(dis-krim‵ĭ-nā'shŏn )

[L. discriminatio, a contrast]

1. The process of distinguishing or differentiating.
2. Unequal, unjust, or illegal treatment or denial of rights or privileges without reasonable cause.
3. The accuracy with which risk factors separate a population into the healthy and the sick.

age d.Discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age, e.g., against children, teenagers, but esp. against older adults. Older people are regarded as weak, useless, incompetent, and unemployable.SYN: ageism.

SEE: Age Discrimination Act.

disability d.Discrimination by an employer against a disabled but otherwise qualified employee or job applicant. Federal and state laws require that an employer provide reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee or applicant except when such accommodation would cause undue hardship (significant difficulty or excessive cost) for the employer.

SEE: reasonable accommodation.

employment d.Discrimination against an employee or applicant because of his or her race, color, national origin or ethnicity, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, physical and / or mental disability, religion, or military status, prohibited by various federal and state laws.

figure-ground d.The ability to see the outline of an object as distinct from visually competing background stimuli. This ability is often impaired following central nervous system damage.

genetic d.Discrimination against persons with either known genetic abnormalities or the inherited propensity for disease. Genetic discrimination may have a negative effect on employability, insurability, and other socioeconomic variables.

one-point d.The ability to locate specifically a point of pressure on the surface of the skin.

racial d.Discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, or national origin in order to deny the recognition, equal enjoyment, and exercise of human and civil rights in the political, economic, social, and cultural fields of public life, prohibited by various federal and state laws.

spatial d.The ability to perceive as separate points of contact the two blunt points of a compass when applied to the skin.

speech d.The ability to recognize a spoken word if it is uttered loudly enough for the hearer to detect it as a sound.

tactile d.Two-point discrimination.

tonal d.The ability to distinguish one tone from another. This is dependent on the integrity of the transverse fibers of the basilar membrane of the organ of Corti.

two-point d.The ability to localize two points of pressure on the surface of the skin and to identify them as discrete sensations. SYN: tactile discrimination.

SEE: two-point discrimination test.