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propriate striving

the final stage in the development of the proprium. According to Gordon W. Allport, who originated the concept, propriate striving emerges in adolescence with the search for identity and includes the experimentation common to adolescents before making long-range commitments. In contrast to childhood, adolescence is considered especially significant as the time when conscious intentions and future-oriented planning begin to motivate the personality.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

best fit

best fit

the theoretical pattern that best accounts for the relationships among variables in a data set. For example, a regression equation having the best fit to sample data is the one that minimizes differences between observed and predicted values. On a scatterplot, a line of best fit provides a visual depiction of this pattern, allowing extrapolation to values not part of the original data set. It is important to note that the best-fitting pattern is not necessarily the one that generated the observed data, as other patterns not considered may provide a superior fit.