interval scale

a scale marked in equal intervals so that the difference between any two consecutive values on the scale is equivalent regardless of the two values selected. Interval scales lack a true, meaningful zero point, which is what distinguishes them from ratio scales. For example, Fahrenheit temperature uses an interval scale: The difference between 50 °F and 49 °F is the same as the difference between 40 °F and 39 °F, but a temperature of 0 °F does not indicate that there is no temperature. See also interval data.

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Psychology term of the day

January 14th 2025

despair

1. the emotion or feeling of hopelessness, that is, that things are profoundly wrong and will not change for the better. Despair is one of the most negative and destructive of human affects, and as such it is a primary area for psychotherapeutic intervention.

2. in Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development, see integrity versus despair.