The COHE glossary of humanist and related terms is offered as a public service to our site visitors. We hope that it will assist you with not only academic work, but also your pursuit of general knowledge about humanism, science, religion, psychology, ethics, politics, and more.

Because glossary terms are defined by the authors of COHE courses in our diverse Study Areas, some show multiple definitions depending on context within those modules. Note also the offering of synonyms (words with identical meanings) for some terms.

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S-R Psychology synonym with Stimulus-Response Psychology
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The branch of psychological theorists who scientifically studied everything that went into the brain (stimuli) and everything that came out of the brain (responses) to learn what went on in between.

scientific method
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The best (most rigorous) means of explaining and predicting cause and effect; techniques of observation, operational definition, hypothesis formation, hypothesis testing, experimentation, replication, and dissemination of results.

scientific psychology synonym with SciPsy
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

Theories and principles of psychology that only use natural, empirical explanatory constructs.

scientific understanding
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

Explanation + prediction; the ability to scientifically explain the cause(s) and acurately predict future occurrences of some phenomenon.

scientism
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

The fundamentalist belief that science can do no wrong and will ultimately answer any question worth answering while in the process saving humankind as a bonus.

SciPsy synonym with scientific psychology
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

Theories and principles of psychology that only use natural, empirical explanatory constructs.

secularism
Humanist Activism and Organization [HAO 100]

The principle wherein government and public life are independent of organized religion.

secularism
Humanist Studies [HUM 100]

1. A focus on worldly concerns, rather than religious matters. 2. The view that religion should be separated from government. 3. Skepticism or rejection of religious belief.

selective attention
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The process by which the human brain screens out stimuli that cannot be processed by short term memory, so that only a manageable amount of information passes to it from sensory memory.

self-determination
Humanist Studies [HUM 100]

The directing of one's own fate or action without compulsion; the right of individuals to create their own meaning and values in life and to shape their lives accordingly.

sensation synonym with perception
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The result of sensory reception area neurons firing circuits of neurons in sensory association areas and memory circuits so that they become biochemically associated with a sensory code, providing an image or sensory experience in the brain.

sensory experience
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The Central Nervous System function that creates perception, so that humans can attach meaning to sensory stimuli.

sensory memory synonym with SM
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The first component of human memory that stores a veridical (true, unprocessed) copy of a sensory stimulus for approximately .25 to .50 of a second and passes it on to short term memory.

sensory receptors
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

Specialized neurons that allow sense organs to transduce an energy source external to the Central Nervous System into neural impulses.

sensory transmission
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The process in which the sensory receptor neuron transduces the stimulus energy into neurochemical energy and fires, sending the resulting neural code up the sensory fibers to the appropriate reception area in the brain.

Sherbert Test
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

A form of the Strict Scrutiny Test that requires government, in the absence of a compelling interest, to exempt an individual from a religiously neutral law that substantially burdens that individual’s religious practices. (The law itself is not invalidated.)

short term memory synonym with STM
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The second component of human memory that receives information from the sensory memory, stores it and works on it for 15 to 30 seconds, and passes it on to long term memory.

situation ethics
Ethics [ETH 100]

Category of moral theories based on situationalism, the notion that moral judgments must be based on the dynamics of each situation rather than on rules.

situationalism
Ethics [ETH 100]

The notion that moral judgments must be based on the dynamics of each situation rather than on rules.

skepticism
Humanist Studies [HUM 100]

Doubt or unbelief with regard to a claim or belief, especially with regard to religious beliefs.

SM synonym with sensory memory
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The first component of human memory that stores a veridical (true, unprocessed) copy of a sensory stimulus for approximately .25 to .50 of a second and passes it on to short term memory.

Smith Rule
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

The doctrine adopted in Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith that government is not required to accommodate a religious entity or individual by granting an exemption when one of its religiously-neutral, generally applicable laws burdens religious practice.

Socratic method
Humanist Studies [HUM 100]

A method of teaching by question and answer, especially the use of questions to draw out latent assumptions.

soft determinism
Ethics [ETH 100]

The view that, although everything (including human inclination) has a cause, actions can be free as long as they are not externally constrained.

soft money
Humanist Activism and Organization [HAO 100]

Money raised by national political parties which cannot be used towards an individual candidacy, but can be used in political advertisements to promote a particular party or issue.

speciation
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

The process of origin of new species. It can occur in a variety of ways, which usually involve some degree of reproductive isolation between different populations of the same species. With time, the two populations diverge enough genetically that they cannot interbreed any longer, and are therefore considered different species.

specification
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

According to ID proponent William Dembski, a measure of how well a certain structure matches a given function. Specification has to be added to complexity to generate biological structures that are adapted to live in a certain environment. While scientists would agree with this general picture, they do not see any reason why the coupling of specification and complexity requires an intelligent designer and cannot be achieved by natural means, such as through the biological process of natural selection.

spirituality
Religion and Spirituality [RSP 100]

That which is experienced when an individual is moved to the heights or depths of his or her being in positive and meaningful ways.

Stimulus-Response Psychology synonym with S-R Psychology
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The branch of psychological theorists who scientifically studied everything that went into the brain (stimuli) and everything that came out of the brain (responses) to learn what went on in between.

STM synonym with short term memory
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The second component of human memory that receives information from the sensory memory, stores it and works on it for 15 to 30 seconds, and passes it on to long term memory.

stress
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

Too much of some stimulus.

strict scrutiny test synonym with Compelling Interest Test
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

Test used by the court when government laws or actions interfere with the fundamental liberties of individuals or groups, based on religious or other associations. Government must show the law is neeeded to protect a compelling interest (such as children's safety).

subjective absolutism
Ethics [ETH 100]

Moral theory postulating that an action is right if someone approves of it.

subjective relativism
Ethics [ETH 100]

The view that truth is relative to what an individual believes.

Sunday blue laws
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

Laws prohibiting (or requiring) certain forms of conduct, such as drinking alcohol or closing a business, because they are carried out on Sunday.

supernatural
Humanist Studies [HUM 100]

Related to powers or phenomena that are (claimed to be) above or beyond natural laws.

supernaturalism
Religion and Spirituality [RSP 100]

That which is above and beyond the laws of nature; that which is magical or mystical.

supernaturalism
Humanist Studies [HUM 100]

Belief in divine agency or powers not subject to natural law.

superstrings theory
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

A novel theory in physics that attempts to explain the fundamental structure of the universe in terms of "strings" of energy which, by vibrating at different frequencies, originate all the known physical particles.

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