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GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid) The most widely distributed inhibitory transmitter of the central nervous system.
galvanic skin response (GSR) A drop in the electrical resistance of the skin, widely used as an index of autonomic reaction.
ganglion A neural control center that integrates messages from different receptor cells and coordinates the activity of different muscle fibers; plural: ganglia.
ganglion cells In the retina, one of the intermediate links between the receptor cells and the brain. The axons of the ganglion cells converge into a bundle of fibers that leave the eyeball as the optic nerve. See alsobipolar cells.
gay bashing: attacks against homosexuals - either verbal or physical.
gender constancy The recognition that being male or female is to all intents and purposes irrevocable.
Gender differences Culturally based differences between males and females.
gender identity The inner sense of being male or female. See alsogender role, sexual orientation. The knowledge that one is a male or a female and the internalization of this fact into one's self-concept.
gender in psychology, the characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, by which people define male and female. Because "sex" is a biological category, social psychologists sometimes refer to biologically based gender differences as "sex differences."
gender role a set of behavior expectations (norms) for males and females. The set of external behavior patterns a given culture deems appropriate for each sex. See alsogender identity, sexual orientation. Outward expression of gender identity, according to cultural and social expectations.
Gender schema A mental framework for processing information based on its perceived male or female qualities.
Gender schema theory Bem's theory that children develop schemas containing culturally based gender information which they use to understand themselves and the world.
Gender stereotypes A society's expectations about the characteristics of females as a group and males as a group.
Gender The meanings that societies and individuals attach to being female and male. The fact or condition of being a male or a female human being, especially with regard to how this affects or determines a person's self-image, social status, goals, and so on.
gene The unit of hereditary transmission, located at a particular place in a given chromosome. Both members of each chromosome pair have corresponding locations at which there are genes that carry instructions about the same characteristic (e.g., eye color). If one member of a gene pair is dominant and the other is recessive, the dominant gene will exert its effect regardless of what the recessive gene calls for. The characteristic called for by the recessive gene will only be expressed if the other member of the gene pair is also recessive. A ny of the units occurring at specific points on the chromosomes, by which hereditary characters are transmitted and determined: Each is regarded as a particular state of organization of the chromatin in the chromosome, consisting primarily of DNA and protein.
general intelligence (g) According to Charles Spearman, a mental attribute that is called upon in any intellectual task a person has to perform.
general paresis A psychosis characterized by progressive decline in cognitive and motor function culminating in death, reflecting a deteriorating brain condition produced by syphilitic infection.
generalization decrement In classical conditioning, the weakening of a response to a new stimulus compared to the response elicited by the original conditioned stimulus (CS). The greater the difference between the new stimulus and the original CS, the larger the generalization decrement. In instrumental conditioning, a similar effect occurs when a new discriminative stimulus is presented instead of the original stimulus.
generalization gradient The curve that shows the relationship between the tendency to respond to a new stimulus and its similarity to the original conditioned stimulus (CS).
generalize: to formulate general principles or inferences from particulars.
generalized anxiety disorder A mental disorder whose primary characteristic is an all-pervasive, "free-floating" anxiety. A member of the diagnostic category "anxiety disorders," which also includes phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorders. See alsoanxiety disorders.
generativity: the desire to expand one's influence and commitment to family, society, and future generations.
generic memory Memory for items of knowledge as such (e.g., The capital of France is Paris), independent of the occasion on which they are learned. See alsoepisodic memory.
genetic sex A designation of an organism’s sex based entirely on the genetic pattern, whether XY (male) or XX (female). Often contrasted with morphological sex, which is based on anatomical features.
genital stage In psychoanalytic theory, the stage of psychosexual development reached in adult sexuality in which sexual pleasure involves not only one’s own gratification but also the social and bodily satisfaction brought to another person. Adult or final stage of psychosexual development in which conflicts have been resolved, libidinal drives regulated, and character structure integrated.
genotype The genetic blueprint of an organism which may or may not be overtly expressed by its phenotype. See alsophenotype.
geons Primitive geometric figures, such as cubes, cylinders, and pyramids, from which all other shapes are created through combination. In many models of pattern recognition, the organism must first determine which geons are present and then determine what the objects are.
gerontologists: those who study the process of aging and of the problems of aged people.
gerontology: the scientific study of the process of aging and of the problems of aged people.
