Flashcards

A trait or behaviour that has evolved because it increases an organism’s chance of survival and reproduction in its environment. In psychology, adaptation refers to mental or behavioural traits shaped by evolutionary pressures.

A theory proposed by James Mark Baldwin suggesting that learned behaviours can influence evolutionary outcomes over generations. Individuals who adapt successfully through learning may be more likely to survive and pass on traits that support such learning.

A branch of psychology that studies the behaviour and mental processes of animals to understand the evolutionary roots of human psychology. It is grounded in the assumption of continuity between species.

A movement associated with Francis Galton that aimed to improve the genetic quality of human populations through selective breeding. It misused evolutionary theory to justify racist, sexist, and class-based hierarchies.

A modern field that explores how psychological traits and behaviours evolved to solve problems faced by our ancestors. It applies principles of natural selection to cognition, emotion, and social behaviour.

A school of psychological thought influenced by Darwin, which focuses on the purposes of mental processes—how they help individuals adapt to their environments.

The (now outdated) idea that traits acquired during an individual’s life can be passed on to their offspring. Though discredited in biology, it influenced early psychological theories of development and learning.

A principle proposed by C. Lloyd Morgan stating that animal behaviour should not be explained by higher mental faculties if simpler explanations suffice. It helped define more rigorous, observational methods in comparative psychology.

The belief that human psychology can be studied using the same methods and principles as the natural sciences. It assumes that mental life is a natural phenomenon and can be explained in biological terms.

The logical error of equating what is natural with what is morally or socially right. In psychology, this fallacy often appears when evolutionary explanations are used to justify inequality or discrimination.

The now-discredited idea that the development of the individual recapitulates the evolutionary history of the species. Popularised by G. Stanley Hall in child psychology.

An ideological application of Darwinian theory to human society, often used to justify imperialism, economic inequality, and racial hierarchies under the guise of ‘survival of the fittest.’

A perceived ghostly figure or presence, often central to paranormal claims; treated historically as either spiritual evidence or psychological hallucination.

A concept from sociology of science, describing how disciplines construct and defend their borders by defining what counts as legitimate knowledge.

An excluded category or domain that paradoxically helps to define and stabilise the identity of a discipline by providing a contrast or counterexample.

The claimed ability to acquire information without using the known senses, studied under experimental conditions by J.B. Rhine.

An academic position in parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh, symbolising both institutional recognition and marginalisation of anomalous research.

A trance medium studied by psychologists such as William James; her case highlights issues of gender, knowledge production, and epistemic authority.

The study of alleged psychic phenomena such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis; often positioned at the margins of psychological science.

An 1886 publication by the Society for Psychical Research documenting telepathic and apparitional experiences, marking an early attempt to scientifically catalogue the paranormal.

A type of haunting characterised by physical disturbances; interpreted in psychology as possible expressions of repressed trauma or family dynamics.

A spiritualist ritual intended to communicate with the dead, historically entangled with early psychological investigations into consciousness and mediumship.

Frederic Myers’s concept of a layered psyche, receptive to impressions from beyond conscious awareness or even beyond death.

Carl Jung’s idea of meaningful coincidence without causal explanation, often invoked in discussions of the paranormal and subjective meaning.

The physical objects, tools, and spaces through which psychological knowledge is created, observed, and reproduced.

A specially designed dome-shaped observation chamber developed by Arnold Gesell at Yale to film and analyse infant behaviour in a controlled setting.

A concept introduced by Gerd Gigerenzer, describing how the instruments used in psychological research often influence or shape the theories that emerge from that research.

A term from Michel Foucault, referring to the ways modern institutions manage populations through the regulation of bodies, health, and development—often by defining what is ‘normal’.

A standardised timeline outlining the expected milestones in a child’s cognitive, physical, and emotional growth, often based on selective data.

The cultural and scientific process of defining what is typical, healthy, or desirable, often disguising power and bias as objectivity.

A branch of psychology that relies on structured, often technologically mediated, observation of behaviour to draw conclusions about mental life.

A psychological approach that uses toys and play as a medium for understanding and treating children’s emotional and developmental issues.

An artificial or substitute maternal figure used in psychological experiments, especially those testing attachment and dependency in infant primates.

The field of psychology focused on how humans grow and change across the lifespan, particularly in childhood and adolescence.

A system of language, symbols, and practices that shapes how we understand, talk about, and act upon the world, including what counts as truth, knowledge, and authority.

A method of critical inquiry that examines how meanings, subject positions, and power relations are constructed and contested through language and symbolic practices.

Also known as the lie detector, a device developed in the early 20th century to measure physiological responses such as blood pressure and respiration, believed to indicate deception.

The socially and discursively constructed role a person occupies within a given context, such as ‘expert examiner’, ‘suspect’, or ‘truth machine’.

A recurring set of metaphors, narratives, and linguistic resources used to describe or explain a phenomenon, often revealing cultural assumptions.

A contradictory or tension-laden feature of discourse where conflicting beliefs or values are naturalised and made to coexist.

The belief that machines or instruments can produce unbiased, neutral knowledge free from human interpretation or error.

A form of power concerned with care, guidance, and emotional truth-telling, often associated with therapeutic or intimate contexts.

Power enacted through institutional surveillance, regulation, and correction, such as in the prison, the clinic, or the police station.

The symbolic and theatrical dimension of power, where authority is reinforced through visual display, drama, and cultural representation.

Harvard-trained psychologist and creator of the systolic blood pressure test and Wonder Woman; advocated the lie detector as a therapeutic and feminist tool.

Co-developer of the commercially successful polygraph; promoted the lie detector as a law enforcement tool and symbol of scientific authority.

A statistical technique developed by Ronald Fisher that allows researchers to compare means across multiple groups to determine whether observed differences are likely due to chance.

A concept from Michel Foucault describing the way institutions use statistical knowledge and measurement to regulate populations, particularly in areas like health, education, and reproduction.

An abstract psychological concept (e.g. intelligence, anxiety, resilience) that is operationalised and measured through specific procedures, often treated as if it refers to a stable, real trait.

A Foucauldian concept referring to the subtle, institutional means by which individuals are classified, normalised, and regulated—often through testing, diagnosis, and statistical comparison.

The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and limits of knowledge; in psychology, it refers to the theories and assumptions that underlie how we know what we claim to know.

A statistical method used to identify latent variables or ‘factors’ that explain patterns of correlations among observed variables, widely used in intelligence and personality testing.

Techniques that allow researchers to draw conclusions about populations based on data from samples, including tests of significance such as the t-test, chi-square, and p-value analysis.

