Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
35 results found in psychology.
- Loss Aversion
- A cognitive bias in which people experience the pain of losing something more intensely than the pleasure of gaining something of equal value. In the context of technology accessibility and aging, los…
- Metacognition (Thinking About Thinking, Meta-Cognitive Awareness)
- The awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes, including the ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate one's cognitive strategies during learning or problem-solving. In accessibility, su…
- Personal Space (Interpersonal Distance, Personal Distance Zone)
- The invisible boundary surrounding a person that they consider their own territory, the violation of which can cause discomfort or stress. Research by Edward T. Hall defined four distance zones: intim…
- Physical Agency (Bodily Agency, Sense of Agency)
- The feeling of control and ownership over physical actions and their effects in the world. In assistive technology contexts, physical agency refers to a users sense of directly controlling objects and…
- Restorative Environment (Restorative Setting)
- An environment—physical or virtual—that promotes psychological recovery from mental fatigue and stress. Based on Attention Restoration Theory, restorative environments typically feature natural elemen…
- Selective Attention (Focused Attention)
- The cognitive ability to focus on a specific stimulus or task while filtering out irrelevant distractions. In accessibility and inclusive design, understanding selective attention is critical for crea…
- Self-Determination (Autonomy, Self-Determination Theory)
- The right and ability of individuals to make choices and decisions about their own lives, bodies, and futures without external coercion or control. In disability rights, self-determination is a core p…
- Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
- A psychological framework identifying three innate human needs — autonomy (feeling in control of one's actions), competence (feeling effective and capable), and relatedness (feeling connected to other…
- Self-Efficacy
- A person's belief in their own ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish particular tasks. In workplace inclusion contexts, self-efficacy is an important outcome measure for assistive te…
- Self-Regulation (Self-Management, Behavioral Regulation)
- The ability to monitor and manage one's own emotions, behavior, and cognitive processes to achieve goals. Self-regulation encompasses emotional regulation, attentional control, and behavioral inhibiti…
- Socially Recursive Inference (Social Recursion)
- The cognitive process by which individuals' perceptions and behaviors are shaped by what they believe others think about them or their situation. In accessibility contexts, socially recursive inferenc…
- Sustained Attention (Vigilance, Continuous Attention)
- The ability to maintain focus on a task or stimulus over an extended period of time. Sustained attention is a core executive function that can be impaired in conditions such as ADHD, traumatic brain i…
- Theory of Mind (ToM, Mentalizing, Mind Reading)
- The cognitive ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intentions, desires, emotions, knowledge—to oneself and others, and to understand that others may have mental states different from one's own.…
- Valence (Emotional Valence, Hedonic Tone)
- In affective science, valence is the dimension of emotional experience that describes positivity versus negativity — whether a feeling is pleasant or unpleasant. Paired with arousal, valence forms the…
- Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
- A concept from educational psychologist Lev Vygotsky describing the range of tasks that a learner can perform with the assistance of a more competent individual (scaffolding) but cannot yet perform in…