narcolepsy is marked by
recurring irrepressible attacks of sleep during normal waking hours, as
well as by
cataplexy, sleep paralysis and
that aspects of
cognitive processes and behaviour are
whereby the researcher cannot directly control the
allocation to conditions.
a study whereby the observer does not manipulate any variables within a
natural setting where behaviour takes place, by merely observing and
can be divided into
observation (where the researcher takes contributes to a groups
participants are unaware of the observers true
purpose or identity) and
non-participant observation (whereby the
researcher remains inconspicuous).
a principle of
theory of evolution that animals that have
adapted better to their envir
onment allows some members of a species to produce more offspring that
others, as a result of possessing advantageous
traits that improve
survival chances and increase reproductive success.
nature vs nurture:
a debate within
psychology that explores the extent to which specific
aspects of behaviour are inherited or learnt as a result of
a relationship between two measured variables where as one variable
increases the other variable decreases.
can be described as any feeling which causes
you to be miserable and sad. These
emotions make you dislike yourself and others, and take away your
conditioning, a method to increase the probability and strength of a
response by removing or withholding an
proposal that we assist
others in order to alleviate negative feelings, for instance to lessen
feelings of guilt or sadness.
abnormal psychology, particularly with reference to
deficits in functioning that reveal the absence of expected behaviours,
for instance, flat
affect and limited speech.
a term that is used
to characterise a group of Freudian-influenced
whilst accepting the concept of
unconscious conflict, disagree over the
extent of the influence of bodily pleasures or frustrations and have
placed greater emphasis on other aspects of behaviour and experience.
Famous neo-Freudians include
investigations carried out using newborn infants.
signal produced when a
neuron is active, which passes from the
dendrites, along the
axon, to the specific terminals.
disturbance in structure or function of the
nervous system resulting from developmental abnormality, disease,
injury, or toxin.
(‘nerve cell’) a
cell of the nervous system that functions to receive and communicate
information to other cells .
neurophysiology: study of the workings of
the nervous system including
neuroscience:a branch of
psychology, also called
physiological psychology. Neuroscience is the study of the
functioning of the nervous system which includes the structures and
functioning of the
brain and its relationship to behaviour.
mental or personality disturbance not attributable to any known
neurological or organic dysfunction.
neuroticism:is a fundamental
trait in the study of
psychology. It can be
defined as an enduring tendency to experience negative
messengers released by the terminals of a
neuron which cross
neurons, to have an
inhibitory effect on an adjacent
neutral stimulus: in
classical conditioning, a
stimulus which initially fails to elicit a
response, but as conditioning continues, becomes a conditioned
data that is organised on the basis of category.
refers to a
perspective or method that attempts to establish general patterns of
behaviour that can be extended to all members of a population.
situations whereby an individual withstands the tendency to conform to
attitudes, judgements or behaviour of the majority.
hypotheses (two-tailed hypotheses):
states that the
independent variable will have an effect upon the
dependent variable, but does not specify the direction (e.g.
higher/lower scores) of effect upon the
PET scans) for imaging the
brain do not require
direct contact and interference with
the observer remains
inconspicuous so that the behaviour of the
participants is not affected.
generally referred to
language‘ by non-psychologists, refers to any form of
communication that is not conveyed through verbal or written language,
for instance posture and facial expressions.
Norepinephrine or ‘noradrenaline’:
neurotransmitter that is important in the regulation of mood;
disturbances in its tracts have been implicated in
a type of
frequency distribution which is represented by a symmetrical,
bell-shaped curve, whereby the
median all lie at the
highest point of the curve.
conformity which occurs as a result of a desire to
be accepted in a group and liked by others.
hypothesis that any difference between the
dependent variables merely occur as a result of chance, rather than
as any significant effect of the
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