A bell-shaped curve representing the distribution of a trait or variable in a population; widely used in psychology to describe ‘average’ behaviour and identify statistical outliers.

A methodological stance, associated with S.S. Stevens, that defines scientific concepts in terms of the procedures used to measure them, allowing psychology to sidestep deeper philosophical questions about what is being measured.

A statistical index that quantifies the probability of obtaining a result at least as extreme as the observed one, assuming the null hypothesis is true; often misinterpreted as a direct measure of truth or effect size.

The process of assigning numerical values to psychological phenomena, making them amenable to statistical analysis; central to the transformation of psychology into a data-driven science.

The critical thinking tool of the chapter; it refers to the tendency to treat abstract concepts or statistical constructs as if they were real, tangible entities—e.g. treating ‘IQ’ as a fixed property rather than a measurement output.

The person undergoing psychoanalysis; the patient or client.

The psychoanalyst conducting the treatment and interpretation.

A concept from Julia Kristeva describing what must be rejected to form a coherent self.

A detailed account of a single case, often blending clinical observation and narrative.

Spielrein’s theory that destruction is a necessary precursor to psychic transformation.

A person or group positioned outside dominant structures of knowledge or authority.

In psychoanalysis, femininity is often theorised in relation to lack, desire, and difference.

A concept by Joan Rivière suggesting that femininity can be performed to conceal masculinity.

A symbolic representation of the maternal as a structuring force in subject formation.

The study of being; in psychoanalysis, it relates to what kind of ‘self’ is theorised.

Freud’s theory that a child’s psychosexual development involves unconscious desire for the opposite-sex parent.

A concept representing that which is excluded, unfamiliar, or marginalised relative to the self.

A theoretical movement emphasising the instability of meaning and identity.

A concept emphasising that identity is formed in and through relationships with others.

Luce Irigaray’s theory emphasising difference rather than sameness between sexes.

A person’s sense of selfhood, often explored in psychoanalysis through memory, desire, and fantasy.

The redirection of feelings for a significant figure onto the analyst.

A critical tool referring to the marginalised voice, particularly women’s, in psychoanalytic discourse.

A widely used model of personality comprising Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Promoted as stable, measurable traits, often applied in employment and personal development contexts.

A concept popularised by Daniel Goleman, referring to the ability to manage one’s own emotions and social relationships. Seen as crucial in the flexible, emotionally demanding workplaces of liquid modernity.

A term used to describe the idealised neoliberal subject who self-manages, self-optimises, and continuously adapts in order to remain market-relevant.

A term coined by Zygmunt Bauman to describe the contemporary social condition where identities, careers, and institutions are fluid, temporary, and in constant flux.

A critical concept developed by Warren Susman. Refers to the dominant, culturally constructed ideal of the self in any given historical era, which individuals are encouraged to embody.

A form of power described by Michel Foucault, in which individuals are guided and shaped through moral or religious authority, often under the guise of care and salvation.

A movement led by Martin Seligman that focuses on well-being, resilience, and human flourishing, often linked to neoliberal imperatives for self-optimisation.

The imperative to constantly improve and adapt oneself—psychologically, emotionally, and professionally—often in response to neoliberal values of performance and flexibility.

A branch of applied psychology that developed in the early 20th century, focused on improving workplace efficiency, selection, and productivity by studying worker behaviour, aptitude, and performance.

A concept developed by Michel Foucault, referring to the ways individuals come to understand and shape themselves through scientific, cultural, and institutional norms.

A term meaning imitation or mirroring; in this context, how psychological tests were designed to mimic the tasks and demands of industrial work.

A technique used to analyse and optimise physical labour by breaking down tasks into discrete motions and timings.

Standardised tests developed to assess an individual’s potential for particular types of work.

An early term for ergonomics, concerned with designing tasks and environments to optimise human performance.

A management theory by Frederick Winslow Taylor that emphasised standardisation, control, and measurement of labour.

The application of psychological knowledge to practical problems, especially in industrial settings.

The process by which individuals internalise external norms and become psychological subjects.

A broad term for disciplines studying human actions, used in workplaces to shape and control behaviour.

A term used during the First World War to describe psychological breakdown in soldiers, often marked by paralysis, mutism, or tremors, and initially thought to result from physical blast exposure.

The idea that the body expresses psychological suffering through physical symptoms when emotional protest is not socially or psychologically possible.

A deep psychological wound caused by witnessing or participating in actions that violate one’s ethical or moral beliefs, often associated with war.

A concept from Michel Foucault describing power exercised through coercion, correction, and bodily control, often applied to lower-ranked soldiers.

Foucault’s term for a form of power that operates through care, guidance, and therapeutic attention, typically applied to officers in contexts like Craiglockhart.

A British psychiatrist known for his empathetic and psychoanalytically informed treatment of shell shock at Craiglockhart War Hospital during WWI.

A neurologist who treated shell shock with harsh disciplinary techniques, including electric shock therapy, aiming to restore soldiers’ function swiftly.

The psychologist who coined the term ‘shell shock’ in 1915 and later advocated for the recognition of psychological trauma as a legitimate medical condition.

A broader category used during and after WWI and WWII to describe psychological disorders arising from the stresses of combat.

A military psychiatric hospital in Edinburgh where Rivers treated shell-shocked officers, including poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.

A psychological theory, notably advanced by William McDougall, that behaviour is driven by innate, inherited tendencies, each linked to a particular emotion.

A method of military execution used during WWI, including for soldiers accused of cowardice or desertion—some of whom likely suffered from untreated shell shock.

A group of soldier-poets, including Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, who wrote vivid, often critical, reflections on the trauma of war.

A brutal and static form of combat characteristic of WWI, involving prolonged exposure to artillery fire, death, and extreme living conditions.

A psychological diagnosis historically associated with women, but influential in shaping how early psychiatrists interpreted the symptoms of shell shock in men.

A concept developed by Michel Foucault referring to the way modern states govern populations through the regulation of health, reproduction, and behaviour. In psychology, biopower describes how tests, diagnoses, and classifications are used to define and control who is considered normal, intelligent, or fit.

A scientific and political movement that aimed to improve the human population by encouraging the reproduction of the ‘fit’ and limiting the reproduction of the ‘unfit’. Supported by many early psychologists, it led to policies such as forced sterilisation, institutionalisation, and immigration restriction.

A British law that allowed for the segregation of people labelled as ‘feebleminded’ or ‘morally defective’. Psychological assessments were used to classify individuals, legitimising their removal from society and institutional confinement.

A numerical score derived from standardised intelligence tests, used to rank cognitive ability. IQ scores became central to eugenic arguments about heritability and were used to justify exclusionary social policies.

The branch of psychology concerned with measuring mental traits and abilities. In the context of eugenics, psychometrics became a tool for classifying people as intelligent, average, or deficient.

The idea that psychological traits like intelligence follow a normal distribution, with most people falling around an average. Used in eugenics to pathologise deviation from the norm and justify interventions against those who fell outside the statistical ‘ideal’.

An early 20th-century American psychologist who challenged eugenic assumptions by highlighting the role of environment, opportunity, and social prejudice in shaping achievement. She critiqued the misuse of intelligence tests to justify inequality.

A Swedish racial biologist who led the State Institute for Racial Biology and used psychological classifications to target minority groups, especially the Sami and Finnish populations, under Sweden’s sterilisation programme.

A landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of forced sterilisation. Psychological testimony was used to declare Carrie Buck ‘feebleminded’, legitimising a broader eugenics policy across many states.

The practice of using standardised assessments to measure cognitive ability. Originating in early 20th-century psychology, intelligence testing became closely tied to eugenic ideology and was often used to justify exclusionary policies.

A concept developed by Donna Haraway to describe animals not as tools or pets, but as co-constitutive partners in human lives, cultures, and knowledge systems.

The idea that all knowledge is shaped by the specific context, perspective, and position of the knower—used in this chapter to challenge claims of objectivity in animal research.

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus, famously investigated by Pavlov—though he used the term ‘conditional reflex’ to emphasise its context dependency.

A mutual, relational understanding between beings—used here to describe emotionally and cognitively meaningful relationships between humans and animals.

A psychological approach that focuses on observable behaviours and conditioning rather than internal mental states, often criticised for reducing animals to machines.

The study of animal behaviour in natural settings, often involving long-term, empathetic observation and emphasising the individuality and agency of animal subjects.

The attribution of human traits to non-human entities—often viewed critically in science, but reassessed here as part of the relational interpretation of animal minds.

The process by which researchers examine how their presence, assumptions, and methods affect the outcomes of experiments—in this case, with animal subjects.

Refers to the psychological effects of environmental stress or harm on learned behaviours, as in the aftermath of the 1924 flood in Pavlov’s lab.

The idea that scientific knowledge is not simply discovered, but shaped through dynamic relationships—here, between experimenters and animals.

Recognition that animals are not passive subjects, but beings capable of resisting, adapting, or disrupting experimental conditions in ways that shape outcomes.

A therapeutic approach derived from behaviourist principles, especially operant conditioning, used to modify behaviour in clinical and educational settings.

A metaphor used by behaviourists to describe the mind as unknowable or irrelevant to scientific psychology; only observable inputs (stimuli) and outputs (responses) are considered legitimate data.

A learning process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a reflexive response through repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus.

The shift in psychology during the mid-20th century away from behaviourism toward approaches that emphasised internal mental processes, such as memory, perception, and language.

The behaviourist principle that learning occurs when a stimulus and a response are closely paired in time.

The belief that behaviour is entirely shaped by environmental causes, with no role for free will or internal agency.

The behaviourist assumption that any stimulus can be equally associated with any response, regardless of biological or cognitive constraints.

Also known as conditioned taste aversion; Garcia’s discovery that animals can form strong associations between taste and illness, even with a long time delay—contradicting core behaviourist principles.

According to Thomas Kuhn, the routine, puzzle-solving work done within the boundaries of an accepted scientific paradigm. Behaviourist psychology in the mid-20th century is an example of normal science.

A type of learning where voluntary behaviours are shaped by reinforcement or punishment, introduced by B.F. Skinner.

The view that scientific concepts must be defined in terms of the operations or procedures used to measure them. Central to behaviourist methodology.

In Kuhn’s theory, a shared framework of theories, methods, and assumptions that shapes what is considered legitimate science at a given time.

A fundamental transformation in the assumptions and practices of a scientific field, occurring when existing paradigms can no longer accommodate accumulating anomalies.

In psychology, the ways in which knowledge production and behavioural techniques can be used to discipline, control, and normalise individuals and populations.

B.F. Skinner’s version of behaviourism, which claimed that all behaviour—including language and thought—could be explained through operant conditioning without reference to internal mental states.

A consequence that increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. Can be positive (adding something desirable) or negative (removing something undesirable).

The foundational behaviourist model in which a specific stimulus elicits a specific behavioural response through conditioning.

A theory introduced by Lombroso suggesting that criminals are evolutionary throwbacks with physical traits linked to more ‘primitive’ humans.

The belief that human behaviour, including criminal behaviour, is controlled by biological or genetic factors rather than social or environmental influences.

Lombroso’s concept of an individual who is biologically predisposed to commit crimes, identifiable by physical characteristics.

A 19th-century field that attempted to study criminality through biological and anatomical features, especially of the skull and face.

The quality or state of being criminal; a concept debated as either biologically innate or socially constructed.

The belief that individuals or societies could regress or devolve over time, often used to explain perceived moral or social decline.

A method of knowledge based on observation and measurement, central to the positivist scientific approach of criminal anthropology.

The branch of philosophy concerned with how we come to know things—here, how criminality is known or claimed to be known through science.

The view that certain traits or behaviours are fixed, natural, and inherent in a group or individual, rather than shaped by context.

A feminist sociologist and reformer who challenged biological theories of crime and argued that criminality is shaped by environment and inequality.

A social category created by human interaction, culture, and institutions—fluid, contextual, and responsive to change.

A category believed to reflect a real, fixed type in nature—such as a species or chemical element—discovered rather than invented.

A belief about the nature of reality—such as whether criminality is an inherent trait or a socially constructed label.

A scientific approach based on measurable facts and observable phenomena, which shaped criminal anthropology’s methods.

The capacity to define, judge, and control others—here, especially through scientific and legal systems that labelled people as criminals.

A biological classification based on physical characteristics such as chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs.

The socially and historically constructed understanding of sexual behaviour, identity, and desire; shaped by culture, science, and power.

The scientific study of human sexual behaviour, function, and identity, especially popularised in the 19th century.

The process by which non-medical experiences (such as sexuality) are classified and treated as medical conditions or disorders.

The framing of certain behaviours or identities as abnormal or diseased, often leading to their regulation or treatment.

Foucault’s term for the Western scientific discourse that seeks to uncover the ‘truth’ of sex through confession, classification, and regulation.

A tradition found in Eastern cultures that treats sexuality as an art form concerned with experience, pleasure, and spiritual fulfilment.

A category of people created through social, cultural, or scientific classification, which can influence behaviour and self-identity.

A category that exists independently of social context, such as chemical elements or biological traits, assumed to be objectively discovered.

A concept by Ian Hacking describing how people change in response to the categories used to describe them, which in turn changes the category itself.

Hacking’s term for how scientific or bureaucratic labels create new types of identities, shaping how individuals understand themselves and behave.

Foucault’s concept of power that regulates populations through institutions like medicine, education, and public health.

Power that works at the individual level to shape behaviour, norms, and identity through surveillance and categorisation.

Historically, a term used in medical and legal contexts to categorise same-sex desire; later reclaimed as a positive sexual identity.

A historical term used to pathologise women’s sexual desire, especially when it deviated from expected norms.

A sexual attraction to specific objects, materials, or body parts, often pathologised in early sexology.

A theory by Freud suggesting that human sexuality develops through a series of stages in early childhood.

Creative expressions—such as literature, sculpture, and visual art—that explore themes of desire, pleasure, and sexuality.

A historical psychological diagnosis, now obsolete, associated with dramatic physical symptoms—such as paralysis or fainting—with no apparent organic cause, and often interpreted as psychosomatic responses to psychological or social pressures, particularly in women.

A concept meaning imitation or symbolic representation. In this chapter, it is used to explain how hysterical symptoms might mimic or embody social oppression, functioning as a form of non-verbal protest or cultural performance.

A 19th-century treatment for hysteria and other ‘nervous’ conditions, especially in women, which involved isolation, bed rest, and prohibition of intellectual activity. It was popularised by American neurologist Silas Weir Mitchell.

A psychological process in which symptoms or beliefs are shaped or induced by external influence, often unconsciously. This concept was central to the work of Hippolyte Bernheim, who emphasised the role of verbal suggestion in hysteria.

The surgical removal of the clitoris, historically used in some cases to treat hysteria or female sexual ‘deviance,’ reflecting extreme and patriarchal medical practices aimed at controlling women’s bodies.

A cultural framework in 19th-century Western thought that positioned women as either morally pure and passive (‘angelic’) or sexually dangerous and manipulative (‘devilish’), influencing medical interpretations of female behaviour.

Public medical demonstrations conducted by Jean-Martin Charcot at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, where female patients were hypnotised and exhibited symptoms of hysteria to audiences of mostly male physicians and students.

A therapeutic concept introduced by Josef Breuer and developed by Freud, referring to the emotional release that occurs when repressed feelings are brought to consciousness and expressed.

A term coined by Bertha Pappenheim (Anna O.) to describe the therapeutic process of verbalising repressed thoughts and emotions to relieve psychological symptoms—foundational to psychoanalytic therapy.

Freud’s early theory that hysteria was caused by childhood sexual abuse, later replaced by his theory of internal unconscious conflict. The abandonment of the seduction theory remains controversial in the history of psychoanalysis.

The measurement of human physical characteristics, often used by early psychologists and anthropologists to draw conclusions about intelligence and racial difference.

A concept that encourages reflection on the underlying assumptions of measurement in psychology, especially the unproven belief that psychological traits are inherently quantifiable.

The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and limits of knowledge; in psychology, it refers to how knowledge about the mind and behaviour is produced.

A social movement and pseudo-science developed by Francis Galton that aimed to improve the genetic quality of human populations through selective breeding.

A scientific approach involving the manipulation of variables under controlled conditions to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Variations among people in terms of their abilities, behaviours, or psychological traits, often measured statistically in psychology.

A method of self-observation developed by Wundt, where participants report their inner experiences in response to controlled stimuli.

A statistical model that shows how traits or test scores are spread across a population, with most people clustering around the average.

A process identified by Michel Foucault, in which certain behaviours, identities, or characteristics become constructed as ‘normal’ and others as ‘deviant’ through subtle forms of institutional power.

Beliefs about what kinds of things exist; in this chapter, it refers to what psychologists assume about the nature of the mind and mental traits.

A philosophical belief, held by Fechner, that mind or consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of the universe.

The field of psychology concerned with the measurement of psychological traits such as intelligence or personality.

The scientific study of the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they affect, pioneered by Gustav Fechner.

The idea that psychological research is shaped by the social roles and expectations of both researchers and participants, making it different from research in the natural sciences.

A school of psychology that aimed to break down mental processes into their most basic components, associated with Wundt and later Titchener.

A cultural psychology developed by Wundt to study higher mental functions such as language and myth through non-experimental methods.

A concept introduced by Michel Foucault to describe how modern societies regulate populations through scientific, medical, and psychological knowledge, often by classifying and managing life.

An institutional space where psychology is practised through therapeutic, diagnostic, and interpretive methods, often involving moral judgement and forms of pastoral power.

The branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge—how we come to know things, what counts as evidence, and how truth is established in psychology.

A site where psychology was used to enhance productivity, efficiency, and worker selection—shaping a functional, measurable view of the human mind.

A psychological method developed to assess mental capacity, often used in schools to sort children by perceived ability, but also implicated in social stratification.

A controlled environment where early psychologists aimed to study universal mental processes using experimental methods such as introspection and reaction time.

The study of what exists; in psychology, this refers to assumptions about the nature of the mind or person being studied—whether fixed, fluid, individual, or relational.

A form of subtle authority, historically associated with religious care, which in psychology refers to the therapist’s or clinician’s role in guiding, correcting, and shaping the individual.

A term adapted from Nikolas Rose to describe the network of institutions, practices, and authorities through which psychology became embedded in modern society.

The branch of psychology concerned with the design and use of tests to measure mental capacities, traits, and behaviours.

A concept from Donna Haraway that argues all knowledge—including psychological knowledge—is produced from a specific position, shaped by context, perspective, and power.

A core area of psychology that studies how individuals think, feel, and behave in relation to others, and how these processes are shaped by context, institutions, and culture.

An 1898 research trip led by W.H.R. Rivers and colleagues to study Indigenous cognition using experimental tools; it exposed the limits of transferring laboratory psychology into the field.

A figure of speech that frames one thing in terms of another. In psychology, metaphor is not merely decorative but fundamental to theory-making. It shapes how the mind is conceptualised, from James’s “stream” to Freud’s “iceberg.”

William James’s metaphor for the continuity and fluidity of thought, used to reject mechanistic or atomistic models of the mind and to promote a psychology grounded in lived experience.

