Psychology GCSE
Psychology GCSE glossary
26 key terms for Psychology GCSE, A to Z, each linked to the topic pages that use it.
A
- Autonomic Nervous System
- The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls involuntary bodily functions such as heart rate and digestion.AQA
B
- Binocular Depth Cues
- Cues that provide information about distance and depth requiring the use of both eyes.AQA
C
- Continuity vs. Discontinuity
- The evaluation of whether developmental change is a gradual, quantitative accumulation of skills or a series of distinct, qualitative stages.AQA
D
- Displacement
- The ability to communicate about objects, events, or ideas that are not present in the immediate environment or are in the past/future.AQA
E
- Ethical Governance
- The evolution of moral frameworks, such as the BPS Code of Ethics, in response to historical controversies, focusing on the protection of participants from…AQA
- Ethical Implications of Diagnosis
- Analysis of the 'patient' label and the potential for self-fulfilling prophecies.AQA
- Excitation and Inhibition
- Excitation increases the likelihood that a post-synaptic neuron will fire; inhibition decreases this likelihood.AQA
F
- fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
- A brain scanning technique that measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow.AQA
L
- Linguistic Relativism
- The 'weak' version of the Whorfian hypothesis suggesting that the language we speak influences and shapes our perception of the world, but does not strictly…AQA
- Localisation of Function
- The principle that specific areas of the brain are responsible for specific behaviors, cognitive processes, or activities.AQA
M
- Methodological Pluralism
- The integration of quantitative experimental designs with qualitative phenomenological approaches to provide a comprehensive understanding of complex human…AQA
- Monocular Depth Cues
- Cues that provide information about distance and depth using only one eye.AQA
N
- Nature vs. Nurture
- The debate concerning the relative contribution of genetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development.AQA
- Nature vs. Nurture in Psychopathology
- Investigation into the interactionist approach, specifically the Diathesis-Stress Model.AQA
O
- Optic Array
- The rich pattern of light reaching the eye from the environment, containing all necessary visual information.AQA
P
- Paralinguistics
- Non-verbal vocal cues that accompany speech, such as tone, pitch, volume, and intonation, which modify meaning or convey emotion.AQA
- Perception
- The cognitive process of interpreting and organising sensory information to make it meaningful.AQA
- Perceptual Set
- A tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others.AQA
- Productivity
- The capacity of a communication system to create an infinite number of new and unique messages from a finite set of symbols.AQA
- Proxemics
- The study of how humans use physical space and distance (e.g., intimate, personal, social, and public zones) to communicate social relationships.AQA
S
- Scientific Rigor and Replicability
- The application of standardized procedures to ensure that findings can be consistently reproduced by independent researchers, a cornerstone of the scientific…AQA
- Sensation
- The physical process of sensory organs detecting raw stimuli from the environment.AQA
- Synaptic Plasticity
- The ability of synapses to strengthen or weaken over time, in response to increases or decreases in their activity.AQA
- Synaptic Transmission
- The process by which neighboring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the synaptic cleft.AQA
T
- The Medical Model vs. Psychological Perspectives
- Contrast between biological reductionism (neurotransmitter imbalance, genetic predisposition) and cognitive-behavioral frameworks (maladaptive schemas,…AQA
U
- Universalism vs. Cultural Relativism
- The extent to which developmental milestones are consistent across all human populations or are products of specific cultural contexts and socialisation…AQA
Where these terms come from
Each definition is one we publish on a Psychology GCSE topic page or study guide. Open a term to see how each exam board words it and which topic it belongs to. For the full course, go to Psychology revision or the glossary for every subject.
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