Introductory topics in Psychology Key Terms

Compliance

Behavioural change motivated by external pressures such as approval or avoidance of punishment.

Internalisation

Belief or attitude change that is internally accepted and genuinely held.

Conformity

The change in a person’s behaviour or beliefs to match those of a group.

Confederate

An individual who is part of the experiment but pretends to be a participant, used to create social pressure.

Agentic state

A psychological state where an individual defers responsibility to an authority figure, seeing the authority as the source of action.

Legitimacy of authority

The perceived appropriateness and rightness of an authority figure’s power, which influences the likelihood of obedience.

Social support

The assistance and comfort received from others that helps individuals cope with stress and social pressures.

Locus of control

A psychological concept describing whether people attribute outcomes to internal factors (self) or external factors (outside forces).

Minority influence

The process by which a small group of people influences the majority to change their attitudes or behaviour.

Commitment

A public declaration or behaviour that signals dedication to a position, increasing its persuasive power.

Decay

The gradual loss of information from short‑term memory when it is not rehearsed.

Encoding

The process of transforming information into a form that can be stored in long‑term memory.

Capacity

The maximum amount of information that a memory store can hold at one time.

Duration

The length of time that information can be retained in a memory store before it decays or is displaced.

Central Executive

The control system of working memory that coordinates the phonological loop, visuo‑spatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer, and manages attention and task demands.

Phonological Loop

The component of working memory that temporarily stores and rehearses spoken and written information.

Interference

A process where one memory competes with another, leading to forgetting. It can be proactive (old → new) or retroactive (new → old).

Cue-dependent retrieval

The principle that memory recall is facilitated by cues that were present during encoding, such as context, emotions, or sensory details.

Leading questions

Questions that suggest a particular answer, potentially introducing misinformation into a witness’s memory.

Post‑event discussion

Interaction among witnesses after an event, which can spread incorrect details and alter individual memories.

Cognitive Interview

A structured interview method that enhances eyewitness memory by encouraging detailed, unprompted recall and using techniques such as context reinstatement and varied order of questioning.

Eyewitness Testimony

Information provided by a witness about an event, which is often used as evidence in legal contexts but can be subject to memory distortion.

Attachment

A deep, enduring emotional bond that develops between an infant and a caregiver, providing a sense of security and a foundation for future relationships.

Imprinting

A form of learning in which a young animal becomes strongly attached to the first moving object it sees, typically occurring within a brief critical period.

Attachment

A deep, enduring emotional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver that motivates proximity seeking for safety.

Monotropic theory

Bowlby’s concept that a child forms one primary attachment bond with a main caregiver, driven by an innate proximity‑seeking system.

Critical period

A specific developmental window, typically the first year of life, during which infants are especially receptive to forming attachments with a primary caregiver.

Internal working model

A mental representation of the self and others that develops from early attachment experiences, guiding expectations and behaviours in later relationships.

Strange Situation

A laboratory procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth to assess infant attachment by observing responses to separation and reunion with the caregiver.

Attachment style

A pattern of behaviours and expectations in relationships that develops from early interactions with caregivers.