Freud’s metaphor for the psyche, where the visible conscious mind floats above the much larger, submerged unconscious—a model that suggests repression and hidden forces drive behaviour.

A foundational Freudian dream analysis that illustrates how metaphor, bodily imagery, and self-justification operate in the unconscious. Frequently used as an example of the metaphorical richness of dream life.

Freud’s famous metaphor for dreams, describing them as the primary path to understanding the unconscious mind.

A metaphor used by Freud to theorise male anxiety about loss of power, often criticised for reinforcing patriarchal assumptions and gendered interpretations of mental life.

A psychoanalyst who rejected Freud’s patriarchal metaphors and instead described neurosis in terms of social pressure, unmet needs, and relational conflict. Proposed the metaphor of the “false self” shaped by societal expectations.

A pioneering psychologist who dismantled myths about female intellectual inferiority. Her work emphasised continuity, development, and potential, offering alternatives to deficit-based metaphors in developmental theory.

A metaphor used by Horney to describe the compromised identity a person adopts in response to cultural or interpersonal pressure, masking their authentic needs and feelings.

A Freudian concept and metaphor describing a girl’s supposed unconscious desire for male power and status. Widely criticised by feminist psychologists as a culturally biased, patriarchal narrative.

A 19th-century pseudoscientific belief that men are more variable—and therefore more likely to be geniuses or failures—than women. Hollingworth empirically disproved this idea.

A UK educational test introduced in the mid-20th century used to determine secondary school placement, based on assumed fixed intelligence measured at age eleven.

The Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity, developed by Robert L. Williams in 1972 to expose the cultural bias in traditional IQ testing.

A term from Michel Foucault describing how institutions regulate populations through scientific categorisation and measurement, such as intelligence testing.

The psychological and political process of selecting, defining, and institutionalising categories—like intelligence—to make human differences legible and manageable.

A British psychologist (1883–1971) who institutionalised intelligence testing in education and was associated with controversial claims about the heritability of IQ.

The substantial rise in average IQ scores observed globally over the 20th century, challenging the view that intelligence is fixed or purely genetic.

A theoretical core mental ability proposed by Charles Spearman that underlies performance across all cognitive tasks.

A concept proposed by Francis Galton suggesting that intellectual ability is inherited and unevenly distributed across the population.

A core area of psychology concerned with measuring and explaining how and why individuals vary in traits such as intelligence or personality.

A score derived from standardised tests, originally calculated by dividing mental age by chronological age and multiplying by 100.

A concept developed by Binet and Simon indicating the intellectual performance level of an individual relative to average performance at a given age.

A theory proposed by Howard Gardner suggesting that intelligence is not unitary, but consists of various distinct forms (e.g. linguistic, musical, spatial).

The belief that psychological concepts are meaningful only when defined by the operations used to measure them.

The field of psychology devoted to the theory and technique of psychological measurement, including intelligence, aptitude, and personality tests.

The process of treating an abstract concept (like intelligence) as if it were a real, tangible thing.

An African American psychologist (1930–2020) who exposed cultural bias in intelligence tests and advocated for Black-centred psychological frameworks.

A concept proposed by Ken Richardson to explain test performance as a function of cultural distance from the norms of the test designers, rather than innate ability.

A British psychologist (1863–1945) who developed the concept of general intelligence and pioneered factor analysis in intelligence research.

A German psychologist (1871–1938) who introduced the term Intelligence Quotient (IQ), which later became central to educational selection.

A crisis in psychology that revealed how many famous studies could not be successfully repeated, exposing serious flaws in how the discipline produces and validates knowledge.

The ability of a knowledge system to withstand error, uncertainty, and bias by using transparent, pluralistic, and self-correcting methods.

A crisis that exposed how psychology has been complicit with systems of power, including its involvement in unethical practices such as torture, showing that psychological knowledge is never neutral.

A critical thinking tool that asks psychologists to examine how their own assumptions, values, and social positions shape the research they do and the knowledge they produce.

A crisis that revealed how most psychological research is based on populations that are Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic, raising questions about whose minds psychology actually studies.

The idea that all knowledge is produced from particular cultural, historical, and social standpoints, meaning that no knowledge is completely neutral or universal.

A crisis that challenges psychology’s assumption that the person is a self-contained, autonomous individual, separate from ecosystems and the material world.

A concept from philosopher Ian Hacking that describes how psychological categories shape the people to whom they are applied, creating feedback loops between knowledge and identity.

A crisis where psychology is forced to confront its own history of harm, exclusion, and complicity in systems of racism, colonialism, sexism, and oppression.

An approach to history that recognises it is always selective, contested, and shaped by power, and that recovering forgotten voices is part of reconstructing a more honest and just discipline.

Categories of people that are not fixed by nature but are shaped by history, culture, language, and social practices—and which in turn shape the people they describe.

Categories in the natural sciences that refer to stable, mind-independent phenomena like chemical elements or biological species, unlike the reflexive categories studied in psychology.

The study of brain function by examining the cognitive abilities of individuals with brain damage, as well as healthy individuals, to infer the workings of the mind.

A critical concept describing the awe, wonder, and ideological authority attached to technologies that appear to reveal deep truths about the human condition.

A colloquial term for a neuron discovered to fire in response to images of Jennifer Aniston, used as an example of apparent extreme specificity in neural coding.

A state of wonder or reverence triggered by perceived closeness to fundamental truth, often provoked by scientific imagery like brain scans.

Research conducted on patients who have had the corpus callosum severed, revealing how the brain’s hemispheres can operate independently.

An approach to knowledge that values stories, case histories, and lived experiences as valid ways of understanding psychological phenomena—exemplified in the work of Oliver Sacks.

Neurons that fire both when an individual performs an action and when they observe the same action performed by another, thought to be involved in empathy and learning.

Proposed by Antonio Damasio, this theory suggests that emotions play a critical role in decision-making by marking certain options with bodily signals or ‘gut feelings’.

An emerging field that explores the relationship between brain activity and spiritual or religious experiences, often associated with claims about a ‘God spot’.

A neuroimaging technique that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow, often used to create visually compelling maps of the ‘active’ brain during cognitive tasks.

A psychological and philosophical orientation that emphasises community, spirituality, collective identity, and interdependence, grounded in African cultural traditions.

A field developed by Black scholars to critique mainstream psychology’s Eurocentric assumptions and to develop theories, methods, and practices rooted in Black experience, culture, and liberation.

