diagnostic test

any examination or assessment measure that may help reveal the nature and source of an individual’s physical, mental, or behavioral problems or anomalies. In medical research, a diagnostic test would be expected to show sensitivity (i.e., correctly identifying individuals with a certain illness) and specificity (i.e., correctly identifying those who do not have a specific illness).

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Psychology term of the day

January 5th 2025

common region

a recently introduced gestalt principle of organization, stating that objects sharing a common bounded region of space appear to belong together and tend to be perceived as a distinct group. For example, animals in a fenced-in enclosure are more likely to be seen as a group than are the same distribution of animals arrayed in open space. Also called law of common region; principle of common region. [proposed in 1992 by U.S. psychologist Stephen E. Palmer (1948– )]