AP Psych Exam Review Packet 2026: Psychology Research, Brain, and Behavior

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering psychology research methods, biological bases of behavior, cognition, development, and psychological disorders based on the AP Psych Exam Review Packet.

Reliability

The degree to which a test, such as a stress survey, yields consistent results when given to participants multiple times.

Validity

The extent to which a test actually measures what it is intended to measure, often tested by comparing results with an accepted survey.

Population

The entire group that a researcher wants to study, such as all U.S. college students.

Sample

The specific group of individuals actually participating in a study, such as 500 randomly sampled students.

Generalizability

The extent to which study findings can be applied to the broader population; this is limited if a sample only includes students from one specific state like California.

Correlational study

A research method used to examine the relationship between two variables, such as hours of social media use and reported levels of anxiety.

Meta-analysis

A research method where a psychologist collects and statistically analyzes results from many different studies on a single topic, such as the effectiveness of CBT for depression.

Case study

An in-depth study of a single individual, such as the man known as "H.M." who could no longer form new long-term memories after brain surgery.

Naturalistic Observation

Observing subjects in their natural environment without intervention, such as watching children play at a public playground to see how they share.

Experiment

A research method where researchers randomly assign participants to different groups to test the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable.

Independent variable

The factor that is manipulated in an experiment, such as whether a surrogate mother is made of wire or cloth in Harry Harlow's monkey study.

Dependent variable

The factor that is measured in an experiment, such as the amount of time baby monkeys spent clinging to a surrogate mother.

Random sampling (RS)

The process of randomly selecting participants from a population to ensure everyone has an equal chance of being included, such as selecting 1,000 high schoolers across the U.S.

Random assignment (RA)

The process of randomly telling participants which group they will be in (e.g., sleeping 4 hours vs. 8 hours) to minimize pre-existing differences between groups.

Double-blind study

A study where neither the patients nor the researchers know who is receiving the real drug or the placebo, used to prevent bias.

Normal Curve

A bell-shaped distribution where someone with a mean score has scored higher than $50\,\%$ of participants.

Standard Deviation

A measure of how spread out data is; a data set with more spread-out scores has a higher standard deviation.

p-value < 0.05

A statistical threshold meaning the data is statistically significant and differences are unlikely to be due to chance.

Institutional Review Board

A university's ethics committee that must approve a study before a psychologist can run it.

Informed Consent

Agreement from an adult to participate in a psychological study.

Informed Assent

Permission for a child to participate in a study, granted after their parents have agreed.

Confederates

Actors who participate in a study, such as those giving wrong answers in a conformity study, to see how the actual participant reacts.

Debriefing

The process at the end of a study where the researcher reveals the true purpose of the research to the participant.

Nature

The influence of genetics on traits, such as an individual's intelligence appearing to be influenced by their parents' mathematical abilities.

Nurture

The influence of environment and experience, such as becoming an exceptional pianist through years of practice despite not being naturally gifted.

Autonomic Nervous System

The branch of the nervous system responsible for involuntary functions like making the heart beat or digesting food.

Sympathetic Nervous System

The branch of the nervous system that prepares the body for "fight or flee" by spiking heart rate and dilating pupils.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

The branch of the nervous system that slows down the heart rate and relaxes the body after a stressful event.

Melatonin

A hormone that increases in the evening to make a person feel sleepy when it gets dark.

Leptin

A hormone that signals to the brain to stop eating when a person feels full.

Ghrelin

A hormone that increases before meals, causing a person to feel extremely hungry.

Tolerance

A state where a person needs to consume more of a substance, like coffee, to feel the same effect as before.

Withdrawal

Physical symptoms like nausea and headaches experienced by a person after quitting a substance like nicotine.

All-or-Nothing Principle

The rule that a neuron will only fire if it reaches a certain level of stimulation; anything less results in no firing.

Refractory Period

A brief moment after a neuron fires during which it cannot fire again.

Multiple Sclerosis

A disorder where Oram experiences muscle weakness because the myelin sheath in his nervous system is damaged.

Action Potential

An electrical impulse sent by a neuron down its axon.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter that boosts mood; SSRIs work by preventing neurons from reabsorbing it too quickly.

Corpus Callosum

The structure connecting the left and right brain hemispheres that may be severed to manage seizure disorders.

Hemispheric Specialization

The functional differences between the left and right hemispheres, such as the left relying on logical thinking and the right on creativity.

Brain Plasticity

The brain's ability to reorganize itself and allow other regions to compensate for a loss, such as after losing partial vision.

Prosopagnosia

A disorder where an individual, like Tom, cannot recognize faces, even those of family members.

Blindsight

A condition where a person with occipital lobe damage can identify the direction of moving objects without consciously perceiving them.

REM Sleep

A sleep stage characterized by high brain activity and vivid dreams, despite the body being paralyzed.

Sleep Apnea

A disorder where a person's breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep, causing frequent waking.

Absolute threshold

The minimum volume or intensity of a stimulus, such as a faint tone, that a person can detect.

Weber’s law

The principle that the difference between two stimuli (like weights) must be a constant minimum percentage to be detectable.

Transduction

The process where sensory organs, like ears, convert external stimuli such as sound waves into neural signals.

Change Blindness

Failing to notice an environmental change, such as a waiter being replaced by someone else.

Algorithm

A step-by-step formula or procedure used to solve a specific problem, like a math formula.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut or rule of thumb, such as guessing a password based on common patterns rather than every combination.

Functional Fixedness

A thinking bias where an object, like a book, is only thought of in terms of its traditional use (reading) theater than a new use (doorstop).

Episodic Memory

Memories of specific personal experiences, such as Emma's first trip to Disneyland.

Semantic Memory

A type of long-term memory for general facts or knowledge, such as knowing Paris is the capital of France.

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to form new memories after a brain injury, while still remembering the past.

Retrograde Amnesia

The loss of memories for events that occurred before a brain injury or accident.

Growth Mindset

The belief that abilities can be improved through practice and effort, such as Amina continuing to work on math until she gets better.

Stereotype Threat

Anxiety felt by individuals that they might confirm negative stereotypes about their social group, which can lead to decreased performance.

Conservation

The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape, like realizing a tall glass and wider glass hold the same amount of water.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overestimate personality traits and underestimate situational factors when judging others, like assuming someone is rude because they didn't reply to an email.

Cognitive Dissonance

The discomfort felt when actions clash with beliefs, such as Darius buying an expensive jacket despite believing in financial responsibility.

Big 5: Conscientiousness

A personality trait characterized by being organized, meeting deadlines, and double-checking work before submission.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that performance is influenced by arousal levels, meaning individuals perform best at an optimal level of stimulation.

General Adaptation Syndrome

The body's three-stage response to stress, consisting of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Diathesis-Stress Model

A theory suggesting that disorders result from a combination of a genetic predisposition and environmental triggers, such as the death of a friend.