Like racism and sexism, ageism is discrimination against people because of an attribute arbitrarily determined in this case by birth age.

The shock of the sudden transition from the security and comfort of the womb to the harsh insecurity of the outside world. Some PSYCHOANALYSTS believe this to be the source of adult ANXIETY and something that must be dealt with before a person can become psychologically mature and free of NEUROSIS.

See also BASIC MISTRUST.

Biological systems that have regularly recurring cycles. The best-known of these are the menstrual cycle and the CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, which are of particular interest to psychologists.

That aspect of ERGONOMICS which deals with the interaction between people and the computer-based INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY they work with.

The two symmetrical left and right halves of the CEREBRUM. The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body, the left hemisphere the right side.

See SPLIT-BRAIN TECHNIQUE.

The study of the effects of GENES on the expression of BEHAVIOUR. It includes both the study of genetic abnormalities like PHENYLKETONURIA and the all-encompassing NATURE-NURTURE PROBLEM.

See PHENOTYPE.

One of the earliest PAPER-AND-PENCIL TESTS of PERSONALITY (dating from the 1930s), which attempted to tease out the different aspects of the term.

The way in which mental structures and processes change overtime, especially as they increase in complexity from birth to adulthood.

A central concept of JUNGIAN psychology which refers to the part of a person’s UNCONSCIOUS that he shares with every other human being and which is inherited from previous generations in the distant past. JUNG had been impressed by the similarities he saw between the symbolism of DREAMS and the artistic imagery of cultures in widely separated times and places. Most non-Jungians regard the concept as mystical.

A situation in which someone is receiving more information than he or she can process.