Synapse—region of communication between the
transmitting presynaptic neuron and receiving
postsynaptic neuron or muscle or gland, consisting
of the presynaptic terminal buttons, a tiny space
and receptor sites typically on the postsynaptic
dendrites.
Syntax—rules that are used to order words into
grammatically sensible sentences.
Systematic desensitization—behavior treatment for
phobias in which the client is trained to relax to
increasingly fearful stimuli.
Tardive dyskinesia—serious side effects from
antipsychotic drugs including problems walking,
drooling, and involuntary muscle spasms.
Taste aversion—negative response to particular foods
that may be inborn and/or acquired through clas-
sical conditioning.
Tay-Sachs syndrome—recessive trait that produces
progressive loss of nervous function and death in a
baby.
Telegraphic speech—meaningful two-word sen-
tences, usually a noun and a verb, and usually in
the correct order uttered by two-year-olds.
Temperament—an infant’s natural disposition to
show a particular mood at a particular intensity for
a specific period.
Temporal conditioning—in classical conditioning,
the presentation of the UCS at specific time peri-
ods; time serves as the CS.
Temporal lobes—side regions of cerebral cortex that
are primary areas for hearing, understanding lan-
guage (Wernicke’s area), understanding music/
tonality, and processing smell.
Teratogen—harmful substance (drug or virus) with
which contact during the prenatal period can cause
birth defect(s).
Terminal buttons (also called axon terminals, end
bulbs, or synaptic knobs)—tips at the end of axons
which secrete neurotransmitters when stimulated
by the action potential.
Testes—gonads in males that produce hormones nec-
essary for reproduction and development of sec-
ondary sex characteristics.
Thalamus—part of forebrain that relays visual, audi-
tory, taste, somatosensory (skin sensation) infor-
mation to and from appropriate areas of cerebral
cortex; involved in encoding sensory memory
into STM.
Thanatology—study of death and dying; Kubler-
Ross’s five stages of facing death: denial, anger, bar-
gaining, depression, and acceptance.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)—a projective
test composed of ambiguous pictures about which
a person is asked to write a complete story.
Theories—organized sets of concepts that explain
phenomena.
Thinking—involves mental images, symbols, con-
cepts, and rules of language.
Thyroid gland—endocrine gland in neck that pro-
duces thyroxin which stimulates and maintains
metabolic activities.
Timbre—the quality of a sound determined by the
purity of a waveform; a note of the same pitch and
loudness sounds different on different musical
instruments.
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon—retrieval problem
that involves known information that can only be
retrieved incompletely; better cues are required for
retrieval.
Token economy—a program used in institutions in
which a person’s acceptable behavior is reinforced
with tokens that can be exchanged for special priv-
ileges or goods.
Tolerance—condition in which diminished effective-
ness of drug necessitates larger dosages to produce
desired effect.
Top-down processing—information processing
guided by preexisting knowledge or expectations to
construct perceptions; concept-driven.
Trace conditioning—in classical conditioning, the
CS is presented first, removed, and then the UCS
is presented.
Trait—a relatively permanent and stable characteris-
tic that can be used to predict behavior.
Transduction—transformation of stimulus energy to
the electrochemical energy of neural impulses.
Transference—in psychoanalysis, the venting of
emotions both positive and negative by patients;
treating their analyst as the symbolic representative
of someone important in their past.
Triadic reciprocality model of personality—
Bandura’s scheme that our personal traits, the envi-
ronment, and our behavior all interact to account
for our behavior.
Trial and error—trying possible solutions and
discarding those that fail to solve the problem.
Triarchic theory of intelligence—Robert Sternberg’s
idea of three separate and testable intelligences:338 á Glossary
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