AP Psychology Barron’s

VocabularyReview

Mr. Biggs

Ex post facto study

Experimental research is impossible and there are independent variables that cannot be manipulated.

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Z scores

A measure of the distance of a score from the mean in units of standard deviation.

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Skewed distribution

An unsymmetrical distribution possibly caused by outliers.

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Confounding variables

Differences between the experimental and control condition affecting the dependent variable.

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Outliers

Extreme scores that cause distributions to be unsymmetrical or skewed.

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Histograms

Graphing findings into a bar graph.

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Negatively skewed distribution

An unsymmetrical distribution caused by the mean being lower than the median.

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Democritus

A philosopher who theorized about the relationship between thought and behavior.

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Order effect

Occurs when subjects perform better on a second test because they already took a similar one.

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Eclecticism

Belief that most psychologists draw from multiple perspectives.

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P value

Percentage possibility that results occurred by chance.

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Counterbalancing

Having half of the subjects do something while the others do something else, then switch.

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Trephination

Stone Age humans carving holes through the skull to release evil spirits.

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Operationalize

The explanation of how a researcher will measure a variable.

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Babinski reflex

When a baby’s foot is stroked, he or she will spread their toes.

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Myelinated

Motor control develops as neurons in our brain connect with one another.

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Generativity versus stagnation

Erikson’s stage where we try to ensure our lives are going the way we want them to go.

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Moro reflex

A startled baby flings arms, retracts them and makes themselves as small as possible.

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Industry versus inferiority

Erikson’s stage regarding the beginning of our formal education where work is evaluated.

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Autonomy versus shame and doubt

Erikson’s stage where toddlers attempt to control themselves and others.

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Trust versus mistrust

Erikson’s stage where new babies learn to trust their caregivers.

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Intimacy versus isolation

Erikson’s stage where we discover the difference between a platonic and romantic relationship.

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Ambivalent attachments

Infants that resist being comforted by their parents.

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Newborn senses

Humans are born with their sensory apparatus, but some senses differ from adults.

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Deoxyribonucleic acid

The genetic material that makes up chromosomes. (DNA)

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Chromosomal abnormality

When chromosomes occasionally combine (or fail to) in an unusual way.

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Broca’s area

Area of the brain located in the frontal lobe and motor cortex that controls the muscles involved in producing speech.

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Turner’s syndrome

Babies born with only a single X chromosome in the spot usually occupied by the 23rd pair. (webbed neck)

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Afferent neurons

Take information from the senses to the brain. (Sensory neurons)

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Wernicke’s area

Area of the brain located in the temporal lobe and sensory cortex that interprets written and spoken speech.

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Fissures

Another name for the wrinkles of the cerebral cortex.

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Interneurons

Take information from the spinal cord and sends them elsewhere in the brain.

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Computerized axial tomography

An X-ray scan that can show only the structure of the brain, not the functions or activity.

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Soma

Another name for the cell body that contains the nucleus and other parts of the cell.

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Klinefelter’s syndrome

Babies born with an extra X chromosome, resulting in an XXY pattern. (extreme introversion)

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Neuroanatomy

Refers to the study of the parts and function of neurons.

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Pons

Connects the hindbrain to the forebrain and is involved in the control of facial expressions.

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Terminal buttons

Another name for the synaptic knobs that are the branched ends of the axon that contain neurotransmitters.

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Energy senses

Gathering energy in the form of light, sound waves, and pressure (Not chemical or movement).

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Optic chiasm

The spot where the optic nerves cross each other.

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Incus

Anvil.

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Malleus

Hammer.

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Papillae

Bumps on one’s tongue where the taste buds are located.

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Stapes

Stirrup.

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Lateral geniculate nucleus

The optic nerve sends impulses to a specific region in the thalamus, then routes them to the visual cortex.

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Tympanic membrane

Eardrum.

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Backmasking

Supposed hidden messages musicians recorded backward in their music.

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Organ of corti

Neurons activated by movement of the hair cells on the lower membrane of the cochlea.

