| A | B |
|---|
| Illusory Correlation | When we see a correlation between two things even if one does not exist (superstition) |
| Independent Variable | The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied |
| Action Potential | A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of the channels in the axon's membrane. |
| Neurotransmitters | Chemical messenges that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptors' sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse. |
| Central Nervous System | The brain and the spinal chord |
| Somatic Nervous System | The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. |
| Brainstem | The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull, the brain stem is responsible for automatic survival functions |
| Cerebral Cortex | The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center. |
| Aphasia | Impairment of language usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding). |
| Conformity | Adjusting one's behaviour or thinking to coincide with a group standard. |
| Social Loafing | The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts towards attaining a common goal than when individually accountable. |
| Serial Position Effect | Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list. |
| Imagery | Mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding. |
| Amensia | The loss of memory |
| Explicit Memory | Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and 'declare". (Also called declarative memory) |
| Relearning | A memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time |
| Circadium Rhythm | The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24 hour cycle |
| Hallucinations | False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus. |
| Hidden Observer | Hilgard's term describing a hypnotized subject's awareness of experiences, such as pain, that go unreported during hypnosis. |
| Depressants | Drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions |
