N: Neurotransmitters –
The chemical messengers of the body that carry signals from the neurons to the other target cells of the body.
They are found both in the brain and body and responsible for critical functioning like breathing and learning to even psychological functioning like fear, pleasure, and joy. The most common neurotransmitters are Dopamine (the feel-good neurotransmitter), Oxytocin (the love hormone), Serotonin (regulates mood, and sleep), and Endorphins (natural pain reliever) (D.O.S.E), Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA- regulates anxiety), etc.
O: Object Permanence –
The concept developed by psychologist Jean Piaget in his theory of cognitive development.
It involves the understanding that an object continues to exist even if it is no longer seen or heard. In Piaget’s experiments, the child usually reaches the developmental milestone of understanding the concept of object permanence at the age of 9-12 months. Although it has its fair share of criticisms the concept continues to play a crucial role in understanding a child’s brain development.
P: Placebo Effect –
The power of your mind to heal your body by faking a treatment and its healing effects is called the placebo effect.
A phenomenon that explains people experiencing therapeutic relief from a nonactive or look-alike drug that doesn’t have a real medical effect, but the receiver doesn’t know. The placebo effect has been found to positively affect people with depression and panic attacks. Placebos are used in research and health practitioners are not actually allowed to use placebos without informing the patients, which eventually reduces their desired effect.
Q: Qualitative Research –
A type of research that focuses on collecting and evaluating non-numerical data like words, concepts, opinions, and symbols.
It is subjective in nature and used to develop theories. Qualitative research emphasizes on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the research question. The common methods used in qualitative research are case studies, in-depth interviews, ethnographic research, content analysis, etc.
R: Rorschach Inkblot Test –
A type of projective technique used to assess the underlying thoughts, desires, and opinions of a person.
A projective technique is a type of personality test used to uncover hidden unconscious behaviors, emotions, and personalities by interpreting a person’s responses to ambiguous images or words. The test was developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. The test includes 10 ambiguous inkblot images, presented to the person, and asked to describe what they see. The test had been widely used in psychotherapy and counseling.
S: Social Loafing –
When working on a group project, mostly found some people would just not put in the effort required but when working individually the opposite happens.
That is social loafing, the tendency to put less effort when you are a part of a group. The main causes behind this phenomenon are said to be lack of motivation, diffusion of responsibility, size of the group, etc.
T: Transference –
Transference is a concept in psychoanalytic theory. In psychology, projecting someone else’s feelings onto your therapist.
This feeling could be love, anger, joy, rage, or dependence. Transferred feelings mostly become a hinder in psychodynamic therapy and its sessions. In contrast to it, when therapist transfers their inner feeling to their clients is called countertransference.
V: Victor Frankl –
“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’, the famous quote by psychiatrist and psychotherapist Victor Frankl from his book called Man’s search for meaning, detailed documentation of his time in the Nazi concentration camps in the 1940s.
The founder of logotherapy a type of psychotherapy that emphasizes finding meaning and purpose in life. This approach is believed to have a positive impact on our resilience power.
W: Word Association Test –
A projective test created by Carl Jung in the 20th century to uncover the functioning of the subconscious mind.
The test consists of a list of words said to the person and they must respond with the first word that comes to their mind. The test seems more like a game to most people however it reveals a great deal of your personality and unconscious thoughts when interpreted correctly. The interpretation involves not only the response words but also the physiological reactions, time taken, etc while answering.
X: Xenophobia –
A fear of strangers, however, the term has a broader meaning it means fear of anyone from the outgroup.
A hostile reaction to an ingroup and outgroup debate. Most people do not actually have a phobia but represent the people who discriminate against foreigners and immigrants. Xenophobics consider their culture superior and look down upon others who don’t share the same culture.
Y: Yerkes -Dodson Law –
The law that says a certain level of stress is required for improved performance.
The law was first described by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson in 1908. Yerkes-Dodson law explains the relationship between the level of arousal and performance. An increased level of arousal can help you perform better but only to a certain point. Thus, an optimal level of stress or arousal is required to perform better, too much or too low would diminish the performance.
Z: Zeigarnik Effect –
The things that are left pending, the thoughts of those unfinished work frequently pop up.
The effect was first discovered by Russian psychologist Blum Zeigarnik at a restaurant where the waiter perfectly remembers the details of the unpaid bills but once they are paid, they are completely forgotten. This effect tells a lot about human memory, once information is received by the sensory memory briefly when paid attention it moves to the short-term memory, here things are easily forgotten but unfinished work creates cognitive tension and active rehearsal thus helping it to move to long-term memory.
*Fun fact: Zeigarnik effect can also help with overcoming procrastination, rather than putting things to an end, start with a small step, an unfinished task will keep reminding you to take the next step until you finally finish it. The mental tension will only be released after the completion of the task and a sense of achievement is felt.
Blog By : DEEBHA SITHTA
