Abbreviaiion for NEED FOR AFFILIATION.

The scientific observation of events as they occur without trying to manipulate them in the form of an EXPERIMENT, or in any other way.

See WORK PSYCHOLOGY.

A newborn infant.

In STATISTICS, it is the MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY which divides a group of scores in half, with half the scores falling above the median score and half below.

In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY obedience often has the particular connotation of conformity to an authority.

The strongly felt MOTIVATION to achieve, to accomplish ambitions, to be successful. It has been suggested that this motivation is inculcated by careful child-rearing patterns, particularly the fostering of early achievement by mothers in their first-born sons. Associated particularly with the American psychologist David McClelland.

A term introduced to SOCIOLOGY by the American sociologist David Riesman to describe people who respond to their society mainly by conforming to SOCIAL NORMS, by seeking approval and courting popularity.

According to FREUD this is the first STAGE in an infant’s life when he is mainly concerned with the pleasure he receives from his mouth and its functions. As with all Freud’s stages, excessive frustration or satisfaction may leave a person fixated on it with the eventual result that, in this case, as an adult he may exhibit an oral character typified by a great need for oral stimulation in the form of food, drink, cigarettes or even talking especially perhaps when making biting comments.

The part of the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM linking the BRAIN and the spinal cord. It helps regulate bodily processes such as blood pressure, heart rate and breathing.