Alphabetical Glossary

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accessibility
the ease with which different thoughts and ideas can be brought to mind; an idea that is accessible is already on our minds or can easily be brought to mind

acquisition
the process by which people notice and pay attention to information in the environment; because people cannot perceive everything that is happening around them, they acquire only a subset of the information available in the environment

additive task
a group task in which performance depends on the sum of each individual's effort (e.g., the total noise made by a group of cheerleaders)

affectively based attitude
an attitude based more on people's feelings and values than on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude object

aggressive action
a behavior aimed at causing either physical or psychological pain

aggressive stimulus
an object that is associated with aggressive responses (e.g., a gun) and whose mere presence can increase the probability of aggression

altruism
any act that benefits another person but does not benefit the helper and often involves some personal cost to the helper

altruistic personality
the aspects of a person's makeup that are said to make him or her likely to help others in a wide variety of situations

amygdala
an area in the core of the brain that is associated with aggressive behaviors

anchoring and adjustment heuristic
a mental shortcut that involves using a number or value as a starting point, and then adjusting one's answer away from this anchor; people often do not adjust their answer sufficiently

applied research
studies designed specifically to solve a particular social problem; building a theory of behavior is usually secondary to solving a specific problem

archival analysis
a form of systematic observation whereby the researcher observes social behavior by examining the accumulated documents, or archives, of a culture (e.g., diaries, novels, magazines, and newspapers)

attachment styles
the expectations people develop about relationships with others, based on the relationship they had with their primary caregiver when they were infants

attitude
an enduring evaluation-positive or negative-of people, objects, and ideas

attitude accessibility
the strength of the association between an object and a person's evaluation of that object; accessibility is measured by the speed with which people can report how they feel about an issue or object

attitude inoculation
the process of making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position

attribution theory
a description of the way in which people explain the causes of their own and other people's behavior

autobiographical memories
memories about one's own past thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

automatic processing
thinking that is nonconscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless

availability heuristic
a mental rule of thumb whereby people base a judgment on the ease with which they can bring something to mind

avoidant attachment style
an attachment style characterized by a suppression of attachment needs, because attempts to be intimate have been rebuffed; people with this style find it difficult to develop intimate relationships