PRIMARY REINFORCEMENT
Also referred to as unconditioned reinforcement, primary reinforcement is the process by which presentation of a stimulus following a response…
PROJECT METHOD
The project method is designed to rely minimally on the teacher. This teaching structure is designed to allow students to…
PSYCHIATRIST
A highly trained physician who holds a specialty in diagnosing, treating and study of mental disorders. Training (in the United…
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
Also referred to as libidinal development, psychosexual development is the classic model of sexuality as put for by Sigmund Freud.…
RECIPROCAL ALTRUISM
A type of helping behavior that is perpetuated when one individual helps another at some future time the second individual…
RELATIONSHIP ROLE
Identifiable role taken on by a member of a group in order to achieve interpersonal harmony within the group. Also…
RESEARCH QUESTION
Methodological point of departure for scholarly research in either the natural sciences or the humanities.
RIGID FAMILY
Familial structure wherein rules are not questioned, and no lenience to those rules exists. May result in behavioral or emotional…
RULE-GOVERNED BEHAVIOR
Conduct which is contingent upon oral antecedents, including following directions (as when children clean their bedroom simply because instructed to)…
SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTION
Posited in Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development, recurrent activity which emerges in infant behavior patterns at around 4-5 months…
PRIMARY TASK
Ergonomically speaking, when one has a multi-task assignment, the primary task is the one that takes priority. That is, it…
PROJECTIVE PLAY
A form of play therapy utilizing dolls and other types of toys. Children are allowed to use the toys to…
PSYCHOANALYSIS
Psychoanalysis, as formulated by its developer, Dr. Sigmund Freud, is a treatment of psychological disorder and treatments. It is based…
PSYCHOSOCIAL APPROACH
The emphasis on social and cultural influences in psychological theory, research and practices.
RAPPROCHEMENT
A state of cordial relations between individuals or groups. 2. In the theory put forth by Austrian child psychoanalyst Margaret…
RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM
An assertion that a reciprocal relation exists among environment, behavior and the individual. That is to say, that instead of…
RELATIVE DEPRIVATION
A feeling of deprivation occurring when one compares themselves to another, regardless of objective reality. Se also: social comparison theory.
RESERVE CAPACITY
Discrepancy between a subject's maximal ability to perform a given psychological exercise and the actual performance of that exercise.
RISK FACTOR
Any behavioral, hereditary, environmental, or other consideration which increases the likelihood of developing a disease or disorder, or becoming involved…