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Garcia effect

Vomiting after drinking eggnog and later feeling nauseous at the sight of eggnog. (Learned Taste Aversion)

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Yerkes-Dodson law

Individuals have different needs for excitement and are motivated by activities that will help achieve that level.

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Love needs

Desire to be accepted and belong.

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Alarm reaction

GAS theory regarding how an organism readies itself to meet a challenge by activating its sympathetic nervous system.

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Readjustment rating scale

Measures stress using life-changing units; scoring high likely leads to stress-related diseases.

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General adaptation syndrome

Seyle’s description of the general response animals have to stressful events.

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Delayed conditioning

Presenting a CS first and then introducing the UCS while the CS is still evident. (order and timing)

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Protected sleep

Belief that our ego protects us from material in the unconscious mind by presenting repressed desires in the form of symbols.

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Salient

Stimuli that are easily noticeable.

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Activation-synthesis theory

Theory proposing that dreams are the brain’s interpretation of what is happening physiologically during REM sleep.

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Paradoxical sleep

Stage of sleep characterized by REM sleep where our brain waves appear as active as when we are awake.

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Codeine

Powerful painkiller similar in chemical structure to opium usually prescribed for pain relief.

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Equipotentiality

The idea that any animal can be taught any response.

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Psilocybin

A naturally occurring hallucinogen found in over one hundred species of mushrooms.

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Methadone

Powerful painkiller similar in chemical structure to opium used for the treatment of narcotic withdrawl.

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Somnambulism

Sleepwalking.

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Blind sight

Ability of blind people to describe the path of a moving object or grasp objects they say they cannot see.

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Omission training

The withdraw of a desirable stimulus. (negative punishment)

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Monism

The belief that everything (thought and matter) are aspects of the same substance.

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Peyote

A small cactus that causes hallucinations when ingested.

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Instinctive drift

The tendency for animals to forgo rewards to pursue their typical patterns of behavior.

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Second order conditioning

Once a CS elicits a CR, it is possible to use that CS as a UCS in order to condition a response to a new stimulus.

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Dualism

The belief that humans consist of two materials: thought (nonmaterial aspects) and matter (substance).

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Agonists

Drugs that mimic neurotransmitters.

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Role theory

Idea that hypnosis is not an alternate state of consciousness because some people are more easily hypnotized than others.

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Anxiolytic

Depressant also known as a tranquilizer.

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Divergent thinking

Thinking that searches for multiple possible answers to a question.

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Levels of processing model

Two types of processing: shallow (encode by repetition) deep. (encode context and reasons)

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Recency effect

Our ability to recall the items at the end of a list.

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Anterograde amnesia

Type of memory failure where people cannot encode new memories due to damage to the hippocampus.

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Rigidity

Impediment to problem solving where one has the tendency to fall into established thought patterns. (mental set)

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Three-box model

Information-processing example that includes: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

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Linguistic relativity hypothesis

Theory stating that the language we use might control, and in some ways limit, our thinking.

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Recovered memory

Type of memory that may be constructed or false recollections of events.

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Cognitive triad

Beck’s theory that depression results from negative ideas about ourselves, our world and our future.

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Preventative efforts

Treatment of psychological problems proactively (eg – counseling following a traumatic event).

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Neologisms

Disorganized schizophrenics that make up their own words.

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Clang associations

Disorganized schizophrenics that string together a series of nonsense words that rhyme.

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Paraphilias

Person who has a sexual attraction to an object, person or activity.

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Thorazine

Drug treatment for schizophrenics that blocks dopamine receptor sites.

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Somatoform disorders

Disorder occurring when a person manifests a psychological problem through a physiological symptom.

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Flat affect

Disorganized schizophrenics who consistently have no emotional response at all.

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Benzodiazepines

A main type of antianxiety drug that includes Xanax and Valium.

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Galen

A Roman who believed psychological illnesses were influenced by biological factors and could be treated.

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Extinguished

The thought of a former anxiety arousing stimulus without any current anxiety.

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Trephination

A treatment where holes are drilled in a living person’s skull to let harmful spirits escape.

