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Psychology: Concepts and Applications 3e Halonen | |||||
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Psychology: Concepts and Applications 3e Halonen | |||||
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Glossary: D |
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| dark adaptation | |
| A heightened sensitivity to light that results from being in relative dimness (Ch. 4) | |
| date rape | |
| Rape in which the rapist is either a date or a romantic acquaintance (Ch. 11) | |
| daydreams | |
| Fantasies that people construct while awake (Ch. 5) | |
| decay | |
| The loss of information through its nonuse (Ch. 7) | |
| declarative memory | |
| Memory for factual information: names, faces, dates, and the like (Ch. 7) | |
| deductive reasoning | |
| A form of reasoning in which a person draws inferences and implications from a set of assumptions and applies them to specific cases (Ch. 8) | |
| defense mechanisms | |
| Unconscious strategies people use to reduce anxiety by concealing its source from themselves and others (Ch. 14, Ch. 15) | |
| deinstitutionalization | |
| The transfer of former mental patients from institutions into the community (Ch. 17) | |
 dendrites
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A cluster of fibers at one end of a neuron that receive messages from other neurons (Ch. 3) |
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| dependent variable | |
| The variable that is measured and is expected to change as a result of changes caused by the experimenterís manipulation (Ch. 2) | |
| depressants | |
| Drugs that slow down the nervous system (Ch. 5) | |
| descriptive statistics | |
| The branch of statistics that provides a means of summarizing data (App.) | |
| determinism | |
| The notion that behavior is largely produced by factors beyond peopleís willful control (Ch. 1) | |
| developmental psychology | |
| The branch of psychology that studies the patterns of growth and change occurring throughout life (Ch. 12) | |
| Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) | |
| A system devised by the American Psychiatric Association used by most professionals to diagnose and classify abnormal behavior (Ch. 16) | |
| difference threshold | |
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The smallest detectable difference between two stimuli, also known as a just noticeable difference (Ch. 4) |
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| diffusion of responsibility | |
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The tendency for people to feel that responsibility for acting is shared, or diffused, among those present (Ch. 18) |
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| discrimination | |
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Negative behavior toward members of a particular group (Ch. 18) |
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| disengagement theory of aging | |
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A theory that suggests that aging is a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels (Ch. 13) |
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| display rules | |
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The guidelines that govern the appropriateness of showing emotion nonverbally (Ch. 10) |
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| dispositional causes (of behavior) | |
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A cause of behavior that is based on internal traits or personality factors (Ch. 18) |
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| dissociative amnesia | |
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A failure or inability to remember past experiences (Ch. 16) |
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| dissociative
disorder |
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Psychological dysfunctions characterized by the splitting apart of critical personality facets that are normally integrated, allowing stress avoidance by escape (Ch. 16) |
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| dissociative fugue | |
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An amnesiac condition in which people take sudden, impulsive trips, sometimes assuming a new identity (Ch. 16) |
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| dissociative identity disorder (or multiple personality) | |
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A disorder in which a person displays characteristics of two or more distinct personalities (Ch. 16) |
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| divergent thinking | |
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The ability to generate unusual, yet nonetheless appropriate, responses to problems or questions (Ch. 8) |
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| double standard | |
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The view, that premarital sex is permissible for males but not for females (Ch. 11) |
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| dreams-for-survival theory | |
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The theory suggesting that dreams permit information that is critical for our daily survival to be reconsidered and reprocessed during sleep (Ch. 5) |
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| drive | |
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Motivational tension, or arousal, that energizes behavior in order to fulfill some need (Ch. 10) |
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| drive-reduction approaches to motivation | |
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A theory suggesting that when people lack some basic biological requirement such as water, a drive to obtain that requirement (in this case, the thirst drive) is produced (Ch. 10) |
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| drug therapy | |
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Control of psychological problems through drugs (Ch. 17) |
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