Maharashtra HSC Psychology key terms

The method of examining one's own conscious thoughts and feelings by reporting inner experience as it happens. It was the main tool of early structuralist psychology, but was criticised as subjective and hard to verify.

The early school founded by Wundt and Titchener that tried to break conscious experience into its basic mental elements. It relied heavily on trained introspection and largely faded as behaviourism and functionalism gained ground.

A school, associated with William James, that asked what consciousness and behaviour are for, that is, how they help a person adapt to the environment. It widened psychology's scope to include individual differences and practical applications.

A school holding that perception and thought are organised wholes that cannot be reduced to separate parts. Its founders, Wertheimer, Koffka and Kohler, described laws of perceptual grouping such as proximity, similarity and closure.

A research method in which behaviour is watched and recorded systematically in natural or controlled settings. It is useful where self-report is unreliable, but observer bias and lack of control over variables limit its conclusions.

A procedure in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable and measures its effect on a dependent variable while controlling other factors. Random assignment allows causal conclusions, which correlational and observational designs cannot support.

An in-depth investigation of a single person, group or event using interviews, records and tests. It yields rich detail about rare conditions but findings from one case cannot be generalised with confidence.

The basic nerve cell that receives, integrates and transmits electrochemical signals. It has dendrites for input, a cell body, and an axon ending in terminals that release neurotransmitters across a synapse.

The tiny gap between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite or body of the next. Chemical messengers cross this gap to excite or inhibit the receiving cell, making it the key junction for neural communication.

A chemical released at the synapse that carries a signal from one neuron to another. Examples include acetylcholine, dopamine and serotonin; imbalances are linked with disorders such as Parkinson's disease and depression.

The outer folded layer of the brain responsible for higher mental functions. Its lobes handle movement, sensation, hearing, vision and complex thought, and it is divided into two hemispheres joined by the corpus callosum.

A small gland at the base of the brain often called the master gland because its hormones control other endocrine glands. It influences growth, reproduction and water balance, and links the nervous system with the endocrine system.

An endocrine gland sitting above each kidney that secretes cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones mobilise energy and prepare the body for fight or flight during stress, and chronic overactivity is linked with health problems.

A threadlike structure in the cell nucleus that carries genes. Humans normally have 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs, and the sex chromosomes determine whether an individual develops as male or female.

A segment of DNA on a chromosome that codes for a trait or regulates body processes. Genes are inherited in pairs, and the interaction of genetic potential with environment produces the observable characteristic.

A research design comparing identical twins, who share all genes, with fraternal twins, who share about half. Greater similarity in identical pairs suggests a genetic contribution to the trait being measured.

The weakest stimulus intensity that a person can detect about half the time. It sets the lower limit of sensitivity for a sense such as hearing or vision and is measured under ideal conditions.

The smallest change in a stimulus that a person can reliably notice, also called the just noticeable difference. Weber's law states that this threshold is a constant proportion of the original stimulus strength.

The decline in sensitivity to a constant stimulus over time, as when a smell fades after entering a room. It is an adaptive process that frees attention for new or changing information.

The process of focusing on one stimulus while ignoring others competing for awareness. It allows limited mental capacity to be used efficiently, as in following one conversation in a noisy room.

The attempt to process two or more tasks or inputs at the same time. Performance usually suffers compared with doing tasks separately, especially when the tasks demand the same mental resources.

A readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way, shaped by expectation, context, motivation and past experience. It explains why different people can interpret the same ambiguous input differently.

The tendency to perceive an object as stable in size, shape and colour despite changes in the retinal image. It helps us recognise objects across distance, angle and lighting.

A learning process in which a neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response after being repeatedly paired with a stimulus that already produces it. Pavlov's salivating dogs are the classic demonstration.

A stimulus that naturally and automatically produces a response without prior learning, such as food causing salivation. Pairing it with a neutral stimulus allows that neutral stimulus to become conditioned.

Learning in which behaviour is strengthened or weakened by its consequences. Reinforcement increases the likelihood of a response, while punishment decreases it, and schedules of reinforcement shape persistence.

Any consequence that increases the frequency of the behaviour it follows. Positive reinforcement adds a pleasant stimulus, while negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant one; both strengthen the response.

