of an
accident, such as a blow to the head.
Reversibility—characteristic of Piaget’s concrete
operational stage, the logical negation of an opera-
tion, for example, if 4 + 2 = 6 then 6 – 2 = 4
Rods—photoreceptors that detect black, white, and
gray and movement; are necessary for peripheral
and dim-light vision when cones do not respond.
Distributed throughout the retina of the eye,
except in the fovea.
Roles—ascribed social positions in groups and
defined behavior expectations.
Rooting reflex—the newborn’s tendency to move its
head when stroked on the cheek, turn toward the
stimulus as if searching for a nipple, and open its
mouth.
Rorschach inkblot test—aprojective test in which a
person is shown a series of symmetrical inkblots
and asked to describe what he or she thinks they
represent.
Saltatory conduction—rapid conduction of
impulses when the axon is myelinated since depo-
larizations jump from node (of Ranvier) to node.
Sample—the subgroup of the population that partic-
ipates in the study.
Satiety—absence of hunger.
Savants, also known as people with savant syn-
drome—individuals otherwise considered men-
tally retarded who have a specific exceptional skill
typically in calculating, music, or art.
Scapegoat theory—attributes prejudice to frustra-
tion; when own self-worth is in doubt or jeopardy,
we find others to blame.
Schachter-Singer two-factor theory of emotions—
an emotion is inferred from physiological arousal,
and label of that emotion is based on our cognitive
explanation for the arousal.
Schema—framework of basic ideas and preconcep-
tions about people, objects, and events based
on past experience in long-term memory; con-
cepts or frameworks that organize and interpret
information.
Schizophrenia—a serious mental disorder character-
ized by thought disturbances, hallucinations, anxi-
ety, emotional withdrawal, and delusions.
School psychologists—assess and counsel students,
consult with educators and parents, and perform
behavioral intervention when necessary.
Script—a schema for an event.
Seasonal affective disorder—a mood disorder char-
acterized by depression, lethargy, sleep distur-
bances, and craving for carbohydrates; generally
occurs during the winter, when the amount of day-
light is low, and is sometimes treated with exposure
to bright lights.
Second order conditioning—learning procedure in
which a well-learned conditioned stimulus is
paired with a new neutral stimulus resulting in a
similar conditioned response.
Secondary motive—internal mechanism directing
learned behavior as being desired, such as power
and wealth.
Secondary reinforcer—something seen as rewarding
because it is associated with a primary reinforcer.
Secondary sex characteristics—the nonreproductive
sexual characteristics including developed breasts
in females; facial hair, Adam’s apple, and deepened334 á Glossary
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