A theory claiming that in people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, there are degrees of mind blindness, or difficulties in imagining and being aware of other people’s emotional and mental states. Allied to such difficulties is that mind blindness is associated with being incapable of attributing beliefs and desires to others. This is often the …
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Mind-body problem
The philosophical issue of how the mind is related to the body, which brings with it what properties, functions and occurrences should be ascribed to each. The problem impinges not only on the philosophy of the mind, but also on the philosophy of psychology. The modern version of the problem is usually depicted as starting …
Mid-growth spurt
A small acceleration in the rate of growth in height several years prior to the onset of the adolescent growth spurt, usually between 6.5 and 8.5 years of age. Findings for the First Zurich Longitudinal Study show a small, but significant mid-growth spurt in most height and length measurements, as well as pertaining to girth …
Microgenetic method
An intensive investigation of a group at a time when it is known that change is likely to occur. The aim is to chart the complexity of this change, sometimes by speeding up the process through training. Typically, employment of the method confronts individuals with the same or similar problem-solving tasks on repeated occasions in …
Microtubules
Fibrous, hollow rods consisting of thousands of sub-units made of the protein tubulin. As a tubular structure, they are 25 nm in diameter, a length varying from 200 nm to 20 micrometers, with a wall thickness of 5 nm. Found in eukaryotic cells, and throughout the cytoplasm, they are an essential component of the cytoskeleton …
Methylphenidate
See Ritalin
Metonymy
A form of metaphor in which there is a substitution of a word referring to an attribute for the thing that is meant. Unlike a metaphor, however, which is derived from similarity, metonymy is based on contiguity (as is a synecdoche). Examples of a metonymical substitution for the real thing are “Survey research involves counting …
Methylation
A process that takes on a number of meanings depending on the context, but that has ‘addition’ as a common entity. In terms of chemistry, it is a reaction that results in the addition of a methyl (-CH3 radical) group to a chemical substrate (e.g., molecule) or the substitution of an atom or group by a methyl …
Method bias
Differences in score distributions between (cultural) samples that are similar for all items/stimuli of an instrument, but that are not related to the trait or concept presumably measured by that instrument. See Bias (cultural), Cross-cultural psychology, Equivalence (of data across cultures), Trait
Methyl mercury
An inorganic chemical. A contaminant often found in seafood products synthesized in sediments from mercury and mercury-containing chemicals dumped in waters supporting marine life. The methyl mercury is concentrated in aquatic life forms and can thus be deposited in fishes intended for human consumption. It is a proven cause of Miniamata disease, a teratogenic condition characterised …