A consequence that decreases the frequency of the behaviour it follows. It may add an unpleasant stimulus or remove a pleasant one, and it often produces avoidance and hostility rather than new learning.

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus. It is not erasure, since spontaneous recovery can occur later.

Learning by watching others and imitating their behaviour, described by Bandura. Attention, retention, reproduction and motivation determine whether a modelled act is performed, and reinforcement to the model influences the observer.

The very brief store that holds raw sensory information for a fraction of a second after a stimulus ends. Iconic memory is visual and echoic is auditory; most of this material is lost unless attention transfers it onward.

A limited-capacity store that holds about seven chunks of information for roughly twenty seconds without rehearsal. Rehearsal and chunking help transfer material into long-term memory.

The relatively permanent store of knowledge and skills with essentially unlimited capacity. It includes explicit memory for facts and events and implicit memory for procedures and conditioned responses.

Forgetting of previously learned material caused by learning new material afterwards, as when a new phone number displaces the old one. It contrasts with proactive interference, where old learning blocks new.

The drive to engage in an activity for its own sake, because it is interesting or satisfying. It usually sustains effort longer than external rewards and can be weakened by excessive external pressure.

The drive to act in order to gain an external outcome such as money, praise or grades. It is effective for routine tasks but may reduce interest in activities a person already enjoys.

Maslow's arrangement of human needs from basic physiological needs upward through safety, belonging, esteem and self-actualisation. Lower needs are said to demand satisfaction before higher ones become pressing.

The view that emotion follows bodily change: a stimulus produces physiological arousal, and the perception of that arousal is the emotion. We feel afraid because we run, rather than running because we are afraid.

A numerical index of intelligence, originally mental age divided by chronological age multiplied by one hundred. Modern tests use deviation scores comparing a person's performance with age-mates.

A person's potential to acquire a skill or to succeed in a particular field with training. Aptitude tests predict future performance, whereas achievement tests measure what has already been learned.

The consistency of a test in producing stable scores across occasions, items or raters. A reliable test is a precondition for validity, though a test can be reliable without being valid.

The extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. Types include content, criterion and construct validity, and a test must be valid for the specific purpose it is used for.

In Freud's theory, the primitive part of personality that operates on the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification of instinctual urges. It is largely unconscious and is checked by the ego and superego.

The rational part of personality that mediates between the id's demands, the superego's rules and external reality. It operates on the reality principle and uses defence mechanisms to reduce anxiety.

The internalised moral standards of society, learned mainly from parents and other authority figures. It produces guilt and shame when behaviour violates those standards and pushes the ego toward ideal conduct.

A personality assessment in which ambiguous material such as inkblots or pictures is interpreted by the respondent. Responses are thought to reveal unconscious needs, but scoring is difficult and reliability is often low.

A personality test in which respondents rate themselves on statements about their behaviour and feelings, often using yes-no or Likert scales. It is efficient and standardised, though social desirability can distort answers.

A learned tendency to evaluate a person, object or issue favourably or unfavourably. It has cognitive, affective and behavioural components, and attitudes do not always predict behaviour consistently.

A negative attitude toward a group and its members based on faulty or inflexible generalisation. Its emotional and evaluative side is prejudice, its cognitive side is the stereotype, and its behavioural side is discrimination.

A change in behaviour or belief toward group norms as a result of real or imagined group pressure. Asch's line experiments showed that people often yield to a unanimous majority even when it is clearly wrong.

Compliance with the commands of an authority figure. Milgram's experiments revealed that ordinary people may inflict harm when instructed by a legitimate authority, especially when responsibility seems transferred.

The discomfort felt when two beliefs or a belief and an action conflict. People reduce it by changing the belief, changing the behaviour, or adding justifying cognitions, which helps explain attitude change.

Selye's three-stage model of the body's response to prolonged stress: alarm, resistance and exhaustion. The exhaustion stage reflects depletion of resources and raises vulnerability to illness.

The cognitive and behavioural efforts a person makes to manage demands judged to exceed their resources. Problem-focused coping addresses the source of stress, while emotion-focused coping regulates the distress it causes.

An unconscious strategy used by the ego to reduce anxiety arising from unacceptable impulses or threats. Examples include rationalisation, projection and denial; they protect self-esteem but can distort reality.