Find over 25,000 psychological definitions


eusociality

n. a social structure among nonhuman animals in which there is a marked division of labor, with only a few individuals that reproduce and many more nonreproductive individuals that guard the nest, gather food and nest materials, or help to care for the young. Eusociality is a common form of social structure in colonial species of bees and wasps (see social insects): The haplodiploidy mode of inheritance helps to explain the adaptiveness of nonreproductive helpers caring for the young of the queen. —eusocial adj.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

February 16th 2025

compensatory mechanism

compensatory mechanism

a cognitive process that is used to offset a cognitive weakness. For example, someone who is weaker in spatial abilities than in verbal abilities might use compensatory mechanisms to attempt to solve spatial problems, such as mentally rotating a geometric figure by using verbal processes. The underlying theory is that intelligence partly consists of finding ways to compensate for the skills that one has lost over time or in which one was not adept in the first place.