Find over 25,000 psychological definitions


case-based reasoning

1. an approach in which information about or obtained from previous similar situations (cases) is applied to the current situation, typically to make a decision or prediction or to solve a problem. See also analogical thinking.

2. in ergonomics, the use of detailed scenarios or cases to elicit users’ knowledge, reasoning patterns, motivations, or assumptions regarding a product or system. See knowledge elicitation.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

March 14th 2025

fuzzy trace theory

fuzzy trace theory

a theory proposing that information is encoded on a continuum from precise, literal memory representations (verbatim traces) to gistlike, imprecise representations (fuzzy traces), with verbatim traces less easily accessed, generally requiring more effort to use, and more susceptible to interference and forgetting than fuzzy traces. The theory also proposes that developmental differences in many aspects of cognition can be attributed to age differences in encoding and to differences in sensitivity to output interference. [proposed by U.S. psychologists Charles Brainerd (1944–  ) and Valerie Reyna (1955–  )]