AP PSYCHOLOGY 1st SEMESTER FINAL EXAM REVIEW

psychoanalytic

-behavior influenced by unconscious decisions

-stressed early childhood experiences determine behavior

-negative view of humanity (aggression, sex)

behavioral

-environment determines behavior

-reinforcement and punishment

humanistic

-focuses on self

-inherent goodness

-free will

-unconditional positive regard

cognitive

-thoughts and mental processes

-rational emotive theory

biological

-genetic, biochemical, neurological

experimental research method

-review literature of past research, formulate hypothesis, design research/study method, collect data, analyze data, report the findings, draw conclusions

-strength: cause/effect and control of variables

-weakness: not real world behavior

case study

intense study of an individual

strength: intense information

weakness: can't be generalized

naturalistic observation

natural setting: behavior is not interfered or altered

strength: real behavior

weakness: no control

survey method

-gathers data on attitudes and behavior

-strength: lots of data, cheap

-weakness: framing, poor sampling

correlation

-a statistical value of the relationship between two variables

-strength: strength of relationship

weakness: not causation

positive correlation

as one number increases, the other increases

negative correlation

as one number increases, one number decreases

no correlation

variables to not affect one another in a significant way

independent variable

manipulated by experimenter

dependent variable

measured by experimenter

dendrite

receive information for the neuron

soma

processes information in the neuron

axon

action potential takes place, all or nothing

-inside axon: negative

-outside axon: positive

myeline sheath

fatty, speeds and insulates

terminal button

contains and releases neurotransmitters into synapse

receptor sites

neurotransmitters "lock and key"

synapse

gap between neurons

select neurotransmitters

acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, GABA, norepinephrine, opioids

acetylcholine

involved in muscle movement and memory

serotonin

-involved in mood and sleep

low = depression

dopamine

involved in movement and reward systems, schizophrenia, parkinson's

GABA

-inhibitory neurotransmitter

-low = anxiety

norepinephrine

involved in arousal, mood, and sympathetic

opioids

involved in pathways that reduce pain

somatic

controls voluntary movement

automatic

controls self-regulated actions of internal organs

sympatic

arousing, fight/flight, pupils dilate, accelerate heart rate, inhibits digestion, glucose release, relaxes bladder

parasympathetic

calming, digest/rest, contracts pupils, slows heart rate, stimulates digestion, stimulates gallbladder, contracts bladder

medulla

controls vegetation function

breathing/heart rate

pons

sleep and wake-fullness

cerebellum

coordination of movement and postural reflex

reticular formation

oversees arousal and attentional processes

limbic system

controls emotions and memory

hippocampus

memory

amygdala

emotions, fear (emotional amy)

thalamus

primary relay station for senses

cerebral cortex

lobes of brain, upper wrinkled area

corpus callosum

nerve cells connecting the two hemispheres of the brain

frontal lobes

decision making

temporal lobes

critical for hearing and balance, important in memories

occipital lobes

responsible for visual processes

parietal lobes

receives sensory information

CT "cat" scan

computerized axial tomography, x-ray of brain

MRI:

3D brain mage using magnetic fields

FMRI

3D image of brain that shows blood flow in brain

PET Scan

uses radioactive material in blood to show brain activity

EEG

brain waves activity

absolute threshold

minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus

difference threshold

minimum difference between two stimuli that subject can detect (just noticeable difference)

cornea

clear outer surface of eye

iris

colored part, controls pupil

pupil

allows light into eye

lens

focuses light (accommodation)

retina

contains photoreceptors

cones: color

rods: light/dark

fovea

center of vision (cones)

highest acuity (sharpness)

trichromatic (eye)

red, green, blue

opponent process (brain)

-red/green

-blue/yellow

-black/white

smell

olfaction

does not get filtered by thalamus

taste

gustation

sweet, sour, salty, bitter, unami

depth perception

allows us to accurately estimate the distance of perceived objects and thereby perceive the world in three dimensions

monocular cues

requires one eye

binocular cues

requires two eyes

gestalt principles

-the whole is greater than the sum of the parts

-proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, law of goodform

insomnia

difficulty falling asleep or staying awake or awake too early

sleep apnea

fail to breathe for a minute or longer then wake up gasping for air

narcolepsy

sudden and irresistible onsets of sleep during normal waking hours

nightmares

anxiety-arousing dreams generally occurring near the end of the sleep cycle, during REM sleep

night terrors

abrupt awakenings from NREM sleep accompanied by intense psychological arousal and feelings of panic

operant conditioning

learning through the consequences of voluntary behavior

classical conditioning

learning that occurs when a previously neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response

-an associating is made between a meaningful stimulus and a non-meaningful stimulus

social (observational) learning

-an organism's responding is influenced by the observation of others

watching/imitating

USC

unconditioned stimulus

-stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response without previous conditioning

UCR

unconditioned response

-unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning

CS

conditioned stimulus

previously neutral stimulus that through repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus, now causes a conditioned response

CR

conditioned response

learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus

generalization

when responding increases the presence of new stimuli that resembles the original discriminative stimulus

discrimination

when responding does not increase in the presence of a new stimulus that resembles the original discriminative stimulus

extinction

the gradual weakening and disappearance of a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer

acquisition

initial stages of learning through reinforcement

spontaneous recovery

a reappearance of an extinguished response after extinction

latent learning

learning that has occurred but has not been expressed

insight

sudden understanding of a problem that implies the solution

reinforcement

-consequences that strengthened responses

-positive: a response is strengthened by the presentation of a rewarding stimulus (money, candy, reward)

-negative: a response is strengthened by the removal of an aversive stimulus

punishment

-decreases behavior

-positive: occurs when an aversive stimulus follows a response (lecturing)

-negative: taking away something of value (no car, no phone)

reliability

measure of the consistency and reproductivity of test scores when the test is readministered

validity

ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure

standardization

establishment of the norms and uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test

Gardner's multiple intelligence's theory

intelligence can be broken down into 7 categories (verbal, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial body, movement, understanding oneself, understanding others)

Sternberg's multiple intelligence's theory

three categories- analytic, practical and creative

history of IQ testing

-alfred binet: mental age based

-terman: mental age / chronological age x 100

-wechsler: more accurate test for adults, standard deviation, bell curve, WAIS, WISC

obedience

following direct commands, usually from an authoritative figure

milgram's shock conclusion

1. situational pressures can make people obey instructions that go against their belief system

group think

when feeling pressure to conform to the group, stops critical thinking to avoid dissention to the group

(someone knows something is wrong but doesn't say it)

group polarization

when group discussion leads to a more "polarized" point of view by the group

diffusion of responsibility

the dilution of personal responsibility for acting by spreading it among all other group members

bystander effect

less likely to help others when in groups rather than when alone