gating

n. the automatic inhibition or exclusion from attention of certain sensory stimuli when attention is focused on other stimuli. That is, while one is attending to specific information in the environment, other information does not reach one’s awareness. Also called sensory gating.

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Psychology term of the day

July 27th 2024

primary insomnia

in DSM–IV–TR, a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty in initiating or maintaining a restorative sleep to a degree in which the severity and persistence of the sleep disturbance causes clinically significant distress, impairment in a significant area of functioning, or both. The disorder is not caused by a general medical condition or the effects of a substance and is not exclusively an aspect of another sleep disorder or mental disorder. It is termed insomnia disorder in DSM–5. See dyssomnia. Compare primary hypersomnia.