In PSYCHOANALYSIS, a DEFENCE MECHANISM where a person engages in some (usually ritual) activity which he hopes will magically undo an earlier act of his that is disturbing him. This is seen as the mechanism behind OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE NEUROSIS, the classic example of which is Lady Macbeth’s guilty’ hand washing.

A MEMORY of factual information, which might be included within an EPISODIC MEMORY

Physical and psychological strain, usually lasting for a period of time which threatens the ability of a person (or an animal) to go on coping with a given situation.

A group of cases or individuals studied as representatives of the population from which they are drawn. See also BIASED SAMPLE and RANDOM SAMPLE.

The application to human societies of DARWIN’S evolutionary theories of NATURAL SELECTION, where only the fittest members of a species survive. In effect it was (and is) an attempt to justify the existing order by arguing that the rich and successful have evidently been selected by nature to be rich and successful.

Learning material in a particular order or sequence.

A sociological way of approaching SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. It emphasises the part played by language, gestures and other symbols of social interaction in our CONSCIOUS attempts to form ourselves and our world and it regards our human qualities as the products of that social interaction.

If we receive conflicting stimuli from different sensory MODALITIES, vision is usually the dominant one.

The detrimental effect of later learning on the recall of previous learning. See PROACTIVE INHIBITION.

The first stage of the MEMORY process, lasting less than a second, during which information is recorded by the sense organs. See SHORT-TERM MEMORY and LONG-TERM MEMORY.