My Psychology Glossary

Hi, my name is Frédérique Ricard. I live in Laval and I have been studying Social Science for one year at College Montmorency. This glossary I created is mainly for all students who want to inform themselves about my field of study, which is psychology. All these specific words are specially chosen because they have their importance, and they are commonly used in psychology. By reading my glossary, you could learn terms that may help you understand better this fascinating world of psychology!

behaviorism: noun; The theory that human and animal behavior can be explained in terms of conditioning, without appeal to thoughts or feelings, and that psychological disorders are best treated by altering behavior patterns.; Example: Learning motivation research has developed from behaviorism motivation to the social and cultural motivation.; fr: béhaviorisme
cognition: noun; The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses; Example: The parents also noted that the child plays well with his sister when at home so although he may be struggling with appropriate levels of cognition for his developmental age, his social skills are developing well which should help enormously with his ability to learn.; fr: cognition
extrinsic motivation: noun; Extrinsic motivation is when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engage in an activity because we want to earn a reward or avoid punishment.; Example: Extrinsic motivation is less concerned with the design of the jobs themselves than how to reward employees for doing the job.; fr: motivation extrinsèque
classical conditioning:: noun; Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus (CS) becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus (US) in order to produce a behavioral response known as a conditioned response (CR).; Example: Classical conditioning, developed by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), occurs when a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus, eventually producing a conditioned stimulus and response.; fr: conditionnement classique
bio-psycho-social model: noun; The bio-psycho-social model suggests that disease and illness are the result of a complex interaction between an individual’s biology (biochemical, immune response, nervous system, genetics), psychological patterns (personality, behavior, cognitive processing), social factors (family, culture, economics), and environmental factors.; Example: Rehabilitation has both social and medical implications, with implementation based on a biopsychosocial model.; fr: modèle bio-psycho-social
comorbidity: noun; Occurs when people who suffer from one disorder also suffer at the same time from other disorders.; Example: It is frequently seen as a comorbidity with major depressive disorder anxiety generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and personality disorder; fr: comorbidité
actualization: noun; The term actualization, which is used in reference with self-actualization is defined as the process of realizing one’s potential.; Example: The need for self actualization connects the world of work to the life world as a person feels that to enjoy their life more wholly one needs to obtain certain "Need Levels".; fr: actualisation
coping: noun; Efforts to manage stress.; Example: Also, encourage employees to share their learning experiences and problems via team meetings and anonymous progress questionnaires to see how they are coping.; fr: capacité d'adaptation
dopamine: noun; A neurotransmitter involved in voluntary movement, learning, memory, and emotion.; Example: It is concluded that dopamine plays a fundamental (albeit somewhat ambiguous) role in the reward process.; fr: dopamine
encoding: noun; The first of three stages in the memory process, involving processes associated with receiving or registering stimuli through one or more of the senses and modifying that information.; Example: It is during encoding and decoding that mistakes in what is being communicated can occur, the knowledge, attitude and background of the receiver maybe different to that of the sender so they may interpret the message in a different way.; fr: encodage
delirium: noun; The state in which a person loses his focus and perception followed by cognition in a sudden manner is referred to as delirium. It is an acute syndrome which might develop quickly within hours or even few days.; Example: This resulted in an inflammation of the upper membrane of the brain, delirium and death.; fr: délire
Eustress: noun; Moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as being beneficial for the experiencer.; Example: Usually a positive kind of stress, eustress calls for increased enthusiasm, creativity, or physical activity.; fr: eustress
preconscious: noun; The part of the mind in which preconscious thoughts or memories reside.; Example: In subsequent situations, the amygdala might respond to preconscious information—but conscious awareness or memory may never follow.; fr: préconscient
frontal lobe: noun; A portion of the brain located behind the forehead, also known as the motor cortex, that is involved in motor skills, higher level cognition (thinking, planning, memory, and judgment), and expressive language.; Example: Broca claimed that 'the expressive apparatus for speech is related to a small area of cortex' on the frontal lobe.; fr: lobe frontal
limbic system: noun; A brain area, located between the brain stem and the two cerebral hemispheres, that governs emotion and memory. The system includes the amygdala, the hypothalamus, and the hippocampus.; Example: Another very important job of the frontal lobe is that it inhibits the limbic system (the emotional part of the brain), helping to keep our behavior reasoned and appropriate.; fr: système limbique
operant conditioning: noun; A type of learning that refers to how an organism operates on the environment or how it responds to what is presented to it in the environment. Describes stimulus-response associative learning. Also see instrumental conditioning.; Example: There is a growing trend in the zoological, veterinary and laboratory animal community to recognise the value of using operant conditioning as an animal care and management tool.; fr: conditionnement opérant
observational learning: noun; Method of learning that consists of observing and modeling another individual’s behavior, attitudes, or emotional expressions.; Example: SLT also emphasises observational learning, (modelling), which is learning from watching others (termed models).; fr: apprentissage observationnel
contiguity: noun; The sequential occurrence or proximity of stimulus and response, causing their association in the mind.; Example: This suggests that subjects will only associate an emotion with a stimulus or situation if they see the event as causing their mood; thus laboratory studies produce only weak mood dependence because the experiment only induces temporal contiguity; thus subjects do not attribute emotional feelings to the words studied.; fr: contiguïté
conformity: noun; Compliance with standards, rules, or laws.; Example: So like any other group in society, for example trade unions, who have an explicit political nature, conservative Christianity can affect peoples' political action through sociological effects of membership and conformity in community.; fr: Conformité
alexithymia: noun; A personality construct characterized by the sub-clinical inability to identify and describe emotions in the self.; Example: Thus alexithymia literally means " pushing away your emotions ".; fr: alexithymie
mental distress: noun; A range of symptoms and experiences of a person’s internal life that are commonly held to be troubling, confusing or out of the ordinary.; Example: Geri’s mental distress was so intense it gave her a migraine headache.; fr: détresse mentale
hypermnesia: noun; Exceptionally exact or vivid memory, especially as associated with certain mental illnesses.; Example: The phenomenon of hypermnesia is one that continues to be examined, particularly in terms of its generalization.; fr: hypermnésie
preoperational stage: noun; A stage between the ages of 2 and 7 that is characterized by a difficulty taking the point of view of others.; Example: Her 'functional play' stage, where children do things with their toys (like dialling a phone) is in accordance with Piaget's preoperational stage; the 'constructive play' stage (like building a tower), followed by 'socio-dramatic play' stage (make believe games) and then finally 'games with rules' stage all show a progression in understanding of abstract circumstances with age.; fr: stade pré-opératoire
stuttering: noun; A speech disorder characterized by spasmodic repetition of the initial consonant or syllable of words and frequent pauses or prolongation of sounds.; Example: Subjects of Milgram's experiment exhibited signs of extreme nervousness and started displaying sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, groan and dug their fingernails into their flesh.; fr: bégaiement
self-awareness: noun; The capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals.; Example: This state is characterized by diminished self\-awareness and individuality.; fr: conscience de soi