PAIN DRIVE
drive directed to the removal of noxious stimulation.This basic drive is activated by special sense organs in the form of…
PAIRED ASSOCIATES LEARNING
A technique for studying learning. Words, syllables, digits, or other items are learned in pairs, and the subject is later…
PARALOGICAL THINKING
False, illogical thinking found particularly in schizophrenic reactionsParalogical thinking may take many forms. A patient who is preoccupied with his…
PARAMNESIA
A falsification or distortion of memory; a confusion of fact with fantasy in recalling events.We have all experienced some of…
PARANOID REACTION (GENERAL)
A psychotic reaction marked by more or less systematized delusions without personality disorganization or deterioration. The term was first applied…
PARANOID STATES
A psychotic disorder characterized by transient, poorly systematized delusions.Paranoid states appear to be intermediate between “true” paranoia and paranoid schizophrenia.…
PARATHYROID GLANDS
Two pairs of small endocrine glands adjacent to the thyroid gland in the neck, which regulate calcium metabolism and maintain…
PARKINSON’S DISEASE
A chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system, usually occurring between the ages of fifty and seventy. Atrophy takes…
PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY
A personality trait disturbance characterized by immaturity and failure to develop an adequate balance between dependence and independence, and between…
PATHOLOGICAL INTOXICATION
An acute psychotic episode occurring in (1) individuals whose tolerance for alcohol is low due to an unstable personality or…
PRESSURE OF IDEAS
One of the symptoms of mania leading to not only spontaneous but often very productive thought.
PRETEST COUNSELING
Pretest counseling is used to determine whether genetic testing should proceed. The potential subject of the test is educated on…
PRICE-QUALITY RELATIONSHIP
Simply put, the price quality relationship says that consumer perception is that the higher the price of an item, the…
PRIMARY ANXIETY
The spontaneous response to trauma. The theory also suggests that primary anxiety is a response to the dissolution of the…
PRIMARY DEVIANCE
The initial act that deviates from the rules of society, such as deliberate non-conformity by an individual, who up to…
PRIMARY MEMORY (PM)
A former description of what is now referred to as short-term memory, Primary Memory refers to memory that retains data…
PRIMARY SENSORY AREA
Contained in the neocortex, a primary sensory area receives sensory input such as sound, taste and vision. There are specific…
PRINCIPLE OF PRAGNANZ
Deriving its name from the German word for "terseness", the principle of prananz states the individual subjects prefer to perceive…