Diogenes Education AP Psychology Vocabulary 2025 A-Z - 589 Terms

Absolute threshold

The smallest level of stimulus detectable 50% of the time.

Accommodation (Cognitive)

The process of revising existing cognitive schemas to include new information.

Achievement tests

Evaluations designed to measure the knowledge a person has acquired.

Accommodation (Visual)

The process or condition of adapting or adjusting, including the eye's lens changing shape to focus at different distances.

Acoustic encoding

The conversion of sounds, particularly words, into a coded form that can be stored in the brain.

Acquisition

The initial phase in classical conditioning where a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response; in operant conditioning, it refers to the reinforcement of a response.

Action potential

An electrical impulse that transmits information along an axon in a neuron.

Active listening

A technique in Rogers' client-centered therapy where the listener restates, clarifies, and reflects on what they hear.

Adaptation-level phenomenon

The tendency to judge various stimuli based on past experiences.

Addiction

A strong craving for a substance, leading to compulsive use despite harmful consequences.

Adolescence

The developmental transition from childhood to adulthood, marked by physical, psychological, and social changes that begin at puberty and end at reaching independence.

Adrenal glands

Glands located above the kidneys that release hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine during stress.

Aggression (Behavior)

Behaviors, either physical or verbal, intended to harm or destroy.

Aggression (Definition)

Any act meant to cause harm or injury to another person.

Algorithm

A step-by-step procedure or formula for solving a problem, ensuring an accurate solution.

Alpha waves

Brain waves that indicate a state of relaxation and wakefulness.

Altruism

Selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Amnesia

The inability to recall past events.

Amphetamines

Stimulants that increase neural activity, leading to enhanced body functions and mood changes.

Amygdala

Small, almond-shaped structures in the brain linked to emotional processes.

Anorexia nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by extreme weight loss and the persistent perception of being overweight.

Antianxiety drugs

Medications used to manage anxiety and reduce agitation.

Antidepressant drugs

Medications that treat depression by altering neurotransmitter levels.

Antipsychotic drugs

Medications used to manage schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

A condition where a person shows no regard for right or wrong and often manipulates or treats others harshly.

Anxiety Disorders

Mental health disorders marked by excessive fear and anxiety.

Aphasia

A language disorder resulting from brain damage that affects communication.

Applied research

Research aimed at solving practical problems.

Aptitude tests

Assessments intended to predict a person's ability to learn or succeed in certain areas.

Assimilation

The process of incorporating new experiences into existing cognitive schemas.

Association areas

Parts of the brain involved in higher mental functions such as thinking, planning, and communicating.

Associative learning

Learning that certain events occur together, with the events being either two stimuli or a stimulus and a response.

Attachment

An emotional bond that typically forms between infant and caregiver, manifesting in the infant seeking closeness and showing distress on separation.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A disorder characterized by attention difficulties, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.

Attitude

A psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.

Attribution theory

A theory that suggests how we explain someone's behavior—by attributing it either to internal dispositions or to external situations.

Audition

The sense or act of hearing.

Autism

A developmental disorder appearing in early childhood, characterized by difficulties in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts.

Automatic processing

The unconscious encoding of incidental information and well-learned information.

Autonomic nervous system

The part of the nervous system that controls involuntary actions and regulates bodily functions.

Availability heuristic

The tendency to estimate the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind.

Aversive conditioning

A form of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior.

Axon

The long threadlike part of a nerve cell along which impulses are conducted from the cell body to other cells.

Babbling stage

The stage of language development in which an infant spontaneously utters nonsense sounds.

Barbiturates

Drugs that act as central nervous system depressants.

Basal metabolic rate

The rate at which the body uses energy while at rest to maintain vital functions.

Basic research

Scientific inquiry aimed at increasing the fundamental knowledge base of a subject.

Basic trust

According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is reliable and predictable, formed during infancy with proper care from caregivers.

Behavior genetics

The study of the power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Behavior therapy

The treatment of mental disorder by training the patient's responses in accordance with behavioral psychology.

Behavioral medicine

An interdisciplinary field combining behavioral and medical knowledge to promote health and treat disease.

Behavioral psychology

The scientific study of observable behavior and its explanation by principles of learning.

Behaviorism

A theory that argues psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.

Belief perseverance

The tendency to cling to one's initial belief even when faced with contrary evidence.

Binge-eating disorder

An eating disorder characterized by frequent episodes of excessive eating followed by distress, guilt, or disgust.

Binocular cues

Visual information taken in by two eyes that enable perception of depth.

Biofeedback

A technique that uses electronic devices to teach people how to consciously control bodily functions, such as heartbeat.

Biological psychology

The scientific study of the links between biological and psychological processes.

Biomedical therapy

Medical procedures and therapies that treat psychological disorders.

Biopsychosocial approach

An integrated approach that considers biological, psychological, and social factors and their complex interactions in understanding health, illness, and health care delivery.

Bipolar Disorder

A disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs.

Blind spot

The point in the visual field that corresponds to the lack of light-detecting photoreceptor cells on the optic disc of the retina.

Bottom-up processing

An approach wherein there is a progression from the individual elements to the whole.

Brainstem

The oldest part of the brain, responsible for basic vital life functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure.

Broca’s area

A region in the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere of the hominid brain with functions linked to speech production.

Bulimia nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging.

Bystander effect

The phenomenon that an individual is less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.

Cannon-Bard theory

The theory that emotional responses occur simultaneously with the physiological processes in response to stimuli.

Case study

A research method involving the detailed study of a single case that represents a diagnostic category.

Catharsis

The process of releasing strong or repressed emotions.

Central nervous system (CNS)

The part of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.

Central route to persuasion

A method of persuasion that uses evidence and logical arguments to influence people.

Cerebellum

The part of the brain at the back of the skull in vertebrates, which coordinates and regulates muscular activity.

Cerebral cortex

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.

Change blindness

When observers fail to notice changes in their visual field.

Chromosomes

Thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells.

Chunking

A process by which individual pieces of information are bound together into a meaningful whole.

Circadian rhythm

Physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle.

Classical conditioning

A learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

Client-centered therapy

A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, that emphasizes the human potential for growth.

Clinical psychology

The branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness and disability.

Cochlea

A spiral-shaped cavity forming a division of the inner ear and functioning in the process of hearing.

Cochlear implant

A device that can help provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing.

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

A blend of cognitive and behavioral therapeutic strategies.

Cognitive dissonance

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent.

Cognitive map

A mental representation of the layout of one's environment.

Cognitive neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

Cognitive psychology

The scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning.

Cognitive therapy

A treatment method that involves helping the patient identify and correct any distorted thinking about self, others, or the world.

Collective unconscious

A term introduced by psychiatrist Carl Jung to represent a form of the unconscious that is shared among members of the same species.

Collectivism

Giving priority to the goals of one's group and defining one's identity accordingly.

Color constancy

The ability to recognize colors of objects despite changes in lighting.

Companionate love

The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

Concept

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

Concrete operational stage

A stage of cognitive development in Piaget's theory during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Conditioned reinforcer

A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer.

Conditioned response

The learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Conditioned stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Conduction hearing loss

Hearing loss caused by problems with the bones of the middle ear.