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competitive goals

1. goals that can only be attained by outperforming or outmaneuvering other individuals or groups who are also seeking to attain them.

2. in sports psychology, standards of excellence to be achieved during competition rather than during practice or training. Also called competition goals.

3. established goals that cannot be achieved simultaneously—in effect, they compete or conflict with one another. By spending time and effort to achieve one goal, an individual cannot achieve another goal.

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Psychology term of the day

March 17th 2025

end plate

end plate

a specialized region of a muscle-cell membrane that faces the terminus of a motor neuron within a neuromuscular junction. The depolarization that is induced in this muscular region when stimulated by a neurotransmitter released from the adjacent motor neuron terminus is called the end-plate potential (EPP). A very small variation in this potential due to the random release of tiny amounts of a neurotransmitter at an axon terminal is called a miniature end-plate potential. Also called motor end plate.