Psychology Glossary Terms

Study Notes

Glossary of Psychology Terms

Animism: the belief that all things are living, and attributing human-like qualities to inanimate objects
Associationism: the philosophy that the mind is composed of elements, such as sensations and ideas, organized using various associations
Behaviourism: the philosophical position that psychology should focus on the study of observable behavior, rather than mental processes
Cognition: the mental events that take place inside a person's mind while behaving
Consciousness: a person's subjective experiences of the world and the mind

Defence Mechanisms and Ego

Defence mechanisms: unconscious psychological operations that function to protect a person against anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and outer stressors
Ego: a part of a person's personality that is experienced as the self and is in contact with the external world through perception

Humanism

Humanism: a philosophy that stresses the idea that people have an ethical responsibility to live personally fulfilling lives and to contribute to the greater good of all people
Focuses on the study of conscious experiences and the wholeness of human nature
Emphasizes the whole individual, incorporating concepts such as free will and self-actualization
People have the ability to reach their potential and become fully functioning individuals of their own accord

Other Psychology Terms

Continuity: the process whereby events that occur close to one another in space or time tend to get linked together in the mind
Contrast: seeing or recalling something may trigger the recollection of something opposite
Frequency: the more often two things or events are linked, the more powerful the association between them
Gestalt psychology: a school of thought that focuses on understanding the whole as opposed to individual elements
Id: the personality component made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires
Introspection: the subjective observation of one's own experiences
Materialism: the philosophical position that everything, including mental events, is composed of physical matter and is therefore subject to the laws of physics
Neurosis: a tendency to experience negative emotions or anxiety disorders or to engage in unhealthy behavior
Penis envy: the process whereby a girl child feels hostility towards her mother and blames her mother because she does not have a penis
Pleasure principle: the driving force of the id that seeks immediate gratification of all needs, wants, and urges
Psychoanalysis: the psychological theory according to which mental or emotional forces that develop in early childhood affect adult behavior and mental states through unconscious processes
Psychology: the scientific study of the mind and behavior
Reality principle: the regulatory mechanism that represents the demands of the external world and requires the individual to modify instinctual gratification or to postpone it to a more appropriate time
Similarity: when two things are similar, the thought of one will tend to trigger the thought of the other
Superego: the component of personality that suppresses the biological, primitive urges of the id and tries to make the ego behave morally
Tabula rasa: a hypothetical primary blank or empty state of the mind before it receives outside impressions