copulation

n. sexual intercourse: coitus. Copulation usually includes mounting, intromission (insertion of the penis into the vagina), and ejaculation. In some species (e.g., rats), several intromissions are necessary prior to ejaculation, and a female must receive several intromissions in order for ova to be implanted in the uterus. In other species, copulation is necessary to induce ovulation. In many socially monogamous species, such as human beings, copulation can occur irrespective of the stage of the female’s ovulatory cycle.

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Psychology term of the day

January 20th 2025

criminal anthropology

an early positivist approach to criminology (see positivist criminology) associated with the theories of Italian criminologist and psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909). It embraced the notion of the “born criminal” or criminal type, based on the belief that criminals had certain physical characteristics (e.g., sloping forehead, large ears) that distinguished them from noncriminals. Lombroso identified these characteristics as “atavistic anomalies… that bring man closer to the inferior animals,” then developed a hypothesis that linked delinquency to constitutional anomalies and attributed the primal cause of crime to hereditary flaws.