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Rush, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Rush, Benjamin, 1745?–1813, American physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Byberry (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton, 1760), M.D. Univ. o...

anxiety

(Encyclopedia)anxiety, anticipatory tension or vague dread persisting in the absence of a specific threat. In contrast to fear, which is a realistic reaction to actual danger, anxiety is generally related to an unc...

toxoplasmosis

(Encyclopedia)toxoplasmosis, infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasitic microorganism that can infect most warm-blooded animals but reproduces only in animals of the cat family, who shed the p...

Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von

(Encyclopedia)Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm yōˈzĕf fən shĕˈlĭng [key], 1775–1854, German philosopher. After theological study at Tübingen and two years of tutoring at Le...

fatigue, in physiology

(Encyclopedia)fatigue, in physiology, inability to perform reasonable and necessary physical or mental activity. Muscle fatigue, for example, results when the contractile properties of muscle are reduced, and conti...

behaviorism

(Encyclopedia)behaviorism, school of psychology which seeks to explain animal and human behavior entirely in terms of observable and measurable responses to environmental stimuli. Behaviorism was introduced (1913) ...

unconscious

(Encyclopedia)unconscious, in psychology, that aspect of mental life that is separate from immediate consciousness and is not subject to recall at will. Sigmund Freud regarded the unconscious as a submerged but vas...

physical education and training

(Encyclopedia)physical education and training, organized instruction in motor activities that contribute to the physical growth, health, and body image of the individual. The historical roots of physical education ...

divorce

(Encyclopedia)divorce, partial or total dissolution of a marriage by the judgment of a court. Partial dissolution is a divorce “from bed and board,” a decree of judicial separation, leaving the parties official...

Niebuhr, Reinhold

(Encyclopedia)Niebuhr, Reinhold rīnˈhōld nēˈbo͝or [key], 1892–1971, American religious and social thinker, b. Wright City, Mo. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he served (1915–28) as pastor of Bethel E...