Gerstmann syndrome A syndrome that results from damage to the left parietal lobe which involves a cluster of difficulties, including the inability to form mathematical calculations, the loss of handwriting, and confusion about which direction is left and which is right. See alsoneglect syndrome.
Gestalt An organized whole such as a visual form or a melody.
Gestalt psychology A theoretical approach that emphasizes the role of organized wholes (Gestalten) in perception and other psychological processes.
gestation: the act or period of carrying young in the uterus from conception to birth; pregnancy.
glands Bodily organs that produce hormones.
glial cell Cells in the brain that act as guidewires for growing neurons, provide a supportive scaffolding for mature neurons, and form the myelin sheath and blood-brain barrier.
glove anesthesia A condition sometimes seen in conversion disorders, in which there is an anesthesia of the entire hand with no loss of feeling above the wrist. This symptom makes no organic sense given the anatomical arrangement of the nerve trunks and indicates that the condition has a psychological basis.
glucose receptors Receptors in the brain (in the area of the hypothalamus) that detect the amount of glucose in the bloodstream.
glucose The form of sugar that is the major source of energy for most bodily tissues. If plentiful, much of it is converted into glycogen and stored.
glutamate The most critical neurotransmitter in the retina, it also appears to be important for long-term memory and the perception of pain.
glycogen A stored form of metabolic energy derived from glucose. To be used, it must first be converted back into glucose.
gonads The body’s primary sexual organs — ovaries in the female, testes in the male.
good continutation A factor in visual grouping. Contours tend to be seen in such a way that their direction is altered as little as possible.
gray matter That portion of the brain that appears gray. The color reflects the absence of myelination (which makes the tissue appear white). The gray matter consists of the cell bodies, dendrites, and unmyelinated axons that comprise the nervous system’s microcircuitry.
grief therapy: treatment that helps individuals deal with their grief and bereavement.
grief: intense emotional suffering caused by loss, disaster, misfortune, and so on; acute sorrow; deep sadness.
GRIT acronym for "graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension reduction"-a strategy designed to de-escalate international tensions.
gross motor skills: the use of large bodily movements, including running, jumping, hopping, turning, skipping, throwing, balancing, and dancing.
Group cohesiveness The attractiveness that group members have for one another.
group polarization group-produced enhancement of members' preexisting tendencies; a strengthening of the members' average tendency, not a split within the group.
Group polarization Group-produced enhancement or exaggeration of members' initial attitudes through discussion.
group therapy Psychotherapy of several persons at one time.
Group Two or more people who interact with and influence one another over a period of time, and who depend upon one another and share common goals and a collective identity. Two or more people who, for longer than a few moments, interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as "us."
group-factor theory of intelligence A factor-analytic approach to intelligence-test performance which argues that intelligence is a composite of separate abilities (group factors such as verbal ability, spatial ability, etc.) without a sovereign capacity that enters into each. See alsofactor analysis, general intelligence.
group-serving bias explaining away outgroup members' positive behaviors; also attributing negative behaviors to their dispositions (while excusing such behavior by one's own group).
groupthink "The mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action." -Irving Janis (1971). A deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment in a group that results from an excessive desire to reach consensus.
guevedoces syndrome A genetic disorder in which the external genitals appear to be female, but, at puberty, develop into normal male genitals.
habituation A decline in the tendency to respond to stimuli that have become familiar. While short-term habituation dissipates in a matter of minutes, long-term habituation may persist for days or weeks.
habituation procedure A widely used method for studying infant perception. After some exposure to a visual stimulus, an infant becomes habituated and stops looking at it. The extent to which a new stimulus leads to renewed interest and resumption of looking is taken as a measure of the extent to which the infant regards this new stimulus as different from the old one to which he became habituated.
hair cells The auditory receptors in the cochlea, lodged between the basilar membrane and other membranes above.
hallucination Perceived experiences that occur in the absence of actual sensory stimulation.
handedness: ability in using one hand more skillfully than, and in preference to, the other.
hardiness: resistance to stress.
heritability ratio (H) This refers to the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining the observed variation of a particular trait. More specifically, H is the proportion of the variance of the trait in a given population that is attributable to genetic factors.
hermaphrodite A person who possesses portions of both female and male reproductive tissues. See alsopseudohermaphroditism.
hertz (Hz) A measure of frequency in number of cycles per second.
