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visual impairment

partial or total inability to see, or to see normally, due to partial or complete loss or absence of vision or to visual dysfunction. Visual impairment encompasses the continuum from blindness to low vision. It can result from disease or degenerative disorder (e.g., cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, or macular degeneration), injury, or congenital defects (e.g., refractive errors, astigmatism). The degree of visual impairment is assessed in terms of disability in everyday life. Also called vision impairment. See also adventitious visual impairment; congenital visual impairment.

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Psychology term of the day

January 19th 2025

Electra complex

Electra complex

the female counterpart of the Oedipus complex, involving the daughter’s love for her father, jealousy toward the mother, and blame of the mother for depriving her of a penis. Although Sigmund Freud rejected the phrase, using the term Oedipus complex to refer to both boys and girls, many modern textbooks of psychology propagate the mistaken belief that Electra complex is a Freudian term. The name derives from the Greek myth of Electra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who seeks to avenge her father’s murder by persuading her brother Orestes to help her kill Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. [defined by Carl Jung]