Find over 25,000 psychological definitions


spontaneous alternation

the instinctive, successive alternation among the options available in a situation involving discrete choices or exploration. For example, in a learning and memory experiment, a rat in a T maze tends to choose the left arm on one trial, the right arm on the next, then the left arm again, and so on.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

December 26th 2024

false self

false self

in the object relations theory of British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott (1896–1971), the self that develops as a defense against impingements and in adaptation to the environment. This contrasts with the true self, which develops in an environment that adapts to the infant and allows him or her to discover and express true impulses.