separation anxiety

the normal apprehension experienced by a young child when away (or facing the prospect of being away) from the person or people to whom he or she is attached (particularly parents). Separation anxiety is most active between 6 and 10 months of age. Separation from loved ones in later years may elicit similar anxiety. See separation distress.

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Psychology term of the day

December 25th 2024

actor–observer effect

in attribution theory, the tendency for individuals acting in a situation to attribute the causes of their behavior to external or situational factors, such as social pressure, but for observers to attribute the same behavior to internal or dispositional factors, such as personality. See fundamental attribution error. See also dispositional attribution; situational attribution. [introduced in 1971 by U.S. psychologists Edward E. Jones (1926–1993) and Richard E. Nisbett (1941– )]