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human factors psychology

a branch of psychology that studies the role of human factors in operating systems, with the aim of redesigning environments, equipment, and processes to fit human abilities and characteristics. See human engineering. See also ergonomics; sociotechnical systems approach.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

weapons effect

weapons effect

increased hostility or a heightened inclination to aggression produced by the mere sight of a weapon. If provoked, individuals who have previously been shown a weapon will behave more aggressively than will those who have not. Subsequent research has indicated that this aggressive behavior is primed by the sight or suggestion of weapons (see priming) and that any other object associated with aggression can have the same effect. [identified in 1967 by U.S. psychologists Leonard Berkowitz (1926–  ) and Anthony LePage]