A modest proposal for a minor revolution in the language of psychology
Article Abstract:
A small change in terminology used in psychology would be useful, and the proposal is to use the term 'satisfier' in place of 'positive reinforcement', and 'annoyer' for 'negative reinforcement'. These terms were proposed by Thorndike in an article in Animal Intelligence in 1911. Negative reinforcement is used in ambiguous ways by psychologists, and can mean either a method, or a result. Positive reinforcement can refer to avoiding a negative reinforcer, or seeking a postive reinforcer. A change in terminology would provide greater precision in language.
Publication Name: Psychological Science
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0956-7976
Year: 1993
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Toward a psychology of loss
Article Abstract:
A psychology of loss based on an interdisciplinary approach can help enlighten and empower people who are experiencing a diversity of major losses in their lives. This field of psychology is broader in scope than other disciplines such as thanatology, traumatology and stress and coping because it encompasses the perception of major loss arising from death, divorce, loss of employment, genocide and other diverse events. The emphasis on people's commonsense perception of loss may improve understanding of the nuances of grief and coping with loss.
Publication Name: Psychological Science
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0956-7976
Year: 1998
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Microgenetic study of change: what has it told us?
Article Abstract:
The microgenetic method has evolved out of the need for a investigative method to study change without direct observation. The method allows a subject frequent engagement with cognitive strategies under investigation, giving the researcher greater opportunities for observing the change process. The microgenetic method also highlights intraindividual variability and plasticity as basic descriptors of the human cognitive system.
Publication Name: Psychological Science
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0956-7976
Year: 1995
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Thought disorder or allusive thinking in the relatives of schizophrenics? Thought disorder in the relatives of schizophrenics: a meta-analytic review of selected published studies
- Abstracts: Is locked seclusion necessary for children under the age of 14? Response to the presidential address: our children: our future
- Abstracts: Empirical criteria for evaluating rape as an evolutionary phenomenon
- Abstracts: Loose associations. Selection for rape or selection for sexual opportunism?
- Abstracts: Effects of improved information on the components of skill in weather forecasting. Forecasting solar flares: experts and artificial systems