Glossary / Lexicon

Deutsch: Provision / Español: Comisión / Português: Comissão / Français: Commission / Italiano: Commissione

In the context of psychology, the term commission can refer to the act of committing an action or behavior, particularly in studies related to decision-making, behavioral tasks, and error analysis.

See --->active deception.

General Description

In psychological studies, commission errors are a specific type of action-based mistake where an individual performs an action when they are supposed to withhold that action. These are often studied in contrast to omission errors, where the error occurs because of the failure to perform an action. Commission errors can provide insight into cognitive processes like impulse control, attention, and executive function.

This concept is closely associated with tasks that measure response inhibition, such as the Go/No-Go tasks, where participants must perform actions in response to certain stimuli and refrain from acting in response to others.

Application Areas

• Cognitive Psychology: Commission errors are analyzed to understand cognitive control and dysfunction, often related to neurological disorders such as ADHD or frontal lobe damage.
• Clinical Psychology: Understanding these errors can help in diagnosing and treating conditions where impulse control is compromised.
• Neuropsychology: Used to study the brain functions involved in planning, controlling, and executing actions.

Treatment and Risks

Identifying patterns of commission errors can be critical in clinical settings for diagnosing conditions like ADHD, where increased rates of commission errors may indicate difficulties with attention and response inhibition. Treatment strategies may involve behavioral therapies, cognitive training, or medication to enhance executive control functions.

The risk of not addressing frequent commission errors can lead to challenges in academic, occupational, and social settings, where inappropriate actions or responses may have significant consequences.

Similar Terms

• Response Inhibition: The ability to suppress actions that are inappropriate or no longer required.
• Go/No-Go Task: A psychological task used to assess an individual's impulse control and error monitoring.

Summary

In psychology, commission refers to the act of performing an action and is often studied through errors where actions are mistakenly performed when they should be withheld. Analyzing these errors helps in understanding cognitive control mechanisms and can inform clinical interventions for conditions characterized by impaired impulse control.