KENNARD PRINCIPLE
This principle that brain damage sustained early in life is less debilitating that brain damage sustained in later life, presumably…
LATENT TRAIT THEORY
A model for the design of instruments used in observing traits or testing unobservable traits. The preferred method of developing…
EXTRINSIC REINFORCER
is the binary opposite to an intrinsic reinforcer. An extrinsic reinforcer is directly related to the reward which stems from…
FACIAL ACTION CODING SYSTEM (FACS)
involves classifying (FACS is a coding system) facial expressions using the movements of particular facial muscles, examples including the orbicularis…
FACTORIAL DESIGN
is one of the many experimental designs used in psychological experiments where two or more independent variables are simultaneously manipulated…
FALSIFIABILITY
was first argued by Austria-born British philosopher Karl Popper (1902 - 1994) as one of the staple canons of the…
FEAR RESPONSE
is a general term used to describe the range of movements which organisms will undertake when responding to a threat.…
FICTIONAL FINALISM
Psychoanalytic theory of Alfred Adler. The belief that human beings are more strongly motivated by the goals and ideals that…
FINITE-STATE GRAMMAR
Noam Chomsky in 1957, proposed that grammar generated a sentence one unit at a time in a sequence from left…
FLOOR EFFECT
the inability of a test to measure or discriminate below a certain point, usually because its items are too difficult.…
FOOD ADDICTION
the name given to an eating disturbance where a person is preoccupied with weight, body image and food. Food is…
FORMAL LOGIC
the name given to the system of prescribed rules for generating valid conclusions or predictions from initial axiomatic assumptions or…
FREE ASSOCIATION
the basic process in psychoanalysis and other forms of psychodynamic psychotherapy where patients are encouraged to verbalise freely whatever thoughts…
FREUDIAN THEORY OF PERSONALITY
A general psychoanalytic concept of character and personality being the product of fixations and experiences that stem form early stages…
FUNCTIONAL AMBLYOPIA
the term for poor vision occurring in a normal eye that is due to improper use during childhood. Causes can…
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS
These are the activities that will develop from aptitudes like mechanical ability, artistic talent and writing.
GARDEN-PATH SENTENCE
Sentence where structural cues, lexical ambiguity or a combination of both mislead the reader or listener to an incorrect interpretation…
GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER
A disorder characterised by clinically significant distress or impairment of functioning due to cross-gender identification and persistent discomfort arising from…
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE
the term that describes the intelligence that is applicable to a very wide variety of tasks. See general factor.