A

n23

ASCH, SOLOMON E

(1907-1996) Polish-born U.S. psychologist. Asch emigrated with his family to the United States in 1920 and then earned his doctorate

ASPIRATIONAL GROUP

any group that an individual wishes or aspires to join with. This may be an actual group, that is characterized

ASSISTED SUICIDE

a form of suicide in which the person ending his or her own life is helped to do so by

ASSOCIATION VALUE

1. the extent to which a specific stimulus is associated with a person's ideas, memories, or values. 2. the extent

ASSONANCE

repeated vowel sounds in subsequent words, for example, in poetry.

ASTROBLASTOMA

one type of slow-growing tumor comprised of neuroglial cells (see astrocytoma), whereby the cells have abundant cytoplasm and multiple nuclei.

ASYNDESIS

n. disjointed speech, which sounds a little like word salad, in which disconnected ideas are put together without grammatical linkages

ATHEROSCLEROSIS

n. a common form of arteriosclerosis, or artery hardening, whereby the primary sign is atheroma - or the deposition of

AT-RISK MENTAL STATES

psychological symptoms or other vulnerability factors that render individuals more susceptible to mental illnesses or to adverse behaviors, such as

ATTENSITY

n. the sensory clarity or immediate attention-producing effect of a given sensation.

ATTENTION-CONTROL TRAINING (ACT)

a therapeutic program that assists an individual to be more effective at maintaining appropriate attentional focus via natural methods. It

ATTITUDE SYSTEM

a set of two or more attitudes about the same factor that are associated in memory. Attitude systems can be

ATTRIBUTION

1. an inference regarding the cause of a person

ATYPICAL GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER

in the DSM-lll, this represented a category of gender identity disorders. In the DSM-IV-TR these are labeled gender identity disorder

AUDIENCE TASK

any performance, work assignment, or goal-oriented activity that is executed in the presence of one or more onlookers. Compare with

AUDITORY ATTRIBUTES

refers to any perceptual qualities of sound, including the loudness, pitch, and timbre.

AUDITORY LOCALIZATION

the ability to identify both the position and changes in position of sound sources based on solely acoustic information. For

AUDITORY THROMBOSIS

refers to a blood clot that travels to the internal auditory artery, which results in sudden deafness.

AUTEMESIA

n. vomiting with no identifiable cause.

AUTISTIC THINKING

narcissistic, egocentric thought processes that have little or no relation to reality, and focus largely on self-absorption. May also refer