distribution

n. the relation between the values that a variable may take and the relative number of cases taking on each value. A distribution may be simply an empirical description of that relationship or a mathematical (probabilistic) specification of the relationship. For example, it would be helpful in examining the distribution of scores for a college exam to view the frequency of students who achieved various percentages correct on the exam. In a normal distribution, most of the scores would fall in the middle (i.e., about 70% correct or a score of C), with fewer students achieving a D (i.e., 60–69% correct) or a B (i.e., 80–89% correct) and even fewer earning 59% or less (i.e., an F) or 90% to 100% (e.g., an A). See also frequency distribution; probability distribution.

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Psychology term of the day

December 19th 2024

verbal deprivation hypothesis

the hypothesis that children who are denied regular experience of an elaborated code of language—that is, a more formal use of language involving complex constructions and an unpredictable vocabulary—may develop an educational and even cognitive deficit. The concept is controversial as it has been associated with the view that nonstandard or vernacular forms of a language (e.g., Black English) are inherently inferior. The idea that nonstandard forms inhibit higher level cognitive processes (e.g., abstract reasoning) is now discredited, but concerns remain that lack of early exposure to the more formal codes of a language appears to correlate with educational underachievement. [proposed in 1973 by British sociologist Basil Bernstein (1924–2000)]