An intellectual and political framework that examines how racism is embedded in laws, institutions, and knowledge systems, and challenges claims to neutrality, objectivity, and colour-blindness.

A method used in CRT and Black psychology that centres the narratives of marginalised people to expose the limitations and biases of dominant psychological and societal discourses.

The process of denying people’s humanity, often through diagnostic or institutional language that masks violence, as seen in the use of terms like ‘excited delirium’.

The harm done when dominant knowledge systems erase or distort the experiences, histories, and worldviews of oppressed groups.

A pseudo-medical label historically used to explain the deaths of Black people in custody, lacking scientific validity and widely discredited by medical organisations.

A branch of psychology that foregrounds social justice, structural critique, and the empowerment of oppressed communities, influenced by figures like Ignacio Martín-Baró and adopted by many Black psychologists.

A theory developed by Linda James Myers that centres African spiritual and communal values, proposing a model of mental health rooted in harmony, connectedness, and self-knowledge.

A refusal to accept dominant definitions of what it means to be human, especially in the face of psychological and social systems that marginalise or pathologise Black identity.

A form of racism maintained through systemic inequalities in institutions, laws, and cultural norms, rather than individual prejudice alone.

The idea that knowledge is shaped by social position and lived experience, often used in Black psychology to validate the perspectives of those historically excluded from psychological research.

The theory and practice of interpretation, particularly of meaning-making in human experience. In psychology, hermeneutics highlights how understanding is shaped by context, language, and perspective.

An interpretive approach that takes people’s words and experiences at face value, seeking insight, connection, and authenticity. Often associated with the values of humanistic psychology.

A critical interpretive stance that questions surface meanings to uncover hidden ideologies, power dynamics, or unconscious motives. Associated with thinkers such as Marx, Freud, and Foucault.

A core concept in humanistic psychology, referring to the process of realising one’s fullest potential, authenticity, and personal growth.

Carl Rogers’ non-directive therapeutic approach that emphasises empathy, unconditional positive regard, and authenticity as conditions for psychological change.

Viktor Frankl’s existential therapy based on the ‘will to meaning’—the idea that people are fundamentally motivated by a search for purpose in life.

A therapeutic tradition grounded in existential philosophy, focusing on themes such as death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness.

A form of psychotherapy that emphasises holistic experience, present-moment awareness, and the integration of mind and body. It influenced Violet Oaklander’s child therapy work.

A form of psychological power identified by Foucault in which the therapist guides and shapes the client toward socially acceptable or ‘healthy’ forms of life under the guise of care.

The practice of critically examining one’s own assumptions, values, and positionality in psychological theory or practice.

A concept critiquing the cultural shift in which psychological discourse and self-help replace collective political action, turning social problems into individual emotional ones.

The lived, felt experience of being a person. Humanistic and existential psychologists view subjectivity as central to understanding psychological life.

A term coined by Maslow to describe moments of intense joy, insight, or connection, seen as vital expressions of psychological health.

Irvin Yalom’s term for the fundamental existential issues all humans face: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness.

A metaphor used by Violet Oaklander to describe the buried emotional truths that children—and perhaps all of us—can access through symbolic or creative expression.

Collective or individual actions aimed at producing social or political change.

A system of classification that divides people into two mutually exclusive categories, often male/female or heterosexual/homosexual.

A discredited set of practices aimed at changing an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

A manual used by clinicians and researchers to diagnose and classify mental disorders.

The belief that certain traits or behaviours are innate, fixed, and biologically determined.

The assimilation of heteronormative ideals and constructs into LGBTQ+ identities and culture.

A framework that recognises how different aspects of a person’s identity (e.g. race, gender, sexuality) intersect to shape their experiences.

An acronym that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and others.

The process of treating a particular behaviour or identity as indicative of a mental disorder.

An approach that challenges normative categories of identity and emphasises fluidity, performativity, and resistance.

The theory that categories such as gender and sexuality are products of social processes rather than natural facts.

A series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the LGBTQ+ community in response to a police raid in 1969, widely seen as a catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

A form of power in which dominant social groups maintain control not through force, but by making their worldview appear natural, normal, and inevitable.

A critical movement within psychology that challenges gender bias, incorporates women’s lived experiences, and seeks to transform both the theory and practice of psychological science.

The idea that knowledge is shaped by the social position of the knower, and that marginalised perspectives can offer more accurate or complete insights into power relations.

A feminist critique of the way power, gender, and desire intersect within therapeutic relationships, especially when male therapists exploit female clients under the guise of treatment.

The strategic use of surveys and numerical data to render women’s lived experiences legible and credible within scientific discourse, often used to challenge institutional denial.

A framework proposed by Sandra Bem explaining how individuals internalise societal expectations about gender, shaping their perceptions, behaviour, and self-concept.

A moral framework associated with Carol Gilligan that emphasises relationality, empathy, and the ethics of care over abstract principles of justice.

The power to define what counts as knowledge or valid evidence within a given discipline or context.

A term capturing how psychological categories, diagnoses, and practices are bound up with broader systems of social and political control.

The process by which normal behaviours or experiences are defined and treated as mental illness, often reinforcing social norms and hierarchies.

A form of psychology, aligned with feminist goals, that foregrounds social justice, historical context, and the lived experience of oppression in its theories and interventions.

A psychological movement that emerged in the early 21st century focusing on human strengths, flourishing, and happiness, often framed in individualistic and empirically measurable terms.

A form of power described by Michel Foucault, where individuals are governed not through overt force but through internalised norms, especially those promoting self-optimisation, responsibility, and emotional regulation in line with market values.

Foucault’s term describing how power operates not only through institutions but through the shaping of subjectivities and everyday behaviours, making individuals responsible for their own self-governance.

A concept developed by Martin Seligman in the 1970s to explain how repeated failure can lead individuals (and animals) to give up trying; later reworked into the more empowering concept of ‘learned optimism’.

An acronym developed by Seligman to describe the five elements of well-being: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.

A concept introduced by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describing a state of deep, enjoyable immersion in a task where time and self-consciousness seem to disappear.

The erasure or marginalisation of alternative knowledge systems, especially Indigenous and non-Western ways of knowing, through the dominance of Euro-American scientific paradigms.

A critique of oversimplified thinking that seeks single causes for complex problems, often linked to colonial systems that privilege singular narratives over plural, relational, or diverse explanations.

A Japanese phrase meaning ‘a cold of the soul’, developed in the 1990s as part of a marketing strategy to medicalise depression and promote pharmaceutical treatment in Japan.

