| reinforcement | 1. <neurology> An increase of force or strength; denoting specifically the increased sharpness of the patellar reflex when the patient at the same time closes the fist tightly or pulls against the flexed fingers or contracts some other set of muscles. See: Jendrassik's manoeuvre. 2. <dentistry> A structural addition or inclusion used to give additional strength in function; e.g., bars in plastic denture base. 3. <psychology> In conditioning, the totality of the process in which the conditioned stimulus is followed by presentation of the unconditioned stimulus which, itself, elicits the response to be conditioned. See: reinforcer, schedules of reinforcement, classical conditioning, operant conditioning. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| reinforcement schedule | <psychology> A schedule prescribing when the subject is to be reinforced or rewarded in terms of temporal interval in psychological experiments. The schedule may be continuous or intermittent. (12 Dec 1998) |
| reinforcement, verbal | Use of word stimulus to strengthen a response during learning. (12 Dec 1998) |
| primary reinforcement | Satisfaction of physiological needs or drives, such as that supplied by food or sleep. (05 Mar 2000) |
| secondary reinforcement | Reinforcement through something which, while it does not satisfy the need directly, has been associated with direct satisfaction of the need, such as the effect on behaviour of a food or beer commercial on television. (05 Mar 2000) |
| social reinforcement | <psychology> The strengthening of a response with a social reward such as a nod of approval, a parent's love or attention. (12 Dec 1998) |
| CD4-positive T-lymphocytes | A critical subpopulation of regulatory T-lymphocytes involved in the induction of most immunological functions. The HIV virus has selective tropism for the t4 cell which expresses the CD4 phenotypic marker, a receptor for HIV. In fact, the key element in the profound immunosuppression seen in HIV infection is the depletion of this subset of T-lymphocytes, which includes both the helper-inducer (T-lymphocytes, helper-inducer) and suppressor-inducer (T-lymphocytes, suppressor-inducer) T-cells. (12 Dec 1998) |
| CD8-positive T-lymphocytes | A critical subpopulation of regulatory T-lymphocytes involved in MHC class I-restricted interactions. They include both cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (T-lymphocytes, cytotoxic) and suppressor T-lymphocytes (T-lymphocytes, suppressor-effector). (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-positive | <microbiology> Bacteria that retain the stain or that are resistant to decolourisation by alcohol during Gram's method of staining. This is a primary characteristic of bacteria whose cell wall is composed of a thick layer of peptidologlycan containing teichoic and lipoteichoic acid complexed to the peptidoglycan. See: gram-negative (06 Oct 1997) |
| gram-positive asporogenous rods | <microbiology> A gram-positive, non-spore-forming group of bacteria comprising organisms that have morphological and physiological characteristics in common. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-positive asporogenous rods, irregular | <microbiology> A group of irregular rod-shaped bacteria that stain gram-positive and do not produce endospores. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-positive asporogenous rods, regular | <microbiology> A group of regular rod-shaped bacteria that stain gram-positive and do not produce endospores. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-positive bacteria | <microbiology> Bacteria which retain the crystal violet stain when treated by gram's method. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-positive bacterial infections | <microbiology> Infections caused by bacteria that retain the crystal violet stain (positive) when treated by the gram-staining method. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-positive cocci | <microbiology> Coccus-shaped bacteria that retain the crystal violet stain when treated by gram's method. (12 Dec 1998) |