diagnostic orphan

a person who manifests one or two symptoms of a disorder but who does not qualify for a formal diagnosis. For example, someone who exhibits only a few symptoms indicating a dependence on alcohol and who therefore would not qualify for a formal DSM–IV–TR diagnosis of alcohol dependence is a diagnostic orphan.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

weapons effect

increased hostility or a heightened inclination to aggression produced by the mere sight of a weapon. If provoked, individuals who have previously been shown a weapon will behave more aggressively than will those who have not. Subsequent research has indicated that this aggressive behavior is primed by the sight or suggestion of weapons (see priming) and that any other object associated with aggression can have the same effect. [identified in 1967 by U.S. psychologists Leonard Berkowitz (1926– ) and Anthony LePage]