status offense

a nondelinquent, noncriminal act considered to be illegal because the perpetrator belongs to a certain group or class of people, most often children. For example, status offenses of minors include truancy, curfew violations, and underage drinking, whereas owning a gun would be a status offense for a felon.

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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.