kernicterus

n. a congenital disorder associated with excessive levels of bilirubin in the newborn infant. It is characterized by severe jaundice and has the potential to cause severe damage to the central nervous system. Kernicterus is often a complication of Rh blood-group incompatibility. See also bilirubin encephalopathy.

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Psychology term of the day

March 13th 2025

alpha

(symbol: α) n.

1. the likelihood of incorrectly rejecting a statement or hypothesis concerning a characteristic of a population. More specifically, it is the probability of incorrectly rejecting a true null hypothesis (i.e., committing a Type I error) in research. Although the value of alpha is chosen by the investigator based on what is deemed acceptable for a particular study, alpha values of .05 and .01 are commonly used.

2. a measure of reliability for a set of responses to a test or measure. See Cronbach’s alpha.