Psychology key terms

An unwanted effect of a medicine in addition to its intended therapeutic effect.

The digits retained when expressing a number to a chosen precision, counted from its first non-zero digit.

An aspect of the immediate environment or social circumstances that influences behaviour.

The perception that an object remains the same actual size even when its apparent size changes with distance.

Habits and environmental conditions that support regular, good-quality sleep.

Difficulty staying asleep, involving repeated waking or waking too early and struggling to return to sleep.

Difficulty falling asleep at the beginning of a sleep period.

Deep sleep characterised by slow delta brain waves; stages 3 and 4 in the five-stage sleep model.

A process in which a minority viewpoint gains more supporters, making it increasingly influential and potentially turning it into the majority view.

Practical support that helps people manage everyday life and maintain their wellbeing and independence.

An explanation proposing that disadvantaged social circumstances contribute to the development of mental illness, rather than simply resulting from it.

A change over time in the attitudes, behaviours or accepted norms of a society.

A person's position within society, associated with factors such as occupation and income.

An idea or category whose meaning is shaped by society rather than being fixed universally. Crime is socially constructed because laws differ between societies and change over time.

A tendency to give answers that create a favourable impression rather than accurately describe one's behaviour.

The tendency to give answers that create a favourable impression rather than answers that are truthful.

An explanation proposing that schizophrenia comes before a downward movement in social class, with societal rejection and individual withdrawal contributing to declining social status and worsening mental health.

An influence on behaviour arising from the social situation, including other people and cultural expectations.

The effect that other people have on an individual's behaviour, beliefs or opinions.

The process of learning the norms, values and acceptable behaviour of a society.

Having limited social contact and relationships with other people.

Learning through observing and imitating other people.

An explanation of learning through observing other people and imitating their behaviour, particularly when they are rewarded.

Putting less individual effort into a shared task than into the same task performed alone.

An expectation about acceptable behaviour within a social group.

The ability to influence another person’s behaviour.

A person’s relative position or status compared with others within a social group.