spirit

1. the nonphysical part of a person: the mental, moral, and emotional characteristics that make up the core of someone’s identity.

2. a vital force seen as animating the bodies of living creatures, sometimes identified with the soul and seen as surviving death.

3. an immaterial being, such as a ghost or a deity.

4. in idealist philosophies, a universal mind or idea seen as a fundamental reality and a moving force of events in the world. See absolute idealism.

5. the mood, temper, or disposition that temporarily or permanently characterizes a person.

6. courage or morale.

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Psychology term of the day

December 22nd 2024

predictive discriminant analysis

a multivariate procedure that distinguishes between two or more categories of a future outcome on the basis of several current assessments of predictor or explanatory variables. More specifically, the technique combines variables measured at one point in time to produce the highest possible association with different levels or categories of an outcome measured at a subsequent point in time. For example, a researcher might measure daily levels of exercise, cholesterol, and average stress and use this information to predict which individuals will have a diagnosis of serious, mild, or no heart disease 6 months later. Compare descriptive discriminant analysis.