To address Masøn’s “affective” vs “effective” wondering:
“Effective” comes from the noun “effect” (result) and means “producing a desired result”. This word is used in everyday speech, and the one that Masøn was using.
“Affective” comes from the verb “affect” (making a display of liking, related to “affection”) and means “expressing emotion” or “related to emotion”. The term is almost exclusively used in psychology.
It turns out that there are multiple English words spelled “effect” and “affect”, so it is tricky to explain which to use in which circumstances, but typically:
“Effect” when used as a verb means “to cause directly”, and is seldom used.
“Effect” when used as a noun means “result”.
“Affect” when used as a verb means “to influence”, and is frequently used.
“Affect” is never a noun in common speech.
“Affect” can also refer to emotions, both as a noun and as a verb (the syllables are stressed differently to distinguish parts of speech), but that usage is limited to formal psychology studies and discussions.
Practical application: In most circumstances, you’ll use “effective” as the adjective, “effect” as the noun, and “affect” as the verb when writing.
