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S
Sample -
A collection of subjects, drawn from a population, that a researcher studies.
Sampling bias -
A source of error that arises when the sample is not representative of the population
that the researcher wants to study.
Scalloped response pattern -
The phenomenon in which responses are slow in the beginning of the interval and
faster just before reinforcement happens. It occurs as a result of a fixed-interval
schedule.
Schema -
A mental model of an object or event that includes knowledge about it as well as
beliefs and expectations.
Schizoid personality disorder -
A disorder characterized by social withdrawal and restricted expression of
emotions.
Schizophrenia -
A disorder involving a loss of contact with reality and symptoms that may include
some of the following: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech or behavior, emotional
flatness, social withdrawal, decreased richness of speech, and lack of motivation.
Scientific method -
A standardized way of making observations, gathering data, forming theories, testing
predictions, and interpreting results.
Secondary process thinking -
Thinking that is logical and rational.
Secondary punisher -
In operant conditioning, a consequence that is unpleasant because it has become
associated with a primary punisher. It is also called a conditioned
punisher.
Secondary reinforcer -
In operant conditioning, a consequence that is satisfying because it has become
associated with a primary reinforcer. It is also called a conditioned
reinforcer.
Secondary sex characteristics -
Sex-specific physical traits that are not essential to reproduction, such as breasts,
widened hips, facial hair, and deepened voices.
Sedatives -
Drugs that slow down the nervous system.
Selective attention -
The ability to focus on some pieces of sensory information and ignore others.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) -
A class of antidepressant drugs that increase the level of serotonin.
Self-actualization -
The need to realize one’s full potential. According to Maslow, this is human beings’
highest need, which arises after the satisfaction of more basic needs.
Self-concept -
According to Rogers, the most important feature of personality. The self-concept
includes all the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs people have about themselves.
Self-effacing bias -
The tendency of people in certain cultures to attribute their successes to
situational factors rather than to personal attributes and to attribute their failures to lack
of effort.
Self-efficacy -
Confidence in one’s ability to meet challenges effectively.
Self-help groups -
Groups that are similar to therapy groups except that they do not have a
therapist.
Self-report data -
Information that people being surveyed give about themselves.
Self-report inventory -
A paper-and-pen test that requires people to answer questions about their typical
behavior.
Self-serving bias -
The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to situational
factors.
Semantic encoding -
A way of encoding verbal information that emphasizes the meaning of words.
Semantic memory -
Remembering of general facts.
Semantic slanting -
A way of making statements so that they will evoke specific emotional
responses.
Semicircular canals -
Three fluid-filled tubes that are the main structures in the vestibular system. They
are located in the inner ear.
Sensation -
Occurs when physical energy from objects in the world or in the body stimulates the
sense organs.
Sensory adaptation -
The decrease in sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus.
Sensory memory -
A memory system that stores incoming sensory information for an instant.
Separation anxiety -
The emotional distress babies show when separated from their caregivers.
Serotonin -
A neurotransmitter involved in sleep, wakefulness, appetite, aggression, impulsivity,
sensory perception, temperature regulation, pain suppression, and mood.
Set point -
A genetically influenced determinant for body weight.
Sex -
A biological distinction between males and females.
Sexual script -
A set of implicit rules that allow a person to judge what sexual behavior is
appropriate in a given situation.
Sexual selection -
Process in which females choose their mates based on certain characteristics that
will then be passed on to their male offspring.
Shaping -
In operant conditioning, a procedure in which reinforcement is used to guide a
response closer and closer to a desired response.
Short-term memory -
A memory system that stores a limited amount of information for a brief
period.
Signal detection theory -
A theory used to predict when a weak signal will be detected.
Similarity -
The tendency to group similar objects together.
Simplicity -
The tendency to perceive forms as simple, symmetrical figures rather than as
irregular ones.
Single-blind -
A procedure in which subjects don’t know whether they are in an experimental or
control group.
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) -
A test that assesses sixteen basic dimensions of personality.
Skinner box -
A device used to study operant conditioning.
Sleep apnea -
A condition in which a person stops breathing many times during a night’s
sleep.
Sleep spindles -
Short bursts of brain waves that occur during stage 2 sleep.
Smooth muscles -
Involuntary muscles that help organs such as the stomach and bladder carry out their
functions.
Social clocks -
Social and cultural norms that indicate the typical ages at which people experience
particular life events, behaviors, and issues.
Social desirability bias -
The tendency of some people to describe themselves in socially approved ways.
Social exchange theory -
A theory arguing that people help each other because they want to gain as much as
possible while losing as little as possible.
Social facilitation -
The tendency for individuals to perform better in the presence of other people.
Social loafing -
The reduced effort people invest in a task when they are working with other people.
Social norms -
Societal rules about appropriate behavior.
Social phobia -
A disorder characterized by intense anxiety when exposed to certain kinds of social
or performance situations.
