excitation-transfer theory

the theory that emotional responses can be intensified by arousal from other stimuli not directly related to the stimulus that originally provoked the response. According to this theory, when a person becomes aroused physiologically, there is a subsequent period of time when the person will experience a state of residual arousal yet be unaware of it. If additional stimuli are encountered during this time, the individual may mistakenly ascribe his or her residual response from the previous stimuli to those successive stimuli. [originally proposed in 1971 by U.S. psychologist Dolf Zillmann (1935– )]

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Psychology term of the day

February 16th 2025

multiple comparison test

any of various statistical procedures used to follow up on a significant result from an analysis of variance by determining which groups in particular differ in their mean values. Examples include Duncan’s multiple range test, the Fisher least significant difference test, the REGWQ test, the Scheffé test, and Tukey’s honestly significant difference test. See also post hoc comparison.