Heterosexism A system of cultural beliefs, values, and customs that exalts heterosexuality and denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any nonheterosexual form of behavior or identity.
heterosexual: of or characterized by sexual desire for those of the opposite sex. A primary or exclusive attraction to individuals of the other sex. A sexual orientation leading to a choice of sexual partners of the opposite sex.
heuristic a rule-of-thumb strategy that enables quick, efficient judgments. In computer problem solving, a procedure that has often worked in the past and is likely, but not certain, to work again. See alsoalgorithm. Timesaving mental shortcuts that reduce complex judgments to simple rules of thumb.
hierarchical organization Organization in which narrower categories are subsumed under broader ones, which are subsumed under still broader ones, and so on. Often expressed in the form of a tree diagram.
hierarchy of needs According to Maslow and other adherents of the humanistic approach, human needs are arranged in a hierarchy with physiological needs such as hunger at the bottom, safety needs further up, the need for attachment and love still higher, and the desire for esteem yet higher. At the very top of the hierarchy is the striving for self-actualization. By and large, people will only strive for the higher-order needs when the lower ones are fulfilled. See alsopeak experience, self-actualization.
higher-order conditioning In classical conditioning, a procedure by which a new stimulus comes to elicit the conditioned response (CR) by virtue of being paired with an effective conditioned stimulus (CS) (e.g., first pairings of tone and food, then pairings of bell and tone, until finally the bell elicits salivation by itself).
higher-order patterns Patterns of ratios and relationships in the stimulus input.
hindbrain The rearmost portion of the brain just above the spinal cord, which includes the pons, medulla, and cerebellum.
hindsight bias the tendency to exaggerate, after learning an outcome, one's ability to have foreseen how something turned out. Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.
hippocampus A structure in the temporal lobe that is involved in long-term and spatial memory.
histogram A graphic rendering of a frequency distribution which depicts the distribution by a series of contiguous rectangles. See alsofrequency distribution.
hitSeepayoff matrix.
Holon The idea of holon comes from Arthur Koestler. A holon is a whole which is part of a larger wholes, and which contains smaller wholes. i.e. An atom is a whole which is part of a larger whole--a molecule. An atom contains a smaller whole, the nucleus, which in turn contains sub atomic particles. Wilber, 1995 goes on to say that everything is a holon. Thus, there are ... sub atomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, people, families, communities, nations, the planet, the solar system ... And the holons go all the way down and all the way up.
holophrase: a single word that conveys complete ideas.
homeostasis The body’s tendency to maintain the conditions of its internal environment by various forms of self-regulation.
homogamy The tendency of like to mate with like.
homophobia: irrational hatred or fear of homosexuals or homosexuality.
homosexual: of or characterized by sexual desire for those of the same sex as oneself.
Homosexuality A primary or exclusive attraction to individuals of one's own sex. A sexual orientation leading to a choice of partners of the same sex.
Homunculus A little person residing within the brain, from where he/she governs human behavior (based on ancient Egyptian beliefs).
hormone A chemical released by one of the glands. Hormones travel through the bloodstream and control a number of bodily functions, including metabolic rate, arousal level, sugar output of the liver, and so on.
hospice: a homelike facility to provide supportive care for terminally ill patients.
hostile aggression aggression driven by anger and performed as an end in itself (also called affective aggression). The intentional use of harmful behavior in which the goal is simply to cause injury or death to the victim.
hue A perceived dimension of visual stimuli whose meaning is close to the term color (e.g., red, blue).
human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG): the hormone that is secreted by the placenta early in pregnancy and which inhibits menstrual periods.
Human Potential (or Personal Growth) : the idea that each of us has the seeds of our own potential - the potential to become who we truly are - within us and that life supports the unfolding or emerging of that potential from within, given the right conditions.
humanistic approach to personality Asserts that what is most important about people is how they achieve their selfhood and actualize their potentialities. See alsobehavioral-cognitive approach, psychodynamic approach, situationism, sociocultural approach, trait theory.
humanistic therapies Methods of treatment that emphasize personal growth and self-fulfillment. They try to be relatively nondirective, since their emphasis is on helping the clients achieve the capacity for making their own choices. See alsonondirective techniques.
