AP Psych

John Locke

Believed that the mind was a tabula rasa at birth (slate)

Francis Galton

Father of eugenics; believed intelligence and most physical and mental characteristics were inherited

Eugenics

Movement that encouraged selective breeding based on desirable genetic traits

Bio-psycho-social model

BIOLOGY - physical health, genetic vulnerabilities, drugs, social-peers, family, relationships PSYCHOLOGICAL - coping skills, social skills, family relationships, self-esteem, mental health

Neurosciene/biological perspective

How messages are sent from the brain to the body and vice versa, how hormones and genetics influence moods and behaviors, how certain parts of the brain specialize in certain tasks

Evolutionary perspective

How traits that enable adaptation to one’s environment promote the perpetuation of one’s genes

Psychoanalytic perspective

How behavior stems from one’s unconscious urges (usually aggresive or sexual in nature) and/or unresolved childhood conflict

Sigmeund Frued associated with….

Psychologist associated with psychoanalytic perspective

Behavioral perspective

How we learn certain behaviors, fears, and habits through observation, reward, and punishment

J.B Watson, BF Skinner, and Ivan Pavlov

Psychologists associated with behavioral perspective

Cognitive perspective

How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

Jean Piaget associated with this perspective

Psychologist associated with cognitive perspective

Social-cultural perspective

How behavior and thinking vary across cultures, genders, and even classes

Psychologist

Study, assess, and treat troubled people with therapy (PHD)

Psychiatrist

Medical doctor (MD) who can use therapy to treat their patients, but mainly prescribe medication for disordered individuals

Hindsight bias

“I knew it all along” phenomenon

Confirmation bias

Seeking information that supports one’s beliefs

False consensus effect

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others agree with us

Overconfidence

Tendency to overestimate one’s abilities and beliefs

Observational research

Describes behavior

Correlational research

Predicts behavior

Experimental research

Explains behavior

Case study

Specific person or situation used to understand or explain something

Naturalistic observation

Observe behaviors in their natural environment, without manipulating the situation, to understand behavior as it naturally occurs

Meta-analysis

Examination of data from multiple studies

Correlation

Relationship between two variables

Positive correlation

When one variable rises, the other also rises (and vice versa)

Negative correlation

When one variable rises, the other falls

Scatterplot

A graph that illustrates a relationship between two variables

Correlation coefficient

A number that indicates how strongly two variables are related

Perfect positive

+1.00

Perfect negative

-1.00

No correlation

0.0

Illusory correlations

Perceiving a relationship that does not exist

Survey

The tool used to collect data for a correlational study

Likert scale

A rating scale (ex. 1-5) popular survey method

Experimentation

Only strategy that can say “this causes that”

Experimental group

Group that receives the independent variable “messed with”

Control group

Group that receives placebo “not messed with”

Placebo Effect

Changing ones behavior or feeling different because one believes they should

Independent variable

The thing given, taken away, or changed in the experimental group

Dependent variable

Behavior being measured

Operational definition

Stating exactly how the variables are measured for purposes of replication

Single-blind study

When the participants do not know which group is the experimental and which group is the control (eliminates participant bias)

Double-blind study

When neither the participants nor the researcher know which group is experimental or control (eliminates researcher bias)

Confounding (third) variables

Any influence outside of the researchers control that can affect the dependent variable

Hawthorne effect

When participants change their behavior because they know they’re part of an experiment

Range

Subtract lowest number from highest number

Standard Deviation

The average distance of all the scores from the mean

Z-score

The individual distance a score is from the mean

Statistical significance (p-value)

5% of results or less are due to chance

Effect size

Indicates how different the means are between the experimental and control group. If the p value tells us the independent variable affected the subjects beyond chance, the effect-size tells you how much subjects were affected

Generalizability

Asking if the results from your sample can be applied to the general population

Cell body

The cell’s life support center

Dendrites

Receive messages from other cells

Axons

Passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands

Myelin sheath

Protects the axons and speeds up electrical impulse

Multiple sclerosis and Myasthenia Gravis

Diseases caused by deterioration of myelin

Terminal buttons

Form junctions with other cells

Action potential (depolarization)

Positive sodium ions push out negative potassium ions

Threshold

A point at which signals activate the neuron

Refractory period

The recharge phase

Excitatory signals

Want to alert you

Inhibitory signals

Want to quiet the stimulation

All or none response

A neuron fires at maximum intensity or not at all

Neural networks

When two or more neurons communicate with one another

Synapse

The space between 2 neurons

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messenger

Reuptake

When the terminal buttons reabsorb any leftover neurotransmitters

Agonist

Keeps NTs in synapse by blocking reuptake or mimicking the neurotransmitter

Antagonist

Keeps NTs out of synapse by blocking the release of the NT

Blood-brain barrier

Prevents drugs in blood from entering brain (and sometimes treating patients)

Sensory (afferent) neurons

Information travels from peripheral to central nervous system

Interneurons

Transmit messages to and from peripheral nervous system and central nervous system (makes call/sends message)

Motor (efferent) neurons

Transmit messages from the brain to tissues and organs (CNS → PNS) (actually moves)

Spinal cord

connects PNS to CNS

EEG

Electrical activity; looking for epilepsy

CAT

X-rays; looking for bruising (concussions)

PET

Uses radioactive isotopes, uses glucose to get image

MRI

Magnetic fields, looking for tumors

FMRI

Detected through blood flow

Brainstem

“cross-over point” right side connected to left side of body, vise versa

Medulla

Responsible for heartbeat and breathing

Reticular Formation

Responsible for sleep/wake cycle and attention span

Thalamus

Filters out information from all of your senses except for smell. It directs the scents to the correct brain region for processing “sensory switchboard”

Synesthesia

Condition in which the thalamus is faulty and sends the senses to incorrect regions

Cerebellum

Responsible for balance and coordination, stores memories of skills and routines (muscle memory)

Limbic system

Emotion center

Hippocampus

Responsible for converting short term memory of facts and events into long term memory

Amygdala

Responsible for aggression and fear

Hypothalamus

Responsible for temperature regulation, hunger, thirst, and sex drive

“Reward centers”

Places where there is an abundance of dopamine receptors

Pituitary gland

“Master gland” controls all hormones

Cerebreal Cortex

The human’s signature structure

Glial cells “glue cells”

Provide nutrients and myelin to the axon of the neuron, guides the neural networks, and mops up any leftover NTs and ions in the synapse

Occipital lobe

Processes vision

Temporal Lobe

Processes sound and hearing, facial recognition

Wernicke’s Area (left)

Responsible for comprehending speech

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Disfunction of the Wernicke’s Area

Parietal Lobe

Top of head, integrates the senses to form perception, specializes in mathematical and spatial ability