Find over 25,000 psychological definitions


retrocognition

n. in parapsychology, the experiencing of a past event as if it were occurring in the present, or knowledge of a past event that includes details that could not be learned, inferred, or verified through normal means. In a test of retrocognition, the participant might be asked to guess the outcome of an earlier set of trials involving Zener cards or similar stimulus materials. Also called postcognition. See also backward displacement. Compare precognition. [coined by English poet and philologist Frederic William Henry Myers (1843–1901)]

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

January 19th 2025

holism

holism

n. any approach or theory holding that a system or organism is a coherent, unified whole that cannot be fully explained in terms of individual parts or characteristics. The system or organism may have properties as a complete entity or phenomenon in addition to those of its parts. Thus, an analysis or understanding of the parts does not provide an understanding of the whole. —holistic adj.