Humanistic: in this approach the counsellor/therapist is regarded not so much as an 'expert' who knows more than the client but as someone who is skilled in facilitating a process of self-discovery in another. The central belief is in the possibility for change and growth towards fulfilment of potential, in which the individual is self-aware and responsible for her/his own choices. Humanistic Psychology or `3rd force psychology` evolved in the 1950`s in the USA as an alternative to both psychoanalysis and behaviourism.
Huntington’s disease A progressive hereditary disorder that involves degeneration of the basal ganglia and that results in jerky limb movements, facial twitches, and uncontrolled writhing of the body.
hyaluronidase: an enzyme that inactivates hyaluronic acid by breaking down its polymeric structure, thus promoting the diffusion of substances through tissues: found in sperm cells, certain venoms and bacteria, and so on.
hyperphagia Voracious, chronic overeating brought about by a lesion of the ventromedial region of the hypothalamus.
hypnosis A temporary, trancelike state that can be induced in normal persons. During hypnosis, various hypnotic or posthypnotic suggestions sometimes produce effects that resemble some of the symptoms of conversion disorders. See alsoconversion disorders.
hypochondriasis A disorder in which the sufferer believes he has a specific disease and typically goes from doctor to doctor to be evaluated for it.
hypomania A mild manic state in which the individual seems infectiously merry, extremely talkative, charming, and indefatigable.
hypothalamus A small structure at the base of the forebrain that plays a vital role in the control of the autonomic nervous system, of the endocrine system, and of the major biological drives.
Hypotheses Specific propositions or expectations about the nature of thins derived from a theory. A testable proposition that describes a relationship that may exist between events. An unproved theory, proposition, supposition, and so on, tentatively accepted to explain certain facts or to provide a basis for further investigation, argument, and so on.
hysterectomy: the surgical removal of all or part of the uterus.
hysteria An older term for a group of presumably psychogenic disorders including conversion disorders and dissociative disorders. Since DSM-III, it is no longer used as a diagnostic category, in part because of an erroneous implication that the condition is more prevalent in women (Greek hystera — womb). See alsoconversion disorders, dissociative disorders, glove anesthesia.
id In Freud’s theory, a term for the most primitive reactions of human personality, consisting of blind strivings for immediate biological satisfaction regardless of cost. See alsoego and superego. That part of the psyche that is regarded as the reservoir of the instinctual drives and the source of psychic energy; it is dominated by the pleasure principle and irrational wishing, and its impulses are controlled through the development of the ego and superego.
ideas of reference A characteristic of some mental disorders, notably schizophrenia, in which the patient begins to think that external events are specially related to her personally (e.g., "People walk by and follow me").
identical triplets: three fetuses produced from the same ovum.
identical twins Twins that originate from a single fertilized egg that then splits into two exact replicas that develop into two genetically identical individuals. See alsofraternal twins. Two fetuses produced from the same ovum.
identification In psychoanalytic theory, a mechanism whereby a child (typically) models himself or herself on the same-sex parent in an effort to become like him or her. A mainly unconscious process by which a person formulates a mental image of another person and then thinks, feels, and acts in a way that resembles this image.
identity crisis: the condition of being uncertain of one's feelings about oneself, especially with regard to character, goals, and origins, occurring especially in adolescence as a result of growing up under disruptive, fast-changing conditions.
identity: the condition or fact of being a specific person or thing; individuality.
Ideology A set of beliefs and values held by the members of a social group, which explains its culture both to itself and to other groups.
Idiosyncrasy credits Interpersonal influence that a leader earns by helping the group achieve task goals and by conforming to group norms.
ill-defined problemsSeewell-defined problems.
illusion of control perception of uncontrollable events as subject to one's control or as more controllable than they are.
illusory conjunction A pattern of errors found, for example, in visual search tasks, in which observers correctly perceive the features present (redness, greenness, roundness, angularity) but misperceive how these were combined in the display (and so they might see a green O and a red X when, in fact, a green X and red O were presented).
illusory correlation Perception of a relationship where none exists, or perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists. A false impression that two variables correlate. A perception that two facts or observations tend to occur together, even though they do not, such as the erroneous belief that all accountants are introverted. The belief that two variables are associated with one another when in fact there is little or no actual association.
implicit memory Memory retrieval in which there is no awareness of remembering at the time of retrieval. See alsoexplicit memory.
