thumb sucking

a common habit among infants and young children, formerly classified as a habit disturbance when persisting beyond 3 or 4 years. It is often explained as a basic sucking impulse from which the child derives pleasure as well as comfort and relaxation.

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Psychology term of the day

January 15th 2025

prescriptive grammar

an approach to grammar in which a series of rules is used to distinguish proper from improper usage and a standard version of the language is identified and promoted (see standard language). It is often contrasted with descriptive grammar, in which the goal is to provide an accurate account of language use without specification as to correctness. Prescriptive grammarians seek to correct nonstandard forms, such as I can’t get no satisfaction, whereas descriptive grammarians seek to characterize the rule system that produces such utterances.