In ETHOLOGY, the concept that a male animal will show itself off to the best advantage either to fight or woo when it is approached by the appropriate stimulus of a male or female of the same species. The concept is often applied to human adolescent behaviour.

See JUST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE.

A grasping reflex found only in very young animals or human infants. The tendacy to be able to grasp a bar and hang suspended.

The appearance in an offspring of a certain physical characteristic as a result of one factor dominating the other it is paired with in a parental GENE.

Referred to as ego defence mechanisms, they are be categorized as occurring when the ID impulses are in conflict with each other, when the id impulses conflict with SUPER-EGO values and beliefs, and when an external threat is posed to the ego. The term “defence mechanism” is often thought to refer to a definitive singular term for personality traits which arise due to loss or traumatic experiences, but more accurately refers to several types of reactions which were identified during and after daughter Anna Freud’s time.

Also see DEFENCE MECHANISM.

English biologist who presented systematic evidence for the inevitability of EVOLUTION and the theory that it is accomplished by a process of NATURAL SELECTION.

See also SOCIAL DARWINISM.

The ability of an individual to maintain the EGO in its function of avoiding emotional disturbance and maladjustment.

The AWARENESS of how distant objects are from the eye and the ability to perceive the world as three dimensional, i.e. as having depth as well as height and width.

In PSYCHOLOGY, this is simply the ability to perceive differences between two sensory stimuli.

In a social or political context,’difference’ often comes to signify something to be feared and rejected, i.e. to discriminate against.

British psychologist Basil Bernstein’s term for an articulate style of communication in which whole phrases are used to convey a precise and complex range of ideas and in which emotional and intellectual aspects are clearly differentiated. Said to be typical of the way middle-class parents interact with their children.

Contrasted with RESTRICTED CODE.