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apraxia

n. loss or impairment of the ability to perform purposeful, skilled movements despite intact motor function and comprehension. The condition may be developmental or induced by neurological dysfunction and is believed to represent an impairment of the ability to plan, select, and sequence the motor execution of movements. There are several major types of apraxia, including buccofacial (or orofacial) apraxia, involving difficulty performing skilled facial movements; ideational apraxia, involving difficulty carrying out in the proper order a series of acts that comprise a complex task; ideomotor apraxia, involving difficulty imitating actions or gesturing to command; limb kinetic (or melokinetic) apraxia, involving difficulty making precise, coordinated but individual finger movements; and speech (or verbal) apraxia, involving difficulty coordinating the movements necessary for speaking. See also developmental apraxia of speech. —apraxic adj.

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Psychology term of the day

January 18th 2025

hierarchical model of personality

hierarchical model of personality

a model of either within-person dynamics or individual differences in personality in which some psychological constructs are viewed as high-level variables that organize or govern the functioning of other lower level variables. For example, a hierarchical model of personality traits might view the construct sociability as being at a lower level in a hierarchy than the construct extraversion: Sociability would be seen as a form or example of the higher level trait of extraversion.