Without the language, it is clear that our communication would be quite confusing. And while the ways we communicate can be very flexible, do we really know what some words mean when we use them? (especially if we talk about science).
In science, words are defined by highly specialized meanings. For this reason, and to avoid misunderstandings or misuse, a team of researchers from Emory University in Atlanta (USA) has published a list of terms so that ordinary mortals stop making mistakes.
“In psychology, many terms are confused not only by new students, but also by advanced students, psychology instructors and science journalists,” says Scott Lilienfeld, co-author of the work.
Your confusion can impair your understanding of key scientific concepts on a day-to-day basis. Hence, a proper understanding of specialized terminology is a prerequisite for mastery of basic concepts in all scientific disciplines, including psychological science.
This new work is actually a sequel to an earlier study (published in 2015) in which they collected a list of the most “inaccurate, misleading, misused, ambiguous, and logically confusing words in psychology, genetics, and science in general.”
The current list features 50 pairs of words that mean completely different things, but are often confused with each other. They get confused in academic writing, popular writing, or both. Many of the terms, such as learning and memory, are frequently confused not only by students who have just started their studies, but by advanced psychology students, psychology instructors, and science journalists. The list of commonly confused pairs of terms “should be a modest contribution to improving psychological literacy and critical thinking in psychology more broadly,” the authors clarify in the journal Frontiers in Education.
All sciences rely on specialized language, or “jargon,” and psychology is no exception. Indeed, a proper understanding of terminology is a prerequisite for mastery of the basic concepts of each scientific discipline, because terms are referents for concepts and it is not surprising that a large amount of time is routinely spent in education. superior to ensure an accurate understanding of the terminology in your field.
Here are the most common ones.
