Developmental psychology.pdf

Glossary 595
rank-order correlation Correlation between paired series
of measurements, each ranked according to magnitude.
It yields a coefficient known as rho. Compare with
product-moment correlation.
rapid eye movements (REM) Quick movements of the
eyes during sleep, often occurring in series, as
measured by sensitive electrodes. Subjects awakened
during REM periods usually report that they have been
dreaming.
rational-emotive therapy Therapeutic procedures based
on the premise that lack of information or illogical
thought patterns are basic causes of the patient's
difficulties. Furthermore, it is assumed that the individual
can be assisted in overcoming his or her problems by a
direct, prescriptive, advice-giving approach by the
therapist.
rationalization Finding "good" but false reasons for
actions. Making what is irrational appear rational.
Excusing one's actions on irrational grounds.
raw scores Scores obtained directly from the measuring
instrument; the results of research or of a test
administration which have not yet been treated by any
statistical methods.
reaction formation Excluding a desire from awareness by
repressing it and assuming the opposite attitude.
reactive schizophrenia A schizophrenic condition, the
onset of which involves an acute and sudden reaction to
severe environmental pressure. Contrast with process
schizophrenia.
readiness The time, resulting largely from maturational
factors, when the organism is first capable of
responding correctly to a task.
reality principle The principle that the demands of the id
usually must be adapted to actualities in the physical
and social environment. Awareness of the conditions of
the environment.
real movement The visual experience which arises from a
successive stimulation of different rods and cones in the
retina, indicating which objects are moving, and which
are stationary, in the external environment. See induced
movement.
reappearance hypothesis The view that prior
experiences are never completely forgotten; they are
somehow stored in the brain as permanent records.
According to this view, the full memory of a given event
will appear whenever the individual is properly
stimulated. See reconstruction hypothesis.
recall Retrieval of past experience; remembering a past
event with minimal cues. In free recall, a series of events
is recalled in any order; in serial recall, a specific order is
required, as well.
receptor A specialized end organ which receives
stimulation. The receptors of the eyes, for example, are
the rods and cones.
recessive See dominance.
reciprocal conditioning A situation in operant
conditioning wherein each person keeps the other
responding because the response of one is reinforcing
to the other.
recitation In learning, trying at intervals to recall and recite
what one is memorizing, as opposed to merely reading
it repeatedly.
recognition Perceiving something as having been
experienced before, as being familiar; a method of
measuring memory.
reconstruction hypothesis The view that memories are
not full and fixed images but rather reconstructions of
prior events or experiences. The memory trace is not
complete; it is a remnant of the past and must be used
in reconstructing prior experience. The memory is
assembled, rather than evoked in toto See
reappearance hypothesis.
rectilinear motion Movement in a straight line.
redintegration (re-dint-uh-gray'-shun)
Recalling a whole experience on the basis of some
fraction of the original circumstances. For example, a
man may be reminded of his childhood and experiences
with his mother upon smelling cookies such as his
mother used to bake. A form of recall.
reflex An unlearned response of a particular part of the
body, like the knee jerk to a blow on the patellar tendon
or the contraction of the pupil in response to light.
reflex arc The essential neural mechanism involved in a
reflex, i.e., the sensory, motor, and association neurons
which link the stimulus, the activated receptor, and the
response.
refractory period The period immediately following
stimulation, during which a neuron is incapable of
further excitation. Following this absolute refractory
period is the relative refractory period, during which only
a stronger than normal stimulus can excite the neuron.
regression Going back to an earlier, usually less adequate,
mode of response. In hypnosis, behaving as one did at
an earlier stage of life.
rehearsal In short-term memory, the process of keeping
material available until it can be used. Repeating words
or numbers over and over again until they can be
recognized and incorporated into the memory in
integrated fashion. Material which is not rehearsed in
some fashion, it is hypothesized, typically will not
become part of long-term memory. See short-term
memory, long-term memory.
reinforcement Generally, a reduction or satisfaction of a
drive; a reward. In classical conditioning, any instance in
which a conditioned stimulus is followed by an
unconditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, any
instance in which a response is followed by favorable
consequences; any event which increases the
probability of a response. See also primary reinforcer
and secondary reinforcer.
reinforcement principle The use of reinforcement to
develop or maintain behavior. See reinforcement.
reinforcer Any object or event which increases the
possibility of a given response.
reinforcing stimulus (S R ) In operant conditioning, any
stimulus which has reinforcing properties and appears
after a given response. In traditional operant theory, the
concept depends upon the appearanqe of the response.
See reinforcement, operant conditioning.