Foucault’s phrase describing how people shape, monitor, and manage their own behaviours, emotions, and thoughts in accordance with cultural and institutional norms.

The regulation of emotion by social institutions, where particular emotional states (like positivity) are encouraged or enforced as moral obligations or forms of civic virtue.

Originally proposed by Maslow as the pinnacle of psychological development, now often co-opted in consumer culture as a commodified goal of lifestyle and wellness industries.

A national development philosophy adopted by Bhutan that attempts to measure well-being beyond GDP, though subject to critique for technocratic and depoliticised implementation.

Psychological interventions, often developed for military or corporate settings, designed to enhance individual coping and adaptation, sometimes criticised for shifting responsibility away from systemic conditions.

A research institute founded in 1944 in Cambridge to support wartime needs, especially in aviation and communications. It became a major centre for the development of cognitive psychology in the UK.

A multi-component model of working memory that includes a central executive, a phonological loop, and a visuospatial sketchpad, developed in the 1970s and shaped by bureaucratic and computational metaphors.

A schematic style of representing mental processes using boxes (for stages or systems) and arrows (for flow or direction), influenced by cybernetics and command-and-control models in wartime contexts.

A psychological approach that studies mental processes such as memory, perception, and problem-solving, often using metaphors drawn from computing, engineering, and bureaucracy.

A metaphor derived from military and systems engineering that conceptualises human cognition in terms of information flow, regulation, and executive decision-making.

A theoretical framework that argues cognition is grounded in bodily experience, physical interaction, and lived context, rather than being abstract or disembodied.

Kenneth Craik’s term for the brain’s capacity to create a mental simulation or small-scale representation of external reality in order to plan and act effectively.

A psychologist and philosopher whose wartime work on fatigue and simulation anticipated later models of cognition. His concept of the ‘internal model’ was a forerunner of computational theories of mind.

A figure of speech used in psychology not just for illustration but for shaping theory. In cognitive psychology, metaphors such as ‘filing cabinet’, ‘processor’, and ‘cockpit’ reveal the embodied and cultural contexts of theorists.

A system for the temporary storage and manipulation of information, especially during reasoning or comprehension, central to modern models of cognition.

A broader category than emotion, encompassing pre-conscious intensities, moods, and embodied states that may not be easily named or verbalised.

A historically constructed psychological category referring to feelings, often treated as internal states but increasingly understood as social, cultural, and political processes.

An Ifaluk emotion meaning something like ‘compassionate love’, combining sadness, care, and moral duty—demonstrating that emotions are culturally embedded.

A concept introduced by Arlie Hochschild, describing how people (especially in service roles) manage their feelings to meet the emotional expectations of their jobs.

Pre-19th-century term for strong feelings associated with moral and religious life, later replaced by the scientific category of ’emotion’.

The Critical Thinking Tool of this chapter; an approach that sees categories like emotion as created through language, culture, and power relations rather than discovered as natural kinds.

A branch of psychology that analyses how people use language to perform psychological functions—including expressing and constituting emotions—within social interactions.

A term coined by Peter Stearns and Carol Stearns to describe the collective emotional norms of a culture and how societies manage emotional expression.

A theory associated with Paul Ekman and rooted in Darwin, suggesting that certain emotions (e.g. anger, fear, happiness) are biologically hardwired and universally recognised.

A method of anthropological research involving deep immersion in a culture’s everyday life, used by Catherine Lutz to study emotions in context.

An utterance that performs an action (e.g. ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I’m afraid’); important in discursive psychology for understanding how emotions are enacted through language.

Title of Catherine Lutz’s 1988 book; it challenges the assumption that emotions are natural, arguing they are shaped by cultural and moral systems.

A system of language and social practices that shapes how we understand and organise the world; in psychology, discourse refers to the ways talk and text construct psychological realities.

An approach that treats psychological concepts as socially enacted through language rather than as internal mental states; it studies how talk and text perform actions like justifying, blaming, or constructing identity.

A concept developed by Ludwig Wittgenstein to describe how words derive their meaning from use in specific social contexts and practices, rather than from fixed definitions.

Wittgenstein’s term for the broader cultural and social practices within which language games are played and made meaningful.

A term from Michel Foucault emphasising that knowledge is never neutral, but is always entangled with power relations that determine what can be said, by whom, and with what effect.

An epistemological stance that views knowledge as arising from sensory experience and observation, often associated with measurement and objectivity in psychology.

An epistemological position that sees knowledge as constructed and context-bound, requiring interpretation of meaning rather than discovery of universal facts.

The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of being or reality; in psychology, it concerns what kinds of things are assumed to exist, such as ‘traits’ or ‘attitudes’.

The study of knowledge: how we know what we know, how knowledge is produced, and what counts as valid understanding.

A field that challenges the assumptions of mainstream psychology, focusing on issues of power, ideology, and social justice in psychological theory and practice.

Not a fixed internal attitude but a social action performed in talk, often managed through strategies of denial, justification, or identity positioning.

A term used to describe how people come to understand and experience themselves, especially as shaped by discourse, power, and social context.

A field of study that emerged in the 1970s, associated primarily with Edward O. Wilson, which seeks to explain social behaviour in all species, including humans, through evolutionary theory and genetic selection.

A branch of psychology that emerged from sociobiology in the 1990s, proposing that the human mind consists of evolved psychological mechanisms adapted to solve problems faced by our ancestors.

Adapted from the work of Slavoj Žižek, fantasy is used in this chapter to describe the ideological stories we unconsciously tell ourselves to make sense of the world, especially when confronted with scientific uncertainty or contradiction.

The belief that human behaviour is primarily or exclusively the result of biological factors such as genetics or evolutionary heritage, often criticised for ignoring cultural, historical, and political influences.

A concept in evolutionary theory, introduced by Charles Darwin, referring to the process by which certain traits become more or less common depending on an individual’s success in mating and reproduction.

An evolutionary theory which suggests that behaviours that help genetic relatives survive and reproduce can be favoured by natural selection, even if they reduce the individual’s own reproductive success.

A refinement of natural selection theory that accounts for an individual’s genetic success through both direct reproduction and the support of relatives’ reproductive success.

The idea, central to some strands of evolutionary psychology, that the human brain is composed of specialised ‘modules’, each evolved to handle specific adaptive tasks such as mate choice or language.

The belief that men and women possess fixed, biologically determined traits and roles, often challenged by feminist critics as a cultural construction disguised as scientific fact.

In this chapter, ideology refers to the systems of belief that shape what we accept as ‘natural’ or ‘scientific’—often masking power relations and reinforcing dominant cultural norms.

