Psychology Glossary

This glossary is for anyone who is as interested in psychology as I am, and wants to improve their vocabulary related to this field of study.

anxiety

noun

An intense emotional response caused by the preconscious recognition that a repressed conflict is about to emerge into consciousness.

Example: Because she was suffering from anxiety, her therapist recommended taking some medication to help.

fr: anxiété

behaviour

noun

The way or manner in which one conducts oneself.

Example: Communication as defined by Daft (2002) is "the process by which information is exchanged and understood by two or more people, usually with the intention to motivate or influence behaviour".

fr: comportement

causality

noun

Causality, or causation, is the relation between an event and a second event, where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first.

Example: The popular belief is that our action is free, but how can we account for the spontaneity of human freedom in a world follows natural laws of causality?

fr: causalité

classical conditioning

noun

A learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired: a response which is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone.

Example: This fear has been learnt by associating hospitals with bad feelings; it is therefore an example of classical conditioning.

fr: conditionnement classique

clinical psychology

noun

The branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness and psychological problems.

Example: The interviews were administered by doctoral students in clinical psychology who were experienced in research interviewing.

fr: psychologie clinique

cognition

adjective

The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

Example: This has led to the suggestion that SLI is not in fact a specific disorder of language but a more general disorder affecting cognition.

fr: cognition

consciousness

noun

Our awareness of internal and external stimuli. Awareness of internal stimuli includes feeling pain, hunger, thirst, sleepiness, and being aware of our thoughts and emotions.

Example: Samsara refers to all earthly human affairs, a condition held to be highly unstable and effectively a delusion of subjective consciousness.

fr: conscience

depression

noun

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.

Example: She has been undergoing treatment for severe depression.

fr: dépression

dissociative disorder

noun

Dissociative disorders are mental disorders that involve experiencing a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and identity.

Example: Patients with dissociative disorders have a high rate of self-mutilation.

fr: trouble dissociatif

mania

noun

Mental illness marked by periods of great excitement or euphoria, delusions, and overactivity.

Example: She would typically experience a period of mania and then suddenly become deeply depressed.

fr: manie

mental illness

noun

Any of various disorders in which a person’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviour are so abnormal as to cause suffering to himself, herself, or other people.

Example: There was no previous history of mental illness although a diagnosis of dementia had been made at this time.

fr: maladie mentale

operant conditioning

noun

A type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences.

Example: Classical and operant conditioning can help health and social care professionals to understand health and the effects of illness in two main ways.

fr: conditionnement opérant

personality disorder

noun

A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. A person with a personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people.

Example: With patients who display deep personality disorders though, treatment can be very difficult as behaviour is hard to predict and rewards of this kind give little motivation.

fr: trouble de la personnalité

psychoanalysis

noun

A method of studying the mind and treating mental and emotional disorders based on investigating the role of the unconscious mind.

Example: In the early twentieth century, many doctors influenced by Freud thought that tics were caused by hysteria or other emotional problems, and treated them with psychoanalysis.

fr: psychanalyse

psychology

noun

The scientific study of all forms of human and animal behaviour, sometimes concerned with the methods through which behaviour can be modified.

Example: Poor safety also, causes a negative impact on workers' psychology, leading eventually to resignations and departures from the enterprise.

fr: psychologie

respondent conditioning

noun

A type of conditioning, first studied by Pavlov, in which a previously neutral stimulus elicits a response as a result of pairing it a number of times with a natural stimulus for that response.

Example: This classic experiment demonstrates the learning process through respondent conditioning. Pavlov who was studying his dogs' digestive processes ended up discovering a new behavior. The dogs would salivate (UR) at the sight or smell of food (US).

fr: conditionnement du répondant

schizophrenia

noun

A long-term mental disorder involving faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, and withdrawal from reality and social relationships.

Example: In support of this idea, studies have found that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to attract a diagnosis of schizophrenia (Jarman 1983, Thornicroft 1981).

fr: schizophrénie

social psychology

noun

The branch of psychology that deals with social interactions, including their origins and their effects on the individual.

Example: Research into intergroup relations and prejudice are topical areas in social psychology and are particularly relevant in contemporary society in regards to understanding sources of societal conflict and hostility.

fr: psychologie sociale

stress

noun

A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

Example: She uses meditation as a way of reducing stress.

fr: stress

trauma

noun

The lasting emotional response that often results from living through a distressing event.

Example: The law is rather absurd because had she suffered physical injury she could have recovered for that as well as her mental trauma but since she didn't, she could not recover for anything.

fr: traumatisme

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