Romanticism

n. an artistic and intellectual movement in Europe and America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that, broadly, stressed the values of imagination, spontaneity, wonder, and emotional self-expression over the classical standards of balance, order, restraint, proportion, and objectivity. Its name derives from romance, the literary form in which desires, dreams, and idealistic challenges and adventures prevail over mundane realities. As a reaction in part against the scientific and technological advances of the time, Romanticism can be viewed as a precursor to humanistic movements in psychology (see humanism; humanistic psychology).

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

Down syndrome

a chromosomal disorder characterized by an extra chromosome 21 and manifested by a round flat face and eyes that seem to slant (the disorder was formerly known as mongolism). Brain size and weight are below average; affected individuals usually have mild to severe intellectual disability and have been characterized as having docile, agreeable dispositions. Muscular movements tend to be slow, clumsy, and uncoordinated. In many cases, growth is stunted, the tongue is thick, and the fingers are stubby. Affected individuals may have heart defects and respiratory insufficiencies or anomalies that are often corrected during infancy by surgery. However, lifespan is reduced compared with that in the general population, and affected individuals typically show early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Down syndrome is one of the most common physiological causes of intellectual disability. Also called Langdon Down’s disease; trisomy 21. See also autosomal trisomy of group G. [described in 1866 by John Langdon Haydon Down (1828–1896), British physician]