2023 AP Psych - DA GRAND REVIEW 😎

Wilhelm Wundt

He set up the first psychological laboratory in an apartment near the university at Leipzig, Germany. He trained subjects in introspection, asking them to record accurately their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli. He hoped to examine basic cognitive structures.

William James

He published The Principles of Psychology, the science first textbook. He examined how the structures Wundt identified function in our lives.

Mary Whiton Calkins

She studied with William James and went on the become president of the American Psychological Association.

Margaret Floy Washburn

She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology.

G. Stanley Hall

He pioneered the study of child development and was the first president of the American Psychological Association.

Max Wertheimer

He was a Gestalt psychologist who argued against dividing human thought and behavior into discrete structures.

Sigmund Freud

He revolutionized psychology with his psychoanalytic theory. While treating patients for various psychosomatic complaints, he believed he discovered the unconscious mind. He believed that this hidden part builds up over the years through repression. He believed that to understand human thought and behavior truly, we must examine the unconscious mind through dream analysis, word association, and other psychoanalytic therapy techniques.

John B. Watson

He studied the pioneering conditioning experiments of Ivan Pavlov. He declared that for psychology to be considered a science, it must limit itself to observable phenomena, not observable concepts like the unconscious mind. He wanted to establish behaviorism as the dominant paradigm of psychology.

Ivan Pavlov

He came up with conditioning experiments.

B.F. Skinner

He expanded the basic ideas of behaviorism to include the idea of reinforcement. His intellectual influence lasted for decades.

Abraham Maslow

He stressed individual choice and freewill.

Carl Rogers

He also stressed individual choice and freewill.

Charles Darwin

He came up with the theory of natural selection.

Jean Piaget

He came up with the cognitive developmental theory.

Structuralism

early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind

Functionalism

early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function- how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

introspection

examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

Psychoanalytic Theory

A theory developed by Freud that attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior

Humanist Perspective

stresses individual choice and free will. Believed we choose most of our behaviors and these choices are guided by physiological, emotional, or spiritual needs.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

the perspective that stresses the influences of unconscious forces on human behavior

Biopsychology (or neuroscience) Perspective

biopsychologists explain human thought and behavior strictly in terms of biological processes. neuroscientists believe that human cognition and reactions might be caused by effects of our genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters in the brain or by a combination of all three.

Evolutionary (or Darwinian) Perspective

Examine human thoughts and actions through natural selection; best thoughts/traits continue for survival advantage

Behavioral Perspective

how we learn observable responses

Cognitive Perspective

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

Social-Cultural (or sociocultural) Perspective

Examining how our thoughts and behaviors vary from people living in other cultures--it's the environment

Neuroanatomy

Study of parts and functions of neurons

Neuron

Individual nerve cells which make up the nervous system and fire to pass motor/sensory messages

Dendrites

Rootlike parts of cell which stretch out from cell body which grow to make connections with other neurons

Cell body (Soma)

Contains nucleus and parts of cell to keep it alive

Axon

Wirelike structure ending in terminal buttons which extends from

Myelin sheath

Fatty protective covering around axon to speed up neural impulses

Terminal Buttons (axon terminals, terminal branches, end buttons, synaptic knobs)

Endings of axon which contain neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals which allow neurons to communicate

Synapse

Space between terminal buttons of one neuron and dendrites of another

Receptor Sites

Neurotransmitters fit into receptor sites on dendrites

Threshold

\# of neurotransmitters received from neuron A at the dendrites of neuron B at which the cell membrane of neuron B becomes permeable and the action potential occurs in neuron B.

Action Potential

Electric message firing - a change in charge spreads through the axon as positive ions from outside the cell rush inside the cell

All-or-none Principle

Either a neuron fires or it doesn't, there's no in-between

Neural firing

When the \# of neurotransmitters at receptor sites reach the threshold, neural firing occurs.

Excitatory neurotransmitters

Excite next neuron into firing.

