predecisional negative shift

that component of the readiness potential that precedes any conscious awareness of a wish to act. Investigations with electroencephalography suggest that it can be detected some 350 ms before the individual reports a decision to make a movement and some 550 ms before the movement occurs. The finding is controversial because it implies that behavior is instigated nonconsciously and hence that free will is illusory; the ecological validity of such experiments has also been questioned. [reported by U.S. physiologist Benjamin Libet (1916–2007)]

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

contraception

n. any method intended to prevent conception, that is, the natural fertilization of the female ovum by the male spermatozoa. See birth control. —contraceptive n., adj.