Rokeach Dogmatism Scale

a 66-item scale developed in 1960 to measure individual differences in openness or closedness of belief systems (i.e., dogmatism) across several continua, such as “isolation and differentiation between belief and nonbelief systems” and “interrelations among primitive, intermediate, and peripheral beliefs.” Some studies have found the scale more useful in assessing “general authoritarianism” and “general intolerance.” [Milton Rokeach (1918–1988), U.S. psychologist]

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Psychology term of the day

February 15th 2025

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)]