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THE CONCISE DICTIONARY OF PSYCHOLOGY Withmorethan1,300entries,thisneweditionofTheConciseDictionary ofPsychologyiscomprehensive,clearanduser-friendly.Withextensive cross-referencingtorelated entries,itincludes manyadditional entries and entries from peripheral fields, such as Babinski reflex, Doppler effect, Little Albert and Murphy's Law. Updated to take account of recent developmentsinpsychology, itisalean andefficient source of information,written inastraightforward andreadable manner. From atavistic tofolie adeux, from engram to Weltschmerz and Seashore test, this book will be an indispensable reference tool for students ofpsychology, for professionals and forpeople inthehealth andcaring professions. David A.Statt is Director of Studies at the Graduate School of International Business at the University of Bristol. His other books include Psychology: Making Sense (1977), Concise Dictionary of Management (Routledge, 1990), Psychology and the WorldofWork (1994) and Understanding the Consumer:A PsychologicalApproach (1997). THE CONCISE DICTIONARY OF PSYCHOLOGY Third Edition David A.Statt London and New York Firstpublished1981byHarper& Row ThiseditionpublishedintheTaylor& Francis e-Library,2003. Secondeditionpublished1990 byRoutledge II NewFetterLane,London EC4P4EE SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada byRoutledge 29West35thStreet,NewYork,NY 10001 Thirdedition 1998 © 1981,1990,1998DavidA.Statt Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprinted orreproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic, mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafter invented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany informationstorage orretrievalsystem,without permission inwriting fromthepublishers. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Acataloguerecordforthisbookisavailable fromtheBritish Library LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Acatalog recordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibrary ofCongress ISBN0-203-45052-3Mastere-bookISBN ISBN0-203-75876-5(AdobeeReaderFormat) ISBN0-415-17939-4(hbk) ISBN0-415-17940-8(pbk) Inmemory ofToffs, who taught me a thing or two about psychology PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION IamgratefultomyeditoratRoutledge,VivienWard,forencouraging metoproducethisnewedition.Whileitisinevitablyalittle fuller than the previous edition, each entry, in keeping with the original aim of thebook, remains asconciseasIcan make it. My grateful thanks also go to my wife Judith for producing the typescriptwith good-humoureddespatch. DavidA.Statt VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Theauthorandpublisherareverygrateful toMacmillanPressLimited for their kind permissionto reproduce Figure 2,Attitude,and Figure 13,Memory,from Understandingthe Consumer. VII A ablationSurgical operationtoremove partoftheBRAIN. abnormalCanonlybedefinedinrelationtothetermNORMAL, about which there is probablymore disagreement than anything else in PSYCHOLOGY. In whatever sense it is used abnormal implies divergence from what is normal. It is generally used to describe someone's behaviour when it disturbs the regular course of his everyday life, orthatofother people. People whobelievethey are Jesus Christ orwholieinatrance fordaysonendwould becalled abnormal bymost mental health professionals. However,thereisanimportantschoolofthoughtwhichbelieves that much, if not all, of the behaviourdescribed as abnormal can befoundinnormalpeoplefromtimetotime,thatmentalinstitutions maybeaconvenientwayforasociety togetridofpeople who are socially troublesome, that a society can itself in some sense be psychologically abnormal (the clearest example being Nazi Germany), and that 'going crazy' may be a way of escaping intolerablesocialconditions.SeeFLIGHTINTOILLNESS. abnormal psychology The fieldof PSYCHOLOGY that investigates anddeals with BEHAVIOURregarded asABNORMAL. See also CLINICALPSYCHOLOGY,PSYCHIATRY,PSYCHOANALYSIS andPSYCHOPATHOLOGY. abreaction The relief of tension that patients experience in PSYCHOANALYSIS when they relive a conflict or TRAUMA which theyhadREPRESSED. See alsoCATHARSIS. absolute thresholdThe point atwhich astimulus canjustbe picked upbythesense organs.