Category: C

Term referring to how well a test or experiment measures up to its claim. Construct validity is a device used almost exclusively in social sciences, psychology, and education. How accurately a test measures a particular attribute, content validity face validity; concurrent validity. In a research study, the fitness of a particular research method for the…

Constellations of morphological, physiological, and psychological traits as earlier proposed by various scholars, such as the Greek physician and philosopher Galen (129–210 A.D.): sanguine, melancholic, choleric, and phlegmatic types; German PSYCHIATRIST Ernst Kretschmer (1888–1961): pyknic (stocky), asthenic (slender), athletic, and dysplastic (disproportional) types; and American PSYCHOLOGIST William Sheldon (1898–1977): ectomorphic (thin), mesomorphic (muscular), and endomorphic…

A person’s intrinsic physical and psychological endowment; sometimes used more narrowly to indicate physical inheritance or intellectual potential. In psychology, the relatively constant biological makeup of the person resulting from the interaction of heredity and environment. The general health and strength of a person. Person’s physical and mental makeup, including inherited qualities and general physique.…

The content of mind or mental functioning of which one is aware. In neurology, awake, alert. Those aspects of mental function of which a person is aware, conscious action. Awake and aware of what is happening. Deliberate and intended. Alert, aware, or attentive, able to perceive and respond.  

The morally self-critical part of one’s standards of behavior, performance, and value judgments. Commonly equated with the superego. One’s psyche that distinguishes right from wrong. One’s inner sense of what is right, wrong, or fair, especially regarding relations with people or society. This sense can inhibit or reinforce the individual’s actions and thoughts.  

A form of marital therapy in which a therapist sees the partners together in joint sessions.  

Disturbed orientation with respect to time, place, person, or situation. The state of being confused. State of mind in which one is unsure of the present time, place, or self-identity, causing bewilderment and inability to act decisively; it usually indicates organic mental disorder but may also occur in times of severe stress. Not being aware…

A communication that deliberately pressures or invites another to self-examine some aspect of his or her behavior in which a discrepancy exists between self-reported and observed behavior. This technique is frequently used in the treatment of alcoholism and substance use disorders. The examination of two patients together, one with a disease and the other from…

A mental struggle that arises from the simultaneous operation of opposing impulses, drives, and external (environmental) or internal demands. Termed intrapsychic when the conflict is between forces within the personality and extrapsychic when it is between the self and the environment. The situation in which there is simultaneous instigation toward two or more incompatible responses.…

The ethical principle that a physician may not reveal any information disclosed in the course of medical attendance. A principle observed by lawyers, physicians, pastors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other professionals that the professional relationships and private relationships with their clients/patients are not divulged to anyone else. An obligation not to reveal professional information about a…