Glossary A

Glossary A

Abilene paradox refers to the counterintuitive tendency for a group to decide on a course of action that none of the members of the group individually endorses, resulting from the group’s failure to recognize and manage its agreement on key issues.

Deutsch: Fähigkeit / Español: Habilidad / Português: Habilidade / Français: Capacité / Italiano: Abilità /

Ability is a basic capacity of a person for performing a wide range of different tasks, acquiring knowledge, or developing a skill; what one has learned over a period of time from both school and nonschool sources; one's general capability for performing tasks.

Ability goals refers to goals based on a desire to be superior to others

- Ability tracking : Ability tracking refers to the educational practice of grouping students according to ability and then educating them in classes with students of comparable educational or intellectual standing. It is a school procedure in which students are grouped by IQ or academic achievement and then taught in classes made up of students of comparable ”ability.”

Ability trait refers to a trait that determines how effectively a person works toward a desired goal.

- Ability traits : Ability traits refer to traits that describe the person's skills and how efficiently he/she will be able to work toward his/her goals.

Ablation refers to the removal of cells or tissues, usually through surgical means. Moreover, Ablation is the surgical destruction or removal of tissue, an organ, or a precise region of a particular structure. Ablation may involve surgical cutting (excision); chemical destruction, such as injection of phenol; or the use of high frequency electrical current or radio waves. For example, pallidotomy is a procedure used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease or certain other movement disorders. The procedure involves surgical ablation of part of the internal portion of the globus pallidus (GPi)--i.e., a brain region involved in regulating movement--in an attempt to "rebalance" movement and posture control. Once a wire probe is inserted into and precisely positioned within the GPi, it heats and destroys adjacent tissue through the emission of radio waves. This is usually done in experiments on animals, to determine the function of a particular area. Ablation is also called Lesioning.

Ablation experiment refers to an experiment developed by Pierre Flourens that involved removing parts of the brain of pigeons and hens. Flourens reported that excising any part of the brain in birds led to generalized, not localized, disorders of behavior.