Terms beginning with A
Which psychology terms begin with A?
6 entries beginning with A: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ADHD, Adolescent Brain Development, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Attachment Theory, Autism.
From the PsychologyOrbit knowledge base on 2 November 2026.
A
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
A behavioural therapy that works on the relationship a person has with their thoughts and feelings rather than on the content of those thoughts, aiming at psychological flexibility and action guided by personal values.
ADHD
A neurodevelopmental condition involving persistent inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity at a level that interferes with functioning, present before age 12 and across more than one setting.
Adolescent Brain Development
The prolonged reorganisation of the brain through the second decade of life, involving synaptic pruning, continued myelination and shifting balance between reward-sensitive and control systems.
Adverse Childhood Experiences
A set of childhood exposures — abuse, neglect and household dysfunction — that show a graded association with poorer health, mental health and social outcomes in adulthood. Widely adopted in policy, and widely misused at the individual level.
Attachment Theory
An account of the biologically-based system that leads infants to seek proximity to a caregiver under threat, and of how repeated experience with that caregiver shapes expectations about closeness, distress and dependence.
Autism
A lifelong neurodevelopmental difference involving differences in social communication and interaction alongside restricted or repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities, and differences in sensory processing.
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