Hello, my name is Mariana Hernandez and I live in Montreal. I have been studying Social Science for almost 3 years. I study at Ahuntsic College and my field of study is psychology. This glossary is going to help Social Science students, specially psychology students, throughout their journey in the psychology field. Indeed, this glossary is formed by a variation of words that beginner students can start learning and words that advanced students can revisit when needed. This glossary has the function of educating new students in this field and to expand their vocabulary to have better communication.
abreaction
noun
The expression and consequent release of a previously repressed emotion, achieved through reliving the experience that caused it (typically through hypnosis or suggestion).
Example: He was using dream abreaction to treat a schizoid patient.
en: abréaction
assess
verb
Evaluate or estimate the nature, ability, or quality of.
Example: Psychological tests are written, visual, or verbal evaluations administered to assess the cognitive and emotional functioning of clients or patients.
en: évaluer
causality
noun
The relationship between cause and effect.
Example: In a study looking at how motion provides information which allows observers to identify events, Bingham et al (1995) found that motion was identified as animate when there were increases in energy along the objects trajectory without any mechanical CAUSALITY.
en: causalité
classical conditioning
noun
A learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired: a response which is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone.
Example: Phobias are often explained as the result of CLASSICAL CONDITIONING, much like Pavlov's dogs.
en: conditionnement classique
cognition
noun
The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.
Example: A primary concern is the affect of the media on the cognitions of the child.
en: cognition
cohort
noun
A group of people with a shared characteristic.
Example: The sample needs to comprise of participants that will allow for generalisation to a larger population and not be affected by COHORT effects.
en: cohorte
conformism
noun
The tendency to adopt the attitudes, behaviour, dress, etc, of the group to which one belongs.
Example: Where as in a 'collectivist' society the family is paramount and non-CONFORMISM and liberalism is scarce (McElwee, Al-Riyami 2003).
en: conformisme
ethnocentrism
noun
The attitude that one's own group, ethnicity, or nationality is superior to others.
Example: The scale consisted of 30 items covering such issues as obedience & respect for authority, aggression towards deviant groups such as homosexuals, and general ETHNOCENTRISM.
en: ethnocentrisme
flooding
noun
An intensive type of exposure therapy in which you must face your fear at a maximum level of intensity for an extended amount of time.
Example: Other methods include FLOODING, where a patient is placed directly in the feared situation for some time to allow reality testing.
en: thérapie d'exposition
hypermnesia
noun
Abnormally vivid or complete memory or recall of the past.
Example: Evaluating hypnotic memory enhancement (HYPERMNESIA and reminiscence) using multitrial forced recall.
en: hypermnésie
internalizing
verb
Make (attitudes or behavior) part of one's nature by learning or unconscious assimilation.
"people learn gender stereotypes and internalize them".
Example: Many women tend to internalize their anxiety and distress.
en: internaliser
intrapsychic conflict
noun
The clash of opposing forces within the psyche, such as conflicting drives, wishes, or agencies.
Example: Intrapsychic conflicts can cause significant distress and can impact an individual's mental health and well-being.
en: conflit intrapsychique
neurosis
noun
A mental condition that is not caused by organic disease, involving symptoms of stress (depression, anxiety, obsessive behaviour, hypochondria) but not a radical loss of touch with reality.
Example: Freud believed that in order to treat Wolf-Man's NEUROSIS, Wolf-Man would have to bring repressed memories from his past into his conscious and accept the underlying meanings of his anxiety dream.
en: névrose
phoneme
noun
Any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another.
Example: It was seen that by Time 3 there was a correlation between letter knowledge and the PHONEME awareness tasks.
en: phonème
profiling
noun
The recording and analysis of a person's psychological and behavioral characteristics, so as to assess or predict their capabilities in a certain sphere or to assist in identifying a particular subgroup of people.
Example: The main psychological premise behind profiling is that there will be consistency between the way offenders act at the crime scene and who they are.
en: profilage
prosopagnosia
noun
A neurological condition characterized by the inability to recognize the faces of familiar people.
Example: Another consequence of damage to the fusiform gyrus is PROSOPAGNOSIA; this is a disorder where the patient is unable recognise faces.
en: prosopagnosie
pygmalion effect
noun
Is a psychological phenomenon in which high expectations lead to improved performance in a given area and low expectations lead to worse.
Example: In a previous article, we discussed the Pygmalion effect, a cognitive bias that can interfere with the teacher-learner relationship and have significant effects on learning.
en: effet pygmalion
recency effect
noun
A cognitive bias in which those items, ideas, or arguments that came last are remembered more clearly than those that came first.
Example: The recency effect is often stronger, especially when the length of the list increases.
en: effet de récence
resilience
noun
The process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress.
Example: Psychological research demonstrates that the resources and skills associated with resilience can be cultivated and practiced.
en: résilience
sociodrama
noun
A dramatic play in which several individuals act out assigned roles for the purpose of studying and remedying problems in group or collective relationships.
Example: The participants volunteer or are assigned roles by the director of the sociodrama.