countershading

n. a form of camouflage that involves using differential light and dark areas on the body to minimize the ability of predators to detect the organism. For example, fish often have dark-colored backs and light-colored bellies. A predator from below has difficulty discriminating the fish from the sky above, and a predator from above has difficulty discriminating the fish from the dark substrate below.

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Psychology term of the day

May 10th 2024

psychometric research

studies in the field of psychological measurement. Such research includes the development of new measures and appropriate methods for their scoring, the establishment of reliability and validity evidence for measures, the examination of item and scale properties and their dimensions, and the evaluation of differential item functioning across subgroups. For example, psychometric research could be used to determine whether a new scale is appropriately administered and scored in a specific subpopulation of respondents.