The Boffins Portal Team 
QUICK DEFINITION: Shaping in psychology is a behavioral technique involving the rewarding of successive approximations toward a desired behavior. It involves reinforcing behaviors that progressively resemble the target behavior to achieve desired outcomes. EXPLANATION: Have you ever wondered how animals such as bears learn feats like riding a bicycle? The answer lies in shaping. Shaping …
Persuasion is as old as human existence. It seeks to influence people’s attitudes and produce a particular target response. As a result, the process of persuasion has intrigued many people as to how it works. Politicians pay close attention as do companies wanting to market their goods to you. And preachers don’t want to get …
Life doesn’t always give us neat choices. For a little more of something, you may have to settle for a little less of something else. Economists recognize this and so they came up with a word: a trade-off. Trade-offs simply mean forgoing something good in exchange for something else you may need or want. Trade-offs …
QUICK DEFINITION: Compressional waves, also known as longitudinal waves, transmit energy by causing particles to oscillate parallel to the direction of wave propagation, typically seen in sound waves and seismic vibrations. EXPLANATION: Compression and rarefaction are just like siblings. That’s because they stay right next to each other as neighbors in longitudinal waves. When we …
DEFINITION: Rarefaction refers to the region in a longitudinal wave where particles are spread apart, creating a decrease in density. It occurs between compressions and is a phase of wave propagation. EXPLANATION: Waves are energy vibrations that are transmitted through a medium. However, the direction in which these waves vibrate can make all the difference. …
Force is something that we come across in everyday life. It can be defined as an external cause or energy that results in movement or a change in position of a body that is either at rest or moving in a straight line. It is an external push or pull that acts on an object. …
Simple machines are everywhere. They are the building blocks of many of the machines we use to make our work easier. A simple machine is any device that changes the magnitude or direction of a force applied to it. They are the simplest mechanisms that can make work easier by providing a mechanical advantage. Simple …
QUICK DEFINITION: The Law of Conservation of Mass states that in a closed system, the total mass remains constant over time; mass cannot be created or destroyed, only rearranged or transformed in reactions. EXPLANATION: Every self-respecting chemist knows one thing about chemical reactions: the total mass of materials before the reaction and the mass of …
DEFINITION: A double replacement reaction is a chemical process where two compounds exchange ions, leading to the formation of two new compounds, typically occurring in aqueous solutions and producing a precipitate or gas. EXPLANATION: In the chemistry world, we classify many things such as elements and compounds. We also classify the reactions that these substances …
DEFINITION: Facilitated diffusion is a passive transport process where specific molecules move across a cell membrane with the assistance of transport proteins, following a concentration gradient without energy expenditure. EXPLANATION: A cell is like a busy factory that needs input supplies to come in and waste thrown out. Like a factory with a wall, windows, …