Implicit personality theory Assumptions or naive belief systems people make about which personality traits go together.
implicit theories of personality Beliefs about the way in which different patterns of behavior of people hang together and why they do so. See alsoillusory correlation.
implosion therapy A form of behavior therapy related to flooding in which the patient exposes himself to whatever he is afraid of in its most extreme form, but does so in imagination rather than in real life (e.g., a person afraid of dogs has to imagine himself surrounded by a dozen snarling Dobermans). Seeflooding.
impossible figure A figure that appears acceptable when looked at locally but poses unresolvable visual contradictions when seen as a whole.
Impression formation The process by which one integrates various sources of information about another into an overall judgment.
impression management According to Erving Goffman, the characteristic of much social interaction in which people maintain the image that goes along with their social or professional role.
imprinting A learned attachment that is formed at a particular period in life (the critical, or sensitive, period) and is difficult to reverse (e.g., the duckling’s acquired tendency to follow whatever moving stimulus it encounters twelve to twenty-four hours after hatching).
incest: sexual activity between closely related persons of any age.
incidental learning Learning without trying to learn (e.g., as in a study in which participants judge a speaker’s vocal quality when she recites a list of words and are later asked to produce as many of the words as they can recall). See alsointentional learning.
incremental validity The extent to which a test adds to the predictive validity already provided by other measures (e.g., the extent to which a projective technique adds to what is already known through an ordinary interview).
incubation The hypothetical process of continuing to work on a problem unconsciously after one has ceased to work on that problem consciously. Most contemporary investigators are skeptical about whether such a process truly exists.
Independence Not being subject to control by others.
independent variable the experimental factor that a researcher manipulates. The experimental variable that the researcher manipulates.
indifferent parents: parents who demonstrate low parental control and low warmth.
individualism A cultural pattern in which people are considered to be fundamentally independent and in which the emphasis is on the ways a person can stand out through achieving private goals. Individualists societies include the dominant cultures of the United States , western Europe, Canada, and Australia. See also collectivism.
Individualism A philosophy of life stressing the priority of individual needs over group needs, a preference for loosely knit social relationships, and a desire to be relatively autonomous of others' influence. Giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications.
induced motion Perceived movement of an objectively stationary stimulus that is enclosed by a moving framework.
inductive reasoning Reasoning in which one observes a number of particular instances and tries to determine a general rule that covers them all.
industry: the feeling of social competence; according to Erikson, the primary developmental task of middle childhood is to attain industry.
infancy: birth to age 1.
infant mortality: the percentage of babies who die within the first year of life.
infatuatio: completely carried away by foolish or shallow love or affection.
Inferential statistics Mathematical analyses that move beyond mere description of research data to make inferences about the larger population from which the sample was drawn. Statistics used for making predictions about the population.
infertile: the inability to produce offspring because of some disorder of the reproductive system.
Information campaigns Attempts to persuade people to alter their lifestyles in more healthful directions through the use of the mass media and other communication channels.
Information dependence Dependence upon others for information about the world that reduces uncertainty.
information processing A general term for the presumed operations whereby the crude raw materials provided by the senses are refashioned into items of knowledge. Among these operations are perceptual organization, comparison with items stored in memory, and so on.
informational influence conformity occurring when people accept evidence about reality provided by other people.
Informational social influence Conformity, compliance, or obedience due to a desire to gain information (information dependence).
Informed consent A procedure by which people freely choose to participate in a study only after they are told about the activities they will perform.
informed consent an ethical principle requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.
informed consent: when a subject agrees to participate in a study based on disclosure of personal information.
Ingratiation Saying positive things about someone in order to get them to like you. The use of strategies, such as flattery, by which people seek to gain another's favor.
ingroup "us"-a group of people who share a sense of belonging, a feeling of common identity. A group to which a person belongs and that forms a part of his or her social identity.
Ingroup bias The tendency to give more favorable evaluations and greater rewards to ingroup members than to outgroup members.
initiative: the ability to think and act without being urged; enterprise.
injunctions: messages received during childhood.
inner ear The portion of the ear in which the actual transduction of sound takes place.
insightful learning Learning by understanding the relations among the components of the problem; often contrasted with "blind trial and error" and documented by wide and appropriate transfer if tested in a new situation.
instinctive behavior an innate, unlearned behavior pattern exhibited by all members of a species.
instrumental aggression aggression that is a means to some other end. The intentional use of harmful behavior so that one can achieve some other goal.
