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retrospective falsification

1. the alteration of a story each time it is told in order to emphasize its favorable points or make it more interesting. It may be deliberate or unintentional. [defined by British psychologist Donovan Hilton Rawcliffe in his 1952 book, The Psychology of the Occult]

2. the addition of false details to memories of past experiences.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

mental chemistry

mental chemistry

a concept proposed by John Stuart Mill as an alternative to the mental mechanics described by his father, James Mill. The concept is modeled on a common phenomenon in physical chemistry, in which two chemical substances combine to form a compound with properties not present in either of the components. Similarly, Mill held that compound ideas were not merely combinations of simpler ideas but that they possessed other qualities not present in any of the constituent ideas. Thus, such an idea could be an essentially new one. See associationism; association of ideas.