Glossary#
In the definitions in this glossary, terms that refer to concepts that are defined elsewhere in the glossary are printed in italic.
General terms from psychology#
Behavior
Behavior is often defined as muscle activity. In Intervention Mapping, behavior is defined a bit more broadly and can include decisions people take. Behaviors are always processes that take place over time.
Construct
In psychology, a construct is usually a hypothesized psychological variable or process. Construct definitions describe which aspects of human psychology comprise that construct.
Determinant
In behavior change science, a determinant, also called behavioral determinant or psycho-social determinant, is a modifiable psychological construct that is hypothesized to cause behavior or contribute to causing behavior by at least one theory.
Logic model
A logic model is a diagram that visualizes theoretical, empirically derived, or hypothetical relationships between concepts.
Theory
A theory is an explanation of a bit of the world. Theories in the social sciences often hypothesize and define one or more psychological constructs and then describe how they relate to each other.
Intervention Mapping terms#
Change Objective
Change Objectives are subdeterminants that have been formulated according to a specific set of guidelines. They are representations of the corresponding subdeterminant in a measurable form.
Environmental Agent
Environmental agents, sometimes called environmental actors, are people or groups of people that have agency over one or more environmental conditions.
Environmental Condition
An environmental condition is an aspect of the environment of the target population, of an environmental agent, or of an implementer.
Environmental Level
An environmental level is the level at which an environmental agent exists. These levels determine which methods are available for targeting those agents.
Performance Objective
A performance objective is a sub-behavior. The concept is used to get more fine-grained insights into the determinants and environmental conditions that together predict a behavior.
Non-IM behavior change terms#
ABCD
An Acyclic Behavior Change Diagram is to step 3 of IM what a Matrix of Change Objectives is to step 2: it succinctly illustrates structural-causal chains in an intervention logic model.
Aspect of the human psyche
An aspect of the human psyche is a raw expression of somebody’s psyche, for example “I really hate broccoli!” or “At that party, everybody was drinking cocktails.”
COMPLECS
COMPLECS is a recursive acronym for COMPLECS Organises Multiple Players & Linked Environments using Connected Specifications.
CIBER plot
A Confidence Interval-Based Estimation of Relevance plot is a visualization to help select sub-determinants to intervene on.
MAP
A Map of Aspects of the Psyche, MAP, shows all psychological aspects that may cause a target behavior.
Sub-determinant
A sub-determinant is an aspect that has been categorized as a specific psychological construct, that is, a determinant. These are important in behavior change science and practice because behavior change interventions can only target concrete and specific content.