contrast effect

1. the perception of an intensified or heightened difference between two stimuli or sensations when they are juxtaposed or when one immediately follows the other. Examples include the effect produced when a trombone follows a violin or when bright yellow and red are viewed simultaneously.

2. in psychology experiments, an effect in which participants’ judgments shift away from an anchor after it is introduced. Compare assimilation effect.

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Psychology term of the day

May 10th 2024

self-consistency perspective

a variation of cognitive dissonance theory in which cognitive dissonance is considered particularly likely to occur when an inconsistency involves some aspect of the self. This perspective differs from self-affirmation theory in that dissonance can be reduced only by resolving the specific inconsistency that gave rise to the discomfort; it does not allow for the possibility that dissonance can be reduced by affirming some other aspect of the self. [originally proposed by U.S. psychologist Elliot Aronson (1932– )]