The process of treating abstract concepts or theories (such as ‘human nature’) as if they were concrete, unchangeable facts.

The dissemination of scientific ideas to general audiences, often simplified or exaggerated, which can influence public understanding and reinforce cultural narratives.

A branch of psychology focused on understanding individuals within their social, cultural, economic, and environmental contexts, often aiming at promoting social change and justice.

A concept rooted in Paulo Freire’s pedagogy, referring to the ability to perceive and challenge social, political, and economic oppression.

A framework developed in Latin America, particularly by Ignacio Martín-Baró, that aims to align psychological practice with the struggle for social justice and the empowerment of oppressed groups.

A collaborative research methodology that involves participants as co-researchers in identifying problems, collecting and analysing data, and implementing solutions.

In community psychology, this refers to the dynamics of control, influence, and access within relationships and social structures, often examined in relation to oppression and marginalisation.

The study of knowledge—its sources, validity, and limits—particularly relevant in community psychology for critiquing dominant ways of knowing and valuing lived experience.

The idea that different conceptions of reality shape, and are shaped by, social practices and institutions—highlighting the political dimensions of psychological categories.

A foundational value in community psychology that advocates for the equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges within a society.

The process through which individuals and communities gain control over their lives, critically reflecting on their situations and actively shaping their social environments.

The social process by which certain groups are pushed to the edges of society, limiting their access to resources, rights, and opportunities.

A methodological approach that combines ethnography and quantitative data to provide a detailed portrait of a community, exemplified in the Marienthal study.

Marie Jahoda’s concept referring to the hidden psychological benefits of employment, such as time structure, social contact, and identity.

A symbolic story in which the characters, events, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities. In this chapter, social psychology experiments are read as allegories that reflect societal anxieties.

A social psychological theory suggesting that individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. It emerged in the wake of the (misreported) Kitty Genovese case.

A geopolitical period following World War II, marked by ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. It fostered widespread societal fears—such as authoritarianism and conformity—which shaped psychological research.

The act of matching attitudes, beliefs, or behaviours to group norms. In the context of this chapter, it features in Asch’s line judgement experiments and is explored for its cultural and symbolic significance.

An interpretive device that helps students understand psychological experiments as symbolic stories with moral or ideological lessons. The chapter uses this tool to reframe classic studies in terms of their narrative power.

The extent to which research findings can be generalised to real-world settings. The chapter critiques the lack of ecological validity in many classic laboratory studies.

A young woman whose 1964 murder in New York became a moral parable in psychology. The original story of public indifference was later shown to be largely false but profoundly influenced research.

A study conducted by Stanley Milgram (1963) to test obedience to authority. This chapter examines the moral and cultural narrative the experiment came to symbolise during the Cold War era.

A story or idea that expresses deep cultural beliefs and is widely accepted, often without scrutiny. In this chapter, psychological studies are examined as modern myths that shape public perception.

An approach to psychology that focuses on how human beings make sense of their experiences through stories. This chapter invites readers to consider how experiments function as narrative devices.

Compliance with an order, request, or law. In social psychology, often studied in the context of authority figures, as in Milgram’s experiments.

A simple story used to illustrate a moral or philosophical lesson. The chapter applies this concept to psychological experiments, arguing that they convey more than empirical results—they tell cultural stories.

The ability to influence or control others, structures, or narratives. Explored in this chapter in relation to both the content of the experiments and the authority of psychological knowledge itself.

A recent controversy in psychology concerning the difficulty of replicating many foundational studies. This issue is linked in the chapter to the constructed, context-dependent nature of knowledge.

The role that experiments play in conveying meaning beyond their data—through narrative, metaphor, or parable. A key concept in understanding psychology as a cultural practice.

Also known as the Stanford Prison Experiment (1971), this study explored the psychological effects of perceived power. This chapter critiques it as a pre-scripted performance with enduring mythic power.

A way of thinking about how psychological categories are made real through historical, cultural, and scientific processes, rather than being discovered as natural facts.

A metaphor describing psychological categories as unstable and shifting over time, rather than fixed or permanent.

The specific historical, cultural, and institutional conditions that allow a psychological category to emerge, flourish, or disappear.

A concept developed by Ian Hacking to describe how people classified under certain psychological categories begin to change in response to that classification, which then alters the category itself.

A once-recognised psychological condition involving compulsive wandering and amnesia, prominent in the late 19th century but now largely obsolete.

A now-discredited diagnosis, historically applied primarily to women, that included a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms.

A 19th-century diagnosis referring to nervous exhaustion caused by modern life, later replaced by more specific terms like anxiety and chronic fatigue.

A fabricated psychological disorder used in the 19th century to pathologise the desire of enslaved people to escape captivity.

A historical label used to classify people with low intelligence, often tied to eugenics and social control.

A diagnosis involving the presence of distinct identities within a single individual, now largely replaced by Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

The field of psychology concerned with measuring mental traits such as intelligence and personality through standardised tests.

The process of identifying and naming a psychological condition, which can shape both the behaviour of individuals and how they are perceived.

In the context of psychology, the ability of experts and institutions to define, control, and legitimate what counts as ‘normal’, ‘mad’, or ‘disordered’.

A way of thinking about how psychological categories are made real through historical, cultural, and scientific processes, rather than being discovered as natural facts.

A metaphor describing psychological categories as unstable and shifting over time, rather than fixed or permanent.

The specific historical, cultural, and institutional conditions that allow a psychological category to emerge, flourish, or disappear.

A concept developed by Ian Hacking to describe how people classified under certain psychological categories begin to change in response to that classification, which then alters the category itself.

A once-recognised psychological condition involving compulsive wandering and amnesia, prominent in the late 19th century but now largely obsolete.

A now-discredited diagnosis, historically applied primarily to women, that included a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms.

A 19th-century diagnosis referring to nervous exhaustion caused by modern life, later replaced by more specific terms like anxiety and chronic fatigue.

A fabricated psychological disorder used in the 19th century to pathologise the desire of enslaved people to escape captivity.

A historical label used to classify people with low intelligence, often tied to eugenics and social control.

A diagnosis involving the presence of distinct identities within a single individual, now largely replaced by Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

The field of psychology concerned with measuring mental traits such as intelligence and personality through standardised tests.

The process of identifying and naming a psychological condition, which can shape both the behaviour of individuals and how they are perceived.

In the context of psychology, the ability of experts and institutions to define, control, and legitimate what counts as ‘normal’, ‘mad’, or ‘disordered’.