AQA GCSE Psychology key terms

The division of the autonomic nervous system that prepares the body for activity during a threatening or stressful situation.

A feature of an illness or disorder, such as persistent low mood or disturbed sleep.

A junction between neurons, including the sending membrane, the synaptic cleft and the receiving membrane.

The small gap between two nerve cells across which neurotransmitters travel.

Selecting every nth person from a list of the target population.

The whole group of people that a researcher wants to investigate and draw conclusions about.

A brain structure that acts as a relay station, passing sensory information to the cerebral cortex for interpretation.

The explanation that remembering involves rebuilding an account from stored information, influenced by existing knowledge and expectations, rather than replaying an exact recording.

Another factor that could explain an apparent relationship between the two measured variables.

Mental activity involved in forming ideas, understanding concepts and reasoning.

Needing an increased dose of a substance to achieve an effect previously produced by a lower dose.

Using existing knowledge and expectations to interpret incoming sensory information.

Depression that has not improved sufficiently despite antidepressant treatment. In Wiles’ trial, participants still had depression after taking and adhering to antidepressants for at least six weeks.

A stimulus that produces a response naturally, without that response having to be learned.

A mood disorder involving depressive episodes without manic or hypomanic episodes. Depressive episodes can recur, with recovery between them.

Whether research measures what it intends to measure and supports an accurate explanation of the behaviour being studied.

A factor that can change or take different values in a study.

Sending and receiving messages using words, whether spoken, written or signed.

A learner who prefers to process information through spoken or written words.

Learning from observing someone else being rewarded for a behaviour, making imitation more likely.

A region of the occipital lobe that processes visual information from the eyes.

A feature of what is seen that provides information about an object or scene, such as its shape or apparent distance.

Coding information in terms of its appearance or as a mental image.

A misleading or distorted perception of a real visual stimulus.

A learner who prefers to process information through pictures and visual features such as shape, colour and layout.

A bee movement involving straight runs with the abdomen moving from side to side, separated by alternating left and right circular turns, associated with more distant food.

A language area, usually in the left temporal lobe, involved in understanding language.