Glossary of Psychological Terms
As a general aid, Cox Associates have assembled a couple of pages of psychological terms which you may find useful. It is by no means complete, and if you require professional assistance, you shouldn't base any diagnosis upon a glossary: you should contact us instead.
Our Glossary is divided into the following sections:
Technical terms
Amygdala: neural centre in the limbic system of the brain affecting emotions. Almond-shaped, it is located immediately below the cerebral cortex of the anterior medial temporal lobe. In humans, it is associated with a variety of behaviour patterns including sexuality, aggression, digestion, excretion, arterial blood pressure and muscle tone. Its connection to the hypothalamus has been observed to be related to rage behaviour. Also known as amygdaloid nucleus.
Asperger's Syndrome: a development disorder whose essential features include sustained impairment, from mild to severe, in social interaction as well as restricted, repetitive patterns of interest, behaviour and activities. Asperger's Syndrome is on the autistic continuum but unlike autistic disorder, there are no significant delays in language, cognition, or self-help skills. Communications are generally one-sided; patients proclaim rather than interact.
Autism: someone who has lost or never achieved contact with other people, demonstrating stereotyped repetitive behaviour such as twirling objects or rocking. Other characteristics are indifferent to parents or other people, an inability to tolerate change, and defective speech or mutism. They are severely intellectually impaired although they may have islets of above average talent (music, drawing, mathematical calculation abilities, etc.). The behaviour can be described as being driven by pre-mammalian templates that should have superseded them have not developed properly.
Autonomic nervous system: the part of the nervous system, outside conscious control, that stimulates the cardiovascular, digestive, reproductive and respiratory organs.
Borderline personality disorders: sufferers have wild fluctuations of mood, but there is no sincerity behind the emotional fluctuations.
Cognition: the act or process of thinking, questioning and analysing.
Endorphins: Any group of hormone-like substances with painkilling and tranquillising properties that are secreted by the brain.
Fight or flight response: the term given to the action, triggered by the limbic system, of certain hormones within the body which prepares the person to fight or run away from danger.
Homeostasis: the tendency towards a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements. An example in the body would be the way temperature is maintained.
Hypothalamus: A small but very important structure located just above the brain stem and just below the thalamus. Considered a part of the central core of the brain, it includes the centres that govern motivated behaviour such as eating, drinking, sex and emotions. It also regulates endocrine activity and maintains body homeostasis.
Limbic system: the designation for the hippocampus, the amygdala, the septal nuclei, portions of the hypothalamus especially the mammillary bodies, the anterior thalamic nuclei, the cingulate gyrus, and the pathways that connect these structures. The components of the limbic system are essential for normal expression of emotion, motivated behaviour, and memory. Psychopharmacological interventions are often aimed at reducing over-excitability of these structures.
Orientating reaction: behaviour, often fight or flight, following the orientating reflex, involving heightened alertness and behavioural orientation to the total environment.
Orientating reflex: an unconscious tendency of the body to adjust itself in certain directions to maximise and assimilate stimuli seen, heard, or smelt.
Orientation response: a behavioural and psychological reaction to a novel, unexpected, or threatening stimulus. A focussing of attention.
Pituitary gland: the master gland of the endocrine system is situated at the base of the brain, so called because it controls hormone production of other endocrine glands.
Placebo effect: a tendency for a beneficial effect to occur if a person is expecting that a treatment will be therapeutic. A placebo is a neutral treatment (such as an inactive pill) that may nevertheless promote healing because of the hope and confidence placed in it.
REM state: the state experienced during rapid-eye-movement sleep. In which metaphorical imagery is processed by the reality generator (our imagination) as we dream to de-arouse unprocessed emotional arousal from the previous day. This state is also involved with the programming of instinctive frames of reference into our brain and can be experienced/accessed whilst a person is in a trance. It also occurs when awake during memory recall - pattern matching.
Serotonin: the neurotransmitter that has become known as the "feel-good" chemical. Serotonin certainly has a profound effect on mood and anxiety - high levels of it (or sensitivity to it) are associated with serenity and optimism. However, it also has effects in many other areas, including sleep, pain, appetite and blood pressure.