Altruism—an unselfish interest in helping others.
Alzheimer’s disease—a fatal degenerative disease in
which brain neurons progressively die, causing
loss of memory, reasoning, emotion, conrol of
bodily functions, then death.
Amnesia—a loss of memory.
Amygdala—part of the limbic system of brain that
influences emotions such as aggression, fear and
self-protective behaviors; is involved in the storage
of emotional memories.
Anal stage—Freud’s second stage of development in
which the child receives pleasure from the anal
region especially during elimination.
Analytical—one of the three parts of Sternberg’s tri-
archic theory of intelligence; is similar to what is
tested by traditional IQ tests and what we are
asked to do in school: compare, contrast, analyze
and figure out cause-effect relationships.
Anchoring effect—the tendency to be influenced by
a suggested reference point, pulling our response
towards that point.
Androgyny—the presence of desirable masculine
and feminine characteristics in one individual.
Animism—belief of a preoperational child that all
things are living just like him/her according to
Piaget.
Anorexia nervosa—eating disorder more common
in the adolescent female characterized by weight
less than 85% of normal, abnormally restrictive
food consumption, and an unrealistic body image
that she is still fat.
Anterograde amnesia—a disorder caused by brain
damage that disrupts a person’s ability to form
new long-term memories of events that occur
after the time of the brain damage.
Antidepressant drugs—medicines which elevate
mood states; three main categories include tri-
cyclics (such as Elavil), MAO inhibitors (such as
Nardil), and SSRI inhibitors (such as Prozac).
Antipsychotic drugs—powerful medicines that
lessen agitated behavior, reduce tension, decrease
hallucinations and delusions, improve social
behavior, and produce better sleep behavior espe-
cially in schizophrenic patients (also called neu-
roleptics).
Antisocial personality disorder—a disorder charac-
terized by a failure to conform to standards of
decency; repeated lying and stealing; a failure to
sustain lasting, loving relationships; low tolerance
of boredom; and a complete lack of guilt.
Anxiety hierarchy—a listing of frightening events
in increasing order of severity used in systematic
desensitization treatment for phobias.
Anxiolytics—anti-anxiety drugs (tranquilizers) such
as benzodiazepines including Librium, Valium,
Xanax; and Buspirone.
Aphasia—impairment of the ability to understand
(receptive) or use (expressive) language.
Approach–approach conflict—a conflict in which
the individual must choose between two positive
stimuli or circumstances.
Approach–avoidance conflict—a conflict in which
the individual must decide whether or not to
choose a circumstance involving a single stimulus
that has both positive and negative characteristics.
Aptitude test— test that measures what our poten-
tial should be and whether or not we will benefit
from some training;predicts our future capacity
to learn and develop.
Archetypes—according to Jung, a number of uni-
versal themes that are part of the collective uncon-
scious.
Arousal—level of alertness, wakefulness and activa-
tion caused by activity in the central nervous
system; optimal level varies with the person and
the activity.
Artificial intelligence (AI)—a field of study in
which computer programs are designed to simu-
late human cognitive abilities such as reasoning,
learning, and understanding language.
Artificialism—the belief of the preoperational child
that all objects are made by people.
Assimilation—process by which we incorporate
new information into our existing cognitive struc-
tures or schemas.
Association areas—regions of the cerebral cortex
that do not have specific sensory or motor func-
tions, but are involved in higher mental functions
such as thinking, planning, and communicating.
Atkinson–Shiffrin model of memory—assumes
three different memory systems: sensory memory,
short-term memory (STM), and long-term
memory (LTM).
Attachment—a close emotional bond or relation-
ship between the infant and the caregiver.
Attention— a state of focused awareness.
Attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD)—
a disorder in which the individual is unable to
focus attention for a normal length of time, and
often shows an elevated level of activity.314 ❯ Glossary