padded cell

a room in a psychiatric hospital or ward that is lined with heavy cushioning on the floor and walls to prevent a violent or self-destructive patient from injuring himself or herself or others. In most institutions, padded cells have been replaced by some combination of physical restraints, psychological interventions, and tranquilizing medications.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

nonadditive

adj. describing values or measurements that cannot be meaningfully summarized through addition because the resulting total does not correctly reflect the underlying properties of and associations between the component values. For example, if two variables a and b interact to influence another variable y, the addition of the separate effects of a and b will not equal the total effect since the contribution of the interaction needs to be included. Compare additive.