AP Psychology Key Terms (as seen in Barrons 2024)

Haha essentially i am dumb so i only started studying less than 2 weeks before my exam. so this is me cramming to get a 5. this is a collection of all the key terms and key people outlined by Barrons. I aim to keep each definition concise for easy encoding.

Introspection

Recording cognitive reactions to simple stimuli to examine cognitive structures

Structuralism

Combining subjective emotions and objective sensations

Functionalism

Observing the functions of the structures Wundt described

Psychoanalytic Theory

Unconscious mind, repression, dream analysis, word association

Behaviourism

Looking at the relationship between stimuli (environmental events), and responses (physical reactions). Emphasizing observable behaviour

Humanist perspective

Individual choice and free will. Choices are guided by physiological, emotional, or spiritual needs. Opposite of Behaviourism

Psychoanalytic

Unconscious mind, repression, dream analysis, word association

Biopsychology

Human cognition and reactions are caused by genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters

Evolutionary perspective

Natural selection, adaptation, and survival of the fittest over generations. Darwin

Behavioural perspective

Conditioning. Observable behaviour in response to stimuli.

Cognitive perspective

Interpret, process, remember environmental events.

Sociocultural perspective

How thoughts and behaviours vary between cultures. Culture’s effect on how we think and act.

Wilmelm Wundt

Started introspection.

William James

Published The Principles of Psychology

Mary Whiton Calkins

Became president of the APA

Margaret Floy Washburn

Was the first woman to earn a PhD in psychology

G. Stanley Hall

Investigated child development and was the first president of the APA

Max Wetheimer

Argued against dividing human thought and behaviour and examined a person’s total experience.

Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalyst. Unconscious mind, repression, dream analysis, word association.

John B Watson

Said that psychology should only look at observable phenomena. Studied Pavlov’s work.

Ivan Pavlov

Classical conditioning. Behavioural psychologist. Dog, bell, dog food, salivation.

B F Skinner

Operant conditioning. Behaviourist. Reinforcement and punishment.

Abraham Maslow

Humanist. Hierarchy of needs.

Carl Rogers

Humanist. Person-centered psychotherapy.

Charles Darwin

Evolutionary psychologist. Natural selection and survival of the fittest.

Jean Piaget

Cognitive psychologist. Made the Cognitive developmental theory.

Gestalt psychology

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Hindsight bias

“I knew it all along”, after seeing the research.

Applied research

Research with clear, practical applications

Basic research

Explores questions that are interesting to psychologists but may not have immediate, real-world implications.

Hypothesis

The prediction of a relationship between two variables.

Independent vs dependent variable

IV: the variable being manipulated
DV: the variable whose effect is being observed

Theory

Somewhat of an explanation of a phenomenon which allows researchers to produce hypotheses to prove the theory

Operational definition

A description of how to measure a variable

Validity vs Reliability

Validity: measures what it was meant to measure

Reliability: consistency and replicability, with similar results

Sampling

The process by which participants are selected for an experiment

Sample

The population that the experiment is being performed on

Population

Anything or anyone that could be selected to be in the sample

Representative sample

A sample meant to be an accurate representation of the larger population

Random sampling or selection

Every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample

Stratified sampling

A process that allows a researcher to ensure the sample represents the population based on a criteria

Experiment - laboratory vs field

Lab: conducted in a lab, a highly controlled environment

Field: conducted in the world

Confounding variables - participant vs situation relevant

Confounding variables: any difference between the experimental and control conditions that may affect the dependent variable

Participant: differences among participants that may skew results

Situation relevant: differences among the situation in which participants are placed in that may skew results

Random assignment

Every member of the sample has an equal chance of being placed into any group

Controls

All other variables that are kept the same to minimize data skew

Group matching

A way of ensuring that experimental and control groups are equivalent on some level

Experimenter bias

A kind of confounding variable when researchers treat the control and experimental groups differently to increase the chances of their hypothesis being proven

Double-blind vs single-blind

Double: neither the participants nor the researcher knows which group is which.

Single: only the participants do not know which group they are in

Response or participant bias

The tendency for participants to behave in a certain way

Social desirability

The tendency to give answers that reflect well upon them

Hawthorne effect

When the sample modifies their behaviour once they know they are being observed

Placebo method

When a control group is given a “fake” drug to separate psychological from physiological effects.

