AP Psychology - Midterm Exam Review

Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious mind

-          A portion of our thoughts, memories, and desires exist outside of our conscious awareness, but still heavily influence our behavior and emotions.

Behaviorist Ideas

-          observable behaviors shaped by external stimuli and reinforcement. (Ivan Pavlov- classical conditioning, John B. Watson – observable behaviors rather than subjective experiences, B.F. Skinner – operant conditioning, behavior is shaped by consequences)

Cognitivist

-          internal mental processes like memory and thinking. Schemas, information processing, mental models, the mind is like a “computer” processing information. (Noam Chomsky – humans are born with an ability to learn language)

Functionalism (William James Thought)

study of how mental activities can help an organism adapt to its environment, stream of consciousness to describe the continuous flow of our thoughts and that attitudes can alter our lives. Expressed free will.

Theory

A systematic explanation of human thoughts, emotions, behavior, based on research and observations.

case studies

Valuable research method, gathering large amounts of information and insights, and provide evidence-based narratives.

1.      The nature of a naturalistic observation

Psychologists observe subjects’ behavior in their natural environment without any intervention or manipulation.

Experimental

1.      What type of study can should a cause/effect relationship?

Frontal Lobe

1.      planning, problem-solving, critical thinking, controls voluntary movements, personality and emotions.

Parietal Lobes

sensory processing (touch, temperature, pain), spatial awareness, language and attention

Temporal Lobes

1.      auditory processing, memory, language comprehension.

Occipital Lobe

1.      visual processing (sight, recognize shapes, identify colors)

1.      What could cause paralysis in a specific part of the body?

Stroke, injury, conditions like Bell’s palsy, brachial plexus injury, or stress and trauma.

Glutamate Function

primary in CNS, learning, memory, synaptic plasticity

Norepinephrine Function

also a hormone, alertness, arousal, and stress response (and a neurotransmitter)

Epinephrine

excitatory, “fight-or-flight”

Acetylcholine Function

muscle contraction and cognitive function.

Serotonin

regulates mood, sleep, and appetite.

1.      The nature of serotonin and how antidepressants work with it

SSRIs work by blocking the reabsorption of serotonin by nerve cells, which increases the amount of serotonin available in the brain to transmit signals between neurons.

1.      What is special about neural impulses that go through the olfactory epithelium?

Olfactory signals bypass the thalamus (the brain's sensory relay station) initially, going directly to the olfactory bulb and then to limbic system structures (like the amygdala and hippocampus) involved in emotion and memory, explaining strong smell-memory links.

Example of Size Constancy

Recognizing that a car maintains the same size as it drives away, despite retinal image becoming smaller.

1.      The frequency of a sound wave does what?

Determines our perception of its pitch. Higher frequencies = higher pitched sounds, vice versa.

Stream of consciousness

conscious thought is a flowing river, dynamic, and can be calm or turbulent.

Activation Theory of Dreams

dreams are a product of random neural firings in the brainstem during REM. The cerebral cortex tries to make sense of these by weaving them into a story or narrative.

Information Theory

a manifestation of the brain processing information, getting rid of irrelevant info, and integrating new learning into long-term memory.

GABA (with alcohol consumption)

increases GABA, reduces anxiety, impaired motor coordination, sedative effects.

Glutamate (with alcohol consumption)

slowed reaction times, memory disruption

Dopamine (with alcohol consumption)

reward pathway, feeling pleasure and euphoria.

Serotonin (with alcohol consumption)

happy and calm

Tolerance to Drugs

People will need to do more of the substance to get the same feeling they did the first time, resulting in higher doses.

Variable Interval

a varying amount of time passes between each reinforcement (winning a video game, checking e-mail)

Fixed Interval

an exact amount of time passes between each reinforcement (studying for a weekly quiz, getting your paycheck every 2 weeks)

Latent Learning

The acquisition of knowledge or skills that remains hidden until a motivation or need to demonstrate it arises. (ex. A child who has been in a passenger seat of a car on a specific route will have a latent knowledge of that route.)

Concept of Modeling

Acquiring new behaviors, skills, attitudes, and emotional responses by obersing and imitating actions of others.

Positive Reinforcement

adding something desirable to encourage behavior

Negative Reinforcement

removing an undesirable stimulus to increase behavior.

Culture Fair IQ Test

An assessment tool designed to measure an individual’s cognitive abilities, while minimizing the influence of their specific cultural, linguistic, or educational background. Goal to reduce bias and provide accurate assessment of innate reasoning.

Nature of False Memories

Mind’s fallibility in storing and processing information, where memories can be altered or distorted over time.

How Long Term Potentation Works

Connections between neurons strengthen, crucial for learning and memory. Works by repeatedly stimulating a synapse, causing a long-lasting increase in signal transmission.

Availability Heuristic

People judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.

Recognition

identifying previously learned information from a set of choices

Recall

retrieving information from memory without cues.

Examples of Episodic Memory

Remembering a specific event like a 16^th birthday, what you ate for dinner last night, details of your first day at a new job.

Intrinsic Motivation

the drive to do something for its own sake, fueled by internal satisfaction and enjoyment.

Extrinsic Motivation

external rewards/consequences, like money, praise, or grades.

Yerkes Dodson Model and Optimal Stress

An optimal level of stress for peak performance, which is a moderate amount. Too little leads to boredom or low performance. Too much causes anxiety and impairs focus and efficiency.

Homeostasis

Mind’s tendency to maintain internal psychological balance and stability by regulating thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to return to baseline state.

Alarm (Selye’s GAS Model)

“fight-or-flight”, shock, awareness of the threat, and heightened vigilance.

Resistance (Selye’s GAS Stress Model)

internal systems are under strain, irritability, frustration, and poor concentration, body attempting to maintain state of balance after initial alarm.

Exhaustion (Selye’s GAS Model)

body’s resources are depleted from prolonged stress, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, weakened immune system, leads to more serious physical problems like heart pressure, high blood pressure.

Gender Role Development

It combines social, cognitive, and biological factors. Children learn gendered behavior through observing and imitating models, and developing schemas.

Oxytocin

Released during social bonding, childbirth, sexual activity, and it is the love and bonding hormone.

Sex

properties of a person that determines classification as male or female

Gender

social and psychological aspects of being female or male. Influenced by socialization, biological factors, and experiences.

Sexual Orientation

Direction of erotic interest and attraction.

Development of Newborn’s Senses

They can hear, are sensitive to touch and temperature, can distinguish taste and strong sense of smell, rooting reflex, sucking reflex, but their vision is the weakest of the senses.

Teratogens

Substances, agents, or factors that disrupt fetal development

What Someone Can do Once Reached Formal Operations

Think abstractly and hypothetically, engage in deductive reasoning, systematic problem-solving, and scientific thinking.

Secure Attachment

The best attachment style

caregivers are a secure base from which they explore, upset when caregiver leaves, but happy and calm when return.

Avoidant Attachment

may not notice caregiver left

Anxious/Ambivalent

responds with intense distress, angry at the caregiver when they return.

Nature

biological

Nuture

environment

Authoritarian Parenting Style

strict, punitive, less verbal exchange, child may lack social skills, have poor initiative, and compare themselves to others.

Authorative Parenting Style

independence of the child is encouraged, but with limits. Collaborative, more verbal, warm. Children tend to be socially competent, self-reliant, socially responsible.

Neglectful Parenting

lack of involvement, child may think parent does not care, less competent socially, cannot handle independence, poor self-control

Permissive Parenting

few rules, parents give into child’s demands. Poor social competence, difficulty controlling behavior, child expects to get their way.