cryptic female choice

a practice in which females mate with several males but “choose” which one’s sperm will fertilize their eggs, concealing these decisions from the males. This practice allows females more choice in mate selection. In studies demonstrating cryptic female choice, it is the sperm that is genetically most compatible that fertilizes the female’s eggs, rather than sperm from the most attractive males.

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Psychology term of the day

November 18th 2024

psychometric scaling

the creation of an instrument to measure a psychological concept through a process of analyzing responses to a set of test items or other stimuli. It involves identifying item properties, noting whether responses match theoretical formats, reducing the larger set of items into a smaller number (e.g., through exploratory factor analysis), and determining appropriate scoring methods.