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family mythology

the shared stories, norms, and beliefs within a family system. The mythology can be used to deny trauma or pathology within the family or to ascribe meaning to events in ways that suggest their inevitability or importance.

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Psychology term of the day

November 28th 2024

complementary classification

complementary classification

in classification tasks, the grouping of items from conceptually different categories into a superordinate class based on an individual’s mental associations from past experience. For example, cow, tractor, and farmer may be grouped because they are all found on a farm. Also called functional classification; schematic classification; thematic classification. Compare conceptual classification; idiosyncratic classification; perceptual classification.