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covariance matrix

a square matrix that represents how variance in each variable in a set is related to variance in all other variables in the set. The covariances between pairs of variables are located at the intersection of the row and column that correspond to the two variables. The quantities along the diagonal of the matrix are variances rather than covariances. Also called dispersion matrix; variance–covariance matrix.

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Psychology term of the day

March 17th 2025

enactment

enactment

n.

1. the acting out of an important life event rather than expressing it in words. See psychodrama.

2. in some forms of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, the patient’s reliving of past relationships in the transference relationship with the therapist and, conversely, the therapist’s move away from active neutrality to unwittingly intertwine personal issues into symbolic interactions with the patient (a countertransference phenomenon). Attunement to the relational patterns that emerge in this therapeutic relationship offers the therapist an opportunity to help the patient acknowledge and work through similar patterns in the patient’s relationships with others. See also relational psychoanalysis; self psychology.

3. in some forms of couples therapy, a technique in which the therapist recreates areas of conflict between partners in order to facilitate bonding moments.

4. see structural family therapy.