It can be defined as exaggerated pride or self-confidence often resulting in retribution. It is an example of pridefulness, something dislikable and to be avoided. Hubris is a consequence of and evaluation of success according to one’s standards, rules and goals where the focus is on the global self. In this emotion, the individual focuses …
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Hormones
First discovered by William Bayliss and Ernest Starling in 1902, and named by the latter 1905, they are an extensive group of molecules with a small mass secreted by the endocrine glands of vertebrate species, but which are also produced by many other organ systems and tissue types. The molecules are secreted directly into the …
Hox genes
A family of homeobox transcription factors that specify position information along the body axis. The homeobox gene was the first developmental gene to be identified, and hox genes are its product. They are defined by a specific sequence of amino acids and nucleotides (the homeobox) that allows them to bind to specific regions of DNA …
Hopping
A saltatory form of locomotion in which the body’s weight is transferred from one foot (take-off) to the same foot (landing) as the body is momentarily airborne. It differs from a leap (another saltatory gait) where the take-off is on one leg and landing is on the other. The ability to hop forward on either …
Homunculus
A metaphor for a miniature man in the brain governing decision making. Originating in the embryological concept of preformationism, schemas, representations and other such non-holonomic constraints are contemporary examples of homunculi. The preformationsists were buttressed in their conviction that that a future adult organism was to be found in miniature form in either spermia (the …
Homunculus problem
The idea of a little man in our heads that sees the images (and words) we see and understands these words and images for us. During the 1920s and 1930s, it became a widely used way depicting how the brain worked in popular works, such as children’s dictionaries (see first figure below). The flaw in …
Homoscedasticity
The condition of equal residual variances in analysis of variance. It also occurs, for example, when two variables are normally distributed. Heteroscedasticity, in contrast, occurs when one of the variables is non-normally distributed as in the case of skewness (see figure below). A. Homoscedasticity when two variables are normally distributed. B. Heteroscedasticity when one of …
Homology
Objects or events that have common origins and similar structures, even though their surface properties or functions may differ. In biology, where it is a controversial concept, it refers to similarities among species that are derived from a common ancestor, and which can apply to a morphological structure, a chromosome, or an individual gene or …
Homophones
Words that sound the same but are spelled differently and differ in meaning (e.g., leek; leak; rain, rein, reign ). They have the same phonetic form or the same orthographic form (e.g., fluke that can be a flatworm or the fins on the tail of a whale) in which case they are referred to as …
Homeorhesis
A term derived by Waddington from the Greek word rhesis meaning ‘to flow’ and intended to convey the self-righting properties inherent to developing organisms. In contrast to homeostasis, which is concerned with the maintenance of an initial state (e.g., as with a thermostat), homeorhesis is depicted as a mechanism for maintaining an orderly sequence of developmental …