Myer's Psychology for AP Vocabulary

Set of comprehensive vocabulary terms from the Myer's Psychology for AP curriculum, spanning biological, cognitive, and therapeutic concepts.

Aaron Beck

sought to reverse patient's catastrophizing beliefs about themselves, their situations and futures using cognitive therapy

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus $50$ percent of the time

accommodation

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.

adrenal glands

a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress.

algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problems. contrasts with the usually speedier - but also more error-prone-use of heuristics

Alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

amygdala

two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion.

anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly ($15 \text{\%}$ or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

autonomic nervous system

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

axon

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fivers through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

babbling stage

beginning at about $4$ months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

basal metabolic rate

the body's resting rate of energy expendenture

Bipolar Disorder

A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.

brainstem

the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; is responsible for automatic survival functions.

Broca's area

controls language expression - an area, usually in the left frontal lobe, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Cannon-Bard theory

the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion

cerebellum

the "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance.

Circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a $24$-hour cycle

cognitive dissonance theory

theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent; change our attitudes rather than our behaviors

conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between to things (from $-1$ to $+1$).

critical period

an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experience produces proper development

crystallized intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

CT (computed tomography) scan

a series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body. Also called CAT scan.

delta waves

the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

difference threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection $50$ percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference. (Also called just noticeable difference or JND.)

Down syndrome

a condition of intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome $21$.

DSM-IV-TR

A classification system that describes the features used to diagnose each recognized mental disorder and indicates how the disorder can be distinguished from other, similar problems.

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

electroconvulsive therapy

a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an aenesthetized patient

endocrine system

the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the blood stream.

endorphins

"morphine within" - natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking; in severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions

fluid intelligence

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

fMRI (functional MRI)

a technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. Shows brain function.

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases - alarm, resistance, exhaustion

gestalt

an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

hippocampus

a neural center that is located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage

homeostasis

a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

hypothalamus

a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. the id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

intelligence quotient (IQ)

defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by $100$ (thus, $IQ=ma/ca \times 100$). On contemporary intelligence test, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of $100$.

James-Lange theory

the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

long-term potentiation

an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

medulla

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing.

mirror neurons

frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so; the brain's mirroring of another;s action may enable imitation and empathy

myelin sheath

a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fivers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the pulse hops from one node to the next.

normal curve

a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean ($68 \text{\%}$ fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes.

obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD)

An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts and/ or actions.

operational definition

a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures.

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

REM sleep

rapid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active

standard deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score.

thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory reviving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.

Weber's law

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Wernicke's area

controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobes.

zygote

the fertilized egg; it enters a $2$-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo