AP Psychology- AP Exam Review

psychology

the study of behavior and mental processes

psychology's biggest question

Which is more important in determining behavior, nature or nurture?

psychology's three levels of analysis

biopsychosocial approach
(looks at the biological, psychological, and social-cultural approaches together)

biological approach

genetics, close-relatives, body functions

evolutionary approach

species - helped with survival (ancestors)

psychodynamic approach

(Freud) subconscious, repressed feelings, unfulfilled wishes

behavioral approach

learning (classical and operant) observed

cognitive approach

thinking affects behavior

humanistic approach

becoming a better human (behavior, acceptance)

social-cultural approach

cultural, family, environment

two reasons of why experiments are important

hindsight bias + overconfidence

types of research methods

descriptive, correlational, and experimental

descriptive methods

case study
survey
naturalistic observation
(DON'T SHOW CAUSE/EFFECT)

case study

studies one person in depth
may not be typical of population

survey

studies lots of people
not in depth

naturalistic observation

observe + write facts without interference

correlational method

shows relation, but not cause/effect
scatterplots show research

correlation coefficient

+ 1.0 (both increase)
0 (no correlation
- 1.0 (one increases, other decreases)

experimental method

does show cause and effect

population

type of people who are going to be used in experiment

sample

actual people who will be used (randomness reduces bias)

random assignment

chance selection between experimental and control groups

control group

not receiving experimental treatment
receives placebo

experimental group

receiving treatment/drug

independent variable

drug/procedure/treatment

dependent variable

outcome of using the drug/treatment

confounding variable

can affect dependent variable beyond experiment's control

scientific method

theory
hypothesis
operational definition
revision

theory

general idea being tested

hypothesis

measurable/specific

operational definition

procedures that explain components

mode

appears the most

mean

average

median

middle

range

highest - lowest

standard deviation

how scores vary around the mean

central tendency

single score that represents the whole

bell curve

(natural curve)

ethics of testing on animals

need to be treated humanly
basically similar to humans

ethics of testing on humans

consent
debriefing
no unnecessary discomfort/pain
confidentiality

sensory neurons

travel from sensory receptors to brain

motor neurons

travel from brain to "motor" workings

interneurons

(in brain and spinal cord)
connecting motor and sensory neurons

neuron

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

dendrites

receive messages from other neurons

myelin sheath

protects the axon

axon

where charges travel from cell body to axon terminal

neurotransmitters

chemical messengers

reuptake

extra neurotransmitters are taken back

excitatory charge

"Let's do it!"

inhibitory charge

"Let's not do it!"

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

somatic nervous system
autonomic nervous system

somatic nervous system

voluntary movements

autonomic nervous system

involuntary movements
(sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems)

sympathetic nervous system

arousing

parasympathetic nervous system

calming

neural networks

more connections form with greater use
others fall away if not used

spinal cord

expressway of information
bypasses brain when reflexes involved

endocrine system

slow
uses hormones in the blood system

master gland

pituitary gland

brainstem

extension of the spinal cord responsible for automatic survival

reticular formation (if stimulated)

sleeping subject wakes up

reticular formation (if damaged)

coma

brainstem (if severed)

still move (without purpose)

thalamus

sensory switchboard
(does not process smell)

hypothalamus

basic behaviors (hunger, thirst, sex, blood chemistry)

cerebellum

nonverbal memory, judge time, balance emotions, coordinate movements

cerebellum (if damaged)

difficulty walking and coordinating

amygdala

aggression, fear, and memory associated with these emotions

amygdala (if lesioned)

subject is mellow

amygdala (if stimulated)

aggressive

hippocampus

process new memory

cerebrum

two large hemispheres
perceiving, thinking, and processing

cerebral cortex

only in higher life forms

association areas

integrate and interpret information

glial cells

provide nutrients to myelin sheath
marks intelligence
higher proportion of glial cells to neurons

frontal lobe

judgement, personality, processing
(Phineas Gage accident)

parietal lobe

math and spatial reasoning

temporal lobe

audition and recognizing faces

occipital lobe

vision

corpus callosum

split in the brain to stop hyper-communication
(eliminate epileptic seizures)

Wernicke's area

interprets auditory and hearing

Broca's area

speaking words

plasticity

ability to adapt if damaged

sensation

what our senses tell us

bottom-up processing

senses to brain

perception

what our brain tells us to do with that information

top-down processing

brain to senses

inattentional blindness

fail to "gorilla" because attention is elsewhere

cocktail party effect

even with tons of stimuli, we are able to pick out our name, etc.

change blindness

giving directions and person is changed and we don't notice

choice blindness

when defending the choice we make, we fail to notice choice was changed

absolute threshold

minimum stimulation needed in order to notice 50% of the time

signal detection theory

we notice what is more important to us (rather hear a baby crying)

JND (just noticeable difference)

(Weber's law)
difference between different stimuli noticed in proportion

sensory adaptation

tired of noticing
(Brain says, "Been there, done that. Next?"

rods

night time

cones

color

parallel processing

notice color, form, depth, movement, etc.