matriarchy

1. a society in which descent and inheritance is matrilineal, that is, traced through the female only. See unilateral descent. See also descent group.

2. more loosely, a family, group, or society in which women are dominant. Compare patriarchy. —matriarchal adj.

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Psychology term of the day

November 18th 2024

predictive validity

evidence that a test score or other measurement correlates with a variable that can only be assessed at some point after the test has been administered or the measurement made. For example, the predictive validity of a test designed to predict the onset of a disease would be strong if high test scores were associated with individuals who later developed that disease. It is one of three types of criterion validity. Also called predictive criterion-related validity; prospective validity. See also concurrent validity; retrospective validity.