ambiguous figure

a visual stimulus that can be interpreted in more than one way, such as an embedded figure or a reversible figure. A well-known example is the young girl–old woman image, in which the black-and-white drawing sometimes appears to be of a young girl and sometimes of an old lady. This phenomenon is not restricted to the visual: An ambiguous stimulus is one of any sensory modality that can have multiple interpretations.

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Psychology term of the day

May 3rd 2024

corticosterone

n. a corticosteroid hormone with glucocorticoid functions that include regulating the metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into energy sources for body cells. The concentration of corticosterone in the plasma is used as an index of stress.