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SORC

an acronym for the four variables employed in behavioral analysis: stimuli (see situational determinant), organismic variables, responses, and consequences (reinforcement contingencies). A functional analysis of behavior may seek to determine how the presentation of certain stimuli leads to specific responses (perhaps influenced by individual, or organismic, variables), which are followed by consequences that may then reinforce the elicited responses.

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Psychology term of the day

January 13th 2025

discontinuity hypothesis

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.