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Archetypes—according to Jung, a number of universal themes that are part of the collective unconscious.

Arousal—level of alertness, wakefulness, and activation caused by activity in the central nervous system; optimal level varies with the person and the activity.

Artificial intelligence (AI)—a field of study in which computer programs are designed to simulate human cognitive abilities such as reasoning, learning, and understanding language.

Artificialism—the belief of the preoperational child that all objects are made by people.

Assimilation—process by which we incorporate new information into our existing cognitive structures or schemas.

Association areas—regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have specific sensory or motor functions, but are involved in higher mental functions such as thinking, planning, and communicating.

Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory—assumes three different memory systems: sensory memory, short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM).

Attachment—a close emotional bond or relationship between the infant and the caregiver.

Attention—set of perceptual processes by which you choose from among the various stimuli bombarding your senses at any instant, allowing some to be further processed by your senses and brain.

Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)—a disorder in which the individual is unable to focus attention for a normal length of time, and often shows an elevated level of activity.

Attitude—learned predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to certain people, objects, or events.

Attribution theory—a study of our causal explanations of behavior. We attribute behavior to the individual’s disposition or to the situation.

Audition—the sense of hearing.

Auditory nerve—axons of neurons in the cochlea converge, transmitting sound messages through the medulla, pons, and thalamus to the auditory cortex of the temporal lobes.

Authoritarian parenting style—absolute and restrictive rules accompanied by punishment for disobedience.

Authoritative parenting style—flexible rules for which reasons are generally given. Parents are warm and nurture independence within guidelines.

Autism—an early-onset developmental disorder characterized by markedly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction, communication, and the restricted repertoire of activity and interests.

Automatic processing—unconscious encoding of information about space, time, and frequency that occurs without interfering with our thinking about other things.

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)—subdivision of PNS that includes motor nerves that innervate smooth (involuntary) or heart muscle. Its sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for “fight or flight”; the parasympathetic nervous system causes bodily changes for maintenance or rest.

Availability heuristic—a tendency to estimate the probability of certain events in terms of how readily they come to mind.

Aversive conditioning—learning involving an unpleasant or harmful unconditioned stimulus or reinforcer; also a form of behavior therapy (aversion therapy) in which the client is trained to associate physical or psychological discomfort with behaviors, thoughts, or situations the client wants to stop or avoid.

Avoidance behavior—behavior that results in the removal of an ongoing event, or prevents a future event from occurring.

Avoidance-avoidance conflict—a conflict in which the individual must choose between two unattractive stimuli or circumstances.

Avoidant attachment—infant neither seeks support or comfort from nor shows distress toward caregivers in the Strange Situation.

Axon—a long, single conducting fiber (usually covered in myelin) extending from the cell body of a neuron that transmits an action potential and that branches and ends in tips called terminal buttons (a.k.a. axon terminals, or synaptic knobs) that secrete neurotransmitters.

Babbling—a stage of speech development that is characterized by spontaneous utterance of speech sounds; begins around 4 months old.

Backwards conditioning—in classical