a technique in behavior therapy that uses self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-reinforcement, coaching, behavior contracts, and relapse prevention approaches+ to help clients achieve active coping strategies, to increase their sense of mastery, and to decrease undesired habits (e.g., nail biting). See also behavioral weight control therapy.
a nucleus of the central nervous system that differs in size between males and females. In humans, for example, a nucleus in the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus that synthesizes gonadotropin-releasing hormone tends to be larger and more active in males than in females because gonadotropin release is continuous (it is cyclical in females). In songbirds whose males sing more than females, several brain nuclei associated with both song learning and song production are larger in males than in females.