idiotheticadj.
/ˌɪdɪəˈθɛtɪk/, U.S. /ˌɪdiəˈθɛdɪk/ Animal Behaviour and Psychology.
Designating or relating to that awareness of the body's location in space which is derived by reference to previous orientations and movements, rather than to external stimuli.
ΚΠ
1972 M. L. Mittelstaedt-Burger in R. Wehner Information Processing in Visual Syst. Arthropods vii. 275 This type of course control without external directing cues will be named idiothetic.
1987 Daily Tel. 27 July 9/1 Though we use various cues,..the movement of the hand to turn on the switch is probably determined by idiothetic memory.
2003 O. von Helversen & Y. Winter in T. H. Kunz & M. B. Fenton Bat Ecol. viii. 388 Idiothetic orientation and sensory information from external cues are combined to infer a relative and absolute knowledge of spatial relations.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1972