Find over 25,000 psychological definitions


oral-sucking phase

in classical psychoanalytic theory, the earliest part of the oral stage of psychosexual development, in which the nursing infant is posited to feel that he or she is ingesting the mother’s being along with the milk swallowed (see incorporation). This phase is believed to lay the foundation for feelings of closeness and dependence, as well as for possessiveness, greed, and voraciousness. Compare oral-biting phase. [identified by German psychoanalyst Karl Abraham (1877–1925)]

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

February 22nd 2025

sequela

sequela

n. (pl. sequelae) a residual effect of a disease, injury or mental condition, often (but not necessarily) in the form of persistent or permanent impairment. Examples include paralysis, which may be the sequela of poliomyelitis, and flashbacks, which may be the sequelae of traumatic stress.