modality

(mō-dăl'ĭ-tē)

1. The fact, state, or quality of being modal.
2. A tendency to conform to a general pattern or belong to a particular group or category.
3. Logic. The classification of propositions on the basis of whether they assert or deny the possibility, impossibility, contingency, or necessity of their content. Also called mode.
4. modalities The ceremonial forms, protocols, or conditions that surround formal agreements or negotiations: "[He] grew so enthusiastic about our prospects that he began to speculate on the modalities of signing" (Henry A. Kissinger).
5. Medicine. A therapeutic method or agent, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or electrotherapy, that involves the physical treatment of a disorder.
6. Physiology. Any of the various types of sensation, such as vision or hearing.

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The modality of a proposition is the way in which it is true or false. The most important division is between propositions true of necessity, and those true as things are: necessary as opposed to contingent propositions. Other qualifiers sometimes called modal include the tense indicators ‘It will be the case that p’ or ‘It was the case that p’, and there are affinities between the deontic indicators ‘it ought to be the case that p’ or ‘it is permissible that p’, and the logical modalities. See also modal logic.

1. a method of application of, or the employment of, any therapeutic agent; limited usually to physical agents.
2. a specific sensory entity, such as taste.
3. in homeopathy, a condition that modifies drug action; a condition under which clinical signs develop, becoming better or worse.

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Modality may refer to:

Contents 1 Education 2 Humanities 3 Linguistics 4 Medicine 5 Science and technology 6 Other uses 7 See also

Education

• Multimedia learning

Humanities

• In law: the basis of legal argumentation in United States constitutional law
• In theology: Modality (theology): the organization and structure of the church, as distinct from sodality or parachurch organizations
• In music, the subject concerning certain diatonic scales known as musical modes (e.g., Ionian)
• In sociology, Modalities (sociology) is a concept in Anthony Giddens structuration theory

Linguistics

• Modality (semiotics), the channel by which signs are transmitted (oral, gesture, written)
• Linguistic modality, covering expressions of how the world might be and should be. This includes expressions of necessity, permissibility and probability, and negations of these

Medicine

• Sensory modality or Stimulus modality, a type of physical phenomenon that one can sense, such as temperature and sound
• In psychotherapy, a method of therapeutic approach
• In medical imaging, any of the various types of equipment or probes used to acquire images of the body, such as radiography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging

Science and technology

• Transportation modality, a mode of transport
• modal logic, a form of logic which distinguishes between (logically) "necessary truths" and "contingent truths". Related topics include possibility, impossibility, actuality, and related predicates
• modality (human-computer interaction), a path of communication between the human and the computer, such as vision or touch
• Mode (computer interface)

Other uses

• In advance fee fraud (Nigerian 419 Scams), the method of funds transfers. Often used as a key-word in scam baiting
• Modal realism, a view that all possible worlds are as real as the actual world
• Modalities (trade negotiations), the formulas, targets, or specific measures used to accomplish objectives in trade negotiations

See also

• Mode (disambiguation)
• Modal (disambiguation)

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