self as agent

1. the self that has goals, plans, and control over voluntary actions. Gordon W. Allport and others considered this term to be similar in meaning to the “I” in the thought of William James (see nominative self). See also self as observer.

2. the aspect of the self that has agency and plays a role in a psychic process. In this sense, the term is closer to James’s “me” (see empirical self).

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Psychology term of the day

February 22nd 2025

waking dream

1. an episode of dreamlike visual imagery experienced when one is not asleep. The term is sometimes applied to hallucinations, religious visions, and the like.

2. a dreamlike phenomenon occurring in the Ganzfeld.

3. a dream process in the psychoanalytic theory of British psychiatrist Wilfred Bion (1897–1979).