Psychology key terms

An explanation after participation of the research's true purpose and any deception, with opportunities to ask questions and address concerns.

Forgetting because a memory trace fades over time.

The ability to consider more than one feature of an object or situation at the same time.

The ability to move beyond one’s own viewpoint or a single feature of a situation and consider other perspectives or features.

Misleading participants or withholding information about the true purpose or procedure of research.

A way of writing a number using place value, with a decimal point separating whole-number places from tenths, hundredths and smaller parts.

A way of writing numbers using place value, with a decimal point separating whole-number places from tenths, hundredths and smaller parts.

A digit position to the right of the decimal point. The number of decimal places tells you how many such positions are retained.

Memory for facts and events that can be consciously recalled, including knowledge and personal experiences.

Reduced awareness of oneself as a separate individual and a reduced sense of personal responsibility, which can occur when someone is part of a crowd.

Resisting an immediate reward in order to obtain a larger reward later.

Remembering information after an interval rather than immediately after presentation.

Antisocial or law-breaking behaviour, particularly by young people. Heaven measured participants’ own reports of interpersonal violence and vandalism/theft.

A strongly held false belief that resists argument and is not explained by the person’s cultural background.

Cues in a research situation that lead participants to infer what is expected of them and may change their behaviour.

Clues in a study that suggest its aim to participants and may lead them to change their behaviour.

A branching extension of a neuron that receives signals and carries them towards its cell body.

The bottom number in a fraction, showing how many equal parts make up the whole.

A cluster of physical, behavioural and cognitive features in which substance use takes a much higher priority than activities that previously had greater value.

The factor measured in an experiment to assess the effect of the independent variable.

A pattern of explaining negative events through internal, stable and global causes.

A period during which a person experiences a sustained pattern of depressive symptoms, usually for at least two weeks.

Visual information that helps a person judge how far away objects are and their positions in three-dimensional space.

A numerical summary used to describe a set of results, for example its typical value or how spread out its values are.

Following an order that causes harm to another person.

The view that thoughts and behaviour are caused by factors outside a person’s freely chosen control.

Discouraging an action through the threat or expectation of an undesirable consequence.