People to know for AP Psych

Frances Galton

Believed that personality and ability depend almost entirely on genetic inheritance.

Charles Darwin

Developed the theory of evolution and survival of the fittest.

William Wundt

Considered the father of modern scientific psychology and introduced introspection as a method.

John Watson

Founder of behaviorism; applied classical conditioning to advertising and known for the Little Albert experiment.

Alfred Adler

Neo-Freudian who emphasized child's social tensions rather than sexual ones for personality formation.

Carl Jung

Follower of Freud; introduced concepts of collective unconscious and archetypes; coined introversion and extroversion.

Gordon Allport

Identified three types of traits: cardinal, central, and secondary.

Albert Ellis

Father of Rational Emotive Therapy; focused on changing irrational thought patterns.

Albert Maslow

Humanist psychologist known for the hierarchy of needs culminating in self-actualization.

Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychologist who advocated for unconditional positive regard in therapy.

B.F. Skinner

Pioneered operant conditioning and emphasized behavior shaping through reinforcement.

Ivan Pavlov

Known for his research on classical conditioning.

Noam Chomsky

Proposed that humans have an innate ability to develop language.

Jean Piaget

Developed a four-stage theory of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Erik Erikson

Proposed eight stages of psychosocial development, each marked by a psychological crisis.

Lawrence Kohlberg

Developed a theory of moral reasoning with three levels: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional.

Carol Gilligan

Critiqued Kohlberg for using an all-boys sample, suggesting gender differences in moral reasoning.

Hans Eysenck

Argued that personality is largely determined by genetic factors and used the terms extroversion and introversion.

S. Schacter

Proposed that emotions are experienced through physiological arousal and labeling.

Mary Cover Jones

Known for her work on systematic desensitization and the Little Peter experiment.

Benjamin Whorf

Proposed that language determines the way we think, known as linguistic relativity.

Robert Sternberg

Introduced the triarchic theory of intelligence with components of analytical, creative, and practical intelligence.

Howard Gardner

Developed the theory of multiple intelligences.

Albert Bandura

Introduced observational learning and his study involving children and Bobo dolls.

E.L. Thorndike

Known for the law of effect, stating behaviors followed by favorable outcomes are more likely to recur.

Alfred Binet

Developed the first intelligence tests to measure general cognitive abilities.

Lewis Terman

Revised Binet's IQ test and established norms for American children.

David Weschler

Developed intelligence tests specifically for adults.

Charles Spearman

Proposed the concept of 'g' factor as a common core of cognitive abilities.

H. Rorschach

Developed the Rorschach Inkblot Test, a projective test to assess personality.

Philip Zimbardo

Conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment to study the influence of social roles on behavior.

David Rosenhan

Conducted an experiment that showed the misdiagnosis of mental illness in hospitals.

S. Asch

Known for his study on conformity and social pressure.

Stanley Milgram

Conducted obedience studies that illustrated people's willingness to obey authority, even against their conscience.

Harry Harlow

Studied attachment theory in infant monkeys and the effects of social isolation.

William Sheldon

Linked personality types to physical characteristics through somatotypes.

Sigmund Freud

Developed psychoanalytical theory focusing on unconscious drives and the structures of personality.

Karen Horney

Critiqued Freud for focusing too heavily on childhood experiences; emphasized current fears and social interactions.

Martin Seligman

Introduced the concept of learned helplessness as a reaction to uncontrollable situations.

H. Ebbinghaus

Pioneered research on memory and forgetting, known for the forgetting curve.

Hubel/Wiesel

Studied neuron activity in the visual cortex and contributed significantly to our understanding of perception.

Walter B. Cannon

Proposed that gastric activity in an empty stomach is the sole reason for hunger.

Ernst Weber

Pioneered the study of just noticeable differences (JND), leading to Weber's Law.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Proposed the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Robert Zajonc

Introduced the mere exposure effect, suggesting we can have preferences without a clear reason.

Henry Murray

Developed the TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) and emphasized achievement motivation.

David McClelland

Created a scoring system to measure achievement motivation, based on Murray's work.

Paul Ekman

Studied facial expressions and suggested they are universal across cultures.

James Marcia

Expanded on Erikson's work by identifying four identity statuses in adolescence: foreclosure, achievement, diffusion, and moratorium.