therapeutic window

the range of plasma levels of a drug within which optimal therapeutic effects occur. Suboptimal effects may occur both below and above the therapeutic window. Evidence for true therapeutic windows was never well established; perhaps the best evidence existed for the tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline. Few modern psychotropic drugs require therapeutic monitoring, although lithium is a notable exception; it has a very narrow therapeutic range below which it has no therapeutic effect and above which adverse effects and toxicity dominate.

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

May 8th 2024

valence–instrumentality–expectancy theory

a theory of work motivation holding that the level of effort exerted by employees will depend on a combination of three variables: (a) the expectancy of employees that effort will lead to success in the job, (b) the belief of employees that success will lead to particular outcomes (see instrumentality theory), and (c) the value of these outcomes (see valence). A numerical value can be obtained for variable (a) using the subjective probability estimates of employees, for variable (b) by measuring the correlation of performance to rewards, and for variable (c) by asking employees to rate the desirability of the rewards. The motivational force, or the amount of effort employees will exert, can then be calculated. See also path–goal theory of leadership; Porter–Lawler model of motivation. [proposed in 1964 by Canadian organizational psychologist Victor H. Vroom (1932– )]