self-understanding

n. the attainment of knowledge about and insight into one’s characteristics, including attitudes, motives, behavioral tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses. The achievement of self-understanding is one of the major goals of certain forms of psychotherapy.

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Psychology term of the day

January 13th 2025

discontinuity hypothesis

in Gestalt psychology, the viewpoint that emphasizes the role of sudden insight and perceptual reorganization in successful discrimination learning and problem solving. According to this view, a correct answer is only recognized when its relation to the issue as a whole is discovered. Also called discontinuity theory. Compare continuity hypothesis. See also aha experience; all-or-none learning; eureka task.