Correlations - positive vs negative

Positive: the presence of one thing predicts the presence of the other

Negative: the presence of one thing predicts the absence of the other

Survey method

Asking people to fill out surveys

Response rate

The speed at which a survey is filled out

Naturalistic observation

Observing participants in their natural habitat

Case study method

Used to get a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group

Descriptive statistics

Describing a set of data

Frequency distribution

How many of something occured

Measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode)

Used to mark the center of a distribution

Mean: average, Median: center value, mode: most frequent value

Extreme scores or outliers

Skew distributions with either a very low or very high score

Positive vs negative skew

Positive: very high skew

Negative: very low skew

Measures of variability (range, standard deviation, variance)

Used to measure the variability within a data set.
Range: difference between the highest and lowest value, variance: difference between every value and the mean, standard deviation: square root of the variance,

Z score

Measure of a distance of a score from the mean. Below the mean=negative z score, above mean=positive z score

Normal curve

Bell shaped curve where the mean, median, and mode are all in the center

Correlation coefficient

-1 and +1. -1 is a perfect negative correlation and +1 a perfect positive. 0 is no correlation.

Scatter plot

Graphs pairs of values on the y and x axis. The closer the values come to being a straight line, the stronger the correlation.

Line of best fit or regression line

The line drawn through a series of values that minimizes the distance of all the points from the line. Positive/negative slope equals a positive/negative correlation.

Inferential statistics

Determines whether or not findings can be applied to the larger population

Sampling error

The extent to which the sample differs from the larger population

p value

Yielded through t-tests, chi-square tests, and ANOVAs. The p value gives the probability that the difference between groups is due to chance. The smaller the p value, the more statistically significant.

Statistical significance

The claim that the results of data are not attributed to chance. The closer the number is to 0, the more statistically significant. Generally, 0.5 is the cutoff for statistical significance.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Reviews research proposals for ethical violations or procedural errors.

Coercion

If someone is coerced, they are not voluntarily entering the experiment.

Informed consent

Participants know they are involved in research

Anonymity

Participants’ privacy must be protected and cannot be revealed by the researcher. Researchers do not collect any data that allows them to match data to a specific individual.

Confidentiality

The researcher will not identify the source of data.

Debriefing

Participants should be told the purpose of the study and provided with ways to contact researchers about results.

Demand characteristics

Cues that might indicate to the sample what the objective of the experiment is

Counterbalancing

A technique used to deal with order effects when using a repeated measures design. One half completing the two conditions in one order and the other half completing the conditions in the reverse order.

Ex post facto or quasi experimental study

An experiment where it is impossible for random assignment.

Percentiles

The distance of a score from 0

Neuroanatomy

The study of the part and function of neurons

Neuron

Individual nerve cells that make up our entire nervous system

Dendrites

The rootlike parts that stretch our from the cell body which grow to make synaptic connections with other neurons

Cell body or soma

Contains the nucleus and other parts of the cell needed to sustain the neuron’s life

Axon

Wire-like structure ending in the terminal buttons, extending from the cell body

Myelin sheath

A fatty layer surrounding the axon of some neurons that speeds neural impulses

Terminal buttons

The branched end of the axon that contains neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals in terminal buttons that allow neurons to communicate within one another. Neurotransmitters fit in the dendrites.

Synapse

The space between terminal buttons of one neuron and dendrites of the next neuron

Receptor sites

Where the neurotransmitters fit into on the dendrites

Threshold

The level of neurotransmitters needed to make a neuron permeable.

Action potential

The electric firing of neurotransmitters

All or none principle

A neuron either fires completely or does not fire at all, there is no in-between

Neural firing

An electrochemical process where electricity travels within the cell (from dendrites to the terminal buttons), and chemicals (neurotransmitters) travel between cells in the synapse.

How does a neuron fire

When the terminal buttons of one neuron are stimulated, they release neurotransmitters into the synapse, which fit into receptor sites of another neuron. If enough neurotransmitters are received, the cell membrane of neuron B will become permeable, and positive ions will rush into the cell. The change in charge spreads down the neuron and reaches its terminal buttons, which release their neurotransmitters into the synapse. The process repeats down the “line” of neurons.

Excitatory vs inhibitory neurotrasnmitters

Excitatory: they excite the next cell into firing

Inhibitory: they inhibit the next cell from firing

Acetylcholine

Responsible for motor movement. Lack of: Alzheimers

Dopamine

Responsible for motor movement and alertness. Lack of: Parkinsons, Excess: Schizophrenia