automatism defense

a legal defense consisting of the claim that criminal intent (see mens rea) is lacking as a result of the defendant’s dissociated state at the time the criminal act was committed. The defense is more common in the United Kingdom and Canada than in the United States.

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Psychology term of the day

February 20th 2025

dual representation

the ability to comprehend an object simultaneously as the object itself and as a representation of something else. For example, a photograph of a person can be represented both as the print itself and as the person it depicts. Also called dual encoding; dual orientation.