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Hypochondriasis

Type of somatoform disorder where people seek medical attention for physical ailments with no apparent causes.

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In vivo desensitization

The confrontation of actual items on the anxiety hierarchy.

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Tricyclic antidepressants

A common type of drug used to treat unipolar depression that was largely replaced by SSRIs.

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Waxy flexibility

Catatonic schizophrenics that allow their body to be moved then hold the new pose.

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Psychogenic amnesia

People who cannot remember things and have no physiological basis for the disruption of their memories.

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Labels, influence of,

Rosenhan study where healthy people posed as schizophrenics in a hospital and were never discovered.

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Voyeur

Person who is sexually aroused by watching others engage in sexual behavior.

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Monoamine oxidase inhibitors

A classic antidepressant that prevents the breakdown of monoamines.

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Lithium

A light metal (salt) used to treat the manic phase of bipolar disorder.

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Tardive dyskinesia

A side effect of antipsychotic drugs characterized by muscle tremors and stiffness.

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Insane

A legal term, not a medical term, describing people with psychological disorders.

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Masochist

Person who is aroused by having pain inflicted on themselves.

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Sadist

Person who is aroused by having pain inflicted on someone else.

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Miltown

A commercial name for an antianxiety barbiturate.

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Concurrent validity

A measure of how much of a characteristic a person has now.

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Split-half reliability

Randomly dividing a test into two different sections and then correlating people’s performances on the two halves.

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Power tests

A measure used to gauge the difficulty level of problems an individual can solve.

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WPPSI

A measure of intelligence given to children as young as 4.

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Construct validity

An existing independent measure containing perfect validity that is compared against current performance.

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Test-retest reliability

Comparison of the correlation of a person’s score on one test to the score on a subsequent test.

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With-in group differences

Comparison of the differences within a testing group to the differences between testing groups.

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Equivalent form reliability

A variety of tests that have been tested to ensure equivalent reliability.

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Persona

Jung’s collective unconscious archetype that represents people’s creation of a public image.

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Shadow

Jung’s collective unconscious archetype that represents the evil side of personality.

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Reality principle

The ego’s negotiation between the desires of the id and the limitations of the environment.

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Third force

Humanistic psychology’s focus on free will and an individual’s ability to choose their own destiny.

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Somatotype theory

Early biological theory of personality involving three body types found to be not reliable or valid.

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Anal expulsive personality

Freudian term describing a messy and disorganized person.

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Pleasure principal

The id’s desire for immediate gratification.

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Thanatos

Freudian term for death instincts seen in aggression.

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Adult genital stage

Psychosexual stage after puberty where Freud theorized people stay for the rest of their lives.

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Penis envy

Freudian term describing a girl’s desire for a penis.

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Womb envy

Horney’s term describing men’s jealousy of women’s reproductive capabilities.

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Eclecticism

Psychologists who accept ideas from many different perspectives on psychological disorders.

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LaPiere

Researcher who conducted a study that demonstrated that the relationship between our attitudes and behaviors are imperfect.

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Castration anxiety

Freudian term describing a boy’s fear that if they misbehave they will be castrated.

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Triadic reciprocity model

Bandura’s term describing personality through traits, environment, and behavior (reciprocal determinism).

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Door-in-the-face strategy

A phenomenon where person refuses a large request then will agree to a follow-up request that seems more reasonable.

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Person-unstable attribution

Attribution to a person the things observed on a rare occasion.

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Collective unconscious

Jung’s term describing certain similarities between all cultures.

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Nomothetic approach

Trait theorists that believe that the same basic set of traits can be used to describe all personalities.

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Eros

Freudian term most often evidenced as a desire for sex (life instincts).

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Barnum effect

Natural curiosity of people that contributes to their willingness to see themselves in vague, stock descriptions of personality.

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Libido

Freudian term for energy that directs life instincts relating to sexuality.

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Person attribution

Attribution to a person the things observed (dispositional).

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Idiographic

Trait theorists that assert that it is impossible to use the same set of terms to classify all people’s personalities.

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Person-stable attribution

Attribution to a person the things observed over an extended period of time.

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