Glossary M
Glossary M
Maternal-serum Alpha-fetoprotein screening (MSAFP) refers to a blood test used during early pregnancy to determine neural tube defects such as spina bifida or anencephaly.
mathematics disorder refers to mathematics performance significantly below the standard for that age level.
Matthew effect refers to the effect of early reading skill on later reading skill in which early good readers improve faster than early poor readers with the result that the gap between skilled and poor readers grows.
Matthew effect is named after the biblical passage according to which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer.
Maturation refers to the systematic physical growth of the body, including the nervous system; developmental changes in the body or behavior that associated with the biological process of aging. Maturation also refers to the developmental changes in the body or behavior that result from the aging process rather than from learning, injury, illness, or some other life experience. Maturation also refers to a change in behavior caused by physical or physiological development of the organism in the absence of experience with particular environmental events.
Maturation hypothesis refers to the proposition that people with antisocial personality and the other Cluster B disorders become better able to manage their behaviors as they age.