Social responsibility norm -
A societal rule that tells people they should help others who need help even if doing
so is costly.
Social roles -
Patterns of behavior that are considered appropriate for a person in a particular
context.
Social schemas -
Mental models that represent and categorize social events and people.
Social skills training -
A behavioral therapy that aims to enhance a client’s relationships with other
people.
Social trap -
A situation in which one harms oneself and others by acting in one’s self-interest.
Soma -
The central area of a neuron; also called the cell
body.
Somatic nervous system -
The part of the peripheral nervous system that is connected to the skeletal muscles
and sense organs.
Somatization disorder -
A disorder characterized by a wide variety of physical symptoms, such as pain and
gastrointestinal, sexual, and pseudoneurological problems. The disorder begins before age thirty
and continues for many years. It is also called hysteria or Briquet’s
syndrome.
Somatoform disorders -
Disorders characterized by real physical symptoms that cannot be fully explained by a
medical condition, the effects of a drug, or another mental disorder.
Sound waves -
Changes in pressure generated by vibrating molecules.
Source amnesia -
Inaccurate recall of the origin of information in memory. It is also called
source misattribution or source monitoring error.
Specific phobia -
A disorder in which a person feels intense anxiety when exposed to a particular
object or situation.
Spinal cord -
Connects the brain to the rest of the body.
Spinal reflexes -
Automatic behaviors that require no input from the brain.
Split-brain surgery -
A surgical operation in which the corpus callosum is cut, separating the two
hemispheres of the brain.
Spontaneous recovery -
In classical conditioning, the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned
response.
Stable attribution -
An inference that an event or behavior is due to stable, unchanging factors.
Stage -
A period in development when people show typical behavior patterns and capacities.
Standard deviation -
A statistic that indicates the degree to which scores vary around the mean of a
distribution.
Standardized tests -
Tests with uniform procedures for administration and scoring.
Standardization -
The use of uniform procedures when administering and scoring tests.
Standardization sample -
A large group of people that is representative of the entire population of potential
test takers.
States -
Temporary behaviors or feelings.
Statistical significance -
The likelihood that a result was not due to chance.
Statistics -
The analysis and interpretation of numerical data.
Stereotypes -
Beliefs about people based on their membership in a particular group.
Stimulants -
Drugs that stimulate the central nervous system.
Stimulus discrimination -
In classical conditioning, the tendency not to have a conditioned
response to a new stimulus that’s similar to the original conditioned stimulus. In operant
conditioning, it’s the tendency for a response to happen only when a particular stimulus is
present.
Stimulus generalization -
In classical conditioning, the tendency to respond to a new stimulus as if it’s the
original conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, it’s the tendency to respond to a new
stimulus as if it’s the original discriminative stimulus.
Storage -
The process of maintaining information in memory.
Strange Situation -
An experiment devised for studying attachment behavior.
Stress -
The experience of being threatened by taxing circumstances. It also sometimes refers
to circumstances that threaten well-being, to the response people have to threatening
circumstances, or to the process of evaluating and coping with threatening
circumstances.
Stressors -
Circumstances or events that are psychologically or physically
demanding.
Structural encoding -
A way of encoding verbal information that emphasizes how words look.
Subject -
An individual person or animal that a researcher studies.
Subject bias -
Bias that results from the subject’s expectations or the subject’s changing of his or
her behavior.
Subjective utility -
The process of making a decision by estimating the personal value of a decision’s
outcome.
Subjective well-being -
The perception people have about their happiness and satisfaction with
life.
Sublimation -
A defense mechanism that involves channeling unacceptable thoughts and feelings into
socially acceptable behavior.
Substance abuse -
According to the DSM, a maladaptive pattern of drug use that results
in repeated negative consequences such as legal, social, work-related, or school-related
problems.
Superego -
The moral component of the personality.
Suprachiasmatic nucleus -
The main biological clock regulating circadian rhythms of sleep in
humans.
Survey -
A method of getting information about a specific behavior, experience, or event by
means of interviews or questionnaires, using several participants.
Survival advantage -
The outcome of a characteristic that helps an organism to live long enough to
reproduce and pass on its genes.
Symbol -
A sound, gesture, or written character that represents an object, action, event, or
idea.
Symbolic thought -
The ability to represent objects in terms of mental symbols.
Sympathetic nervous system -
Part of the autonomic nervous system that prepares the body for action and expends
energy.
Synapse -
The junction between the axon of one neuron and the cell body or dendrite of a
neighboring neuron.
Synaptic cleft -
The gap between two cells at a synapse.
Synaptic vesicles -
Small sacs inside a neuron’s terminal buttons, in which neurotransmitters are
stored.
Syntax -
A system of rules that governs how words can be meaningfully arranged to form phrases
and sentences.
Systematic densensitization -
A behavioral treatment that uses counterconditioning to decrease
anxiety.
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