Inhibitory neurotransmitters

Prevent/inhibit next neuron from firing

Acetylcholine

Function: Motor movement

Problems with Excess/Deficit: Lack - Alzheimer's

Dopamine

Function: Motor movement and alertness

Problems with Excess/Deficit:
Lack - Parkinson's disease
Excess - Schizophrenia

Endorphins

Function: Pain control

Problems with Excess/Deficit: Involved in addictions

Serotonin

Function: Mood control

Problems with Excess/Deficit: Clinical depression

GABA

Function: Inhibitory neurotransmitter

Problems with Excess/Deficit: Seizures, Sleep problems

Glutamate

Function: Excitatory neurotransmitter involved in memory

Problems with Excess/Deficit: Migrains, Seizures

Norepinephrine

Function: Alertness, arousal

Problems with Excess/Deficit: Depression

Afferent neurons (sensory neurons)

Take info from senses to brain

Efferent neurons

Take info from brain to rest of body

Interneurons

Carry info from spinal cord/brain to efferent neurons or places in brain

Central nervous system (CNS)

Brain and spinal cord

Spinal cord

Bundle of nerves through center of spine which carries info from body to brain

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Consists of all nerves not encased in bone
Divided into somatic and autonomic

Somatic nervous system

Controls voluntary muscle movements
Receives messages from motor cortex

Autonomic nervous system

Automatic functions and stress reactions
Divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic

Sympathetic nervous system

Accelerates body functions in response to stress

Parasympathetic nervous system

Slow down body after a stress response

Reflex Reaction

Certain reactions send sensory information to spine, spine sends signal to leg (action without reaching brain immediately)

Accidents

Parts of brain can be damaged in accident - gives clues on which part has what function

Lesions

Removal of part of brain

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Detects brain waves
Widely used in study of sleep

Computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT scan)

Uses multiple rotating and moving X-ray cameras to create 3D X-ray of brain structure

Magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI)

Uses magnetic fields to create more detailed images without radiation exposure

Positron emission tomography (PET)

Detects brain activity in different regions of brain

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Technology which combines MRI and PET to show brain structure combined with brain activity in an area

Hindbrain

Top part of spinal cord
Life support system - basic survival systems
Contains pons, medulla, cerebellum

Medulla

Controls blood pressure, heart rate, breathing (above spinal cord)

Pons

Above medulla towards front
Connects hindbrain with midbrain/forebrain
Controls facial expressions

Cerebellum

Bottom rear of brain
Habitual muscle movements

Midbrain

Integrates simple movements with sensory info
Between hindbrain and forebrain

Contains reticular formation

Reticular formation

collection of cells which controls arousal and focus

Forebrain

Control thought and reason
Contains thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala

Thalamus

Receives sensory signals from spinal cord and sends them to rest of forebrain

Hypothalamus

Small size - metabolic functions like temperature, libido, hunger, thirst, hormones

Amygdala

Structures near end of each hippocampal arm
Experience of emotion

Hippocampus

Vital to memory - Processes and sends memories to cerebral cortex for permanent storage

Limbic system

Thalamus + hypothalamus + amygdala + hippocampus - deal with emotion & memory

Cerebral cortex

Gray wrinkled surface of brain of neurons which store memories by creating connections between neurons

Fissures- wrinkles (increase surface area for more neurons)

Hemispheres

Divisions of cerebral cortex, each with different function

Left hemisphere

Sensory messages and motor functions of right side
^Contralateral control

Right hemisphere

Sensory messages and motor functions of left side
^Contralateral control

Brain lateralization (or hemispheric specialization)

Right \= creative functions
(L)eft \= (L)ogic

Corpus callosum

Nerve bundle connecting hemispheres

If damaged, split-brain patients occur

Lobes

8 divisions of brain (4 on each hemisphere)

Frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital

Association area

Active areas in thought and behavior, but not receiving sensory information or controlling muscles

Frontal lobes

Large areas of cerebral cortex (top front behind eyes)
Prefrontal cortex - brain's central executive, abstract thought

Left Frontal lobe has language processing - Broca's and Wernicke's

Broca's area

In frontal lobe - controls muscle movements for speech

Wernicke's area

In temporal lobe - interprets written and spoken speech

Motor cortex

Thin vertical strip at back of frontal lobe
Controls voluntary movements

Parietal lobes

Behind frontal lobe on top of brain
Contain sensory cortex - touch

Sensory cortex

Thin vertical strip - receives touch

Occipital ("Optical") lobes

Interpret messages from eyes

Impulses from right half of retinas - visual cortex in right occipital lobe

Impulses from left half of retinas - visual cortex in left occipital lobe

Temporal lobes

Process sound from ears - sends impulses to auditory cortices

Not lateralized - sound from left processed by both auditory cortices

Brain plasticity

Brain is flexible - brain can adapt to other functions

Can make new connections to replace missing functions

Endocrine system

Secret hormones to control biological processes

Controlled by hypothalamus

Adrenal glands

Produces adrenaline - Fight or flight

Monozygotic twins

Identical twins - came from same zygote

Roger Sperry

Split-brain study