AP Psychology Semester 1 Final Review

Empiricism

The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation.

Structuralism

An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind.

Functionalism

A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Experimental Psychology

The study of behavior and thinking using the experimental method.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.

Humanistic Psychology

Historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's potential for personal growth.

Cognitive Neuroscience

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

Psychology

The science of behavior and mental processes.

Nature-Nurture Issue

The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.

Natural Selection

The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Nature-Nurture Issue

Nurture works on what nature endows.

Psychometrics

The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

Basic Research

Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

Developmental Psychology

The scientific study of physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

Educational Psychology

The study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning.

Personality Psychology

The study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Applied Research

Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

Critical Thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

Operational Definition

A statement of the procedures used to define research variables.

Replication

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances.

Case Study

An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Survey

A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group.

Population

All the cases in a group being studied.

Random Sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Naturalistic Observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to 1).

Scatterplot

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables.

Illusory Correlation

The perception of a relationship where none exists.

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process.

Random Assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether any one research participant is in the control or experimental group.

Placebo Effect

Experimental results caused by expectations alone.

Experimental Group

In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, or one version of the independent variable.

Control Group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment and serves to compare the experimental group's results against.

Independent Variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated and whose effect is being studied.

Confounding Variable

A factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in the experiment.

Dependent Variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to the manipulation of the independent variable.

Mean

The arithmetic average of a distribution.

Add the scores together then divide by the number of scores.

Median

The middle score in a distribution.

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.

Standard Deviation

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score.

√((Sum of (deviations)^2)/(Number of scores))

Normal Curve (Bell Curve)

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data, where most scores fall near the mean.

Statistical Significance

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance.

Culture

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Informed Consent

An ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.

Debriefing

The postexperimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants.

Biological Psychology

A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior.

Neuron

A nerve cell (the basic building block of the nervous system).

Sensory Neurons

Neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

Motor Neurons

neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.

Interneurons

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs.

Dendrite

The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.

Axon

The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through wich messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

Myelin Sheath

A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the axon fibers of many neurons, enabling vastly greater transmission speed of impulses.

Action potential

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.

Threshold

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

Synapse

The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.

Synaptic Gap/Cleft

The space between the presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons at the synapse.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic clefts between neurons.

Reuptake

A neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron.

Endorphins

Natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

Agonist Molecules

Molecules similar enough to neurotransmitters that they bind to the neurotransmitters' receptors and mimic their effects.

Antagonist Molecules

Molecules that bind to neurotransmitter receptors but block the neurotransmitters' functioning.

Nervous System

The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network.

Central Nervous System

The brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body.

Nerves

Bundled axons that form neural "cables" connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs.

Somatic Nervous System

The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles.

Autonomic Nervous System

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the lands and the muscles of the internal organs.

Sympathetic Nervous System

A division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

A division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving energy.

Reflex

A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus.

Endocrine System

The body's slower chemical communication system that uses hormones to communicate.

Hromones

Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues.

Adrenal Glands

A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine that help arouse the body in times of stress.

Pituitary Gland

The endocrine system's most influential gland, and is under the influence of the hypothalamus.

Lesion

Tissue destruction.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

An amplified recording of thew aves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface.

Computed Tomography (CT) Scan

A series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scan

A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer=generated images of soft tissue.

Functional MRI (fMRI)

A technique for revealing bloodflow and brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans.

Brainstem

The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull. It is responsible for automatic survival functions.

Medulla

The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing.

Reticular Formation

A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal.

Thalamus

The brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.

Cerebellum

The "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance.

Limbic System

Doughnut-shaped neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives.

Limbic System

Amygdala, Hypothalamus, and Hippocampus.

Amygdala

Two neural clusters in the limbic system that are linked to emotion.

Hypothalamus

A neural structure lying below the thalamus that directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system, and is linked to emotion and reward.

Cerebral Cortex

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

Glial cells (Glia)

Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons.

Frontal Lobes

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead. It is involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.