A hypothetical variable defined as the part of an observed item indicating the lack of measurement of an attribute of interest. The error score is traditionally assumed to be uncorrelated with the true score and is the reason several different observed items are uncorrelated. See Error score, Growth models, Reliability, Residuals, True score
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Meaning
A notion in semantics traditionally defined as having two components: 1. reference, anything in the referential realm denoted by a word or expression, and 2. sense, the system of paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationships between a lexical unit and other lexical units in a language. ‘Syntagmatic’ refers to relationships between linguistic units in a construction or a …
Mauchly test
This widely used test of the sphericity assumption assesses the null hypothesis that the variances of the differences are equal. Put another way, it assesses the assumption that the differences scores of paired levels of a repeated measures factor have equal population variances. Provided the data are derived from a multivariate normal population, a significant …
Maximal aerobic power
The highest amount of chemical energy that can be transformed in the aerobic machinery of muscle mitochondria per unit time (generally per minute). Performed using large muscle groups for a few minutes under normal conditions at sea level. It is measured as maximal O2 uptake during an exercise test on a motorized treadmill or cycle …
Maturational gradients
Gradation of onset or rate of events in early development over the area for a physical substrate (e.g., initiating the making of connections starting in the front and finishing in the back of a structure). Also referred to as morphological gradients, the result is a series of progressively increasing and decreasing differences in the growth …
Maturational perspective/approach
One of three general approaches to developmental cognitive neuroscience in which the goal is to relate the maturation of particular regions of the brain to newly emerging sensory, motor and cognitive functions. See Developmental cognitive neuroscience, Interactive specialisation approach (or hypothesis), Maturation, Maturational-learning debate, Skill learning hypothesis/approach
Maturation versus learning debate
A controversy replacing that on the dichotomy between hereditary and environment in the 1930s and 1940s. Essentially, it boiled down to whether ontogenetic development was genetically controlled or determined purely by learning effects. In fact, none of the protagonists (Arnold Gesell & Myrtle B. McGraw v’s John B. Watson) in this sterile controversy, generated largely …
Matter
A specialized form of energy that has the attributes of mass and extension in space and time. See Closed system, Energy, Mass, Open system
Maturation
Like growth, a term that has assumed a variety of inconsistent meanings. A definition apparently in contemporary usage is that particular functions develop without any specific environmental influences as long as non-specific influences (e.g., temperature, oxygen levels, nutrition) remain constant or within certain ranges. See Developmental outcomes, Growth, Innate (1), Maturation versus learning debate, Maturational gradients, Maturational …
Maternal responsiveness
The extent to which a mother anticipates a child’s needs, or responds accordingly to the child’s behaviors. It has been found to promote early language acquisition, as well as cognitive and emotional development more generally, making distinctive contributions in these instances. Imitation by the mother constitutes a cardinal feature of maternal responsiveness. See …