AP Psychology Unit 5 Test Review

Algorithm

Step-by-step way to solve a problem.

Heuristic

Shortcut or “rule of thumb” for quick decisions.

Concept

Grouping similar things together in your mind

Functional Fixedness

Only seeing objects as having one use.

Noam Chomsky’s View of Language

Believed people are born ready to learn language.

Overregularization

Kids apply grammar rules too much (like saying “runned”).

Availability Heuristic

Judging something based on what comes to mind easily.

Overconfidence Effect

Being more sure than correct.

Prototype

Best example of a category (like a robin for “bird”).

Convergent Thinking

Finding one right answer.

Divergent Thinking

Thinking of many possible answers.

Phoneme

Smallest sound in a word (like “b” in “bat”).

Belief Perseverance

Sticking to your belief even when proven wrong.

Insight

A sudden “aha!” solution.

Confirmation Bias

Looking for info that agrees with what you already think.

Framing Effect

The way something is said affects decisions (“90% fat-free” vs “10% fat”).

Representative Heuristic

Judging something based on how it fits a category.

Morpheme

Smallest part of a word with meaning (“un-”, “dog”, “-ed”).

Semantics

Rules for what words and sentences mean.

Babbling Stage

Babies make random sounds (around 4–10 months).

One-Word Stage

Around 1 year old; babies say single words (“mama”).

Encoding

Getting information into memory.

Primacy Effect

Remembering the first things in a list best.

Recency Effect

Remembering the last things in a list best.

Clustering

Grouping similar things together to remember better.

Mnemonic

Memory trick (like acronyms or rhymes).

Episodic Memory

Memory of personal events or experiences.

Semantic Memory

Memory of facts and general knowledge.

Rehearsal

Repeating info to remember it.

Long-Term Memory

Permanent storage of information.

Sensory Memory

Very short memory of what you see or hear.

Flashbulb Memory

Very vivid memory of an emotional event.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious learning (like remembering your way home).

Spacing Effect

Studying over time helps you remember better.

Chunking

Grouping info into pieces (“FBI-CIA-IRS”).

Echoic Memory

Brief memory of what you just heard (3–4 seconds).

Iconic Memory

Brief memory of what you just saw (less than a second).

Short-Term Memory Capacity

Can hold about 7 ± 2 items.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Brain process that strengthens connections between neurons when learning.

Implicit Memory

Unconscious memory (like riding a bike).

Explicit Memory

Conscious memory (facts and experiences).

Hippocampus

Brain area that helps make new memories.