Instrumental conditioning A form of learning in which a behavior becomes more or less probable, depending on it consequences. Rewards increase the probability that the behavior will be repeated, whereas punishment or no reward reduces the probability.
instrumental conditioning Also called operant conditioning. A form of learning in which a reinforcer (e.g., food) is given only if the animal performs the instrumental response (e.g., pressing a lever). In effect, what has to be learned is the relationship between the response and the reinforcer. See alsoclassical conditioning.
insufficient justification effect reduction of dissonance by internally justifying one's behavior when external justification is "insufficient."
insulin A hormone with a crucial role in using nutrients. One of its functions is to help promote the conversion of glucose into glycogen.
integrative agreements win-win agreements that reconcile both parties' interests to their mutual benefit.
Integrative: as we use it, means integrating the core values and assumptions underlying different approaches to counselling into a meaningful whole that fuses with the counsellor`s own personal values.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) A ratio measure to indicate whether a child’s mental age (MA) is ahead or behind his chronological age (CA); specifically IQ = 100 x MA/CA. See alsodeviation IQ, mental age. A number intended to indicate a person's level of intelligence: It is the mental age (as shown by intelligence tests) multiplied by 100 and divided by the chronological age.
intelligence: the ability to learn or understand from experience; ability to acquire and retain knowledge; mental ability.
intentional learning Learning when informed that there will later be a test of learning. See alsoincidental learning.
interaction the effect of one factor (such as biology) depends on another factor (such as environment).
interactional theory of homosexuality: a theory stating that sexual orientation develops from a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.
Interactionism An important perspective in social psychology that emphasizes the combined effects of both the person and the situation on human behavior.
interference theory of forgetting The hypothesis that items are forgotten because they are somehow interfered with by other items learned before or after.
intermittent reinforcementSeepartial reinforcement.
Internal attribution An attribution that locates the cause of an event to factors internal to the person, such as personality traits, moods, attitudes, abilities, or effort.
internal validity The degree to which a study is successful at measuring what it purports to measure, with all confounds removed and the dependent variable sensibly measured.
internalization The process whereby moral codes are adopted by the child so that they control her behavior even when there are no external rewards or punishments.
interneurons Neurons that carry information from one neuron to another (rather than to a gland or muscle fiber or from a sensory receptor).
Interpersonal attraction A person's desire to approach another individual.
interposition A monocular depth cue in which objects that are farther away are blocked from view by any other opaque object obstructing their optical path to the eye.
intersexual A child who is not clearly male or female, in some cases because of genetic factors, in others because of morphology.
interval scale A scale in which equal differences between scores can be treated as equal so that the scores can be added or subtracted. See alsocategorical scale, nominal scale, ordinal scale, ratio scale.
interval schedule A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement is delivered for a first response made after a given interval of time has elapsed. In a fixed-interval schedule, the interval is always the same. In a variable-interval schedule, the interval varies around a specified average.
interviewer bias: an error in research that occurs when an interviewer's expectations or gestures influence a subject's responses.
Intimacy Sharing that which is inmost with others. The sense of warmth and closeness in a loving relationship, including the desire to help the partner, self-disclose, and keep him or her in one's life.
Intimidation Arousing fear and gaining power by convincing others that one is dangerous.
intracranial recording The recording of brain activity by monitoring chemical or electrical activity from inside the skull.
intrinsic motivation Motivation that seems inherent in an activity itself, as when we engage in an activity for its own sake or merely because it is fun.
introversionSeeextroversion/introversion.
invariant Some aspect of the proximal stimulus pattern that remains unchanged despite various transformations of the stimulus.
ions Atoms or molecules that have gained or lost electrons, thus acquiring a positive or negative charge.
IPN The Independent Practitioners Network. A national humanistic practitioners network for people who want an active - participant role in Self and Peer accrediting, supervision, ethical and complaints management and networking.
iris The smooth circular muscle in the eye that surrounds the pupil and contracts or dilates under reflex control in order to govern the amount of light entering.
isolation A mechanism of defense in which anxiety arousing memories are retained but without the emotion that accompanied them.